Hazel & Holly

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

When Cinderella goes to the ball, she gets a much-needed night off and, ultimately, snags herself Prince Charming. In Sara Snider’s book Hazel & Holly, when two sisters who happen to be witches get a mysterious invitation to a masquerade, they get a whole lot more than they bargained for.

It’s never easy to be the oldest and no one knows this quite like Hazel in this story. Tasked with looking after her impulsive younger sister Holly, with their mother dead and father nowhere to be found Hazel never catches a break. Between trying to keep Holly out of trouble and trying to find a way to free her mother’s trapped soul, in a magical forest most of the time Hazel’s life is anything but easy. That is until one night when she decides to humor Holly by going to a grand masquerade. Despite what Holly’s hoping for at the party, there aren’t princes per se, but two warlocks. Two brothers to be exact, who to Hazel’s cautious delight could help them find their father and in doing so finally free the witches’ mother.

Hazel believes their father is the key to saving their mother. But will the man who practices dark magic and abandoned the sisters so long ago be willing to help? And also, how far are the girls willing to go to free their mother’s soul?

Hazel & Holly is, first and foremost, about family in all the humorous, messy, complicated and downright infuriating forms it comes in. It’s also about love, loss, humor and trust. It’s matter of fact magical world filled with talking gnomes and giant mice is amusing and a whimsical callback to fairytales readers may have grown up with.

Although the journey to save the sisters’ mother and varying dynamics are interesting, a major fault with the story is its pacing. Throughout the novel there are entire chapters that drag on and a frustrating tendency for the characters to rehash the same problem repeatedly and unnecessarily. This reviewer was left with the impression that the story could have been told with a hundred fewer pages.

The fairytale is penned by Sara C. Snider, a California native that now calls Sweden home. She studied Archives and Information before opting for the career of a writer. Snider’s writing style is a self-proclaimed commitment to whimsy. Having penned three other fantasy books Snider’s dedicated to creating fairytales for adults.

Although not a page-turner, Hazel & Holly is an extremely okay book. It does have twists and turns and an endearing commitment to family though. It’s worth a read, even if it may take a while to truly hook readers interest.