Small Favors
Ratings35
Average rating3.9
Small town mysteries mixed with YA, horror, and fantasy (+ a side of romance!) Perfection. Of all the genres and stories I love, these top my list, and Craig has really written a great one. It's creepy, there's a strong sense of place, the characters are interesting and multi-layered, and damn look at that cover! I can't say anything other than that this is a book that needs to be added to everyone's tbr, especially if like me you love these kinds of stories and themes.
Vooral de atmosfeer maakt dit boek.
Heel benauwelijk en dreigend. Alles lijkt ogenschijnlijk heel normaal, maar toch is er iets dat je ongemakkelijk doet voelen en alert maakt voor elk klein geluidje.
“There's a power in names, don't you think? Once your name is given away, you can't help but be pulled along by those who have it.”
Het verhaal zelf is voor een groot deel wel voorspelbaar en ons hoofdpersonage Ellery is nogal naïef, maar dat houdt wel steek gezien hoe ze is opgegroeid.
De ontknoping was echt intrigerend, maar tegelijkertijd voelde het alsof de auteur dit idee een beetje verkwanselde met hoe weinig ze er mee heeft gedaan.
Op de keper beschouwd een boek dat je vooral voor de sfeerschepping moet lezen en niet zozeer voor het resultaat.
The story and charexters are very good. My only warnings are that
1. A girl is pregnant before she is married.( does not talk about it too much though)
2. There are creatures that are mysterious and evil that we just get hinted at. ( I was scared a few times reading at night. Just know what your level for scary stuff is.)
3. The bees are not very important at all.
3.5 stars, it was a little all over the place for me. I wish more of the loose ends would have been tied up but decently satisfying ending.
It was hard to read. Especially toward the end, with all the chaos and hatred and anger around.
I don't understand how Sam became so twisted.
But I liked it. And I kind of want to know the continuation.
I'm giving it 4.5 stars and I loved this novel. It's atmospheric horror with sprinklings of gore in several chapters so be warned if you're not into that.
Some reviewers found the story slow, but the plot had my attention throughout so I would disagree with them. The author does a great job of having moments of levity in the novel even though strange, scary, and unsettling things are happening in the town in basically every chapter. I loved the romance between Whittaker and Elerie and I loved the twist within their side story. Overall, I think the novel had an appropriate amount of drama, romance, horror, and hopefulness for it to earn my 4.5 star rating.
My only complaint is that I think there should be an epilogue. The story ends after so much chaos has passed in the last few chapters that it feels a little abrupt. I would have liked to see what happened to the group after things calmed down. However, all my important questions were answered in the end and I was very satisfied and a little surprised at how things ended.
Craig is now one of only a few YA auto-read authors for me. I got M. Knight Shyamalan vibes with this book, due to its slow, eerie, mystery plot and time spent with the main character. Although I was much happier with the conclusion to “A House of Salt and Sorrow,” I truly enjoyed this one.
I love this book as much as I loved [b:House of Salt and Sorrows 39679076 House of Salt and Sorrows Erin A. Craig https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1544071699l/39679076.SY75.jpg 61277707]. While the pacing may be on the slower side, the haunting atmosphere really brings life to the setting and characters. I love the dynamics between the Downing sisters, and while their brother Samuel is a piece of garbage, it's also fun to see what kind of mess he would cause next. The schadenfreude is truly amazing. Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, they leap beyond your expectations and turn into full-blown chaos. The pandemonium that befalls the town by the end of the book is absolutely beautiful, no wonder the Dark Watchers are so into the idea. Can totally relate.The only reason why I didn't rate this 5 stars is because I'd really like to know more about the Dark Watchers, since we learn about them so late into the story and the plot doesn't offer much room for them to get more fleshed out. This book isn't about them after all, but if they have a story to tell, I'd love to read it.
Ellerie and her family live in a small village. They grow flower fields to keep their bees producing the best honey around. They live pretty quiet lives.
Until the silver-eyed monsters come.
This was a decent read. I definitely got “The Village” vibes. I really liked Ellerie, and I loved the village rules at the beginning of the chapters.
I received a copy from Net Galley.
