  | Book Details Title: The Night Country: A Hazel Wood Novel (The Hazel Wood) |
Book DescriptionAmazon.com Review Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood first drew us into the Hinterland, her dark fairy tale world come to life. Now her spellbinding sequel, The Night Country, takes readers deeper into the darkness. Alice Proserpine, Alice-Three-Times in her origin story, has left the Hinterland for New York City. She is not alone. Others from the Hinterland are there, too, trying to live as humans in a place they don’t belong. Someone begins killing these storybook characters, but who is doing it, and why? The love story between Alice and the boy Finch shines light and hope into the novel’s shadows, and I sped through the pages of The Night Country, heart in my throat, marveling at each new thread of the story, and hoping none of the characters I loved would die. The Night Country has new fairytales and journeys to follow, and one tale in particular becomes the key to what is happening in both the fading Hinterland and in New York City. Albert has crafted a sequel that can also stand on its own, and for those among us who love a good fairy tale, and a mystery, The Night Country is a dragon’s hoard of riches. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Book Review Read more Review New York Times bestseller! Named a must-read book by Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, BookPage, Hypable, The Culturess, PopSugar, The Nerd Daily, and more“What Albert renders on the page is audacious: with resounding success, she keeps a firm grip on her characters and their stories, and her prose weaves a magic of its own, animating the ever-expanding fantastical premise through lyrical language, striking metaphor, and a mastery of tone that forces readers to feel the magic along with the underlying emotional stakes.” ―Booklist, starred review“This fairy tale noir adventure blends romance and mystery with plenty of action…a must-read for fans of portal fantasies, mysteries, and readers who prefer their magic with bloody sharp edges.” ―School Library Journal, starred review“Albert’s legion of fans will relish her return to the bloody, terrifying, seductive world of her debut and the inventive brilliance of her storytelling.” ―The Guardian“A lush and enchanting tale. Albert effortlessly draws on a wide range of literary references and builds a world where magic really does emerge from pages and where books are not just figurative but literal doors. Dreamy and disturbing in equal measure, it’s the perfect antidote to a grey winter’s day.” ―Irish Times “This follow-up to the astonishing The Hazel Wood displays the same lush prose, dizzying imagination, and macabre sensibilities (along with the grisly body count). A necessary read for Hinterland fans―and who isn’t?” ―Kirkus Reviews“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!” ―Kim Liggett, author of The Grace Year“The Night Country is so deliciously creepy―the kind of puzzle box nightmare you have to see through to the end. One of the most unputdownable books I’ve read in a long time.” ―Emily X.R. Pan, author of The Astonishing Color of After“Darker, bloodier and even stranger than The Hazel Wood, The Night Country invites the wolf from the forest inside your home. A sinister jewel of a novel, like splitting a pomegranate and finding the inside filled with blood and rubies, every sentence of this book thrilled and chilled me to the bone.” ―Melinda Salisbury, author of The Sin Eater’s Daughter“Starting with an unexpected kiss that breaks convention and ending with a new beginning, Albert transforms the traditional fairy tale, deconstructing the very notion of a happy story. Dark, yet inviting, The Night Country reimagines the way in which we tell stories through the realistic gaze of a teenager uncomfortable in her own skin. Rife with long-forgotten ghosts, unforgettable tales of fancy, and even a touch of romance, Albert shines in her sophomore novel, pulling the reader once more into the haunting depths of the Hinterland, where Stories rule, whether they know it or not.” ―Paperback ParisPraise for The Hazel WoodNew York Times bestsellerEight starred reviewsNew York Times Notable Book of 2018Boston Globe Best Book of the YearWall Street Journal Best Children’s Book of the Year#1 ABA IndieNext PickABA Indies Introduce SelectionJunior Library Guild SelectionALA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults ListSeventeen Best YA Book of the YearThe Guardian Best Children’s Book of the YearObserver Best Children’s Book of the YearEntertainment Weekly Top 10 YA Novel of the YearBustle Best YA Book of the YearBookPage Best Book of the YearBooks-a-Million Best Book of the YearGoodreads Choice Award FinalistPublishers Weekly Flying Start“The Hazel Wood starts out strange and gets stranger, in the best way possible. Albert seamlessly combines contemporary realism with fantasy, blurring the edges in a way that highlights that place where stories and real life convene, where magic contains truth, and the world as it appears is false, where just about anything can happen, particularly in the pages of a good book. It’s a captivating debut.” ―The New York Times Book Review“An original and imaginative fairy tale: thrilling, fascinating, and poignant in equal measure.” ―Entertainment Weekly, Best New Books“Insidiously beautiful, this is the opposite of escapist fantasy; it is a story about the imagination’s power to loose atrocity into the (mostly) law-abiding confines of the real.” ―The Guardian“A darkly brilliant story of literary obsession, fairy-tale malignancy, and the measures a mother will take to spare her child.” ―The Wall Street Journal, Best Children’s Book of the Year“An eerie, assured first novel. Albert occasionally entwines the haunting tales of the grandmother’s book through this mesmerizing narrative, creating a fantasy as lush and twisty as ivy.” ―The Washington Post“One of those rare young adult fantasy novels that holds a self-contained world in only a few hundred pages. If the novel’s heroine is a teenage girl, then her story will appeal to readers of all ages, with its intrigue and strange fairy tale magic and very grown up writing.” ―Esquire“A can’t-miss, dark, and creepy new take on fairy tales that will have you glued to the page until the very end.” ―BuzzFeed“This extremely creepy, wondrously original and beautifully written book conjures up a dark, bloody netherworld of fairytales and enchants and enthralls from the first sentence to the final page.” ―The Buffalo News“A contemporary fantasy that dwells in an atmospheric, intertwining world of terrifying circumstances; a breathtaking dive into the magic and importance of story in one’s identity.” ―Shelf Awareness, starred review“Alice’s sharp-edged narration and Althea’s terrifying fairy tales, interspersed throughout, build a tantalizing tale of secret histories and magic that carries costs and consequences. There is no happily-ever-after resolution except this: Alice’s hard-won right to be in charge of her own story.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review”Highly literary, occasionally surreal, and grounded by Alice’s clipped, matter-of-fact voice, The Hazel Wood is a dark story that readers will have trouble leaving behind. The buzz for this debut is deafening, and the fact that the film adaption is already in the works doesn’t hurt.” ―ALA Booklist, starred review“Simultaneously wondrous and horrific, dreamlike and bloody, lyrical and creepy, exquisitely haunting and casually, brutally cruel. Not everybody lives, and certainly not ‘happily ever after’―but within all the grisly darkness, Alice’s fierce integrity and hard-won self-knowledge shine unquenched.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review“An empowering read that will be especially popular with fans of fairy-tale retellings.” ―School Library Journal, starred review“Fans of the dark supernatural will gobble this up.” ―Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review“Albert weaves a spellbinding, dark tale. The smoke-and-mirrors world of the Hazel Wood is deliciously creepy and its denizens are well-drawn.” ―VOYA, starred review“It’s no exaggeration to say that The Hazel Wood is one of the most anticipated books of the year. Fortunately this is one of those cases where the hype is justified. Readers, especially those with a fondness for dark fairy tales, won’t want to miss this brilliant combination of realistic fiction and fantasy.” ―BookPage“The Hazel Wood is a rich tapestry of dangerous delights, and it effortlessly balances charm, malice, beauty, and fear. The diverse characters, gritty twists and turns, vivid imagery, and captivating premise make this the perfect choice for fans of Lev Grossman, Lewis Carroll, and Edgar Allan Poe. Chilling, atmospheric, as fresh as it is dark: the must-read of the season!” ―Romantic Times, RT Seal of Excellence“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.” ―Kristin Cashore, author of Graceling “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.” ―Stephanie Garber, author of Caraval “Dark, spellbinding, and magical. One of the most original books I’ve read in years―The Hazel Wood is destined to be a classic.” ―Kami Garcia, author of Beautiful Creatures“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.” ―Heidi Heilig, author of The Girl from Everywhere “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.” ―Kat Howard, author of An Unkindness of Magicians“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.” ―Seanan McGuire, author of Every Heart a Doorway“Absolutely mesmerizing, magical, and inventive. Hats off to Melissa Albert!” ―Karen McManus, author of One of Us Is Lying“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.” ―Jodi Meadows, coauthor of My Lady Jane “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.” ―Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places “A winding, creepy, insidiously delicious novel. Utterly spectacular. I read it in one sitting!” ―Melinda Salisbury, author of The Sin-Eater’s Daughter“Full of dark, twisty corners and eerie beauty, The Hazel Wood is like nothing else I’ve read before.” ―Evelyn Skye, author of The Crown’s Game Read more About the Author Melissa Albert is the founding editor of the Barnes & Noble Teen Blog and the managing editor of BN.com. She has written for McSweeney’s, Time Out Chicago, MTV, and more. Melissa is from Illinois and lives in Brooklyn. The Night Country is her second novel. Read more Customers Review: I loved Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood and I loved The Night Country just as much. Alice and Finch are two of my favorite characters, each for different reasons. Alice, awkward and unsure of herself in any situation, always rises to the occasion, sometimes in a really round-about way but her intent is always true. She has deep questions about who she is and her depth of actual goodness:“To be honest, I don’t know if I’ve even got a soul. If a soul is what makes you human, then I probably don’t. Unless a soul is something you can grow, like, after the fact. And I don’t think it is. So. No Soul.”Finch is complex yet so freaking decent and good. Whatever the worlds throw at him, he always does the right thing – no matter the cost to himself; he’s a hero in The Night Country but won’t realize it. He is adventurous, trustworthy, and just so authentically Finch! The addition of new characters is something I really liked in The Night Country, Sophia, who we meet in the end of The Hazel Wood plays a prominent secondary role and I loved reading about her. She is quirky and odd and wonderful. I loved hearing about all of them! The ex-stories are scattered about and are as interesting and dark in our world as they were in the Hinterland.The story-line is complex and compelling, dark and bloody but there are periods of happiness and light. When the ex-stories and Hinterlanders start to settle in to New York City, they think they are the ones to fear until the strange murders begin. Because of their unique deaths, all start to look suspiciously upon Alice.“We were predators set loose in a world not made to withstand us. Until the summer we became prey.”The worlds that Ms. Albert creates are astonishing and fascinating! Finch is a traveler and I didn’t get to explore as much as I would’ve liked. There were bits and pieces of his travels through the Hinterland and his travels with Iolanthe but I would’ve loved more! Ms. Albert is such a skilled world builder and I hope that there is a third book in this series. I feel like there will be because there’s still so much to explore! And, I want more! More of Alice and Finch, more ex-stories and Hinterlanders, more of the many worlds that lay just beyond! As Finch says:“Jesus, Are all these books doors? To which Io responds, “A book is always a door.”This is one of my favorite series, obviously, and I listened to The Hazel Wood on audio before I started The Night Country and it was just as fascinating as it was the first time I read it. This is a series that I would recommend to any reader who enjoys a good dark fairy tale, a bit of fantasy, or just a really compelling series. I feel like I need to say again that I am HOPEFUL (wishful) for a third book in this series!A big thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Melissa Albert for providing me with a copy of The Night Country in exchange for my honest review. | |
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