Review: The Night Country (The Hazel Wood 2) by Melissa Albert
I received a free ecopy of this book in return for an honest review. Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity.
Although I have read and reread The Hazel Wood, I was caught off guard by the arrival of this sequel. The Hazel Wood had seemed quite a self-contained book, that didn’t particularly need a follow up. However I was delighted to find myself presented with a part two, to the story of Alice Proserpine and Ellery Finch.
As The Hazel Wood ended Alice had returned to her mother, Ella, in the real world while Ellery had remained in the Hinterland and we heard that he had met someone new. When we pick up the story in The Night Country, Alice is graduating high school. She has stopped attending the support group for ex-stories and is trying to be human. A series of murders bring her back to her roots. Alice feels she is being framed for the murders and her reactions show that she hasn’t left her storybook violence as far behind as she thought. Messages start appearing from Ellery and eventually we get to find out what happened to him after Alice left.
The Night Country is a bit of a murder mystery which is a little different from The Hazel Wood’s exploration of the violent origins of fairytales. We get to see what happens when story characters break free but find themselves adrift without the tether of their story, and also what happens to a story-land without the stories that give it substance. There is a bit of a twist to the mystery before the end too.
I love the way Melissa Albert handles language. The words have a smooth and sinuous feel that are a joy to read. “Her voice was a drug. Dense as fog, rubbing its back against your ears like a cat.” It may not be every reader’s cup of tea but for me, it is writing I feel I can just sink into.
Sadly the story just didn’t draw me in as much as the first book so I read it in fits and starts. I felt that was very likely due to the absence of Ellery Finch early on. Once he reappeared I dug in much more firmly. Alice Three Times is an interesting character but not very likeable. Finch is a sympathetic character with a gentle romantic nature. I loved seeing what happened to him and getting a glimpse of the other worlds. If there are future stories in the offing that involve following Ellery through those other worlds I will be a very happy reader.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
