You know when you read a book you love and you don't understand how anyone could hate it? That is not the case with this book. I totally understand that this isn't going to appeal to everyone. Whether it's the writing, the story, the abrupt shift in tone, I get that it won't be everyone's cup of tea.

I put off reading this book for quite awhile because I kept hearing really mixed things. People seemed to either really love it, or really not like it.

I loved it.

What I liked:

1. It's weird. I don't feel like I read a lot of books that are strange or weird. This one definitely qualifies for me. It's quirky, but in a macabre, bluntly graphic way. If you are going into this book expecting a light, fun world full of mischievous but ultimately good characters, think again. The Hazel Wood is full of stories so dark it makes the Brother's Grimm look lighthearted. I personally went into this book with zero expectations, so I think I was able to accept this world pretty easily.

2. The writing. I found the writing descriptive without being over-the-top, which I definitely appreciate. Knowing that this is a debut novel, I'm even more impressed, as her prose is evocative and intriguing. The first half of the book actually built up a lot of tension. I wanted to know what the heck was going on. Where was Ella? Was the Hazel Wood real? Was Finch a good guy?

3. The Hazel Wood. It's a 'fairy tale' world with no happy endings. The stories are dark and twisted, as are the characters within them.

4. The ending. I liked that everything wasn't tied up in a little bow. Things that I thought were going to happen didn't, and I was happy for that. We see a little into Alice's frame of mind as far as what she's going through coming home after

being gone for two years.

It reminded me of stories I've heard from veterans who come home after serving. The world has gone on around them while a big part of their life has been on hold. It changes you irrevocably.

5. The 'story' chapters. There are a few chapters that read as fairy tales from Alice's grandmother's book, and I loved them. They are dark and twisted and creepy. I feel like my enjoyment of them was even greater because I listened to this on audiobook and the voice actor did a wonderful job. I would read an actual fairy tale book written by Melissa Albert (kind of like Language of Thorns or Tales from the Peculiar).

What I didn't like:

1. The reveals weren't shocking for me. I didn't necessarily guess them all, but as the story unfolded I thought to myself, "Yeah, that makes sense." There was a lot of tension and mystery built up in the first half of the book that I felt fizzled a bit once we got into the Hazel Wood with Alice.

2. Pacing. I attribute this to the fact that this is a debut novel. The second half of the book feels very rushed to me. The first half has a lot of action, but I never felt rushed. In the second half, there is a lot of time covered in a very short length of book. There is a part where someone is talking to Alice and tells her all about the wonders of the Hazel Wood and how it isn't all bad. But we never really get to experience that. We see Alice's story and that's about it. I guess I just wish the parts in the Hazel Wood were a little more developed, because it's such an interesting world.

Other odds and ends:

1. I still don't quite get the difference between the Hinterlands and the Hazel Wood. Is the Hinterlands a place? A person or group of people? Is there an actual boundary to this area? I don't know that it is adequately explained.

2. Many people seemed to dislike the abrupt shift in writing tone and style in the first half and second half of the book, but I think it actually works really well. In the first half, we are getting all of Alice's thoughts, and she is someone whose emotions are right on the surface, so there is a sense of danger and tension throughout that part of the book. Then, we get into the Hazel Wood, and things become stranger and stranger and Alice becomes more and more detached until we are reading her story from a distance instead of being in her head. I actually thought it was really well done on the author's part. But again, I totally understand that not everyone is going to enjoy it.

I am so happy I didn't just go by the Goodreads average ratings and chose to pick this up anyway because I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience with this book and can't wait for the author's next book.