The Hazel Wood is a horror, modern fairytale novel. Throughout the book protagonist, Alice and her mother, Ella, have spent most of their time on the road due to bad luck that follows them everywhere they go. They finally decide to settle once Ella finds a significant other and the bad luck is at rest — or so they believe. 

This book follows an intriguing plot. Ella is captured by a creature and Alice is on an adventure to save her.

Alice’s grandmother was an author and wrote dark fairytales; she wrote a book called Tales of the Hinterland. Alice’s grandmother lived in Hazel Wood alone and was isolated. She never reached out to her family, and Ella avoids her. Alice has always felt a mysterious connection to Hazel Wood and was curious about her grandmother’s book, which her mother forbade her from reading. When Alice was little she discovered the book in someone’s house. She started flipping through the pages, then realized one chapter was called “Alice Three Times” — this left her wondering. Once her mother realized Alice had found the book, she took it away but never confronted Alice. 

Alice has never been able to get her hands on this book. All the copies had magically disappeared.

When Alice’s grandmother dies, Ella believes that the bad luck has come to an end. She finally decides to settle down and live in a home. Shortly after, Ella is kidnapped by a cruel supernatural creature from the Hazel Wood. Ella leaves a note saying: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood”. But, of course, the only way for Alice to rescue her mother is to go to the Hazel Wood. Alice and her new friend go on a trip to rescue her mother, and along the way the bad luck grows more powerful. 

The book was well written, and the story flowed easily, which I really enjoyed as a reader. This book is perfect for anyone who enjoys reading dark and mysterious modern fairy tales. The Hazel Wood is definitely an easy and enjoyable read. 

This is a great and engaging book — the details throughout made me not want to stop reading. The plot was very interesting and, for the most part, light and easy to follow. There are parts of the book where the story follows a slower pace, but the thrill of the storyline doesn’t stop.

However, as the plot goes on some characters can get annoying and unlikeable. The main characters, Alice and Finch, are not very relatable which can make the read had to get through at times.

But overall, The Hazel Wood is still worth reading if it sounds like a genre you’d be interested in. I rate The Hazel Wood 4/5 stars because it was very well written and I enjoyed the story a lot, but there were definitely still some flaws.