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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
I’d wanted to read this book since I first read the summary, but held off from doing so because of all the mixed reviews. But mixed means that while some people didn’t like this book, some people did, and I’m glad to say I‘ve fallen into the camp of people who did. The Hazel Wood is definitely a strange novel—perhaps too strange without explanation at times—but it’s also a wonderful and haunting read that winds through lush imagery like a path in a secluded wood. I can’t wait to read the sequel.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It started off ok, then veered off into a long dream description and got boring and I didn’t much like the ending.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Audiobook fully told me I had another hour to go and then the book was over. Surprise!
This is still such a tough book for me to rate--I thought the plot could have been a lot tighter, especially in the middle, but the parts of it that are good are SO good it makes up for the parts I found weaker. This was another book club pick by my 7-12th graders, and I'm so interested to see what they think of it, given that they haven't been terribly impressed with the other YA fantasy (A Court of Thorns and Roses and Serpent and Dove) that we've read this school year.
This is still such a tough book for me to rate--I thought the plot could have been a lot tighter, especially in the middle, but the parts of it that are good are SO good it makes up for the parts I found weaker. This was another book club pick by my 7-12th graders, and I'm so interested to see what they think of it, given that they haven't been terribly impressed with the other YA fantasy (A Court of Thorns and Roses and Serpent and Dove) that we've read this school year.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Big fan. More of this please.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3, with an extra star for the AMAZING audiobook narrator.
I feel like this book started out extraordinarily well, with sly secret holding and hints and subtle tastes of urban magic. But at perhaps the halfway point, when the story twists to become more of a straight fantasy, with traveling through mysterious woods and directly interacting with Stories, my attention began to wander. Information was told at me by the mysterious old women, and from then on for some reason I could never recapture the same interest I had before. All the cards had been laid out on the table and somehow all the tension dripped out of it for me at that point. It was better when it was holding its secrets close, I think.
The idea is deliciously fun, reminding me wholeheartedly and happily of Tell Tale Games's The Wolf Among Us (which is itself based on a comic but I haven't read it yet, so shush). But I never found myself as engaged in the characters as I needed to be, so that when characters died or looped around and came back again for resolutions and the like I never felt the impact I should have.
Still. The first half is a total joy, and I loooove the audiobook narrator. It just meanders too heavily in the second half, with too little impact and too few secrets.
Also, huzzah for not ending up with the boy in the end. Her doofy mooning over him feels bizarre, but the book at least doesn't twist up to try and force it to work when it shouldn't. So that's a plus.
I feel like this book started out extraordinarily well, with sly secret holding and hints and subtle tastes of urban magic. But at perhaps the halfway point, when the story twists to become more of a straight fantasy, with traveling through mysterious woods and directly interacting with Stories, my attention began to wander. Information was told at me by the mysterious old women, and from then on for some reason I could never recapture the same interest I had before. All the cards had been laid out on the table and somehow all the tension dripped out of it for me at that point. It was better when it was holding its secrets close, I think.
The idea is deliciously fun, reminding me wholeheartedly and happily of Tell Tale Games's The Wolf Among Us (which is itself based on a comic but I haven't read it yet, so shush). But I never found myself as engaged in the characters as I needed to be, so that when characters died or looped around and came back again for resolutions and the like I never felt the impact I should have.
Still. The first half is a total joy, and I loooove the audiobook narrator. It just meanders too heavily in the second half, with too little impact and too few secrets.
Also, huzzah for not ending up with the boy in the end. Her doofy mooning over him feels bizarre, but the book at least doesn't twist up to try and force it to work when it shouldn't. So that's a plus.