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A review by enchantedfiction
Dead Voices by Katherine Arden
4.0
Dead Voices is the sequel to Small Spaces, following our trio Ollie, Coco, and Brian on their second scary adventure. Only months after they made their way out of the mist and beat the smiling man, Ollie's dad has won a trip to Hemlock Lodge, a new ski resort that hasn't opened to the public yet. But a typical Vermont snow storm prevents the other early access patrons from trekking to the lodge. But something is off. The taxidermy animals seem to move when no one is looking, and Coco and Ollie keep having nightmares of ghosts. In a turn of events, the night turns into a race against time to save Ollie from the mirror world, where the smiling man believes he has finally outsmarted the children who got away from him only months ago.
Personally, this story was scarier for me than Small Spaces. The first few times ghosts were spotted in the Lodge actually raised my heart rate and had me on edge. But that's something that has always kind of bothered me for some reason. But as the story went on, the ghosts became less scary since they became a bigger part of the story and weren't some ominous force anymore. This is partially why I only gave this one 4 stars and Small Spaces got 5. I thought that the flow for Small Spaces was a little better, and the idea was more unique to me. But I did really enjoy Dead Voices as well. The character development for middle grade is usually either non existent or pretty small, but I felt that this story was mainly for Coco's growth as a character, which I really liked. I was surprised at the focus on Coco because Small Spaces mainly focused on Ollie, so I had just figured that she would be the main focus for each of the books (since there will be two more, YAY!) but it caught me pleasantly off guard. I'm thinking maybe the next book will kind of be a trial for Brian and we will see a bit of his character growth.
If you don't mind reading middle grade books or have a young one who loves spooky stories, I would highly recommend both Small Spaces and Dead Voices. It's a quick adult read and would be a fun spooky read for youngers who can handle it. (I personally would never have been able to get through them when I was younger) There is humor, horror, and mystery throughout the entire story, and three great characters who value family and friendship over almost anything else.
Personally, this story was scarier for me than Small Spaces. The first few times ghosts were spotted in the Lodge actually raised my heart rate and had me on edge. But that's something that has always kind of bothered me for some reason. But as the story went on, the ghosts became less scary since they became a bigger part of the story and weren't some ominous force anymore. This is partially why I only gave this one 4 stars and Small Spaces got 5. I thought that the flow for Small Spaces was a little better, and the idea was more unique to me. But I did really enjoy Dead Voices as well. The character development for middle grade is usually either non existent or pretty small, but I felt that this story was mainly for Coco's growth as a character, which I really liked. I was surprised at the focus on Coco because Small Spaces mainly focused on Ollie, so I had just figured that she would be the main focus for each of the books (since there will be two more, YAY!) but it caught me pleasantly off guard. I'm thinking maybe the next book will kind of be a trial for Brian and we will see a bit of his character growth.
If you don't mind reading middle grade books or have a young one who loves spooky stories, I would highly recommend both Small Spaces and Dead Voices. It's a quick adult read and would be a fun spooky read for youngers who can handle it. (I personally would never have been able to get through them when I was younger) There is humor, horror, and mystery throughout the entire story, and three great characters who value family and friendship over almost anything else.