Erin is such a beautiful writer. This story was gorgeous and captivating from the moment I started reading it. Oddly enough, I have had a dream that is somewhat similar to the relationship Ellerie has with her twin brother in this story. That made me swoon all the more for it. The characters are well developed and you feel so attached to them from the get-go. It's unique yet I think will be loved by anyone who reads it! Highly recommended!

Small Favors is a quiet YA horror novel that entirely sucked me in. It's creepy and atmospheric with slow-building tension, small town secrets, and fraught relationships. Definitely worth a read.

Ellery lives in an isolated small town governed by rules created by the founders. It's a close knit community where neighbors are always there to lend a helping hand. But things start going very wrong. It starts with the deformed animals, the rotting crops, and then relationships going awry. Through it all Ellery struggles to keep her family together and help them survive. I don't want to say too much more, but I loved a lot about this. It was creepy and fascinating. Towards the later part of the book I thought the pacing could have been better and we got explanations of some things a tad too early in my opinion. Dragging it out a bit more would have kept up the suspense. But overall, a very strong book and I love seeing this kind of slow burn horror show up in YA. I received an advance copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

In terms of content notes, there is a lot of violence, some gore, death, lost of loved ones, manipulation, gaslighting etc.

I was unsure at first, but this book kept surprising me. Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it to other readers of the horror/thriller genre.

Small Favors is a slow burn, young adult, creepy, mysterious read. While parts were a little too slow, I appreciate how different the story and characters were. Some fairy tale elements were a little too shoe-horned in, but I ultimately liked it a lot. Craig is really good at incorporating fantasy in a way that's not cheesy or typical.. just there. I also love that it's a stand alone read. We need more of those in the young adult book space!

I really liked this book, even though at times it was really difficult to read. It's very dark, with a lot of death and a lot of mean characters. If you're squeamish or hate animal death (like me!), then this will be a tough read. I powered through because I really liked the story and love Craig's writing. I wish the end had been a little more flushed out, but overall, it was pretty satisfying.

“Small Favors is haunting, like a lullaby sung to ward off nightmares, it stays with you. Craig crafts a rich landscape, spinning an eeriness like music into the fabric of her story, filled with the most terrifying monsters.”

Cecelia Beckman, Sheaf & Ink

Small Favors is a perfect read for those who love a good story of the uncanny sprinkled in with some gruesome horror similar to Stephen King’s The Shinning.

I was instantly drawn into Craigs beautifully, yet eerie prairie frontier story. Where a rural village is cut off from the rest of the world and their only path to civilization is cut off. And something lurks within the forest. Something otherworldly, ghastly, and grotesque.

it is the haunted eeriness that propels the story forward. Wrapped with a red bow of delicious romance that will have you ache for more. And Craig does not shy away from primal feelings. Its as if the forest itself amplifies the more feral and base or primitive feelings and instincts. And like King’s The Shinning, when you’re cut off from the rest of the world, starving and the weeds of mistrust and survival of the fittest kicks in, there’s only so much time before the house of cards comes crumbling down.

And friends does Craig make this happen in ways that will make you feel the unsettling layer of dread seeping into the village like rot and decay.

I only had one minor critique which was towards the end. When Ellerie confronts someone in the end, she is tasked with guessing something. It’s the way Craig ends that particular chapter that made things confusing. I understand why she ended the chapter that way, leaving readers in limbo. No knowing if anything was resolved, but I think it would have been less confusing if she had ended it differently (for me anyway).

Rather than ending it with Ellerie saying “Wait!” and then moving on to the next chapter without any reference of a possible conversation, I think had Craig had the person respond with a question of what Ellerie wants, ending it with that would have been more sufficient.

Small Favors is brimming with sinister bargains, wild creatures, luscious romance, and horrifying outcomes. It’s a book that will sweep you away into a Grimm-like fairytale, it’s current pulling you under and holding you tight with sharp claws, ready to draw blood.

Delivering in equal parts dark and sinister as it is delicious and sweet, make sure to grab your copy.

Happy Reading ̴ Cece

Thank you so much to Delacorte Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Small Favors is set in Amity Falls, a small town surrounded by a dark forest in the Blackspire mountain range. Twice a year, a handful of villagers cross the pass into the city for supplies, but when no one comes back, and a handful of visitors appear, something is not right.

The monsters with silvery eyes that the founders fought off from the woods are back, and Ellerie Downing is doing everything in her power to keep her and her family alive and safe.

I really don't know how Erin A. Craig does it, but her writing and story telling really just suck you in! I'm not normally one for horror, but she is just about the only author I can read from the genre. It's spooky, mysterious, and enthralling, and I did not want to put it down!

It was 90-something degrees out, and I sprawled acorss my couch, reading this book well into the night. It's the kind of gripping mystery/horror that you shouldn't read at night, but you don't care enough to put away. It's dark and twisty, and just when you think you understand what's happening, someone else claims they did it.

There is also some romance. I saw some other reviews mention it came out of the blue, but I don't think it did! It was something that started from the beginning, and in it's strange way it was really sweet.

I have a feeling this would make for an awesome audiobook, and I'd love to see a Netflix series!!!

If there is one thing Erin A. Craig has taught me about her writing, is that it is extraordinary. Her ability to put new spins on old tales and make them darker, richer and better, is unbelievable. And while this wasn't necessarily an "old tale or retelling" like her debut, it was every bit as dark and delicious as her first and every bit as hard to put down.

I absolutely adored this. The characters, the crazy messed up mysterious setting and the even ore mysterious and sometimes dark characters. The whole premises on this story was truly unique and irresistible. Craig once again shows she knows how to write and she does it well! I look forward to more from this author.

I wanted to like this book but I couldn't get through it... the beginning was boring and dragged on. I love the author and her previous book but this did not read like that one. Maybe I will try again later but this didn't hold my attention.

"Once you saw behind the illusion of a trick, it was impossible to believe it had ever been magic."

Content warnings: animal death, death, murder, stalking

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Small Favors is a loose Rumpelstiltskin retelling, with an ominous atmosphere that will leave you with chills. In what is reminiscent of the setting of The Village, Ellerie lives in the isolated town of Amity Falls with her parents, twin brother, and two younger sisters. Their family comes from a long line of apiarists, and Ellerie wants nothing more than to one day inherit caring for the bees herself, instead of her twin Sam. If only she realized this would be the least of worries in a year after the town starts getting more strange and terrifying every day...

Erin A. Craig is one of my favorite authors, so requesting this ARC was a no-brainer. I had already pre-ordered a signed copy at her local bookstore when I found myself with an advanced copy of this and screamed loud enough that my neighbors were probably concerned. 🙈

I really enjoyed this book, but it could not beat House of Salt and Sorrows for me. I was enthralled with the chilling and suspense atmosphere, and Erin's writing is superb, but I didn't find myself loving the conclusion. I also struggled to get attached to the characters because I couldn't tell which ones were themselves or... behaving differently...

I was still excited to read perhaps my first Rumpelstiltskin retelling and found this to be one of the most stunning covers I've ever seen! I would recommend this book to fans of The Village, fantasy thrillers, and/or bees!

I read and adored House of Salt and Sorrows, so I knew what I was getting into with Small Favors, the slight horror around the edge of the story, then a drastic ending. But I wasn't quite expecting it to be that drastic and chaotic.

Sue me, but I am not a big fan of books with lots of death or mostly unhappy endings, so this wasn't the right book for me.

Following in the same vein as House of Salt and Sorrows, Small Favors is a dark and twisty fantastical read from Erin A. Craig.
Ellerie Downing and her family live in a small town called Amity Falls, located in a secluded valley surrounded by forest. What starts out to be a kind and peaceful place quickly turns into a mysterious scene full of seemingly random attacks, vandalism and unexplained hatred. Ellerie is determined to figure out what madness is plaguing her town, with the help of a new stranger who’s just arrived.
I didn’t even realize this was a Rumpelstiltskin retelling until after I was done reading it but it definitely makes sense with the plot and considering the fact that the author’s first book was also a retelling. I feel like I understand the direction of the story so much more now that I know that.
This one was definitely similar to House of Salt and Sorrows in that it has some fantastical elements and darker storylines included. I also found the writing style to be very consistent between the two books. The writing was immersive and really added to the atmosphere of the story.
One of the main things I enjoyed about this book was the small town setting of Amity Falls, surrounded by a dark and mysterious forest. This definitely added to the creepy-factor of the story while also keeping the reader engaged in solving the mystery of what darkness has overtaken the town.
This small town dynamic did come with a very big cast of characters. There was a list of townspeople and families at the beginning of the book which was helpful but some things did get confusing when there were big town gatherings and trying to remember how everyone is connected. Having this larger group did bring a lot of drama with it though, and I enjoyed following the various storylines between characters. The romance felt a bit too insta-lovey for me and I was much more interested in the mystery plaguing the town and the Downing family dynamics than the relationship between Ellerie and Whitaker.
This was an interesting take on a classic fairytale and I really appreciated how original it was. The story was riveting and the pacing felt well done throughout.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher and author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I received a free ARC of this book via NetGalley from the Underlined Pajama Party at YALLWEST a few months ago and I'm pleased to offer my review!

So, I can't remember if I read a blurb for this book before I went into it, or if I just knew that it was by the author of The House of Salt and Sorrows and decided that was good enough for me--but if I had to sum it up to pitch myself I would probably call it The Village by way of Holly Black, with bees.

oprah_BEES.gif

Is this a historical fantasy? Is it horror? I don't know and I don't care, because the mystery and the creep factor kept me reading long after I should have been in bed. Our protagonist, Ellerie, is the eldest daughter of an apiarist in an insular Little House on the Prairie village with a codified, rhyming list of rules governing their way of life. Unfortunately, there are monsters in the forest surrounding them, strangers in their midst who may or may not be real, and as crops die, animals are mysteriously slaughtered in the night, and a hard winter sets in, suspicions begin mounting as the town turns on itself.

In the midst of this, Ellerie seems nearly untouched by the growing paranoia, too wrapped up in taking care of her younger sisters and her bees in their parents' absence, faced with a sullen, irresponsible twin brother and dwindling supplies--or otherwise distracted by her budding romance with the handsome new trapper in town, who won't tell her his name. (Anyone who has ever read a fairy tale sees this red flag immediately, right?) And this is only one of the myriad of burning questions this book showered me with. Nothing here is incidental--every detail is a part of the tangled web being woven, and every character is trapped inside it. Pair that with the hint of the supernatural, macabre, and just plain creepy shit cropping up around every corner, and this is a book unlike anything else I've read this year. Maybe in a while. It kept me guessing right up through the brutal end.

Also, BEES.

This is Erin A. Craig's second novel, and while I haven't read her first yet (it's on my TBR), this was a solid second book, another standalone.

This book was creepy. It gave me the creeps. There's even a creepy doll with red X's for eyes (nightmare). The story is somewhat reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village in the sense that it is set in a small, old-fashioned (for lack of a better term, but let's just say the women wear dresses and skirts and do housework and the men wear pants and work outdoors or as the doctor, shopkeeper, etc. you get the idea) village surrounded by forests, and there are creatures that roam the woods ready to attack and maim anyone who crosses them.

Ellerie Downing lives with her parents and three siblings at the edge of the village. Her father is a beekeeper, and when her twin brother shirks his responsibilities, Ellerie begins to learn how to care for the bees. Meanwhile, the peace and tranquility of the town begins to unravel around them, beginning with the slaughter of some men in the village after they venture out into the woods for supplies and the arrival of strange out-of-towners, including the charming but mysterious "Whitaker Price."

Parts of this book are admittedly slow, bordering on dragging, but I chalk that up to the author slowly building tension. The village goes all to hell, but it starts with a small loose thread and the creepiness, sense of dread, and even violence, builds slowly as the book carries on. Other parts of the book felt somewhat disjointed, for example, Ellerie's twin brother is Samuel. We're told that they are so close and love each other so much but from the beginning Samuel is kind of a jerk (putting it nicely) so all we're left with is that we're supposed to believe what the narrator tells us about that relationship.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and would even recommend this as a good one to read as we approach the "spooky" fall season.

This was creepy, great setting, family relationships, creepy creatures and it definitely reminded me of the movie The Village at times. I also liked seeing how this was inspired by the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale. The author truly captures tension, mystery and also the feeling of being watched so well. I wasn't sure how to to trust and I had theories of what was happening. I will say that some of the village tension was too repetitive without anything being done about it, pacing kinda dragged in parts, the romance was kinda too distracting and some of the reveals were a little underwhelming. But I still love Craig's writing and story ideas. This was fun to read and easy to get pulled into. Plus the cover is so amazing. I'm excited to see what she writes next.

Ellerie and her family live in a small village called Amity Falls or God's Grasp. What starts out seeming to be a kind and peaceful place quickly turns into a mysterious scene full of attacks, vandalism and unexplained hatred. But where is this enmity coming from?

There are mysterious beasts with deformities (really creepy) and glowing silver eyes. Also, a strange woman described as beautiful with the same silver eyes but hands that are too long and misshapen. Everything just keeps getting more odd, as if someone or something is changing the town. But is it the towns peoples fault? Or the strangers from the woods?

I definitely recommend this chilling read! Trigger warnings for disturbing imagery related to animals and some people, violence and death.

It took me a minute to get hooked by this book, honestly. I felt like I had read this story/seen the movie before when I was still only in the "don't leave this small town, there are evil things in the woods," stage. But then, damn, did it get good.

I was not expecting to be surprised nearly so many times. I was not expecting Ellerie to be nearly so competent. I was not expecting the Evil Things to be nearly so complex.

And speaking of complex, I didn't even realize this was a Rumpelstiltskin retelling until I read other reviews but now I can totally see it! What an interesting take on that story. I will definitely be recommending this book to teens who like fantasy, mystery, suspense, a strong heroine, and a bit of romance!

After a slow start, Small Favors picks up and delivers a solidly creepy tale about a small, isolated town and the horrors that lurk in the woods outside and those that lurk inside the town itself. I loved Ellerie as a main character and I really felt for her as she struggles to deal with more and more responsibility in her family and her town. I also really enjoyed all the beekeeping aspects - I recently started beekeeping myself so that was fun to read! I'll definitely be recommending this one to my teens, especially once the weather turns cooler and they're looking for something on the scary side.

Based on other reviews I feel like this is a situation of it's not the book it's me. It was just a very slow burn novel for me and I felt myself questioning when the plot was going to get somewhere. I wasn't able to finish it because I picked it up and set it down multiple times with dread every time I went to pick it up. Just not my cup of tea.

I really liked the story, the characters and the atmospheric writing. I didn't like the romance though. It felt like it happened to quick, especially since this is a sllow-burn story.