As a fantasy novel with elements of the real world; urban fantasy, magical realism novel, this is not the normal type of book I would pick up. But I received my copy for my birthday, and after hearing some pretty good reviews of it, I decided I might as well pick it up. Have to admit it did not disappoint, this turned out to be a really amazing novel, full of twists and turns, and a really creepy scary vibe.

I will start with the downside that is dragging on me a little bit, and that is that the last quarter of the novel was actually a little bit slow. For some reason, I felt that the build up to the main events of The Hazel Wood, were the main intrigue of this novel, rather than the main events themselves. The first three quarters of this novel flew by, with me reading it in just a couple of days, but then I found that it then dragged. This is honestly the only let down that I had for this novel, and it would otherwise of been a five star read.

The creepy fairy tales that are told dotedly throughout the book are partly what makes it. They had me turning the lights on at night and watching my bedroom door while lying in bed. Super scary and yet so good, they reminded me of Grimm Brother fairy tales, which I absolutely love. Although the fairy tale characters come to life, and are a part of this novel as a whole, I would quite happily just read the book of fairy tales that the book is based around. I highly don’t recommend reading this novel alone, in the dark or at night, it will have you bricking it. But if you have a light, a guard dog and good strong lock on your door, then you have to read this.

Overall this was a strong four star read, and has really helped to get me back into reading after a horrible reading slump. This is a good book for those that want to start getting into fantasy as it is partially based in the modern day world with just a slight spin of book characters coming to life. I feel like this novel was rushed near the end and could of used more work for the ending, but the main body of this story was outstanding!