Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

19 reviews

saskiajva's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

clarabooksit's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

2.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

olliet23's review against another edition

Go to review page

The plot took a turn into something I didn’t “sign up for”. And a major character is casually killed… I liked where it was going before this major turn
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

maregred's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jblovegood's review against another edition

Go to review page

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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

joisaddler's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rae42's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

onceuponabookcase's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Quick fire review:
  
  • When I first heard of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, I didn't think it was going to be my bag. I think I associated the Hinterland with a world of fae, and I really don't like stories about the fae. But when I read author Katrina Leno recommended it to readers who enjoyed her own book Horrid, I decided to give it a go. And I loved it!
  • I loved the way Albert seamlessly manages to combine the contemporary with the fantasy/fairy tale in The Hazel Wood! It reminded me a little of The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees in that regard, but Albert pulled it off better.
  • Albert's writing style is very atmospheric, perfect for the fairy tale aspect of the story, especially when we get to the Hinterland, but it blends perfectly with the contemporary element. It's storytelling at it's best.
  • I adored the world Albert created with the Hinterland. It's so imaginative! A fairy tale world where stories exist, like plays happening in front of you, but with characters who have no choice in their actions - despite not realising it. The story must play out. It was quite dark and distubing, and I loved how Albert showed us the reality of fairy tales, what they actually look like, how they affect the characters in the story, the disparaity to how fairy tales are told, and what the characters are going through.
  • The Hazel Wood was absolutely gripping! Sinister, dark, but magical and beautiful, and completely brilliant!
 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

showmethestars's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings