Review | The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

The cover? Gorgeous. The book? A rough start, but it grew on me.

The Hazel Wood exploded when it was first released in 2018 … which, if I were to bet on it, was in large part due to that cover.

Look at it.
Ain’t it pretty?

The rest of the book is a YA urban fantasy / mystery / Alice in Wonderland-esque mash-up. Seventeen-year-old Alice has been on the run with her mom all her life. Everything is going fine (I guess?) until her mother is kidnapped … and she’s forced into a world of dark fairy tales and fiction-come-to-life.

What I liked:

The Fairy Tales. Mixed into the book are two short tales which are “taken” from The Hinterland … essentially, it’s a book within a book. They’re dark and atmospheric and do an excellent just capturing the mystery and gloom of The Hinterland.

Finch. While Finch’s character feels a bit underdeveloped, he’s absolutely lovely. Really. Fun and thoughtful and geeky and adventurous and a bit awkward.

The Themes. Structurally and thematically, this is a super interesting book. The Guardian puts it wonderfully:

Insidiously beautiful, this is the opposite of escapist fantasy; it is a story about the imagination’s power to loose atrocity into the (mostly) law-abiding confines of the real. It also explores belonging, identity and the ability to find a home in hostile new landscapes … it plays unnervingly with the concept of the changeling.

Alice’s Voice. Alice as a character? Yeah. Not my favourite. But, I’ll give her this: she’s a compelling narrator, particularly as the story starts to draw to a close.

The Rising Action. The book starts off quite slow, and there were several instances near the start where I seriously contemplated calling a DNF. But then there’s this hint of suspense … and another … and suddenly SO MUCH IS GOING ON AND IT’S 5AM BUT YOU CAN’T PUT IT DOWN EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE PATIENTS BOOKED FOR 8:30AM BECAUSE YOU YOU NEED TO KNOW!

What I didn’t like:

The Prose. Albert’s style isn’t my favourite, but there’s definitely a sense of place and person. However, there were a number of places where the writing takes an utterly bizarre tangent that completely breaks with the atmosphere/tension. For instance: When Alice’s mom first goes missing – she’s frantic and searching – and then pauses to describe what the parkade looks like.

Look: I don’t care about the paint colour.

Your mom is missing.

Skedaddle.

At other times — and by that, I mean the first chunk of the book — it felt like I was reading Crazy Rich Asians. Talking about super-expensive things worked in Crazy Rich Asians: the book is literally about opulence and excess and wealth. Thing is, The Hazel Wood is not Crazy Rich Asians. Not even close. It would have been enough to say: “They were rich and the house was fancy.”

Alice. For most of the book – like 80% of it – Alice is awful. Rambling. Shallow. Irritable. Rude. Critical. Emotionally immature. Physically abusive. Mean … And, sure, it comes together … but that doesn’t take away from the fact that you still have to live with crabby Alice for several hundred pages.

Also, Alice: WHY U NO CALL POLICE?! Good lord. The number of YA books/TV shows out there where the teenagers think that adults won’t understand — so completely neglect due process and decide to go save the day on their own. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. CALL THE POLICE FIRST. At least file a report before heading off on an adventure.

Also, Parents: WHY U NO TELL KIDS LIFE-SAVING INFORMATION?! The number of stories out there where the parents are *100% aware* of a threat — and then decide that the best strategy is to simply ignore it and not prepare – let alone inform – their children of it? Avoidance is not the answer, people.

Favourite quote:

And while they’re being told, stories create the energy that makes this world go. They keep our stars in place. They make our grass grow.

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The Details:

• The Book: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
• Published: 2018, Flatiron Books 
  
• My Copy: KFPL
• Read date: June 28 – 30, 2019
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• You should read to this if you like … Alice in Wonderland meets YA contemporary mysteries
• Avoid this if you dislike … angsty, angry protagonists