The Skinny
(aka Back of the Book Summary in a Sentence)
In order to save her kidnapped mother, Alice must travel into the supernatural world that is the setting of her dead grandmother’s cult-classic book.
Nutritional Value
(aka What’s Good)
Wow, Melissa Albert is an extremely efficient storyteller. I was able to understand Alice’s childhood and her relationship with her mother and grandmother from just the first few pages. Plus, there’s already a death, so we’re jumping right into the plot of the book. There’s also a feeling of mystery in the background which I absolutely love in a novel.
Freezer Burn
(aka What’s Bad)
The reader doesn’t find out the main character’s name until the very last paragraph. I’m used to knowing the narrator’s name by the end of the second page. This isn’t necessarily bad. It’s just unexpected, and maybe unexpected is what the author is going for.
Lingering Aftertaste
(aka My Prediction)
Alice’s grandmother was an author who wrote a book about dark fairy tales. I’m guessing that the stories in her book aren’t fictional at all and the fairy tales she was writing about are actually real—things she witnessed when she disappeared into a supernatural realm decades ago. Maybe like a Wonderland, and that’s why her granddaughter’s name is Alice. I’m predicting that Alice goes into this dark Wonderland and learns the truth about her family and uses that truth to successfully rescue her mother.
Taste Test Verdict
(aka Would I Read More?)
Real talk, after I finished chapter one, I went straight to chapter two. I didn’t even stop to write a review of the first chapter until I finished the second chapter. That’s how good the beginning of this book is. And now that I’m done writing this review, I’m going to go straight back to reading the rest of this story.
Memorable Morsel
(aka Quotable Quote)
This is the kind of envelope you don’t open. This is the kind of envelope to take to the police.
When my mother, Ella, got the letter, a violent shudder ran through her. That was before she opened it. The envelope was creamy green, printed with her name and the address of the place we were staying. We’d arrived the night before, and I wondered how it found us.
What kind of creepy things are deal-breakers for you? Sound off in the comments below!
Get The Hazel Wood
Gwen thinks that it’s as close to magic as humans can get when a blank Word document is filled with groups of letters, and those groups of letters turn into lines, and those lines turn into a whole new world.
When Gwen isn’t reading or writing, she’s drinking boba milk tea and singing along to Steven Universe. You should sing along with her.