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A review by clevermird
Small Favor by Jim Butcher
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
After the shakeup with the White Court last year, things have been relatively normal for Harry Dresden - warden duties, training his apprentice, and getting into assorted supernatural scrapes. But when an unseasonable early snowstorm ends with him and the Carpenter family getting attacked by mysterious goat creatures and Mab calls in a favor, he finds himself back in the hot seat of danger again as he tries to figure out who abducted Gentleman Johnny Marcone before it's too late
Unlike some of the other books in this series, Small Favor is short on big twists. Not that there's not things that I didn't expect, but there were very few moments when the rug was pulled out from under me. Not that I minded that, per se. Michael, his relationship to Harry, and his calling as a Knight of the Cross get a lot of focus here, which was really enjoyable, and a few other characters who've been off-screen for a while return. Again, Butcher drops tantalizing hints about future directions for the series that leave me guessing.
I think my biggest complaint about this book is that it's somewhat less "resolved" than earlier books, with what feels like a lot more unresolved threads and a major character's fate left somewhat up in the air. This isn't a proper critique - after all, it's a long-running series with a throughplot - but it did leave me feeling a bit unsatisfied when I finished.
Overall, a solid entry in the series, perhaps not the strongest but far from the weakest.
Unlike some of the other books in this series, Small Favor is short on big twists. Not that there's not things that I didn't expect, but there were very few moments when the rug was pulled out from under me. Not that I minded that, per se. Michael, his relationship to Harry, and his calling as a Knight of the Cross get a lot of focus here, which was really enjoyable, and a few other characters who've been off-screen for a while return. Again, Butcher drops tantalizing hints about future directions for the series that leave me guessing.
I think my biggest complaint about this book is that it's somewhat less "resolved" than earlier books, with what feels like a lot more unresolved threads and a major character's fate left somewhat up in the air. This isn't a proper critique - after all, it's a long-running series with a throughplot - but it did leave me feeling a bit unsatisfied when I finished.
Overall, a solid entry in the series, perhaps not the strongest but far from the weakest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Child abuse
Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Minor: Suicide