Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert

Tales from the Hinterland was quite enjoyable. I don't usually enjoy reading anthologies, but something about fairytales, especially these ones, is an exception. Each story had its own vibe and were mostly delightfully dark in the best ways. I really like the illustrations. The red and black prints are quite the vibe. Below are my little reviews of each story.

"The Door that Wasn’t There": Liked it. One of the ones told in the series, though perhaps with more detail? Still good.

"Hansa the Traveler": Huh, neat. I wouldn’t have guessed Hansa’s tale would go like that. The main books made it seem like she was eternally a child. But, I guess cycles and all that… I liked it a lot.

"The Clockwork Bride": Uhm… yeah that was pretty neat, until the end. I don’t think there was enough characterization of Arden as a free spirit to justify that, exactly. But hey, fairytale, right?

"Jenny and the Night Women": Well… that was.. disturbing and gross. There are reasons we don’t spoil children. I was also expecting more from The Night Women, or at least some explanation as to what they actually were... sadly disappointed, but I've got this image in my head of a cross between a vampire and a banshee with a bit of fairy thrown in, if that makes sense.

"The Skinned Maiden": Nice twist on the Selkie story. Delightfully macabre.

"Alice Three Times": Much the same as in the main books, though definitely more detailed. We also finally learn the end of Alice’s tale, which was neat.

"The House Under the Stairwell": Really enjoyed that one. Sort of a cross between a “Beauty and the Beast,” “Twelve Dancing Princesses,” and some sort of more wild folklore. Pretty neat.

"Ilsa Waits": Another tale told in the main series, though fleshed out wonderfully here. I found myself kind of wishing Mort by Terry Pratchett had been more like this, with Mort learning what it actually is to be Death.

"The Sea Cellar": This one was neat. Shades of “Bluebeard” and “The Little Mermaid.”

"The Mother and the Dagger": Lovely and creepy.

"Twice-Killed Catherine": Given the context of this story in the main books, I was really expecting Katherine to be much more blood-thirsty than she ends up being. I did like this one, though.

"Death and the Woodwife": Hmmm… interesting. Quite the chill Death, here. I’m really not certain how I feel about this one, though it does at least seem to have a happy ending.

Favorite Line

"From the port she watched the water smooth into glass and purl into lace and worry itself into great waves beyond the cove."

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

I absolutely loved The Hazel Wood. It felt very much along the same vein as a cross between Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series and her Indexing series, though it definitely has its own vibe. Got both the kiddo out of their own world thing and fairy tale characters interacting with the "real world" thing going on, but enough twists and story beats to be interesting in its own right. The Hazel Wood is also one of the few stories I've read recently that feels finished and doesn't end abruptly. Even knowing there's a second book doesn't mar that at all. Definitely a plus.

I liked Melissa Albert's use of fairy tale tropes. Expertly crafted together in ways I both expected and didn't. I also enjoyed the couple of stories from the in-universe Tales From the Hinterland we got to experience. They were delightfully dark and twisted in just the right way. I cannot, though, quite wrap my head around why a character with god-like powers, like the Spinner, would want to craft a world where all the terrible things just keep happening over and over... but, then, she is described as sociopathic so... yeah. That's a whole... other thing.

It really feels like discussing The Hazel Wood without spoilers is hard. Even looking back on the first half of the book with knowledge gained by actually finishing it feels like a mine-field. I think The Hinterland is neat and an interesting way to look at fairy tale universes. They do always seem to come from some really twisted brains.

I feel like I have to talk a little about Ellery Finch, though he does disappear for reasons for most of the second half of the book. At first, I was all on-board with his character and then his fate befell him and a bit of an icky feeling set in. Not because of his character, but because of what happened to his Character, if that makes sense... ah, that nasty spoilers thing rears its ugly head... anyway... perils of being Black in a horror-bent story... yeah. That was a thing for a minute, although its not dwelt upon by Alice in the way my brain dwelt on it at all. She grieves, I do a little wince. But it's overall fine... *clamps down on spoilers* Ellery was fine. Very not-like-other-popular-boys coded with a tang of fanboy thrown in.

The Hazel Wood is very good. Definitely fun for fairy tale nerds (like me) and probably the scholars among us, too. I cannot wait until my copies of The Night Country and Tales From the Hinterland arrive. 

Short Reviews Batch 1

I have decided to start posting my old reviews. They'll usually be posted on the same day I originally posted them over on GoodReads. Short ones will be grouped (like in this post).

Winds of Salem by Melissa de la Cruz

Originally Posted to GoodReads: 1-1-2018

Forced myself to get as far into this book as I could. Pretty sure that A) starting with the third book in the series wasn't a good plan (Dollar Tree find) and B) the writing is just so... tell and not show/tell a bunch of ridiculous things that don't seem to have anything to do with the plot. Also, none of the characters seemed to have any actual personality, which is sad, if I'm honest.

I enjoyed watching The Witches of East End via Netflix, but now I'm pretty sure I won't be picking up the first two books in the series because this one is crap.

The Complete Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Anderson by Hans Christian Anderson

Originally Posted on GoodReads: 1-2-2018

Starting my year off with two DNFs is not exactly what I had in mind, but I just can not with reading this. Give me ALL THE ADAPTATIONS instead, please. They're so much more coherent and less brain-killing than the was Hans Christian Andersen actually wrote.

I had been planning on reading the big stories (The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, etc) but I can't even bring myself to go back and finish The Little Mermaid because the writing is just so meandering and so... ugh. I just can't even. Half the fairy tales don't even make sense and don't go anywhere. I struggled to get through even the shortest... and I've been reading this book since last July. I'm done.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Originally Posted to GoodReads: 1-14-2017

Very much enjoyed it. Made the mistake of watching the movie beforehand, which is also good, but pretty much doesn't follow the last half of the book at all. That's not a bad thing, just a thing. Not really a lot more to say about it right now. Might update later.

Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

 A Spoiler Free First Read Review

Originally Posted on GoodReads: January 11, 2022

Honestly… this book has horrible pacing. The beginning is great. Establishes the sisters and Rose Cottage and is quite enjoyable and then… the actual retelling of Beauty and the Beast gets started and it starts to drag. Seriously. Those seven days Beauty spends in the Beast’s castle felt like the seven months her sisters endured and not in a good way. The ending was also dissatisfying and I’m not entirely sure I understood the explanation as to what the heck went on. Not a fan of this at all.

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo

 A First Read Review

Originally Posted on GoodReads: Jan 6, 2022

 

Over the last few years I’ve read a lot of fairy tales and translations of fairy tales and things like Beedle the Bard. This is, by far, my favorite collection. Yes, they’re completely new and yes, they’re technically for another universe (and therefore set there), but I still loved them. They feel like they’d be right at home in a collection if Grimm’s Fairytales. The telling captures that sort of genuine cadence that I feel other authors have skated over when writing their own in-universe tales.

I could definitely see and feel the influences from other fairy tales in these, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment. I might even revisit this collection, which is high praise from me as I cannot even bring myself to finish the Hans Christian Anderson collection I started a few years ago…

Oh, and the illustrations are wonderful. I read this on my phone via the Kindle app, so the images I looked at were small, but they were definitely pretty. They further invoked that fairy tale feeling, reminding me of fairy tale books I had or read as a child.

 

Recommendations

If you have read and enjoyed The Language of Thorns, consider the following:

Grimm's Fairytales (pretty much any editions or collections will do)

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

The Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

The Tales of Beedle the Bard: Illustrated Edition by JK Rowling (Get this one second hand if you can. It's a good read but Rowling doesn't need any more of your money.)