saskiajva's review against another edition
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
4.0
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 and is overall worth the read!
Spoiler
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’m glad i stuck it out and the book was worth the read, though i would’ve loved to have gotten to spend more time inside the magical Hinterland as it’s truly the most spectacular writing. The set up did pay off well though, so trust the author and enjoy the read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Racism, Murder, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide and Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol
jowashere's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Racism and Stalking
theastronautmp3's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Gore
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Police brutality and Racism
clarabooksit's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
Minor: Racism
drinaiscold's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Suicide
Minor: Toxic relationship, Ableism, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Racism, and Physical abuse
lilifane's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was kind of weird.
I thought the synopsis sounded interesting, and I really enjoyed the first 30-40% of the book. I thought the writing style was fun, there was intrigue in the plot, and when Alice and Finch started to work together I had high hopes for the rest of the book. Only... it didn't live up to the expectation. The shift in Alice's narrative voice was disappointing because it's what made me start the book in the first place. But the weirdest part was the pacing of the plot. It just felt so fragmented. The plot started off with a compelling mystery but completely switched to a surreal, nightmarish fairy tale. I actually loved the fairy tales on their own and the idea and atmosphere of the Hinterland. But the actual plot in the Hazel Wood was so rushed and boring, and then suddenly the book was over? And it feels like at the end you have more questions than actual answers. Weird.
The character work... wasn't the best, either. But I liked Finch a lot... which lead to more disappointment about wasted potential. So yeah, amazing world building and really really interesting ideas, but the execution far from perfect.
I thought the synopsis sounded interesting, and I really enjoyed the first 30-40% of the book. I thought the writing style was fun, there was intrigue in the plot, and when Alice and Finch started to work together I had high hopes for the rest of the book. Only... it didn't live up to the expectation. The shift in Alice's narrative voice was disappointing because it's what made me start the book in the first place. But the weirdest part was the pacing of the plot. It just felt so fragmented. The plot started off with a compelling mystery but completely switched to a surreal, nightmarish fairy tale. I actually loved the fairy tales on their own and the idea and atmosphere of the Hinterland. But the actual plot in the Hazel Wood was so rushed and boring, and then suddenly the book was over? And it feels like at the end you have more questions than actual answers. Weird.
The character work... wasn't the best, either. But I liked Finch a lot... which lead to more disappointment about wasted potential. So yeah, amazing world building and really really interesting ideas, but the execution far from perfect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Violence, and Death
Minor: Racism and Suicide
sssssoup's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, and Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, and Stalking
mndy's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book put me in a big slump, most likely due to the poor world-building. It felt very crammed together, but I guess that's what you get for a shorter fantasy series. The whole fairy tale world element was a bit basic, but the book was somewhat enjoyable overall.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Racism
showmethestars's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Racism
Minor: Pedophilia
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Hazel Wood is fascinating and creepy, filling slowly up with twisted words and scripted worlds as Alice runs towards answers and away from sense. Blood and death are companions here, sentinels and guides, for growing up is hard to do.
Alice's friendship with Finch felt real and grounded in a way that could have been discordant with the books slow slide into the surreal and magical, but instead served as a guidepost for a while. Having Finch know more about the stories in the book without having him just tell them to her made him feel more like a full person instead of a sidekick, since he not only had knowledge she didn't, but that knowledge wasn't merely deposited with her in order to move the story along. Once I realized he wasn't about to just recite the whole book of Althea's stories, I stopped waiting for it and was able to just let the story ride. The way the book plays with Alice's memory is really well done, it lends some of the fuzzy quality that older memories can have, while not making Alice feel like an unreliable narrator.
This book reminds me (in a good way) of "Tithe" by Holly Black. Both in terms of key revelations and in terms of the raw feel of its vision of the world. I anticipated the reveal, a little, but it still felt meaningful when it actually occurred.
I loved this book and I intend to keep up with the series. I definitely will stay away from reading any more of this series alone or at night, since it was creeping me out more and more the one evening I tried that. This is frequently gruesome, usually in a very sudden manner. It completely fits the tone of the book, building this dark and surreal feeling layered onto the normal world even before we get to the Hazel Wood itself, but it achieves some of that tone by having violence that is sudden and short, so that the terror lies in processing the aftermath, not in some drawn out description of the act itself.
Alice's friendship with Finch felt real and grounded in a way that could have been discordant with the books slow slide into the surreal and magical, but instead served as a guidepost for a while. Having Finch know more about the stories in the book without having him just tell them to her made him feel more like a full person instead of a sidekick, since he not only had knowledge she didn't, but that knowledge wasn't merely deposited with her in order to move the story along. Once I realized he wasn't about to just recite the whole book of Althea's stories, I stopped waiting for it and was able to just let the story ride. The way the book plays with Alice's memory is really well done, it lends some of the fuzzy quality that older memories can have, while not making Alice feel like an unreliable narrator.
This book reminds me (in a good way) of "Tithe" by Holly Black. Both in terms of key revelations and in terms of the raw feel of its vision of the world. I anticipated the reveal, a little, but it still felt meaningful when it actually occurred.
I loved this book and I intend to keep up with the series. I definitely will stay away from reading any more of this series alone or at night, since it was creeping me out more and more the one evening I tried that. This is frequently gruesome, usually in a very sudden manner. It completely fits the tone of the book, building this dark and surreal feeling layered onto the normal world even before we get to the Hazel Wood itself, but it achieves some of that tone by having violence that is sudden and short, so that the terror lies in processing the aftermath, not in some drawn out description of the act itself.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Violence
CW for racism, violence.
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