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minbyrnes's review against another edition
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
marchhare89's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
“Would you follow me into the underworld?”
This just might be my favorite book of the year so far as well as an all time favorite. It was so much more than I expected and I was absolutely blown away. I saw someone describe this as “prairie horror”, which is something that felt made for me. It’s like The Village mixed with Midnight Mass. Small Favors is unsettling, immersive, atmospheric, and beautifully dark. Unending stars from me. 5 is not enough.
This just might be my favorite book of the year so far as well as an all time favorite. It was so much more than I expected and I was absolutely blown away. I saw someone describe this as “prairie horror”, which is something that felt made for me. It’s like The Village mixed with Midnight Mass. Small Favors is unsettling, immersive, atmospheric, and beautifully dark. Unending stars from me. 5 is not enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Violence, Animal death, and Blood
tkatt20's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? Yes
4.5
Small Favors was everything I had hoped it would be and more. This book had the perfect amount of suspense and untrustworthy characters, I found myself completely unable to put it down. Every character had a story and role to play and different motives, it plays masterfully into the human condition and how some people will do anything in their power to help themselves or the ones they love. It makes you think twice about trusting anyone you meet or even your family. This was definitely more of a slow burn thriller with a lot of suspense leading up to the ending, but its so well written I never felt it was boring. There was always some sort of action or event going on, and I loved the descriptions of the bees added in between and how it weaves in with the darker aspects of the story.
While I did truly love this book, I do believe it could have used an extra chapter right at the end or an epilogue. Open-ended books can work in many cases, but I dont usually favor them, and there was one very glaring question I was left with that would have been resolved by this addition and would have made this book perfect for me. Any books by Erin A. Craig have been added to my must buy list and I'm looking forward to any future novels by her!
While I did truly love this book, I do believe it could have used an extra chapter right at the end or an epilogue. Open-ended books can work in many cases, but I dont usually favor them, and there was one very glaring question I was left with that would have been resolved by this addition and would have made this book perfect for me. Any books by Erin A. Craig have been added to my must buy list and I'm looking forward to any future novels by her!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Minor: Religious bigotry, Vomit, and Suicide
nrogers_1030's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Pregnancy
voilajean's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Pregnancy and Misogyny
tays_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Gun violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide
elephant_mouse's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
afi_whatafireads's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"Sometimes, we have to overlook our own desires for the betterment of the hives as whole."
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
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
ireadinbed's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved the entire experience of reading this book.
It gave me the same feelings I often had reading books as a child. I cannot remember the last time I felt so well immersed. It did a good job of dropping red herrings do I couldn't quite figure things out whilst also giving me enough crumbs that my fairy story loving brain was a buzzing!
I found parts of it quite dread inducing but in a fun way. Like it was surprisingly scary, I didn't expect it!
I connected a lot with the characters and some over arching themes about what desperation and bad luck can do to us.
Just genuinely very well done.
It gave me the same feelings I often had reading books as a child. I cannot remember the last time I felt so well immersed. It did a good job of dropping red herrings do I couldn't quite figure things out whilst also giving me enough crumbs that my fairy story loving brain was a buzzing!
I found parts of it quite dread inducing but in a fun way. Like it was surprisingly scary, I didn't expect it!
I connected a lot with the characters and some over arching themes about what desperation and bad luck can do to us.
Just genuinely very well done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Body horror
Moderate: Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
courtneyfalling's review
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
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Pregnancy and Misogyny
Bees