Wow really loved this book not my usual genre but was hooked from the first page couldn't stop reading it. Really enjoyed the suspense of the fairytail land takes you back to your childhood. Read this if your looking for something totally different!

I feel like this is one of those books people will either end up loving or hating - with me stuck somewhere in the middle.

The Story:
This book is basically split into two parts - the exposition/road trip on one side, Alice in Wonderland gone mad (well, even madder) on the other.
For the first 40% of the book, we follow Alice who has been running away from her bad luck - and her grandmother, who is the author of some very creepy fairytales that have gained a huge following - with her mom for years. Bad things happen if they stay in the same place for too long, so they move on until Alice's grandmother dies and they both feel they're safe at last - which, obviously, is when Alice's mom is kidnapped and Alice gets thrown together with a long-time acquaintance named Finch who will now help in finding and rescuing Alice's mom. And yes, this isn't even the confusing part of the book yet.

I don't know what it was about this book, but I just couldn't get into the story. The plot sounds fine as a synopsis pitch, the writing was apt for the fairytale atmosphere, but the lackluster follow-through just always kept me one step from really enjoying Alice's journey.

My favorite part of The Hazel Wood were the actual fairytales ("Tales of the Hinterland") that were told within the book. Twice we get Finch 'narrating' what he remembers of the stories, featuring creepy characters, chilling storylines and not-so-happy resolutions. Those two tales where definitely where you could see Albert's lyrical prose and thought-out plot shine, which is why I felt so disappointed going back to 'reality' afterwards and reading about Alice and Finch trying to get into the Hazel Wood.

The Characters:
I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters. Though we get lots of information about everyone, you never really get to know the characters, at times it reads more like a rap sheet. Even the attempts at creating what I guess should have been romantic tension between Alice and Finch fell flat for me; their constant bickering was more annoying than intriguing. While I do not need to like every single character to enjoy a book, I'd like to at least be able to relate to something in a 400 pages book.
I do feel like this book may be the right one for a lot of other readers, though. If you enjoy Alice in Wonderland-retellings, lyrical prose, and a rather slow beginning that does pick up around the second half, this might be for you.

For my review I thought I would just write my feelings. I knew that this book would take my breath away. And I was right.

Wow, creepy! That was my first thought. I was so drawn into it that I didn't notice the time flying by.

Then at 40% that feeling died a bit. Alice turned into a horrible person almost overnight thinking bad thoughts and belittling the 1 person who could, and more importantly, would help her.

And then at 46% I was again sucked back in, the above forgotten, wondering if I should be reading this before going to bed....yes I have nightmares!

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I got up early to finish....the story started to unfold, my god, did it unfold! I got my answers! I couldn't cram those answers in fast enough!

Then the end. Not what I was expecting at all but this story is fabulous. Nothing like I have ever read. Dark and twisted and fabulous.

YA novel about alternative fairy tales' encroachment on our world – Quite good
This novel, aimed at the Young Adult readership, involves Alice trying to find out more about a book of fairy tales written by her grandmother. When the fairytale world and ours inter-mingle, problems arise and Alice ends up on a voyage of self-discovery. The characterisation is good with a fair amount of introspection and some of the descriptions are original and well thought-out. The plot takes a bit too long to develop and to reach its end. Quite good but I feel that there are better examples of this genre.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was well written and the idea around it very intriguing. However, the second half of the book was confusing and almost bewildering. I read to the end but found the story completely over complicated.

Review of The Hazel Wood

The Hazel Wood is a wondrous blend of fairy tale and fantasy adventure that follows the story of Alice Prosperine, granddaughter of the famous and aloof writer of fairy tales, Althea Prosperine. Althea’s book of fairy tales, although printed by a small, independent publisher whose works usually go largely unread (according to the observations of our main character), became a huge hit. However, decades down the line, the book is somewhat hard to come by – so much so that Alice, the author’s granddaughter as never read any of the stories for herself.
But Alice is not as far from the fairy tales as she first thought herself to be.

I was instantly lured in and held tight by this story. The prose is woven together as magically as if it were a fairy tale itself, and I found it immediately readable and enticing. The story opens relatively normally. It introduces the reader to Alice and her mother, Ella’s, life in New York, with Ella’s new husband and Alice’s stepsister, Audrey (although this is quite fairy tale-esque in itself). I love that the idea of the ‘evil stepmother’ is spun on its head here, as Alice treats her stepfather as though he is something to be feared and hated.
Alice and Ella are attempting to adjust to their new life in the big city, after discovering the death of Althea, Ella’s mother and Alice’s grandmother. They now believe the bad luck that once plagued them will be left far behind them. They are not so lucky, however, and things soon start to get much darker. Alice finds herself stalked by the bad luck once again, and suddenly alone, apart from the company of rich boy Ellery Finch, who is obsessed with the tales that Alice’s grandmother spun decades ago. Their journey together leads the story into something much more strange and spellbinding.

Once Alice’s real journey begins, the book begins to show its true colours, and they are combined in the strangest and most wonderful ways. Here is where the author truly shows us how creative she can be as she weaves a world reminiscent of Carroll’s Wonderland, but with an even stranger, darker twist.
I sometimes found this portion of the story to be a little hard to follow as everything was so nonsensical and nothing flowed together in a way that made much sense. It required a lot of concentration to follow what was happening at times, but I could still appreciate the creativity that went into it, and I feel as though Alice’s journey here was supposed to make the reader feel as disorientated as she did.

The ending of this wonderfully bizarre story was pretty satisfying and I feel like it was all tied up nicely, while still leaving room for it to feel as though the characters were living beyond the end of the story.

Overall this was a magically dark and creative story and I’d highly recommend it to fans of fairy tales, fantasy and anything with a Wonderland feel to it!

I felt like I was running as fast as I could to read this. It never let up. It was very enthralling to read and while I thought that I knew what direction the plot would take, it didn't and I was wrong.

I don't know what I would liken it to. I think it's a bit of a one off.

Alice is growing up with her mum Ella, they are always moving on. If they stay put too long, bad luck seems to reach out and spoil what they have.

When a letter arrives one day, Ella tells Alice that they are now free to settle down and build a life. That life involves Alice going to a school where she meets Ellery Finch. Finch is the one person whom she seems to be able to link up with. And it is Finch that she turns to when Ella goes missing.

Then the two of them, Alice and Finch, set off to find The Hazel Wood, so that Alice can rescue her mum.

Which all sounds very mundane, but it isn't because there are strange beings abroad, right out of the pages of a horrific fairy story. They seem to be after Alice!

So rather than spoil a good story, which is Alice, I suggest you read the book for yourself.

I received a free ecopy of this book for review purposes. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity.

With all of the praise heaped on this book I was expecting it to have been significantly over-hyped. I was intrigued by the blurb, but was expecting another run of the mill, young adult fantasy. I am delighted to have been wrong.

Alice and her mum have been running her whole childhood, from Alice’s grandmother who wrote a peculiar and unobtainable book of fairy tales, and from bad luck which seems to catch up with them wherever they go. After the grandmother’s death they try to settle down, but soon Alice’s mum disappears and weird things begin to happen. It appears that the fairytales are coming after Alice.

The first half of the book is largely a mystery story with fantastical elements. The latter half is where the book really comes into its own with deep fantasy scenes and some exploration into the nature of story telling that left me with quite a book hangover.

It is a book that that I believe I will read and reread to get at the symbols and ideas. If you love a good fantasy but are looking for something fresh and new then this is definitely a book you want to read.

Melissa has done such an amazing job of creating such a deep and complex world, with some extraordinary characters, at the same time your so immersed in this world you don't even realize how confused and intrigued you are, until everything suddenly falls simply into place.
Alice and her mum travel from place to place as bad luck appears to follow them everywhere. After her famous author grandmother dies, her mum gets taken, leaving behind a message telling Alice to "stay away from the Hazel Wood" and you keep you reading because you know 100% that's were Alice is going to end up, it only gets better, darker and more captivating from there. I don't think I can say much more without spoilers only that Melissa has done such a marvellous job of spinning and weaving together this unusually fascinating world that at first glance would make absolutely no sense yet everything ties seamlessly together in each intricate detail.
Alice's character is so strong and determined yet puzzled and worried and I feel this makes her instantly so much more relatable and I was happy to go along on this journey with her no matter the consequences, watching her story play out her way was brilliant. I'm a sucker for any fairy tales, and I would say this reminds me of the Grimm fairy tales but that doesn't seem quite right, I feel like this storyline is so completely original it needs a category all to itself.

Would you dare to enter the Hazel Wood? An absorbing, darkly gothic fairy story. Alice needs all the help she can get to find her grandmother's estate, the Hazel Wood. But who are the ones to help, and who the ones to hinder?

"The Hazel Wood" is a fascinating dark fairytale with interesting twists and great writing. i really liked the plot and the fairytale elements because it took a lot of traditional fairytale elements and twisted them enough to create something unique and interesting while also playing on the reader's expectations.

Unfortunately, the "Tales of the Hinterland" the characters always talk about fascinated me a lot more than the actual story we get. The two stories retold in the novel are dark, twisted, and, sometimes, seem way more planned out than the actual plot.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading "The Hazel Wood" and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes dark fairytale retellings.

"The Hazel Wood" is a dark, magical tale in which characters from the realm of fantasy - stories and fairy tales - can slip into our world via bridges which may be people or special places. Alice's grandmother lived in one such place and her once-famous book of dark, macabre tales may have had its origins in something other than her fertile imagination. However, someone is collecting all known copies of the book and it is becoming difficult to find.

Alice and her friend Finch go on a journey to find her grandmother's home in the mysterious "Hazel Wood", because Alice's mother received word of her death. However they come across more than they bargained for!

This book is beautifully written with long lilting passages and rhythms that reminded me of Hemingway. The plot is ethereal, dreamy yet quite brutal and very dark in places.

My only negative is that I found the book to be a bit too long and drawn-out in places, and I thought or hoped the friendship / budding romance between two of the characters would lead somewhere. Hence the 4 stars. The writing is definitely 5 stars!

This had the bones of making a good story and I liked the first quarter of it. After Ella disappeared and it went into fantasy land it all got a bit muddled and bizarre, although not in a good way, and I lost the plot (or the author did!). I liked the developing relationship between Finch and Alice but why she chose her mother over him was disappointing. The characters of Ella and the grandmother could have been developed more. The fairy tales were truly chilling, which i rather liked, but for it all to come to life was a bit much. If the fantasy was toned down (a lot), this would be worth reading.

The Hazel Wood is essentially a modern day fairy tale. It focuses on Alice who'd been running away with her mother for as long as she remembered. Until they received a letter saying her grandmother had died.

This is probably the bit of plot to focus on most as even after her Mother disappears, it keeps coming back to grandmother. Around 60% of this book is set in our world with a few fairy tales thrown in so if you're looking for something with a higher fantasy world ratio then you'll have to look elsewhere.

What I Liked

-The writing
-The fairy tales
-Finch

What I Didn't Like

-Alice
-Aspects of the plot got well a little too OUAT-ish for me when it comes to travelling worlds and memory.

Overall Thoughts

It was an interesting enough book and it proves that even today we can still create wonderfully dark fairy tales. But Alice and I just didn't gel so whilst I could appreciate the beautiful writing, it just wasn't the book for me.

I would however recommend this to others as its certainly an original read. Which is kind of hilarious with it being so fairy tale based. But that's just what made it good.

This has confirmed that I should be more circumspect in the ARCs I accept to read. The Hazel Wood was not for me. Unfathomable, well almost. Is this a dark fairy story, a story within a fairy story, is it supernatural, is it ”an unfathomable vastness, like lentils scattered through ashes”?

I can say it’s about seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother Ella, spending life on the road, no permanent abode, habitually having to avoid bad luck - until Ella is taken - to the Hazel Wood, the Hinterland? The abode of Alice’s recently deceased grandmother, author of supernatural fairy stories, Tales from The Hinterland. Her mother leaves behind a message for Alice: Stay away from the Hazel Wood. But, like a magnet, the Hazel Wood pulls Alice into a nightmare world of dark characters and monsters, stories within stories, as Alice seeks her mother. It’s all rather bewildering.

One character says to Alice: ”The quickest way to end this is to begin it, and that’s no way to start, is it?” Well, I rather wish I hadn’t. I struggled to finish The Hazel Wood, almost abandoned it, several times. Not my cup of tea at all.

I must still thank NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read this ARC.

A captivating read with the wonderful element of folklore mixed in. Enjoyed this book.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I enjoyed it from the start, it took a bit of reading before I got into the story. It seemed to just from one thing to another. Great storyline and great characters. They all worked well together. Definitely worth a read.

This book was on my radar for some time as a much anticipated release in 2018 and I actively stalked it for ARC opportunities. So when it appeared on NetGalley and my request was approved, I gave an audible squeal of excitement. I am not a squealing type of person so that should give you an indication of my high expectations.

And, for the first 3/4 of the book, I was absolutely engrossed. The story was dark perfection, a wonderful blend of mystery, creepiness and whimsy. I stayed up until 2am one night, captivated and more than a little creeped out. The pacing felt a little bit uneven but overall premise hooked me. There is no denying that Michelle Roberts can turn a powerful phrase. I felt like we were being given glimpses of something amazing behind the curtain- and the limited recounting of the stories from the book within the book- Tales from the Hinterlands- were riveting.

Unfortunately, like many other reviewers, it felt like the wheels came off quite badly toward the end of the story, The protagonist. Alice, was not the easiest character and at times was down right off putting. However for a big chunk of the book the more grating aspects were balanced by what I felt was an engaging partnership with her companion Ellery Finch, as the pair fall further down the rabbit hole on their way to the Hazel Wood and try to decipher the mystery of their increasingly weird experiences. When the focus shifted toward Alice on her own and her adventures in the Hazel Wood, I felt like the plot became muddled and messy. The last 100 pages or so was like watching a beautifully cast sweater come unraveled- it was very hard to make sense of what was going on-and what was going seemed by turns boring or bizarre. On the whole, I felt like it didn't quite live up to its potential and I came away far more intrigued by the elusive volume of fairy tales that I didn't get to read than the story was I was being told.

I am still giving the book 3.75 stars since having mulled my review for a few days I still find myself thinking about the book- which is always a sign that it's made an impression on me, even if it was a very uneven reading experience. I'll be interested to see how the book does on general release and it's definitely the sort of novel that I would recommend to people, if only to see what they thought of it. And if Michelle Roberts ever decides to write the full Hinterland tales, I'd love to read more- especially about Twice Killed Katherine and her bird cage.

I was absolutely blown away by The Hazel Wood from the first chapter to the last. One of those books that you genuinely don't want to end - I read it once for pleasure and I'm going to read it again to learn from it. Evocative and enchanting prose alongside an engrossing storyline made this one of my top five books this year.

Thank you to Netgalley, Melissa Albert and the publisher for my ARC of The Hazel Wood.
Alice Crewe or Proserpine is the granddaughter of the infamous Althea Proserpine, author of the mysterious and rather hard to get hold of Book Tales of the Hinterland. But Alice has never met her grandmother, her mother keeps them away from her estate; The Hazel Wood and seen as though bad things and bad luck seem to follow them everywhere, Alice has no choice but to spend her life moving from place to place and pining for the answers she's sure her grandmother and her Book hold.

This book is perfect for lovers of dark stories and particularly dark fairy stories, Tales of death and darkness, horror, murder and the creepy things which hover just of sight. When Alice's mother Ella goes missing, she must journey to The Hazel Wood and the Hinterland to try and rescue not only Ella but herself.

This story was unusual but brilliant, a real page turner which keeps the reader engrossed right until the end. What hold does the Hinterland have over Alice, why is her new found schoolfriend Fitch happy to help her? Is he just a crazy fan of the Tales too or is there something more sinister going on? If you want to know the answers then you'll have to read the book!!