Small Favors

Erin A. Craig

YA Mystery Horror

Ellerie Downing lives in the quiet town of Amity Falls in the Blackspire Mountain range–five narrow peaks stretching into the sky like a grasping hand, bordered by a nearly impenetrable forest from which the early townsfolk fought off the devils in the woods. To this day, visitors are few and rare. But when a supply party goes missing, some worry that the monsters that once stalked the region have returned.

As fall turns to winter, more strange activities plague the town. They point to a tribe of devilish and mystical creatures who promise to fulfill the residents’ deepest desires, however grand and impossible, for just a small favor. But their true intentions are much more sinister, and Ellerie finds herself in a race against time before all of Amity Falls, her family, and the boy she loves go up in flames.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

(3 / 5) Remember that movie by M. Night Shyamalan, The Village? There was a secluded village in the middle of the forest that had some form of beasts. The people also had an all-powerful group of leaders that ruled the town with an iron fist.

This book very much had The Village vibes. They were a secluded town, had beasts in the forest and leaders with too much power. Not to mention the spooky vibe!

I previously read Craig’s book, A House of Salt and Sorrows and absolutely hated the ending. I felt it riled me up only to whack me in the end with something atrocious. Honestly, I’m deciding that Craig as an author, is just not for me.

The build-up was slow, extremely so. I kept waiting for something to happen, for something to snag my attention. And while there were horrible things happening to this family, it didn’t endear me to the story at all. I kept waiting for that one thing to explode and make all the pieces fall into place. But when it did? It was a little fizzle, not an explosion and I was deeply let down.

The mystery of it all had great potential, but it was overly long and not executed well enough to hold my attention.

AUDIO REVIEW: I really did not care for this narrator. Her voice was engaging until she used a child voice, then I would physically cringe. It grated on me more than I’d like to admit. The pace at which she read was fairly slow. I kept wanting to speed it up but realized I was at the top speed allowed. That doesn’t happen to me often!

General content summary: little to no language, missing men and searching, injured horse killed, broken bone, body remains found (no details), monster attack and blood (lots of blood but little description), previous miscarriages, pregnancy, previous child death from illness, physical violence (fists, multiple, blood), large fire (woman burned, some details), arson and attempted murder, hanging (few details), previous pick axe death and suicide, multiple deaths (monsters, few details), animal slaughter and writing in blood, m/f passionate kissing, fire (multiple), slow starvation, animal slaughter, someone pushed out a window and killed, birth, explosions, gun death, torture (physical violence), hatchet death (some details, grief). 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio for the complimentary copy!

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