A review by into_the_bookish_wild
Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

I am SO sad that this is the end of the quartet. I wish there were more books, or that the four were each just slightly longer. The carnival was probably the scariest setting yet, and the clowns were just terrifying. My one complaint: this book had the first chapters from the other three books in the back, so while I was reading the ending, I thought I had at least a third of the book left to read. Because of that, I didn't think the ending was really the ending, and I was expecting an even bigger showdown with the Smiling Man to finish it off. I was very surprised when that wasn't the case. Not an issue with the story, but it was frustrating. Fingers crossed that Katherine Arden delves into longer horror at some point!