The Hazel Wood The hazelwood #1 by Melissa Albert - Book Review

Alice Proserpine has spent the past seventeen years of her life moving around with her mother, Ella, and trying to outrun the bad luck that seems to follow them wherever they go.

But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch dark fairytales, dies alone on her estate—Hazel Wood, Alice’s mother is kidnapped, by a figure claiming to be from the same world her grandmother created, the hinterland. 

With the help of her classmate, super fan Ellery Finch, the two of them must embark on a journey to rescue her mother and discover the mystery behind her grandmother’s book.

A novice to the writing scene, Albert has all the makings of a great fantasy writer, her style is elegant in its simplicity, and rich with prose, the kind that makes the story feel like a hybrid between horror and fantasy, Alice in Wonderland with a dark twist.

Her heroine, Alice is portrayed as a normal teenage girl trying to find her place in the world and to understand why she and her mother like to live like nomads, but she’ll find that the truth is nothing at all like she expected.

Ellery Finch, on the other hand, has the heart of a true believer, and is a good friend to Alice, showing up at exactly the right moment to act as her guide, and to remind her of hope, and what she’s fighting for.

As for the mythical land of Hinterland, Albert writes with the experience of a writer with twice her experience, bringing to life a place where stories live, without any kind of control over their lives.

It’s Alice’s journey through the Hinterland to rescue her mother that will unlock the secrets to her past, and show her who she really is, and how she’s in charge of her own fate.