The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

The Hazel Wood (Hazel Wood, #1)

by Melissa Albert

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One of The Observer's Best Children's Books of 2018!

Fans of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and The Children of Blood and Bone have been getting lost in The Hazel Wood...


"The Hazel Wood kept me up all night. I had every light burning and the covers pulled tight around me as I fell completely into the dark and beautiful world within its pages. Terrifying, magical, and surprisingly funny, it's one of the very best books I've read in years". -Jennifer Niven, author of All The Bright Places

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Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice's life on the road, always a step ahead of the strange bad luck biting at their heels.

But when Alice's grandmother, the reclusive author of a book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate - the Hazel Wood - Alice learns how bad her luck can really get.

Her mother is stolen, by a figure who claims to come from the cruel supernatural world from her grandmother's stories.

Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: STAY AWAY FROM THE HAZEL WOOD.

To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began . . .

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"This book will be your next obsession. Welcome to the Hazel Wood, where bad luck is a living thing, princesses are doomed, and every page contains a wondrously terrible adventure - it's not safe inside these pages, but once you enter, you may never want to leave." - Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of Caraval

"Realism and fantasy blue in this strange and bewitching tale" The Observer

Melissa Albert has created a world as dark, twisted and magical as Alice in Wonderland or Harry Potter. Will you escape the Hazel Wood?

Reviewed by alisoninbookland on

3 of 5 stars

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Well, that was really weird.

Let's start with the good. I really liked the ~idea~ of the book. Grandmother writes about fairy tales. The stories aren't just stories. Alice's mother is stolen and she must rescue her. All of that? I love those elements in books and they really worked for this story. I even liked that a few of the stories are shared in book.

What I didn't like was simply how dark and twisted the stories (and the novel) was. I know fairy tales have some pretty gruesome roots and this book really acknowledges those roots. Everything about the book was rough and abrasive for my taste.

I had no idea where this journey would take me. That was pretty pleasant surprise as many books are fairly predictable. This book took me on an adventure and I never knew what would happen next.

It's definitely not a book for everyone. If you like dark and twisted stories, give The Hazel Wood a try!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 16 September, 2018: Finished reading
  • 16 September, 2018: Reviewed