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maeverose's review against another edition
2.0
These are getting more disappointing with every book for me.
Both this one and the last one do this thing where 80% through, the solution to their problem isn’t at all clear to the reader or the characters. There’s no clear game in this one. We never see the smiling man. They’re just meandering around trying to survive, occasionally running into trouble. With this one especially, there was barely any plot. Scenes had to be drawn out longer than necessary to fill the book out. It made the book very boring.
Brian was the main pov character for this one, which was an improvement from the last book, but I still felt like he barely had any personality. Coco still ended up finding a lot of the solutions to things. (Speaking of Coco, I’m really starting to get annoyed with how often they have to mention how tiny and unassuming she is. We get it. She’s not like other girls.)
I’m unsure now if I wanna bother reading the last book. With the way this one ended, it feels a bit shitty to stop here, and I’d hope the conclusion would have more plot, but being as every single one so far has annoyed me in some way… idk if it’s worth it.
Very small nit pick: What was up with the part when they asked ‘wonder who the skeleton was? Must’ve been Sheehan.’ When the axe man (Sheehan) clearly called the skeleton Tommy multiple times… And Tommy was mentioned in the journals they literally just read? Was it supposed to be a plot twist that axe man was Sheehan? Even 11 year olds could easily see that coming…
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Ableism, Child abuse, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gore, Excrement, Death of parent, Animal death, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Body shaming
Poisoning, boat accidentlessonplansandlace's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Grief
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
mandkips's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death
Minor: Death of parent and Bullying
kayladaila's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Child abuse
Minor: Bullying and Death of parent
readandfindout's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Death
Minor: Death of parent and Bullying
divine529's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
As with all of the previous books in the series, I really enjoyed this one too.
I can't go into too much detail about what it's about because of the prior books, but it's the third installment in the Small Spaces series and this one takes place in spring and involves a boat adventure and a creepy island.
The writing in this book was comparable with the previous two and well-paced and well-written. The ending was frustrating though, but not unexpected.
The setting was just as atmospheric as all of Katherine Arden's novels. it's always one of my favorite parts of her works. This one took place on Lake Champlain and on a creepy island and it was excellent.
The plot is something I can't talk much about, but the above summary should probably give you some insight. Like the other books it deals with Ollie, Brian and Coco getting involved with the Smiling Man's antics and it was no different in this book.
Finally, the characters. This was Brian's book and I loved getting to see his perspective. I adored his interactions with Coco and how perceptive he was throughout everything. I always love the other characters too like Ollie and Coco and Mr. Adler etc. They were all great in this book too. And I loved the addition of Phil. What a fun addition! I really loved seeing how far all of the characters have come from the first book.
Fantastic addition to the series and I'm already dying for the last book!
I can't go into too much detail about what it's about because of the prior books, but it's the third installment in the Small Spaces series and this one takes place in spring and involves a boat adventure and a creepy island.
The writing in this book was comparable with the previous two and well-paced and well-written. The ending was frustrating though, but not unexpected.
The setting was just as atmospheric as all of Katherine Arden's novels. it's always one of my favorite parts of her works. This one took place on Lake Champlain and on a creepy island and it was excellent.
The plot is something I can't talk much about, but the above summary should probably give you some insight. Like the other books it deals with Ollie, Brian and Coco getting involved with the Smiling Man's antics and it was no different in this book.
Finally, the characters. This was Brian's book and I loved getting to see his perspective. I adored his interactions with Coco and how perceptive he was throughout everything. I always love the other characters too like Ollie and Coco and Mr. Adler etc. They were all great in this book too. And I loved the addition of Phil. What a fun addition! I really loved seeing how far all of the characters have come from the first book.
Fantastic addition to the series and I'm already dying for the last book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death
bookcheshirecat's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
caidyn's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Another great book in this series. I'm really excited to get to the conclusion. I enjoyed how it branched out with characters and showed new sides of them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
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