The Hazel Wood Review

I received an advance copy of The Hazel Wood through netgalley, which is awesome. However, I must say that I don't understand or agree with their decision to cut out international reviewers. How can it be a bad thing to have reviewers promoting books in different countries? Isn't that a good thing?

Summary: Alice and her mom, Ella, have always been closely shadowed by bad luck. It kept them constantly moving and hiding. When they receive a letter that Alice's grandmother, a famous fairy tale writer, has died on her estate called the Hazel Wood, Ella finally allows them to settle down and stay in one place. However, their bad luck returns when Ella is kidnapped by mysterious figures claiming to be from the Hinterland, the setting of Alice's grandmother's fairy tales. She is only told to stay away from the Hazel Wood; but when it comes to her mother, Alice will do anything to find her.

First, love the cover. Super eye-catching and sparks interest.

I thought this book was really creative in how it recreated the idea of fairy tales. They are twisted and don't have "happily ever afters," but basic fairy tale ideas still exist. It's reminescent of our childhoods, but it also contains the more cynical viewpoint that we often gain as we grow older.

I enjoyed Alice's character of anger and determination for her mother. She was flawed, yet relatabable. I found it interesting how her forced circumstances shaped her and the subtleties of her character. The more you analyzed her, the more her character made sense which I thought was well done.

I found this book to be spooky, creative, and engaging. Although, I would have liked to have learned more about the Winterland and its fairy tales. I think a companion piece that has all the fairy tales would be really cool. The world's history is clearly really rich and worth exploring more. Looking back, I wish Alice had spent more time there rather than trying to get there.

I think there could have been a little more expansion on the idea that there are actually multiple different universes. It didn't feel the most well explained concept even though I think it is really interesting.

While I liked the character of Finch, I wish there could have been more about him. His personality was pretty much just that he had a neglectful family and was obsessed with the fairy tales.

One moment I found to be really impactful is when Finch and Alice were talking to a cop. Finch is black while Alice is white and in the scene she is angry, like usual, and talks back to the cop. Afterwards, Finch points out the stupidity of it and how if he had done it, it would have been life endangering. I found this call out for privilege to be really important and a great moment to realize the assumptions that privileged people don't have to worry about.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Hazel Wood. I would just like to see more, which maybe I can get if there is a sequel.

4 out of 5 stars!