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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rounded up from 3.5. This was more scattered than the first book in the series - it didn’t feel as cohesive and while it had creepy parts, it didn’t manage to hit the same dark-fairy-tale tone that was so excellent in The Hazel Wood. The parts I liked best were the ones focused on Finch and his travels. Alice’s storyline lagged, especially at the beginning, but picked up.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Woof. I did not care about this until the last ten percent. It felt like it was at least half unnecessary words for the sake of flowery writing. Alice is really no fun and I couldn’t wait to get to the (few) Finch parts.
Such a bummer after how much I liked the first one. Hopefully Tales From the Hinterland is better!
Such a bummer after how much I liked the first one. Hopefully Tales From the Hinterland is better!
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An enjoyable sequel with a fun magic system built around books, and another, less fun one.
I enjoyed the letter magic and the resolution was very satisfying.
I'm not sure how re-readable the series is, but it was great the first time around!
I enjoyed the letter magic and the resolution was very satisfying.
I'm not sure how re-readable the series is, but it was great the first time around!
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'd say I liked the first one better simply bc I feel like it got to the point faster without drawing it out so much, but this book was good as well. I wish they dove deeper into finch's background as a spinner instead of focusing so much on his romantic feelings but even then that was pretty subdued (which I appreciated). Overall, a good read but much longer than I feel it needed to be. I just felt like there were a lot of unnecessary chapters with side stories that weren't needed (or at least it didn't need to be as lengthy as many were). Overall, I'm surprised I didn't like this series MORE, but I'm pretty happy with it as a whole.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Star Rating: 4.5 stars
Note: This is the 2nd book in the Hazel Wood series so this will not be an in-depth review.
For those that follow my reviews, you will know that earlier this month I re-read The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, and although I did not enjoy it as much as I did the 1st time, mainly due to the fact that I have since read other books that execute the themes contained in that book better, I still enjoyed it enough to continue the series with book 2, The Night Country. For those that don’t know, this series follows the story of Alice Proserpine and her associates struggling to survive in our world after theirs is destroyed for reasons that I won’t spoil. Alice is particularly having a hard time as she feels torn between the two worlds due to the fact that she has ties in each, and this is mainly her story of finding a balance between who she is and what she wants to be.
The best thing about this book/series is the themes, and in this one, it is the theme of self-discovery: finding the place that makes you feel contented and happy, even when everybody is trying to get you to do what they think is “best” and nobody is listening to you. Our main character Alice struggles with this a lot as she feels she is being torn in two due to her myriad different allegiances. Does she do what makes her happy or what makes her fellow Hinterland survivors or her mother happy? I think that her struggle to find a happy medium will be a struggle that a lot of readers relate to.
Speaking of characters, our other main character Ellery Finch received a lot of the character depth that he was lacking in book 1. He is no longer just a sidekick but is now a fully-fleshed out character of his own, actually becoming pretty much the hero of this installment. Although her character work still needs polish, I am very impressed with the improvements that Albert has made (This is coming from an individual who loves her authors to do deep dives into characters and motivations and I personally found that lacking in this book.).
Finally, I really enjoyed the extended allusion that Albert did in this book to death, whether it be death personified, death of self, of hopes/dreams, of the world. Again, I have to say that it wasn’t the best executed extended allusion that I have ever seen, but since this is only Albert’s second book, I am willing to cut her a little slack.
All in all, I enjoyed this book, and I look forward to what Albert will write in the future because she has a lot of potential. 4.5 stars!!!!!!!!
Note: This is the 2nd book in the Hazel Wood series so this will not be an in-depth review.
For those that follow my reviews, you will know that earlier this month I re-read The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, and although I did not enjoy it as much as I did the 1st time, mainly due to the fact that I have since read other books that execute the themes contained in that book better, I still enjoyed it enough to continue the series with book 2, The Night Country. For those that don’t know, this series follows the story of Alice Proserpine and her associates struggling to survive in our world after theirs is destroyed for reasons that I won’t spoil. Alice is particularly having a hard time as she feels torn between the two worlds due to the fact that she has ties in each, and this is mainly her story of finding a balance between who she is and what she wants to be.
The best thing about this book/series is the themes, and in this one, it is the theme of self-discovery: finding the place that makes you feel contented and happy, even when everybody is trying to get you to do what they think is “best” and nobody is listening to you. Our main character Alice struggles with this a lot as she feels she is being torn in two due to her myriad different allegiances. Does she do what makes her happy or what makes her fellow Hinterland survivors or her mother happy? I think that her struggle to find a happy medium will be a struggle that a lot of readers relate to.
Speaking of characters, our other main character Ellery Finch received a lot of the character depth that he was lacking in book 1. He is no longer just a sidekick but is now a fully-fleshed out character of his own, actually becoming pretty much the hero of this installment. Although her character work still needs polish, I am very impressed with the improvements that Albert has made (This is coming from an individual who loves her authors to do deep dives into characters and motivations and I personally found that lacking in this book.).
Finally, I really enjoyed the extended allusion that Albert did in this book to death, whether it be death personified, death of self, of hopes/dreams, of the world. Again, I have to say that it wasn’t the best executed extended allusion that I have ever seen, but since this is only Albert’s second book, I am willing to cut her a little slack.
All in all, I enjoyed this book, and I look forward to what Albert will write in the future because she has a lot of potential. 4.5 stars!!!!!!!!
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really loved the first book, The Hazel Wood. It’s hard to do a sequel, but this was really good. Honestly, it almost could have been just one long book, the way the story and characters picked back up.