The New York Times bestselling sequel to Melissa Albert’s beloved The Hazel Wood! In The Night Country, Alice Proserpine dives back into a menacing, mesmerizing world of dark fairy tales and hidden doors of The Hazel Wood. Follow her and Ellery Finch as they learn The Hazel Wood was just the beginning, and that worlds die not with a whimper, but a bang. With Finch’s help, Alice escaped the … but a bang.
With Finch’s help, Alice escaped the Hinterland and her reclusive grandmother’s dark legacy. Now she and the rest of the dregs of the fairy tale world have washed up in New York City, where Alice is trying to make a new, unmagical life. But something is stalking the Hinterland’s survivors–and she suspects their deaths may have a darker purpose. Meanwhile, in the winking out world of the Hinterland, Finch seeks his own adventure, and–if he can find it–a way back home…
Don’t miss Tales from the Hinterland, coming January 12, 2021!
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Elegant, ethereal, and beautifully brutal, The Hazel Wood is a fairy tale worth falling for. This is a dream of a book I cannot recommend highly enough. It’s like falling into a nautilus shell: every time you think you’ve found the end, another chamber opens. Absolutely breathtaking.
This book will be your next literary obsession. Welcome to the Hazel Wood, where bad luck is a living thing, princesses are doomed, and every page contains a wondrously terrible adventure―it’s not safe inside these pages, but once you enter, you may never want to leave. The Hazel Wood is pure imagination candy.
The Hazel Wood is thoroughly, creepily captivating, with surprises I never saw coming! Such a refreshing and beautifully written inversion of the classic fairy tale-inspired story.
Melissa Albert deftly weaves her magic once again between our world and the fairy tale realm of the Hinterland. The Night Country is a new modern classic filled with wondrous delights and daring forays into the dark. Not to be missed!
I adored the first novel in this series, The Hazel Wood, but thought The Night Country might even be better. Particularly good on audio. A fascinating exploration of the dark side of fairy tales, written in such a compelling voice I wish I’d written it myself. (The scene with the letter in Mansfield Park, my heart!!) Highly recommended.
Full of dark, twisty corners and eerie beauty, The Hazel Wood is like nothing else I’ve read before.
The Hazel Wood kept me up all night. I had every light burning and the covers pulled tight around me as I fell completely into the dark and beautiful world within its pages. Terrifying, magical, and surprisingly funny, it’s one of the very best books I’ve read in years.
Reader, I warn you: this book beckoned me in with delicate claws then sank its teeth into my heart. I fear a part of me will never escape The Hazel Wood.
Dark, spellbinding, and magical. One of the most original books I’ve read in years ― The Hazel Wood is destined to be a classic.
Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood is an elegant dark fairy tale, full of the power of story. It’s creepy and gorgeous, and I loved every word.
Dark, haunting, and absolutely mesmerizing: The Hazel Wood grabbed me with its mysterious, upside-down fairy tales, full of thorns and sharp twists. In no time at all, I became obsessed with this book, willing to follow it anywhere ― even deep into the Hinterland.
A winding, creepy, insidiously delicious novel. Utterly spectacular. I read it in one sitting!
Absolutely mesmerizing, magical, and inventive. Hats off to Melissa Albert!
** 4.5 stars **
There are sequels that fall short of the first book; that make you wish that you hadn’t continue to follow along with the series, left you with mediocre feelings or wondering why you bothered to read the book in the first place because it was more of a place holder than anything. Well folks, I believe this book is NOT one of those. I actually think it may be better than the first. It gets into the darker aspect of the fairy tales that the first book was lacking.
The growth and complexity of Alice’s as she interactions with this darker world really shows that teen angst vibe. She is an awkward teen girl who doesn’t know her feelings about herself, the world, or others. The are moments when her self-esteem really pushes her difficult situations and she shines through it. But there are still those other times that as a reader, I forget and want to yell “Ugh, why?!?”
I am a little sad that there isn’t as much about everyone’s favorite, Finch in this book. He played such a minor role in the last book, but seemed to impact her so much. I had hoped he would play a more significant part. I won’t run it for you. I’ll let you decide.
Overall, it is a great addition to the series. I hope we more of Finch in the future.
***I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. ***