A review by tylerhayes
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

4.0

A good mystery/fairly tale esque story. A pretty big departure from recent high fantasy readings, this book (especially in the beginning) is a very contemporary, low fantasy. Started off a tiny bit slow, but still had some good intrigue with all the people following Alice, our main character. Alice is not super likeable, but she could be a lot worse, so I can live with it. I really enjoyed once she came home to find the letter, and then found other mother was kidnapped - that really set the whole plot into motion and got me invested. I also really liked finch, he makes for a good sidekick. We think he wants to help Alice, but his motivations are also a little suspect, since he wants to find her grandmother and her stories, and sll her fans are kind of cultish. And I liked his and Alice's dynamic, and the mystery/drama while they're being followed, and the bond they do form. I like how the fairy tales he tells also add to the lore of the hazel wood and make eve ything creepier. And it was kind of nice to avoid the cliche of them falling in love. This was the best part imo. The part once they get to the magical land gets a bit weird. Finch's death scene was fine - but him coming back in the way he did seems too convenient - and surprisingly unmagical. The whole deal with the "refugees" seems like a bit of a copout to give Alice some guides. But there could have been weird magical guides or her story senses or whatever to guide her instead of this solution. It felt to worldly in such a magical/rule breaking place. Also, I like the spinner, and how Alice is the door, etc - but I wish Alice did more to escape her own story, or maybe Alice and Finch. Once again, the refugees from the real world felt too grounded, like they shouldnt be able to make a difference in this world. So while the world was cool, it felt like a bit of a lackluster climax. Like it couldn't decide to learn into magic all the way or not, and we got a not-so-satisfying conclusion. Also, it set up all these characters - the briar king and Catherine - and Alice never got to face them or anything, or use them to end her story or something cool like that. I like the idea of Alice needing to free herself from the story, but not how it was done. But I did like the part after she returned to the real world. It sort of reminded me of the hunger games after prim died, where katniss is a wreck who needs rehabilitation. Same sort of thing, Alice is understandably a wreck, but it's good to see her get a happy ending of sorts. Pretty good book with a few unsatisfying points that drag it down.