novelheartbeat's review against another edition
4.0
Why did I wait so long to read this?! I guess I thought I wouldn't like it - it had some mixed reviews, and recently I've seen mostly bad ones, so I started questioning whether it would be a me book or not. But it totally was!
I love how strange and haunting this book was - it's definitely a darker fantasy. It pushed the boundaries of magical realism, without being annoying and full of wtfery like the genre usually is (I'm not a fan, can you tell?). Melissa Albert's prose is enchanting, and I was able to picture everything very vividly in my mind.
The main thing I enjoyed about this was how creepy it was! I love the disturbing kind of fairytales, and the book within this book, Tales from the Hinterland, was full of them! Melissa can you please publish that as an actual book?! I loved the snippets of Alice-Three-Times we got, and I craved more.
Spoiler
It was an awesome twist that Alice was actually from the story! So cool!I really enjoyed this while I was reading, but sadly it didn't stick with me. I started forgetting things pretty quickly. But I definitely want to read the next book!
This review was originally posted on Novel Heartbeat. To see a breakdown of my assessment, please visit the full review here.
kenaimom's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
olivia76's review against another edition
3.0
This my not my favorite type of book. It’s a dark fairytale mixed in with our world. Some parts were slow but the love between the mother and the daughter drew me in.
superkayj's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rayne709's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Listened to the version read by Rebecca Soler, who as usual did a fabulous job. This book gave be inkheart vibes initially so I was super excited about it. In the middle I got kinda bored, felt like it dragged on a bit and that the plot was a bit jolty. Enjoyed the ending, but not enough to be excited to pick up any more of the series.
bigborrowedbooks's review
2.0
I was super excited to read The Hazel Wood. Being listed as YA Fantasy and intertwining the world of New York and fairy tales seemed so cool and refreshing. Unfortunately, this did not meet my expectations. The first half of this book was excellently written! Engaging and mysterious with what seemed to be a bad ass female main character who didn’t take anyone’s crap. It was creepy in that way only really good fairy tales can be. And then somewhere around the 200 page mark it was like the author lost her way a little bit. The action ramped up and the descriptions of characters and places slid by in favor of weaving a truly confusing web that I’m not sure the book ever really recovered from.
There was a scene in particular that struck me as incredibly out of place and ultimately missed the mark. The main character yells at a cop with the only Black character in the book sitting beside her in a car. Once the MC appeases the cop and pulls away her companion is, rightfully, incensed. The MC refuses to admit that she had just put a young Black man into a very hostile and dangerous situation, even though he explains it plainly. And then the story just......moved forward?? The moment didn’t fit in the story to begin with, and then it refused to acknowledge this very real and serious issue in today’s society. It was such an odd departure from the plot that it really left me addled.
With only 100ish pages left I decided to finish the book, but wasn’t impressed with the ending. It again, seemed like the author lost herself along the way and couldn’t quite get it back. For me, 2 out of 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️
There was a scene in particular that struck me as incredibly out of place and ultimately missed the mark. The main character yells at a cop with the only Black character in the book sitting beside her in a car. Once the MC appeases the cop and pulls away her companion is, rightfully, incensed. The MC refuses to admit that she had just put a young Black man into a very hostile and dangerous situation, even though he explains it plainly. And then the story just......moved forward?? The moment didn’t fit in the story to begin with, and then it refused to acknowledge this very real and serious issue in today’s society. It was such an odd departure from the plot that it really left me addled.
With only 100ish pages left I decided to finish the book, but wasn’t impressed with the ending. It again, seemed like the author lost herself along the way and couldn’t quite get it back. For me, 2 out of 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️
toritoot's review
4.0
This story lies somewhere between the happily-ever-after land version of fairytales and the version that is dark and dangerous and likes its stories bloody and disturbing with no moral center. It plays with ambiguities, with right and wrong, and you’re unsure as you read just where the author plans on taking you. This is part of what makes this book so damn fascinating to read.
Alice is the other part of why.
Alice is very complex. She’s not unlikable, necessarily, but she's not entirely likable either. Harsh, judgmental, quick to anger; deeply conflicted, secretly lonely and unhappy; you alternate between genuinely liking her, relating to her and sympathizing with her, and not liking her much at all. And for most of the book, that appears to just be who the character is, but towards the end you realize there's been a deeper reason, a fairytale twist I definitely did not see coming but quite liked once all the pieces were in place.
The thing that keeps Alice from being completely contemptible though, is her own internal battle over who and why she is, that little part of her that knows she’s deeply flawed despite her best efforts not to be. Alice's feelings of being cursed, like she's to blame for all of the terrible things gone wrong in her life, for the terrible things gone wrong in the lives of those around her, like she can't escape her tragic fate because the universe refuses to let her (and because you can never escape yourself) is something that really resonated with me. As much as I sometimes found Alice difficult, the things she struggles with are very relatable. She’s intensely likable despite her tendency toward unlikableness.
The only flaw of this book for me is the pacing of the last 3 or 4 chapters. A lot happens in a very short amount of time, and I’m not sure the author totally achieved everything she was going for. For example, even though I suspected it was eventually going to happen, it still felt a little too sudden when Finch ‘died.’ The moment wasn’t as emotionally charged as it should have been, and I ultimately wasn’t very sad about his death, even though I wanted to be. That is a very strange feeling to have while reading a book.
I was surprised again, however, when it was later revealed that Finch had miraculously survived his attack and since then had been traveling around the Hinterland living out his dream of seeing the universes characters in the flesh. This surprise made sense to me as Finch’s whole life has been about getting to the Hinterland, but it didn’t have much of an effect on me as a reader.
Then finally, I was surprised a third time when Finch made the decision to stay in the Hinterland/travel to other universes rather than come back to ours with Alice. This is obviously the most logical and fitting decision for his character, but just like the previous surprises, the pacing made this moment land in such an odd way that it didn’t really impact me the way it was clearly meant to.
Overall though, I think the book’s ending is one that will probably benefit from a re-read, and what I could glean from it the first time around I liked, so I wouldn’t consider it a detrimental flaw.
In conclusion, all I can say about this book is Damn, was it fascinating, and hell yes am I going to be picking up the sequel once it’s out.
Alice is the other part of why.
Alice is very complex. She’s not unlikable, necessarily, but she's not entirely likable either. Harsh, judgmental, quick to anger; deeply conflicted, secretly lonely and unhappy; you alternate between genuinely liking her, relating to her and sympathizing with her, and not liking her much at all. And for most of the book, that appears to just be who the character is, but towards the end you realize there's been a deeper reason, a fairytale twist I definitely did not see coming but quite liked once all the pieces were in place.
The thing that keeps Alice from being completely contemptible though, is her own internal battle over who and why she is, that little part of her that knows she’s deeply flawed despite her best efforts not to be. Alice's feelings of being cursed, like she's to blame for all of the terrible things gone wrong in her life, for the terrible things gone wrong in the lives of those around her, like she can't escape her tragic fate because the universe refuses to let her (and because you can never escape yourself) is something that really resonated with me. As much as I sometimes found Alice difficult, the things she struggles with are very relatable. She’s intensely likable despite her tendency toward unlikableness.
The only flaw of this book for me is the pacing of the last 3 or 4 chapters. A lot happens in a very short amount of time, and I’m not sure the author totally achieved everything she was going for. For example, even though I suspected it was eventually going to happen, it still felt a little too sudden when Finch ‘died.’ The moment wasn’t as emotionally charged as it should have been, and I ultimately wasn’t very sad about his death, even though I wanted to be. That is a very strange feeling to have while reading a book.
I was surprised again, however, when it was later revealed that Finch had miraculously survived his attack and since then had been traveling around the Hinterland living out his dream of seeing the universes characters in the flesh. This surprise made sense to me as Finch’s whole life has been about getting to the Hinterland, but it didn’t have much of an effect on me as a reader.
Then finally, I was surprised a third time when Finch made the decision to stay in the Hinterland/travel to other universes rather than come back to ours with Alice. This is obviously the most logical and fitting decision for his character, but just like the previous surprises, the pacing made this moment land in such an odd way that it didn’t really impact me the way it was clearly meant to.
Overall though, I think the book’s ending is one that will probably benefit from a re-read, and what I could glean from it the first time around I liked, so I wouldn’t consider it a detrimental flaw.
In conclusion, all I can say about this book is Damn, was it fascinating, and hell yes am I going to be picking up the sequel once it’s out.
tiernnadrui's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25