By Melissa Albert
5 Stars
Huge trigger warning for this book: the book contains abuse, neglect, and lots of death in sometimes really graphic and horrific ways. If you're very uncomfortable and/or disturbed by this type of content, then this book is definitely not for you! Tales of the Hinterland has got to be one of the best collections of short stories I've ever read. The book itself makes me wish we were doing and reviewing these stories for English class in my short stories unit. The book is the best for people who enjoy the genre(s) of mystery, fantasy, and horror. But specifically speaking, this book is more suited for people who enjoy older versions of fairy tales, i.e. the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christan Andersen, or even older versions of stories. The stories sometimes add up later in the book, and sometimes they connect. Other Times, however, are stand-alone stories instead without any connection to the later stories in the book. The colours in the book use a more gothic style with blood red, black, and white to really make the atmosphere while reading the book fit; the only one that doesn't really fit the theme is the emerald green cover.
Overall, the book was a fun read, and the book itself isn't long, with a 1-4 hour reading time in total. The age rating for this book, in my opinion, is 14 years and over due to certain haunting elements in the book. If you're not really looking for a scary story, I personally recommend "The Bride of the Sea" since it doesn't actually have horror in the story at all; it's mainly a mystery story. It's also my favourite story in the book! This book feels like a sandwich featuring both of my favourite genres, and I think it should be given a try if you like any of the genres!
Reviewed by Zariah
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