30 books that you can totally judge by their covers

The Hazel Wood – Melissa Albert

Fairy tale lovers were thrilled to hear about the release of Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood back in January. The young adult novel follows 16-year-old Alice, whose life has mostly been spent moving from place to place with her mother. But no matter where they move, misfortune seems to follow them.

When Alice’s grandmother dies, it becomes apparent that their circumstances may be the result of more than mere bad luck. And there might be more to Alice’s grandmother’s dark fairy tale books than meets the eye, too.

Alice’s mother goes missing soon after, leaving only one request behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.” As you can likely guess, Alice doesn’t. Instead, she ventures into the strange place her grandmother drew inspiration from. Luckily, she’s accompanied by a huge fan of her grandmother’s works – but even with the help of his knowledge, their journey is bound to be a dangerous one.

The Hazel Wood‘s cover is as whimsical as the story Albert spins — and fairy tales in general, really. It’s one you’ll want to add to your bookshelf at some point.