"The Hazel Wood" by Melissa Albert

This book has been receiving great reviews from early readers months before its scheduled publication date (January 30, 2018). So I was really excited to get an e-ARC of this fantasy YA novel that promised to be set in a creepy fairy tale world. Unfortunately, this book was a disappointment for me. I think more than anything else the writing style was just not my cup of tea.

Here is a quick summary of the plot. The main character, a seventeen year old girl named Alice has spent much of her life moving from place to place. Her mother Ella grew up in the Hazel Wood, a secluded estate owned by Alice's grandmother Althea Proserpine. Althea had written a book of fairy tales that brought her much fame. However, it is almost impossible to get a copy of her book and Alice had never read her grandmother's work. She also never met her, a fact that makes her even more curious about her famous relation. One day, Alice's mother disappears and Alice is convinced that the key to finding her mother is to finally venture into the Hazel Wood.

Now to the reasons why I did not enjoy this book. First of all, we spend over half of the novel in anticipation of getting to the Hazel Wood. Weird things start happening to Alice, but nothing is fully explained. I think the author was trying to keep the reader in suspense. Instead, I was just bored and tired of waiting for something interesting to happen. When we finally do get to the Hazel Wood things start moving along much faster, but in snippets such that again nothing is fully explained.

In addition, the most interesting and unique part of this book are the fairy tales which are extremely dark and are unlike anything I had ever read. However, the author fails to explore that angle fully. We get only bits and pieces of some stories and never, for example, get the full tale of Alice-Three-Times.

Overall, it was difficult for me to stay invested in the story. I just could not get into it and struggled to finish it. 2 out of 5 stars.