Big Bookish Disappointments

Nothing is worse in a bookish life then to be looking forward to reading a book for a really long time only to be disappointed once you have completed it.  That recently happened to me and I have to say…..I was pretty pissed to have wasted my time.  Here is the story of Jamie and The Hazel Wood.

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

So this book promised me the dark side of fairy tales.  I was so incredibly pumped to read this that I put it on hold at my local library long before it was going to be available.  I wanted to read this one as soon as I could.  I was so excited when I got the email notice that it was waiting for me.  I had been seeing everyone loving it on Bookstagram.  I was ready to dive right in.  I got half way through it and….

I was annoyed that I was not liking it.  I was wondering if all the hype made me have huge expectations.  Luckily another fellow Jamie (who is also a book lover) was reading it too.  She was having the exact same reaction that I was!  Hurrah!  In the end, it did not get better for me.  It had all of the right ingredients for an amazing story but did not deliver for me. The characters were weak, the story came across as more cheesy then scary. While there were glimmers of awesome story telling there were not enough to save it for me in the end.

This is just the opinion of a couple of Jamies.  That’s right book buddy Jamie. I am including you in this opinion.  I always include in every negative review I give “No two people read the same book.”  Plenty of other readers have loved and raved about this book.  So with that being said if you read the description of this book and are intrigued by all means PLEASE READ IT.  After you finish then come back to this post and let me know your thoughts!