Review: The Hazel Wood

Read if you like: dark, dangerous fairy tales come to life, fantasy stories grounded in the modern world, and characters you can root for.

The Hazel Wood | Melissa Albert

Series: The Hazel Wood

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Dark Fairy Tales
Released: February 8th 2018
Pages: 359
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice's life on the road, always a step ahead of the strange bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice's grandmother, the reclusive author of a book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate - the Hazel Wood - Alice learns how bad her luck can really get. Her mother is stolen away - by a figure who claims to come from the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: STAY AWAY FROM THE HAZEL WOOD. 

To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began . . .

This took a bit of time to get going but I really liked it once it did. Suitably dark and fairy tale-y, with a couple of shocking twists (one was fun, one was not.) I liked the main characters (loved Finch) and there was enough secretive stuff to keep me guessing. The book really came into it own when it entered the Hinterland (fairy tale world), though - I loved all the darkness, bloodiness, and the world of Stories and their stories. 

My only complaint is I found the ending REALLY unsatisfying, and hope the sequel doesn't just spend time with Finch - I want Alice's story to continue too, she deserves so much more than this book!

Clever and inventive and dark as fairy tales are meant to be. A twisty, dangerous tale.

4 stars

Review: Weave A Circle Round

Read if you like: dangerous, unexpected magic, houses that have a mind of their own, and sweeping adventures through time and history.

Weave A Circle Round | Kari Maaren

Series: N/A

Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Fantasy, Historical, Time Travel
Released: November 28th 2017
Pages: 336
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

The unexpected can move in next door

Freddy wants desperately to not be noticed. She doesn't want to be seen as different or unusual, but her step-brother Roland gets attention because he's deaf, and her little sister Mel thinks she's a private detective. All Freddy wants to do is navigate high school with as little trouble as possible.

Then someone moves into the house on Grosvenor Street. Two extremely odd someones.

Cuerva Lachance and Josiah aren't . . . normal. When they move in next door, the house begins to exhibit some decidedly strange tendencies, like not obeying the laws of physics or reality. Just as Freddy thinks she's had enough of Josiah following her around, she's plunged into an adventure millennia in the making and discovers the truth about the new neighbors.

I wasn't sure what to make of this book at first, but the mystery and the hints of magic and wrongness kept me reading - and I'm glad they did! I really enjoyed this book of strangeness and time travel magic and family, and I especially liked how Freddy, the main character, was a grumpy, contrary, angry girl who grew SO MUCH by the end. 

I liked a lot about this book - the house on Grosvenor Street, which grew rooms and lost them and filled with chairs and spider plants at random intervals, the mysterious and maybe menacing characters of Josiah (who I adore and want more stories of please!) and Cuerva Lachance, who has lived forever and has been reincarnated as all kinds of people - notably a Viking man and a cavewoman-type - and all genders. Sometimes she's a man, sometimes she's a woman - she just is, and I loved how Freddy shrugged and accepted it for what it was. Pretty cool way of teaching gender fluidity to teenagers. I liked Freddy's siblings, young Mel who's obsessed with mysteries, and deaf Roland, who is secretly a hero. But I especially loved the different time periods the book went to, and how each was different and imaginative in their own ways!

I'm really not done with these characters and their stories. More please!

4.5 stars

Review: The Plastic Magician

Read if you like: magical, mysterious stories that are equal parts daring and fun, studious girls who would rather get work done than adventure, and sinister plots.

The Plastic Magician | Charlie N. Holmberg

Series: The Paper Magician

Genre: New Adult, Fantasy, Historical, Romance
Released: May 15th 2018
Pages: 236
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg returns to the enchanting world of The Paper Magician.

Alvie Brechenmacher has arrived in London to begin her training in Polymaking—the magical discipline of bespelling plastic. Polymaking is the newest form of magic, and in a field where there is so much left to learn, every Polymaker dreams of making the next big discovery.

Even though she is only an apprentice, Alvie is an inventor at heart, and she is determined to make as many discoveries—in as short a time frame—as she can. Luckily for her, she’s studying under the world-renowned magician Marion Praff, who is just as dedicated as Alvie is.

Alvie’s enthusiasm reinvigorates her mentor’s work, and together they create a device that could forever change Polymaking—and the world. But when a rival learns of their plans, he conspires to steal their invention and take the credit for it himself.

To thwart him, Alvie will need to think one step ahead. For in the high-stakes world of magical discovery, not everyone plays fair…

Plastic - and magic? Surprisingly it works. 

I love this world, and I have since I read The Paper Magician (I love their little cameos in this!) so I had a feeling I'd like this. And I did. Alvie is a sturdy, serious sort of girl with thick glasses, trousers in a time where dresses are the norm, and a very studious mind. I fricking love her. There's some romance in this (it's okay, but I accidentally fell for her tutor, Marion Praff, whoops) but mostly, this is a fun magical mystery that's full of heart, excitement, and feminism. Oh, and a villain with an evil lair, a magic comic con, and prosthetic limbs! There is nothing by Charlie N. Holmberg that I won't read.

4.5 stars