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A review by enchantedfiction
The Night Country by Melissa Albert
4.0
I received an early audiobook copy of The Night Country from Libro.fm as an ALC for December. I read The Hazel Wood last year and really enjoyed the idea of the story, though I wanted more about the other fairy tale characters. I was interested to see where this story would go, and it did not disappoint.
The Night Country begins some time after the events of The Hazel Wood, where Alice and other fairy tales from the Hinterland are trying to survive in our world. Alice has a few Hinterland friends, though she avoids quite a few of them and tries to hold down more of the life she learned to have in the years leading up to what happens in The Hazel Wood. But when Hinterland characters start getting murdered, all fingers point to Alice when the victims are shrouded in ice. Alice is being framed, but can she investigate fast enough to figure out who is, and what they are doing it for?
Since this does not release until January, I won't give any spoilers, just a few thoughts on the story.
I am in the category of people who believe that sequels are usually hit or miss. Sometimes it seems like not a lot happens in sequels as it's more of a build up for the third book if it is promising to be a trilogy. But The Night Country happily falls into the "hit" category! There was enough action and mystery to the story that it kept me interested, it brought in new characters or old characters that we got to know a little better, and I wasn't able to figure out all of the reveals at the end before they happened. There is a happy blend of magic and real world events, and a really cool tie in for avid readers. The writing style is easy to read and get sucked in, which I always appreciate in a book. I usually try to physically read sequels of books that I have physically read the first of, but I really enjoyed the listening experience for this book.
If you enjoyed The Hazel Wood, I would highly recommend continuing with the series! I would honestly say that I probably enjoyed The Night Country slightly more than The Hazel Wood, so this is probably more of a 4.25 star review, and the listening experience was great as well!
The Night Country begins some time after the events of The Hazel Wood, where Alice and other fairy tales from the Hinterland are trying to survive in our world. Alice has a few Hinterland friends, though she avoids quite a few of them and tries to hold down more of the life she learned to have in the years leading up to what happens in The Hazel Wood. But when Hinterland characters start getting murdered, all fingers point to Alice when the victims are shrouded in ice. Alice is being framed, but can she investigate fast enough to figure out who is, and what they are doing it for?
Since this does not release until January, I won't give any spoilers, just a few thoughts on the story.
I am in the category of people who believe that sequels are usually hit or miss. Sometimes it seems like not a lot happens in sequels as it's more of a build up for the third book if it is promising to be a trilogy. But The Night Country happily falls into the "hit" category! There was enough action and mystery to the story that it kept me interested, it brought in new characters or old characters that we got to know a little better, and I wasn't able to figure out all of the reveals at the end before they happened. There is a happy blend of magic and real world events, and a really cool tie in for avid readers. The writing style is easy to read and get sucked in, which I always appreciate in a book. I usually try to physically read sequels of books that I have physically read the first of, but I really enjoyed the listening experience for this book.
If you enjoyed The Hazel Wood, I would highly recommend continuing with the series! I would honestly say that I probably enjoyed The Night Country slightly more than The Hazel Wood, so this is probably more of a 4.25 star review, and the listening experience was great as well!