The Hazel Wood

I went into this book with SO much hype. It was all over my feed, every autumnal reading list recommended it, and people kept promising it was the ultimate "spooky season" read. Dark fairy tales, creeping woods, mysterious grandmothers, and a portal to a nightmare realm. On paper, this should have been an absolute 5-star, new favorite book for me.

Unfortunately? It ended up feeling way more like a chore than a magical escape.

Let’s start with what actually worked, because when Melissa Albert hits, she hits. The dark fairy tales (the actual Tales from the Hinterland snippet passages) were hands down the best part of the book.

Stories like Alice-Three-Times and The Skinned Maiden have this delightfully eerie, Grimms-on-steroids vibe. They feel atmospheric, twisted, and genuinely spooky. Every time the narrative paused to give us a piece of lore or a quick glimpse into Althea Proserpine’s book, I was locked in. The world-building around how stories operate on raw belief and endless, tragic loops is a brilliant concept.

The problem is that those fairy tales are wrapped in a 350-page urban fantasy novel that I just couldn't bring myself to care about.

The first half is a slow-burn road trip with Alice and Finch trying to find the Hazel Wood. Usually, I love a mystery setup, but here it felt sluggish and strangely detached. The pacing was completely off for me; we spent so much time driving around in the real world waiting for the plot to happen, and by the time we actually got into the Hinterland, the rules shifted so fast that I felt lost rather than immersed.

I think the biggest wall I hit was Alice. I know she’s supposed to be sharp-edged, angry, and cold (which makes total sense given her origins), but I just could not connect with her.

It’s really hard to push through a book when you aren't invested in the main character’s survival or her relationships. Her dynamic with Finch didn't quite click for me either. He felt more like an exposition device to explain the Hinterland lore than a fully fleshed-out person. Because I didn't care about the characters, the stakes felt almost nonexistent, even when wild, cosmic, fairy-tale stuff was going down around them.

The Hazel Wood has an incredible premise and top-tier aesthetic vibes. If you’re reading purely for dark fairy-tale lore and surreal atmospheric imagery, you might love it. But for me, bland characters and a clunky plot made this a struggle to finish. I’m glad I read it for the spooky season aesthetic, but I definitely won't be rushing to re-read it.