The Night Country

After falling in love with the spooky adultness of The Hazel Wood, I was really looking forward to immersing myself back into that world. A funny thing happened in the two years since I read that first book though. It turns out my memory of the details of Alice’s adventures are pretty much nonexistent. This should not be a big deal because most authors provide recaps of some sort. Sadly, Melissa Albert proves to be the exception to this unspoken rule of series.

The Night Country has no recap, no refresher, nothing to anchor yourself back into Alice’s world. Simply put, Ms. Albert expects readers to remember characters, their Hazel Wood stories, and their experiences. If you go into this novel not remembering everything that happened, show more you will be as lost as I was. After the first chapter, I frantically searched the Internet for as many synopses as I could find in an effort to remember more than the general gist of the story. I found enough to get me through the sequel, but I missed so much of the charm and excellent story-telling from the original. Because I felt like I was constantly one step behind in understanding, I could not relax and enjoy the story. I so very much wanted to enjoy the story too.

What I need to do is go back and read the original and then read The Night Country again. Only then will I feel comfortable in being able to assess the story itself. Right now, all I can say is that even though my mind was frantically trying to make all the connections Ms. Albert assumes I already know, I enjoyed what I read. It is just as dark and adult as the first book, which is one of its main draws. Similarly, Ms. Albert’s writing talent is undeniable. The last bit of my book announced the future release of a book of the very same fairy tales that make up so much of both stories. Given her ability to write fresh, unique stories, that is going to be a must-read for any Hazel Wood fan. show less

A favorite read of the year! Pulling off a solid sequel to a great first book is nearly impossible, but Melissa Albert did it!

The Night Country has the same creepy, sinister, Grimm’s fairytale tone as The Hazel Wood, so I think readers who loved the first book will love this one too. Albert always includes a heavy dose of atmosphere in her books, and this book is no exception.

I can honestly say that I loved every sentence in this book! From a writing perspective, I’m obsessed with Albert’s word choices and similes. I genuinely can’t fathom how on earth she comes up with so many unique descriptions for ordinary things.

There was a section in the middle of the book where I started to doubt that the plot was going somewhere. I felt show more like I wanted it to have a bit more in the way of goals and structure. But then I hit a point in the book where I realized that everything that came before actually HAD been building up to something significant! And then the ending was fantastic. It was well worth that temporary meandering in the middle!

I highly recommend this book if you loved the first one! show less

The Night Country was the dark fairytale I needed in my life right now. I’m a big fan of fairytale retellings, but Melissa Albert’s Hazel Wood universe is beyond a retelling. It’s her own collection of original Brother’s Grimm-worthy twisted fairytales and it is so good. It’s been a few years since I read The Hazel Wood and I had forgotten the chills from her world and the beauty of her writing and this novel was such a treat.

Although The Night Country is advertised as a companion novel and not a sequel, it still features Alice as our protagonist. Albert’s book-within-a-book, Tales of the Hinterland, is widely relevant in The Night Country and readers like myself who are thirsty for a return to that world will not be show more disappointed. Creepy, ill-intending characters shine just as brightly in New York as they ever did in the Hinterland and Alice Proserpine remains the trouble, torn young woman we met in the last book.

I won’t say The Night Country is refreshing, because it has many many disturbing images and promises of darkness. There are moments in the plot that disappointed me, but not for lack of good writing. There were many directions this story could have gone, and while I think the ending was just fine, I’m such a fan of this world that I wanted more of it. The Night Country doesn’t tie everything up with a bow – if Albert wanted to revisit these characters and the world she built – there are (in a sense) still opportunities to expand on the lore and create new tales. I think I could devour these stories forever and I wish more authors wrote similar creepy original fairytales. Then again, her originality within a tired YA tradition may be what makes The Hazel Wood and The Night Country so appealing.

Even if the storyline of this book doesn’t appeal, Albert’s writing is phenomenal. She has a way of sewing together metaphors with images I wouldn’t dream of, but are perfect. Was The Hazel Wood this good? Or has Albert’s writing improved? One way or the other, there were moments when a particularly good image stood out to me so strongly that I had to pause and appreciate it.

Something to remember if you are reading this (or The Hazel Wood). Alice is a villain. She was written as a problematic, violent characters within the world-within-a-world-within-a-world and that still stands true when she steps into New York, despite any desire she may have to be otherwise. She easy falls back into her nature and doesn’t apologize for it. If you pick up this duology, it’s important to remember that not all protagonists are heroes. Alice is deeply flawed.

For myself, I absolutely loved this. I loved the dual storylines and shadows between all the worlds we visit. I think Melissa Albert has an incredibly creative mind and her details are extraordinary. The Night Country was the mix of twisted and magical I needed at the moment, and I easily recommend this. I will read it again. Also, I do believe folks who have not read The Hazel Wood could probably jump into this one, because there’s enough backstory. I’d still recommend reading The Hazel Wood first because it will be a richer experience, but if you stumble across The Night Country, I believe there’s enough here to enjoy the story without the other book. show less

It's two years after the events of The Hazel Wood, and Alice and Ella are living in New York; Alice is graduating from high school. Creatures of the Hinterland have been meeting in a support group of sorts, led by Daphne; Alice has been staying away, but when she hears that three Hinterland people have been killed, she needs to know what is going on, and her only friend is the deathless Sophia.

Meanwhile, the Hinterland has become a dead world, and Ellery Finch found a way out of it just in time, together with a traveler called Iolanthe. The two travel through several worlds, adventuring, and plan a final adventure to the Night Country before Finch is to return back to his own world, and Alice. He writes her letters that reach her thanks show more to an enchanted pen.

What does the Hinterland's death mean for the ex-Stories outside of it? Who is Daphne really? (Spoiler alert: the Spinner.) Who is killing ex-Stories? Will Alice and Finch find each other again? (Spoiler alert: Yes.)

A very good sequel to The Hazel Wood; probably even better if read close together instead of nearly two years apart.

See also: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Quotes

And there was this feeling in the air, this waiting feeling. Like the square of city I stood on was a mouse, and a cat's paw hovered just above it. (10)

Her smile came out like a sickle moon, all edge. (34)

And I felt, for once, like I might actually look on the outside how I felt on the inside. (41)

I told her all of it, and it was like I was telling the story to myself, too. I don't think I fully believed it had happened till I said it out loud. (79)

...a city that belonged to no one but at least you could borrow it, in pieces, and pretend it loved you back. (86)

"What are we now, but the lost children of a dead world?" (100)

"The Hinterland was never a place, it was always us. Wherever you go, that's the Hinterland." (Sophia to Alice, 144)

"Tales change their shape, depending on who's doing the telling." (172)

"Remember every story is a ghost story." (174)

"Are all these books doors?"
"A book is always a door." (Finch and Iolanthe, 180)

...he wrote Alice another letter. It felt like he was talking to himself; it felt like she was right beside him. He wasn't sure which instinct to believe. (213)

"I lit your candles. They're mine to blow out." (Daphne/the Spinner to Alice, 288)

"She gave them all the worst parts of being human and none of the things that made it worth it." (Finch, 307) show less

After her stint in the Hinterland, Alice is back in New York City and trying to be a 'normal' teenager. However, several other ex-story characters are now also in NYC -- and some of them have been murdered. Who could be behind such ghastly crimes and why?

This is the sequel to the book The Hazel Wood, which I had enjoyed enough that as soon as I saw this one was published, I had to read it. (I was on hold for a library copy for a bit, but it was one I was looking forward to for a while.) It picks up more or less where the last book left off, but oddly enough I feel like it could almost stand alone. My memory of the previous book was a little sketchy by the time I read this, but I didn't feel lost at all or have to resort to reading a show more recap summary of the previous title.

The dark fantasy elements were all still there; Alice remains a compelling character; and the new characters introduced added to the story and its somewhat eerie ambience. The fairy tales here are dark and riveting. This is a definite winner for those who like horror that isn't about jump scares, but instead about creeping dread. The magic of the Hinterland world is explained a bit more and the story ends in a good spot where this particular plotline feels pretty well wrapped up, but there's clearly potential for additional stories if the author chooses to pen more.

Rebecca Soler was again an excellent audiobook narrator and James Fouhey was not bad either. This edition also included the short story "The Boy Who Didn't Come Home" about Ellery Finch's time in the Hinterland (basically, a new look at some things that happened in the first book but now from Ellery's point of view instead of Alice's). show less

The Night Country is a sequel to Meliisa Albert’s stunning debut The Hazel Wood. It opens as Alice is back in the real world and graduating from high school. She has a part-time job at a bookstore and her best friend Sophia is from the Hinterland. There are many escapees from the Hinterland in the area. Alice is more comfortable in the world than other story people, but that does not mean she rests easily in her skin.

Someone is killing story people and killing them in a way that implicates Alice. She knows it is not her, at least she is pretty sure it is not her. However, the people from the Hinterland are convinced she is guilty. She needs to find the killer and solve the mystery before she pays from someone else’s crimes.

Back in show more the Hinterland, Ellery learns the world of story is disappearing into a void. He travels with a woman who introduces him to the many different worlds and the books that hold them. However, as much as he enjoys the journey, the only destination he seeks is back home and back to Alice

The Night Country is a book for readers. It speaks to the magic of reading. After all, don’t we all enter new worlds when we open a book. Aren’t the writers of books spinners of story?

It has to daunting to write a sequel to a book as thrilling and original as The Hazel Wood. Is there anywhere to go but down? Well, it turns out you can go sideways. The Night Country a complete surprise. So, I confess when I finished the first book, I did not imagine a sequel. How could there be one? It was so complete on its own, so finished. And yet, here we are with a story as compelling and fascinating as the first.

The story within the story is a wonderful, frightening tale and as grotesque as anything from the Brothers Grimm. Albert excels at describing place and people so the book feels very visual, truly creating other worlds. Albert makes the metaphorical terrifying real and I love it.

The Night Country at Macmillan
Melissa Albert on Twitter
The Hazel Wood review
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2020/01/10/9781250246073/ show less

Best read book one first as you'll miss a great deal of what this one offers. We're back with the Hinterlanders again, huddled in and around NYC. While some have adapted reasonably well, others yearn for something else, back to Hazel Wood or something similar. Alice would prefer to fit in completely, but something, or someone very much wants to prevent that. What happens not long after the beginning is a chilling series of murders, each victim killed the same way and missing a different body part. As readers follow Alice in her dual quests, one to solve the killings, the other to reunite with Ellery, they're brought to very strange places, meet more strange people and visit perhaps the most unusual library ever assembled. While you show more might find yourself confused at times, or put off by gore at others, you'll never be bored reading this dandy sequel. show less