Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood, 1)

(Originally posted on kaleyconnell.wordpress.com) I cannot tell you enough how much I adored this book. I love fairy tales, from Disney to the original Brothers Grimm, and this book is stuffed full of new and original ones, and they’re as dark as the sea is deep. In my opinion, the book is told in two parts. The first sets up the characters: Alice, Ella, Ellery, and Althea. You get the picture of who they are and what you can expect from them as well as the setting and tone of this story. This is my favorite part. Alice sprinkles in bits of her past as ways to tell a story, to explain why she is how she is, and because she realizes that some of her memories are connected to what’s happening now. I also loved the language, both Melissa Albert’s and Alice’s. It’s fresh, and new, and eye-catching. I found myself making mental notes of my favorite lines, or rereading pages because I liked them so much. The second half of the book is the epic quest part, or at least that’s how I think of it after so many lectures in school about Joseph Campbell and The Hero with a Thousand Faces. This part is great in terms of content, plot, and visuals. I’ll be honest, I did find some things lacking in this section. There were many pieces of plot that were brushed over, not explained, and/or just left me feeling unsatisfied. I get what she was going for, though. When you read The Hazel Wood, (and you totally, totally, need to read this book) you’ll get what I mean. The story is Alice’s, and therefore we will only get Alice’s knowledge. But it doesn’t mean I don’t wish she asked more questions about the things I wanted to know. This book is a standalone story, so there aren’t any cliffhangers you need to be prepared for. However, Melissa Albert announced at the signing that she has two books in the works, one being another story set in this same world, the other being the actual stories from the book inside of her book, Tales from the Hinterland. While I’m excited for both, it’s the latter that has me fangirl squealing on the inside. As a whole, this book is fantastic and so worth your time. It is easily my favorite book I’ve read this year, and is definitely something I’ll be recommending to friends. So read it. Read. This. Book. I promise it’ll be worth your time.

I was all kinds of crazy excited for Melissa Albert’s debut, The Hazel Wood! It screamed fairy tale book all over! The cover is just gorgeous and bespeaks of the fairy tale delights (or not so delights as real fairy tales run kind of dark) ahead! While I found the book to be interesting for sure, I wasn’t as swept away as I would’ve hoped for. I’m not sure how to describe what I mean, but I will do my best. Alice and her mother Ella have been moving from place to place ever since Alice could remember. They always seem to be running from bad luck of some kind that continues to chase them around. Just as Alice thinks things might be settling down when her mother marries a man and they move into his apartment suite, the bad luck comes back! Alice comes home to find her family gone and it’s not until her stepfather and stepsister return with a story of being taken and that Alice must go to the Hazel Wood if she wants to get her mother back that the crazy adventure truly begins! The Hazel Wood is the name of the estate where her mother grew up for a time and it’s where her grandmother lived and wrote the stories that became known as Tales from the Hinterland. This was a book of fairy tales, not the ones we all know and love, but a completely sort. Odd thing is, try as Alice might, she cannot find a copy of the book anywhere and she tried to find it once upon a time when she learned her grandmother wrote them. I would’ve thought it would be interesting to actually get to read these tales. It might have even helped with my reading if I had a better background on things, for this story sort of revolves around this elusive book. Alice starts a journey to get to the elusive Hazel Wood, for no one really knows where it’s at. There’s plenty of secrets in this book. Joining her in her journey is a fellow classmate, Ellery Finch. Ellery knows a lot about Tales from the Hinterland as he too was a bit obsessed with the book growing up and he had a copy long ago before it was stolen. It seems though that their journey will be anything but easy as they hit roadblocks at every turn! This book was a certain kind of weird. It’s almost an enjoyable sort of weird too! Again, I really feel like if I had known more about the Tales from the Hinterland, I would’ve been able to understand things better. I love fairy tales, so when I see certain elements from the variety of tales I’ve read, I’m able to get a better understanding of where this story is headed. Since Tales from the Hinterland is a fictional book from a fictional book there’s really no source for what they are made of. True, Ellery knows the tales backwards and forwards and will relate them to Alice at certain points, but there is the occasional interruption and truly, this drove me mad!!! If you’re expecting there to be a romance building between Alice and Ellery, well, you’d be sort of wrong. There may be some fleeting feelings and moments between them, but soon other things start to happen and well…there just really wasn’t any romance at all in this book. Which I thought was sort of odd since it was fairy tale like in essence. I mean, a good chunk of fairy tales revolve around a romantic kind of love. Not all of them, true, and in this one we do see those other kinds of love, so that was nice in a sense too. I truly think the thing that kept me from giving this one 5 stars was that I knew nothing of the Tales from the Hinterland, other than what Ellery knew. Maybe that was part of the point, as Alice never got to read them either, but it just made things a bit more confusing for me as a reader because I wasn’t sure what was really happening in a sense. Things definitely got muddled for me in more ways than one. Again, though, I did enjoy this story in some ways. The Hazel Wood was still fascinating and dark and beautifully told. I just feel like as a reader if I knew of the Tales of the Hinterland, I could’ve understood The Hazel Wood a bit more. Totally weird, right? Wanting to read a fake book in order to understand the book that mentions said fake book? The Hazel Wood is still remarkable storytelling though! It’s a dark, twisted tale that will keep you guessing at everyone’s intentions. For we already know not to trust the people within fairy tales, but in reality it’s harder to tell who’s trustworthy and who’s not. If Melissa were to ever do a bonus addition that let us read these mystical Tales from the Hinterland, I’d be all over that! And possibly even willing to do a re-read of this one! Which coming from me, as you know, is BIG!! This is most definitely a book all lovers of fairy tales should read! It contains the classic elements we know and love and it is a truly magical read in essence, if a little befuddling at times. I might just be overanalyzing things too much as I read. Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Warning: rambles ahead! So I think it's ridiculous when people get so wrapped up in the fan-fervor of finding a piece of art, literature, etc. that moves them, that they jump down the back of anyone who dares to dislike said thing. We're people. Pernicious consumers of media. Fickle too, something we might love may one day become hated and vice versa. And yet, if you don't like what I like, it's clear: you are an a-hole. Wait, you're not an a-hole? You just have a mind of your own? Logic? The ability to suss out what does and does not appeal to you? Congratulations, we two may be a-holes, but that's neither here nor there and certainly nothing to do with whether or not you loved "The Hazel Wood" by Melissa Albert. But here's the rub, I LOVED it. And even though I think it's RIDICULOUS part of me wants to call you an a-hole if you didn't. That same part of me (the one that thinks she's always right, wants someone to invent chocolate that causes weight-loss, and deep down wishes she had the gumption to let her inner biatch out to rage when people are particularly stupid) wants to pick apart any criticisms of this book, blowing razzberries and flicking boogers at the naysayers who so CLEARLY didn't "GET IT." And here's why: This book was amazing. I loved every bit of this dark twisty fairytale that manages to combine so many elements into a truly unique and interesting story. And not everyone who reads a book comes into it with the same background or the same influences or even the same taste. There's a reason your mileage may vary. As a lover of fairytales and folklore this book was a little bit Grimm Brothers and a little bit "Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark." It was a little bit Portal story and a little bit Jasper Fforde. It's a little "Alice in Wonderland," a lot "Nightmare Before Christmas" and at the end of the day it's a story about finding yourself. It's about seeing beneath your own skin to the motivations you may not even want to admit to. And then seeing others the same way. And it's all wrapped in a frayed and bloody ribbon of magic and fairytale, of wandering lost so that you might be found. I truly loved this book. And even though it's ridiculous and I normally get REALLY ANNOYED at people who turn all rabid-fan........ If you don't like "The Hazel Wood" I'm blowing a razzberry at you. And I'm judging you. (And in that same vein for PETE'S SAKE when reading a story about fairytales don't bring up deus ex machina. There is no true logic to fairytales. Why would HORSES have a shot at putting Humpty Dumpty together again?! Do we REALLY think a Huntsman with an ax could cut through a wolf and free two people from inside its belly?! Or that a witch could have a functioning oven in her functioning house of freaking gingerbread?!? Just, ugh. In a fairytale it's reasonable that a kiss dislodges a bit of poisoned apple, that a glass slipper can be danced on without cracking. Leave the critical logic at home and accept fairytales for the lovely and horrifying nonsense they are. Ooh, ooh, last one: To every review that claimed that this book is just an "Alice in Wonderland" knockoff. You. Seriously. Wound. Me. (And genuinely piss me off.) It's like comparing a pineapple and an apple because they're both fruits with "apple" in their names. Honestly the comparison tells me more about what you probably haven't read than it does anything else. There is a longstanding tradition of people going into other worlds in fantasy. Some might fall down a hole or go through the back of a cupboard. Some people travel in boats on the river Styx. Some get swept away by a tornado.... I think it's highly unfair to judge this book, which holds many threads of other tales even as it weaves its own pattern, by reducing it to a tepid comparison. Alice from "Alice in Wonderland" is a girl who finds herself in an odd-ball and terrifying place where logic holds little to no sway; Luckily she's a child and it gives her resiliency. The main character in "The Hazel Wood" is also named Alice. She seeks out a terrifying and oddball place where logic is tied to story and story is a cold and relentless taskmaster. She is too old and broken to be resilient but she's on a quest, darn it. So don't sweat the comparisons. This story is not a re-write but can very much stand on its own bloody two feet. And now I'm off the soapbox and staying in my lane and all that jazz. If you love fairytales read this story. And read it for itself, because it's an amazing book and shouldn't suffer at the hands of reviewers who are comparison happy. Everyone's opinion is valid and holds that reader's truth. But everyone's truth differs and some people are just unreliable narrators. 😂 So while I can't offer you a lifetime garrantee that you'll love this book as I do, I can offer you a years supply of turtlewax and the promise that this book has magic. (Just kidding about the turtlewax.)

A thoroughly engaging read. Oddly enough, it felt like there were three different books all contained in one: one I loved, one I moderately enjoyed, and one I found a little confusing. Story one: The Tales of The Hinterland. The dark fairy tales were the high point of this book, pure perfection. A lot like The Langauge of Thorns, minus a lesson to be gained. They were so creepy, they felt like Grimm fairy tales touched by Neil Gaiman. I would love if the author released a book just full of these stories. Story two: Alice Crew, on the run. Alice has always been isolated, moving from place to place her entire life while being chased by a string of bad luck. She has never met her grandmother, an author famous for her Tales of The Hinterland, who has hidden away in the mysterious Hazel Wood of decades. When Alice's mother is kidnapped, she engages the help of Finch, a classmate, and fan of her grandmother's work, to try and find her. This story had its ups and downs: I loved the mythos surrounding Tales of The Hinterland, the search for a book the world is trying to erase, the magic that seems to be surrounding it. But it read a little like a first-time driver trying to learn stick shift: surge forward, grinding noise, surge forward, grinding noise. One 'grinding noise' section could be the scene where Alice berates a policeman, then has a discussion with Finch about Black/cops relationships. It seems out of place, forced, and as a result, weird. I won't list other examples, but I wish Finch was developed more. Story Three: Inside the Hinterland. Here I will avoid saying too much, because of spoilers, of course. But this last bit felt rushed, and I wish it took up the majority of the book, and not just the ending. There was a lot to be said and not enough time for the author to say it. Some characters grew inexplicably fast, too many changes in such a short amount of pages - but the concept was amazing. The twist at the end was perfect!!! Overall, the bits I loved, I loved, and the rest was meh. I'm glad I read it in two sittings because I probably would have had trouble getting into it if not. It was so worth it to reach that awesome ending!

I read The Hazel Wood back in early October after receiving an ARC. I wrote my review immediately upon finishing it and was waiting closer to release day to post it. So of course I lost it. How professional of me. Anyway, this is my second attempt at a review. I hope I'm not forgetting any key points I wanted to make. Overall I really enjoyed The Hazel Wood. Melissa Albert's writing style very much reminded me of Holly Black's and Melissa Marr's- my two great YA author loves from high school. One thing that I've come to learn while reviewing books is that you can love a book while not loving it's main character. The two are not mutually exclusive. And the author does not always set out to write a universally lovable main character. And maybe they WANTED the reader to hate the MC. Either way - I loved The Hazel Wood but I didn't love Alice Proserpine. She was a very aggressive and angry character with a bit of an abrasive personality. I realize there was a reason for her attitude. It wasn't so bad that I wanted to quit reading though and there were great supporting characters and a fascinating, engaging storyline that kept me invested in the book. If you enjoy dark and twisted fairy tales like I do - this will be a book for you. I must mention though that there is a bit of back story and buildup before you get to the actual meat of the dark fairy tale. I never personally had a problem with it though as it helped to ground the story in reality and served as a contrast to the Hazel Wood. Okay- onto the supporting characters - Ellory Finch- Alice's companion throughout her adventure - was my favorite character in the book. Before I go any further I have to address something I've seen several other reviewers "refer" to: I never saw where Finch, the only POC character in the book, was referred to as "ugly" or even where it alluded to him being unattractive. In fact when he's introduced into the story, Alice refers to him as "kind of cute."(page 42) I'm not denying that Alice treated him rudely but she was that way to everyone. I'm not excusing it. I really disliked that about her and knew he deserved much better. I just don't think this had anything to do with race or is any indication of the author being racist. And as far as the scene with the cop- I think the author was trying to make a point on Finch's behalf and trying to make a statement about privilege. Yes, Alice spoke over him, wouldn't listen, but(the author was showing) she was acting within the personality of the character the author had written. An angry, privileged white girl. Yes she'd been through tough times with her mom and that was why she didn't understand where Finch was coming from. I think the only mistake the author made was using this book and this character for this learning opportunity. It would have been received better had it been with a character that was perceptive and more understanding and actually learned something from it instead of a character that ( very minor spoiler) went nuts when faced with her own wrongness and tried to hurt them both by driving off the road. There are people like Alice, though, that would react in that way to what Finch was trying to say but I don't think Melissa Albert was agreeing with them - she was showing how ridiculous they look when they try to silence others. The way Alice reacted was insane. I don't want to spoil anything but there was no excuse for her behavior and my rating the book highly is not a reflection on my feelings toward Alice but toward the great writing and fascinating story. I highly recommend The Hazel Wood to anyone that enjoys dark faery tales and/or is a fan of Melissa Marr and Holly Black

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert was all I wanted and more. It was atmospheric, slightly off, fun, unique, haunting, scary, beautiful, and unsettling. It was filled with words I wish I wrote. Things I liked: The words. There are chunks of beautiful prose. Wow. I was blown away. The cover. The first time I saw the cover, I was like, "Okay, that's nice," but now that I've read the book I like it even more. The worlds. There is so much going on in terms of world-building. Alice lives in our world, but because of her family, it feels like an entirely different world. There are layers to the fantasy worlds, too, that are hard to explain without spoilers, but wow, again, I was blown away. The characters. I really rooted for Alice to find her mother. Ella was all she had in life and it was heartbreaking to struggle with Alice as she tried to find her mother. Alice was well done and complex and interesting, and easy to sympathize with. The backstory. Alice and Ella's story is woven into the story so wonderfully that pages and pages of backstory didn't feel disjointed from the narrative. It felt alive and active. Things I didn't like: There is an unfortunate lack of diversity in this book. Finch, one of the main characters, is Black, but that's about it. And he isn't in about half of the book. I predicted a plot point pretty early on (though, it didn't kill the story for me). I would have liked to be more surprised. Trigger warnings: I'm hesitant to call it "self-harm" because the character isn't/isn't wanting to do it to herself. This is just a small scene, and therefore a small warning, that around the 45-50% mark (I'm sorry I didn't take notice to the percentage or page) there is a potential triggering moment.

Alice and her mom Ella basically live like gypsies, moving from one place to the next, usually staying with a friend, until the bad luck catches up to them- making them "bad luck guests". After the death of her estranged Grandmother Althea, a woman Alice never met and Ella refuses to talk about, but has a strangely large cult following for her odd fairytale book, Ella decides they will settle down. And then Alice gets a new family of sorts with her stepfather and stepsister- both she barely tolerates for her mother's happiness, and it seems everything is peachy. That is until a man from Alice's past shows up and then Ella goes missing. Everything about this book was odd and super creepy and I absolutely loved it! This was such an interesting adventure, with different types of "fairytales" and scariness and twists. I was so into this book, more so than any other than I have read recently. The mix of adventure, scariness and random dark humor filled my heart with joy and I found myself laughing at the most inappropriate of times. And ps mentioning crickets are creepy (which they are) made this book my soul sister. "The air around her shivered and prismed like the heat over a blacktop. She was what I was looking for, the hot moving point at the center of this island of charged quiet. I watched her with a feeling I couldn’t name—fear or awe or recognition." I read a review recently where someone compared this to Alice in Wonderland and I can totally see where that reviewer was are coming from, but I personally mean that in the best of ways- it was an epic, dangerous, crazy journey with some wonderfully strange encounters that I just ate up. I would gladly take another adventure in these same circumstances, no complaint. The few stories recited from the Tales from the Hinterland were absolutely horrifying, amazing and I need to get my hands on them asap. They were just the way I like my fairytales, scary and surprising. No feel good fairy godmother here. My one teeny tiny complaint with the story was that the ending felt a little anticlimactic, but as long as I know this is not the end end, I can pretend I am content. If this was a standalone (which is 100% what the ending felt like and I would have assumed so if I hadn't already seen on Goodreads there is another book for next year), I would have been really disappointed. I will try not to get too desperate while I (pretend to) patiently wait for more from the Hinterwoods. In case I was too subtle, I really loved this book.

The Hazel Wood seems to have generated a lot of buzz this year. There is this great divide between the love and dislike (hate is such a strong word). I started off eagerly adding this one to my TBR with great enthusiasm that slowly began to waiver as reviews rolled out. Fortunately, in my case, my fears were unwarranted and this was a success! I lean heavily into the group of readers who embrace this darker tale with open arms. Alice is a 17-year-old girl who has spent her entire life on the road with her mother Ella. A life clouded with bad luck, they hurriedly pick up and relocate each time things go wrong. She also happens to be the granddaughter of Althea Prosperine, an author known for an elusive and famous collection of dark fairy tales entitled Tales from the Hinterland. But after her mother receives notice that Althea has passed and then mysteriously vanishes, Alice soon discovers that there is much to her grandmother’s collection. With the help of a young fan and classmate Ellery Finch, she sets out for her grandmother’s estate, The Hazel Wood, in search of her mother. But she finds more than she could ever bargain for. I will be the first to admit that The Hazel Wood unfolds at a somewhat leisurely pace for nearly 70% of the book. Character development is slow and challenging. We are presented with a protagonist that is difficult to like but not hard to appreciate. While I struggled to “love” Alice’s rough attitude, I also found myself unable to fault her. I found the fact that she referred to her mother by name to be irritating and also often felt she was overly aggressive. But when reflecting on her disheveled life and lack of roots, it was still relatable or at least understandable at its core. It works. You do not have to like characters for them to be viable and rewarding. Alice is a prime example of this. I also found great appreciation in supporting characters such as Ellery and those she encounters during their journey that offered a complimentary balance to Alice’s flaws and shortcomings. The storyline was where I found complete satisfaction with The Hazel Wood. Albert’s decision to incorporate the stories from Althea Prosperine’s book into the narrative was brilliant and countered the pacing issues I was facing. I thoroughly loved reading the dark and twisted fairytales. I think I may have favored them over the actual plot though so I can see how some found disappointment within depending on expectations. For myself, I was entirely okay with this fact and the brief tales drove me to want to explore Alice and her mother’s disappearance more. They were cleverly placed throughout, providing the necessary momentum and turning what might have otherwise been another YA fantasy into something special, a new collection of fairy tales. “My love he wooed me My love he slew me My love he buried my bones His love he married His love I buried My love now wanders alone ” The writing is engaging and detailed while remaining plot oriented and forgoing the typical frivolities. The fairytales unfold with a poetic prose. There is an admirable lack of the normal tropes one would expect to encounter, and the end experience is hauntingly smooth and lingering. It has been a week since I completed the book, and I do not find myself struggling to review it. It remains as vivid now as the very night I completed it. That alone speaks volumes. Fans of those traditionally bleaker fairytales who enjoy a good mystery will want to sink their teeth into this one.

A very fun, imaginative, and delightfully eerie tale. I read it in 2 sittings, couldn't put it down!

Físicamente el libro es precioso, con acabados de calidad. Lo compré para regalar y le encantó a la persona que lo recibió. El envío fue rápido.

Alice's grandmother Althea is a famous writer. Alice has never met her grandmother and also hasn't read any of her stories. Ella wants Alice to stay away from her grandmother. She doesn't allow any contact. Bad luck is following Ella and Alice and Althea's estate, Hazel Wood, is the last place they should be. Ella and Alice are constantly on the run and they have moved many times, they leave as soon as what's following them is catching up. Alice is curious about Althea and her dark fairytales, but Ella isn't giving her any information. What is her mother keeping from her? When Alice and Ella finally have some stability in their lives Ella disappears, she's taken by faul smelling people and there's a link between the abduction and Althea's stories. If Alice wants to find her mother she has to become part of her grandmother's dangerous world. However, Alice doesn't know anything about it. Fortunately one of her classmates is a big fan. Finch has read Althea's stories numerous times and he knows a lot about Alice's grandmother. Will he be able to help Alice with her search? Alice's mother warned her not to go to Hazel Wood, but that's exactly where they're headed. Will Alice finally discover her own story and will she be able to locate Ella? Alice is about to deal with dangerous magic, will she survive? The Hazel Wood is a terrific gripping story. I was immediately intrigued by Alice. She has a fascinating multilayered personality. There are plenty of hidden depths in her character and Alice doesn't completely know herself. I loved the secrets that evolve around her, she has dreams, but she's ignorant about most of them and that made me really curious. Althea is a mystery and the worlds she writes about are dark, dangerous and intriguing. I couldn't wait to find out the connection between Alice's bad luck and her grandmother's stories. Alice's adventures kept me on the edge of my seat. While looking for her mother she finds herself in one bizarre situation after another and I was mesmerized by her journey from beginning to end. Melissa Albert skillfully mixes worlds, realities, fairytales and dreams. I loved the way she describes Alice's personality, her family history and the tumultuous road she has to travel. Every part of it is exciting and filled with sparkling energy. I was impressed by the way Melissa Albert tells her story, it's controlled chaos, mixed with surreal twists and turns, devious enchantments and strange and complicated surprises. I greatly admired the creativity of the story, it's truly magical and absolutely spellbinding. I highly recommend this fantastic book.

Lo leí pensando que me encontraría con una historia de fantasía, al menos, bonita, y me encontré con paja y más paja hasta llegar a algún que otro toque de fantasía. La fantasía que promete es de cuento... pero no hay nada de nada, la verdad. Creo que es una historia con potencial, que los próximos libros podrían ser mejores, pero este... aprobado raspado.

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