Title: The Hazel Wood            

Author: Melissa Albert                  

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy        

Publisher: Flatiron Books      

Format: Hardcover 

Pages: 359

Rating: 4/5 stars 

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic 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 away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother’s tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

Review:

This is a book that has been on my want to read list for so long, and it’s been on my physical TBR shelf for over a year, so honestly I’m just really glad I’ve finally read it! I knew that with the idea of twisted fairytales that I would enjoy it, and it did not disappoint!

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The story follows Alice, who’s mother and her have been on the run away from bad luck ever since she could remember! Alice isn’t sure why, but she does know that her grandmother, who she’s never met, has written a book of fairytales and is very famous, but her mother refuses to talk about her! Alice knows that’s there’s a lot of mystery wrapped around her family, and she’s dying to know what it’s all about!

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The story sends Alice off on an adventure to learn about her family history, why these fairytales have made her grandmother so famous, and what is hiding in the Hazel Wood! The creativity used to conjure up this world is so fascinating! I really loved the world created, and thought the role that fairytales played in the book was really cool! I also really liked that a love story was not the centre of this book! I definitely recommend this book for those who love YA fantasy books, with a fairytale spin to it!

Happy reading!