Review: THE HAZEL WOOD, by Melissa Albert

THE HAZEL WOOD, by  Melissa Albert

MacMillan Audio - 2018

Narrated by Rebecca Soler

My Rating (out of 5)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Alice and her Mom Ella seem to be a bad luck magnet. Wherever they go, bad luck is sure to follow. Luck so bad, that they never "put down roots" and find a permanent place to live. 

They house-sit, or sleep on couches, etc with whoever will take them for a time.  When the bad luck starts again, they hit the road for parts unknown. 

Alice has never met her grandmother, Althea Proserpine - a semi-famous author who wrote dark fantastical tales called Tales of The Hinterland.  Her once popular, and now difficult to find book has a dedicated cult following. Despite the zeal of her fans, Althea chose to live a isolated, seclusive life on her estate. 

Ella has always made it clear,  they are not to talk about Alice's Grandmother Althea, and she is never to visit the wooded estate.  Shortly after word of her grandmother's death arrives, Ella starts to live a "normal" life, setting down roots and getting married.  Then the bad luck appears again - Alice's mother is kidnapped. Alice's only hope of saving her is to go to the forbidden estate,The Hazel Wood. Guided by a friend who is a great fan of her grandmother's work, they set off to find The Hazel Wood and rescue Ella. But dark forces are watching them and Ella soon learns that there is more to the bad luck than she had thought. 

This story was rich and well written.  It is a modern day fairy tale that makes me think of the darkness of The Brother's Grimm - only set in our fully modern world. 

Narration by Rebecca Soler was very good. Her voice was well suited to the story and she displayed sufficient range in characters and emotion. 

An enjoyable and dark modern fairy tale.  

Happy Reading,

Christine