Review: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

"If you're not with the book you want, you might as well want the book you're with."

I feel like this is one of those books people will either end up loving or hating - with me stuck somewhere in the middle.

The Story:

This book is basically split into two parts - the exposition/road trip on one side, Alice in Wonderland gone mad (well, even madder) on the other. 

For the first 40% of the book, we follow Alice who has been running away from her bad luck - and her grandmother, who is the author of some very creepy fairytales that have gained a huge following - with her mom for years. Bad things happen if they stay in the same place for too long, so they move on until Alice's grandmother dies and they both feel they're safe at last - which, obviously, is when Alice's mom is kidnapped and Alice gets thrown together with a long-time acquaintance named Finch who will now help in finding and rescuing Alice's mom. And yes, this isn't even the confusing part of the book yet.

I don't know what it was about this book, but I just couldn't get into the story. The plot sounds fine as a synopsis pitch, the writing was apt for the fairytale atmosphere, but the lackluster follow-through just always kept me one step from really enjoying Alice's journey.

My favorite part of The Hazel Wood were the actual fairytales ("Tales of the Hinterland") that were told within the book. Twice we get Finch 'narrating' what he remembers of the stories, featuring creepy characters, chilling storylines and not-so-happy resolutions. Those two tales where definitely where you could see Albert's lyrical prose and thought-out plot shine, which is why I felt so disappointed going back to 'reality' afterwards and reading about Alice and Finch trying to get into the Hazel Wood.

The Characters:

I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters. Though we get lots of information about everyone, you never really get to know the characters, at times it reads more like a rap sheet. Even the attempts at creating what I guess should have been romantic tension between Alice and Finch fell flat for me; their constant bickering was more annoying than intriguing. While I do not need to like every single character to enjoy a book, I'd like to at least be able to relate to something in a 400 pages book.

I do feel like this book may be the right one for a lot of other readers, though. If you enjoy Alice in Wonderland-retellings, lyrical prose, and a rather slow beginning that does pick up around the second half, this might be for you.

3/5 Stars for The Hazel Wood.

*I received a free ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review, so thank you so much to Netgalley!*