The Night Country

November 15, 2019
A dark fantasy sequel asks whether characters who flee their stories still have a chance for a happy ending. Once upon a time she was Alice-Three-Times, a vengeful princess in a grim fairy-tale world. Now she's just Alice, trying to be human in New York City even as her escape triggers a mass exodus from the Hinterland. Ellery Finch, the schoolmate who helped free her, is growing weary of his travels through alternate dimensions, finding his thoughts turning back to home--and Alice. Meanwhile, someone is murdering ex-Stories in a very Alice-ish way....This follow-up to the astonishing TheHazel Wood (2018) displays the same lush prose, dizzying imagination, and macabre sensibilities (along with the grisly body count). Evocative details limn exotic fairylands and gritty New York as equally magical. Personalities are more approachable: blonde, white Alice is less rage-fueled than filled with confusion, frustration, and longing; brown-skinned Finch has grown beyond his vacillating geekiness to courage and confidence. Alternating between Alice's first-person narration and Finch's third-person perspective, the twin plots don't intersect until the surreal, shattering climax; but since the romantic yearning that drives both protagonists was scarcely hinted in the first book, it never becomes convincing here. Still, they make a formidable team. Plot bobbles aside, a necessary read for Hinterland fans--and who isn't? (Fantasy. 16-adult)

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November 15, 2019

Gr 9 Up-It's been two years since Alice Proserpine fought her way out of the Hinterland and the fairy tale she inhabited there with help from Ellery Finch-the boy who chose to explore other worlds instead of returning with Alice to New York City. Being an ex-story isn't easy even in a city like New York, where strangeness already lurks on every corner. At first it seems like she might really be able to reinvent herself with a new, human life. But something is happening to the Hinterland survivors who made it out-something that's leaving them dead. While Alice tries to track down the culprit, Ellery has to try to find his own way out of the Hinterland before there's nothing left. Everyone knows how a fairy tale is supposed to end, but as Alice and Ellery search for answers and a way home, they soon realize that their tales are far from over and may not end happily. This sequel to The Hazel Wood is a suspenseful story of loss, hope, and searching. The fairy tale noir adventure blends romance and mystery with plenty of action as Alice struggles to stop a conspiracy with ramifications she can barely imagine. Alice's pragmatic first-person narration contrasts well with third-person chapters following Ellery as he tries to find his way home and, possibly, back to Alice. VERDICT A must-read for fans of portal fantasies, mysteries, and readers who prefer their magic with bloody sharp edges.-Emma Carbone, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2019
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* The hotly anticipated follow-up to Albert's The Hazel Wood (2018) begins with Alice, following her rescue from imprisonment as a Story by classmate Ellery Finch, back home and attempting to live a normal, human life. She soon discovers, however, that her escape from the Hinterland has left that world cracked, with its denizens leaking into New York City. A string of ex-Story murders draws Alice back into their twisted community, and after being framed for the atrocities, she's forced to find the killer herself. Chapter perspectives shift between Alice and Finch, who wanders through a perilous, time-distorted multiverse until their two stories collide. What begins as a slow burn?almost an extended epilogue, focused on the aftermath of book one and a comparatively low-stakes mystery?pays off tremendously as the various pieces of this puzzle come together. What Albert renders on the page is audacious: with resounding success, she keeps a firm grip on her characters and their stories, and her prose weaves a magic of its own, animating the ever-expanding fantastical premise through lyrical language, striking metaphor, and a mastery of tone that forces readers to feel the magic along with the underlying emotional stakes. It's a magnificent creation, laden with wonder and fear impossible to turn away from, that will satisfy fans and grow with readers over time. Literal goose bumps.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)