Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Hazel Wood

The author has created an incredibly intriguing world full of mysteries and surprises. It starts pretty slow in my opinion but really ramps up by the last 100 pages! I will say, the treatment of the one BIPOC character felt gratuitously racist and disturbing at points.

particularly, at one point the main character does some things that put the side character in danger particularly due to his race, and when he calls her out on it she becomes so angry she literally attempts to crash her car with him in it in an attempt to threaten and intimidate him. Less than a chapter later the BIPOC character is murdered in a very senseless manner, and although he comes back to life later, the author never addresses her abuse and racism beyond “her magical curse makes her mean”.

Outside of that, I was surprised that the characters spent the majority of the book in New York trying to prove this world even existed. I almost stopped reading around page 200 when they hadn’t gotten to the actual fairy tale world yet, but around page 220 or so the book kicked into high gear and didn’t stop until the very end. I would’ve loved to have gotten to spend more time inside the magical Hinterland as it’s truly the intriguing writing. The set up did pay off in many ways, and maybe if I reread it I’d find more interest, but I just don’t think this book is for me.

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theastronautmp3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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mky's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I do love the dark fairytale and the mystery of this book. I also enjoyed the fairytales that were interspersed throughout the book and how they tied into the story. This book is a great and fast paced young adult read. However, I felt the book was a little predictable and tended to be written for a young adult audience. Overall, I rated it a 3 because the story concept was fascinating and interesting, but I was clearly not the target audience for this writing style.

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jblovegood's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

It's an interesting concept, though some of the story beats didn't fully make sense to me and the character development didn't feel very compelling. I still enjoyed it, but think it could have been done better.

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sssssoup's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I read it for the first time a few years ago, and I’m so glad I decided the read it again for spooky season this year.

I’m a huge fan of the dark fairy tale aspect of the story. It’s very well developed and interesting, and I love how the author incorporated a story within a story; it’s not something you see very often.

The characters are what really sell it for me. Alice is a very well rounded and complex protagonist; she may not be the most likable character, but her story is engaging and I love how well developed her backstory is. Her memories from her childhood really help to develop her personality for the audience and a lot of depth to her. Finch is one of my favorite characters from recent YA because he’s entertaining and deep at the same time. Like Alice, his trauma and backstory are very well written and really help show his depth.

The writing style is fantastic as well and it’s beautiful to read. It feels very poetic and deep yet realistic at the same time.

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rrovezzi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

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eve_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Overall Thoughts:
⁕ The mystery built around the “bad luck” that follows Alice was equal parts suspenseful and terrifying for the first half of the book. I was hooked on finding out who/what was the force behind it, but unfortunately the reveal was a bit lackluster for me.

⁕ The secondary characters were one-dimensional. I was also disappointed that the only development in the main character was explained away by magic.

⁕ The ending felt rushed and unearned.

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