Reviews with content warning for Death - Small Favors

Before you start reading this review, I would say, that, for a better reading experience for you, its best that you come in with your expectations to the very lowest.

And with that said, lets get on with my thoughts on the book.

Personal Ratings: 3.65🌟

This book was one that I am just OKAY with it. I don't necessarily hate it as there were aspects of the book that caught me off guard, but there was one big negative point of the book that made me just "meh". But the one thing that made me felt okay was how it caught me off guard. The book has sort of a mystery/horror/eerie/cult-ish vibes to it. You don't know what to expect, you won't know what is going on besides everything just becoming weird, and its a bit predictable at best, but towards the end the moral values and the characters was what saved the book.

Short Summary
Amity Falls is a serene village that is hidden in the middle of the woods away from everything else. It was a place that is still ingrained with culture and sticks heavily with it rules which seems almost cult-ish. Things started falling apart when a group that went on a supply run for the town had just vanished and the tale of monsters lurking in the woods was told. Ellerie Downing is a beekeeper's daughter, with the strength of queen. A stranger appeared and strange things started happening in the town. Will Ellerie manage to save the town or it just too late for them all which will lead to their downfall.

Personal Thoughts

I will not give away too much about the book as its best to go into this book without knowing much about anything. One thing I can say, it gives a vibe of Midnight Mass and Stranger Things with the small village's beliefs and ways of living that is outdated and almost seemed cult-ish, and the weird monsters that lurked.

I would say the setting of the book was what I struggled most with this book. The fact that You can't expect ANYTHING with this book makes it a good and bad point to the book. The good point is that, it keeps you questioning of what is about to happen, and it leaves you wanting to know more. Questions like.."Wait why is this happening?" .. "So okay... Where is this story going.." it makes it unpredictable but also enjoyable because it exceeded my expectations. However, the bad side of it is that, it made me felt just a teensy bored with the book. I would say there were some dialogues that can just be cut, and there was too much unnecessary filler scenes. I think this also relates to the Writing Style of the book. There were parts of the book that just jumped around which made me confused on how long has the period of time passed. Whilst it was easy to read, it was also quite confusing at some parts.

One of the things that I felt saved this book was the characters and scenes of the family relationship in this book. Ellerie Downing is such a character that I liked. She's strong, brave, tenacious, and she would do anything for her family. I also love how her siblings and her kept together even through hard times which I felt was the cutest thing ever. I also like the romance in this book. It was a bit instant ngl, and it ticked me off just a bit, but I like her dynamic with Whitaker. Its one that I felt was just cute but didn't come off as cringey.

Overall, I would say this is not a bad book but it won't be one that I will pick up again anytime soon. The biggest plus point of this book was how eerie it was. It has a bit of a mystery-vibe with dark secrets intertwining and just one that is a read that you can pick up during a rainy day with an eerie-vibe in the background.

Thank you to Times Reads for generously providing me a review copy of the book.

Disclaimers: All my reviews are my thoughts of the book and according to my personal preferences. Even though I had received a review copy, it does not affect my review and honest thoughts for the book.

Content Warnings

courtneyfalling's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I love Erin Craig's writing style so much, this mysterious and dreamy, dark and fairytale-inspired historical fiction with struggling eldest daughters growing into adulthood. The only reason I didn't give this higher than 4 stars is that the ending felt pretty sudden—like I wanted more with the final confrontation

between Ellerie and the Dark Watchers' queen

, with Ellerie and Whitaker, with Ellerie's parents and family. But I will 100% auto-read anything Erin Craig publishes now after both Small Favors and House of Salt and Sorrows.

Content Warnings

vexedst's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

willowmae's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

enchantedtoreadyou's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Best book of 2021, hands down.
This story was so twisty and turvy. I didn't know who to trust, who was good or bad. Sometimes I even had doubts about Ellerie, our main character.
I absolutely adored Ellerie. She was thrust into a position of responsibility over her family when her mom and dad had to leave. She states she wasn't ready for it, but she tackled it and did the best she could. She was a strong, resilient character.
Whitaker, the male MC. Man, what can I say. I went back and forth with him! I loved him and hated him and hated to love him. All the while I was rooting for he and Ellerie, even though I wasn't sure if there could be a good outcome.
Most of the supporting characters were great and had their own voice. They were easy to stand out from each other. I did get confused with the elders and the preacher of the town. The four of them were just too similar to me.
This is a story about resiliency, hope, and putting your hive's needs above your own. If you want a story that keeps you guessing until the very last page, please pick this one up.

Content Warnings

zahraa_aj's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

<b><i>
“Others see me as a means to an end…but to you, I was only ever a man.”
</i></b>

I'm in love with this book and have no words for the excitement I felt reading it.

Content Warnings

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Reviews tagging 'Death'

Small Favors by Erin A. Craig

fran_buesa's review

nrogers_1030's review

voilajean's review

tays_books's review against another edition

afi_whatafireads's review

courtneyfalling's review

vexedst's review against another edition

willowmae's review

enchantedtoreadyou's review against another edition

zahraa_aj's review