Book Review: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

“Where do all these things start? Once upon a time. And you just . . . go from there.”

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, Chapter 26

The beautiful cover of The Hazel Wood caught my attention, but the story by author Melissa Albert is what kept me captive.

The book falls into the young adult category with its 17-year old main character Alice. She’s lived a unique life with her mother Ella, never staying in one place for too long—the shadows of misfortune haunting each step and often the reason they must pick up and move on. Ella’s mother is Althea Proserpine, an author who’s only book is an out-of-print collection of odd fairy tales. Alice has never met her grandmother and her mother won’t let her read the book with its stories about the Hinterland.

Alice’s journey is dark and at times terrifying. She’ll lose her mother, her only friend, and even her life. Author Melissa Albert creates dark twists and turns throughout the world as we think we know it and the one just beyond, where the stories pulse with their own life.

I found The Hazel Wood to be immersive, imaginative, and a book I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys the darker side to fairy tales. There is plenty of intrigue and mystery, and while the pace isn’t breakneck, the story kept me turning pages long after my eyes begged for sleep.

You can find out more about The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250147905

The sequel to The Hazel Wood is The Night Country, and it releases January 7, 2020.

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