Book Review – The Night Country by Melissa Albert

Title: The Night Country (The Hazel Wood #2)

Author: Melissa Albert

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Publication date: January 7th, 2020

331 pages

3/5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis

The New York Times bestselling sequel to Melissa Albert’s beloved The Hazel Wood!

In The Night Country, Alice Proserpine dives back into a menacing, mesmerizing world of dark fairy tales and hidden doors of The Hazel Wood. Follow her and Ellery Finch as they learn The Hazel Wood was just the beginning, and that worlds die not with a whimper, but a bang.

With Finch’s help, Alice escaped the Hinterland and her reclusive grandmother’s dark legacy. Now she and the rest of the dregs of the fairy tale world have washed up in New York City, where Alice is trying to make a new, unmagical life. But something is stalking the Hinterland’s survivors—and she suspects their deaths may have a darker purpose. Meanwhile, in the winking out world of the Hinterland, Finch seeks his own adventure, and—if he can find it—a way back home…

Review

“Do you really think that’s how it works? The Hinterland was never a place, it was always us. Wherever you go, that’s the Hinterland.”

Melissa Albert, The Night Country

I wasn’t a huge fan of The Hazel Wood, I spent most of it confused and unsure of what was happening. It was almost too fairy tale-like for me and just didn’t suit. But, I’ve been working on audiobooks lately & this was available and fits in with spooky season so I thought why not. I don’t like to not finish series so there were good reasons to pick this one up.

The Night Country picks up with Alice and Finch after the end of the Hinterland. Alice is back in New York with other Stories who fled the Hinterland and trying to re-acclimate. But this proves difficult when Stories wind up murdered by the same power that Alice Three-Times claimed – but Alice is not the culprit. She gets drawn back into the world trying to figure it out. Meanwhile, Finch is bouncing around other universes on his own quest to find Alice again.

The first half of this book was interesting, which is more than I expected after not enjoying The Hazel Wood. It was a lot easier to follow for me and the almost murder mystery aspect was intriguing. This is a dual POV, so you do get to see what Finch is doing while Alice is in New York. There is some level of suspense as Alice is accused of the murders and she tries to figure out what is going on. But the second half? Went back to the same confusing type of plot with an ending that I still don’t understand.

So, I’m glad I read it so my messed up brain that can’t handle unfinished things is appeased – but I wouldn’t read it again and on a whole the duo was not for me. I know a lot of people love it though, so take this with a grain of salt!

Happy reading, folks!