THE HAZEL WOOD

Narrator Rebecca Soler sets an appropriate tone and perspective for Alice, a 17-year-old who is filled with discomfort and anger. This is the case, in part, because Alice's mother, Ella, continually moves her from one place to the next without reason or warning. Soler also portrays the tension that comes from Alice's unresolved feelings about her estranged grandmother, who writes dark fairy tales she's never been allowed to read. Alice's cynicism turns to fear and confusion when odd characters appear in her world and Ella disappears. Alice finds comfort from her caring friend, Finch, who knows the stories she has not been allowed to read. The suspense heightens when Alice is plunged into her grandmother's sinister fairy-tale world and must tell her own story. S.W. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2018]