Review: The Hazel Wood

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alice and her mother have always been followed by bad luck. And they've always blamed it on Alice's grandmother, a reclusive author of the "Hinterland," and the Hazel Wood where she lives. So they've always stayed on the move, one step ahead of the bad luck at all times. But when it finally catches up with them and Alice's mother goes missing, leaving on a note that says "Stay away from the Hazel Wood," Alice finds herself chasing after any and all photos, articles and gossip to find the Hazel Wood and her grandmother in the hopes of finding her mother again.

Teaming up with Ellery, a classmate of Alice's and a super-fan of the Hinterland, Alice begins her journey. A twisted & dark faery tale ensues, as Alice discovers the truth of the Hinterland and her identity, takes her bad luck head on and fights to be the author of her own story.

At times deliciously frightening and at times all out dark and disturbing, this was a fun read ala Brothers Grimm. Mixing the familiar with the stuff of scary stories and things that lurk on the edge of nightmares, Albert weaves a modern faery tale full of unexpected twists and turns.



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Review: Beneath the Sugar Sky

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another beautiful novel from Seanan McGuire. The openings of the Wayward Children books are some of my favorite pages to read. I look forward to them with relish. Seanan writes for those of us who as children who looked for Narnia in our closets, or down rabbit holes for adventure, or created imaginary worlds of our own to just belong in. For the dreamers & the lost ones. . . Beneath the Sugar Sky introduces us to Rini, who falls from the sky into the Turtle Pond at Eleanor West's home for Wayward Children. She is in search of her mother, Sumi, who was killed several years before being able to conceive Rini (time is wonderfully weird in Nonsense worlds). Time is running out because, since she's technically never been born, Rini is slowly disappearing. So Kade, Christopher, Nadya & a new character, a mermaid named Cora, join her in a quest that takes them to new worlds, to face old villains, make new friends, meet a baker and continue to "Hope. Heal. And if possible, return to where they belong."

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