There is no other way to describe the writing in this book besides beautiful! This book was so unique and gorgeously done, and I loved the mystery element that I wasn't quite expecting. I would recommend this book to my friends who are YA lovers and atmospheric readers.

I loved Craig's previous book House of Salt and Sorrows, and was incredibly excited when I was approved for Small Favors. As in the previous book, the atmosphere in this book is phenomenal.

The book was a bit too slow in the beginning for me, and I was unsure if I would end up loving it or even sticking with it, when I started reading. However, I loved HoSaS so much that I wanted to give this one a fair shot. I'm so happy I did. About halfway through the book really picked up and I loved the second half.

The characters were so engaging, and I simply adored some of them while really despising others, which speaks to the author's talent. I did feel the book ended a bit abruptly, and I would have liked to see perhaps the beginning be a little shorter and the end be more fleshed out. However, overall I greatly enjoyed this book.

<b>3 stars</b>

This is a book I was really excited for. I loved Craig’s debut, A House of Salt and Sorrows and when I went into this book I was looking forward to it. I’m honestly not sure what went wrong for me to be honest. I was into it in the beginning, and I think that it was an intriguing idea. But something…somewhere it fell off for me and about midway I was starting to struggle through it. So you can imagine I am so disappointed I didn’t like it more than I did. But this will definitely be a book for some people. To be clear it was a good book, it just wasn’t what I was expecting and parts of it didn’t work for me.
First off, I think people who like Stephen King or lite horror will love this book. It certainly was atmospheric. Another book that has similar vibes is Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton. They both have this eerie feeling that builds as the book goes on. Small village, cut off from the rest of the world, something lurking beyond the borders…those are the main parts of this novel. Like I said, it is atmospheric and moody which were major points. Craig is really great at doing things with atmosphere.
The major issue I had I think was the pacing. The pacing felt off to me. It’s supposed to build and unfortunately, I think it built a little too slowly for my tastes. I felt instead of building it dragged a bit by the middle. Some parts felt a little too repetitive. It get what the aim of it was, but it still didn’t totally work for me. And that I think was the main crux – the pacing didn’t work for me which made the later parts of the novel not as interesting.
I also didn’t love the romance aspect of this book. I felt that it was a bit strange addition, especially the further we get into the book. I also felt the characters didn’t hold up as well as they could have. I don’t mind that Ellerie didn’t figure out what was going on, but I did have issues because it felt like once something happened nothing happens for several more chapters.
What I did like about the characters is you’re suspicious of everyone. You have no clue who is who or who is bad or who is good and I really liked that aspect of this book. It was well done because it kept you guessing all the way until the end of the book. I certainly didn’t see the twist coming at the end, and I was surprised.
The other thing is this book feels like it’s supposed to be a fantasy world, but it also feels like it is supposed to be set in our world, which is a little confusing for me to be honest.
Craig is a great writer, and the writing is good, and enjoyable to read. I don’t feel like I was struggling with the writing at all. It was clear and concise and helped as I said build up such a creepy atmosphere. I could see this as a good story for the summer or the fall. It is definitely mystery/thriller/creepy/horror lite.
Overall, I think it is a good book and will hit the spot for some readers and miss the mark for others depending on what you like. For me, it just didn’t go far enough and then in some ways it was too slow. Apparently, this was supposed to be a partial fairytale retelling, but I didn’t get that in this book. I wouldn’t say it was a retelling. My final comment is I think I enjoyed it, but not as much as her debut book.

After having read Erin's first book and loving it, I was so excited to receive an eARC of SMALL FAVORS! And it certainly did not disappoint. This book was described to me as having The Village vibes, and that totally fit! It was deliciously creepy and dark without being grotesque or too horror-y. And the way that you slowly feel the villagers going mad was so expertly done! Erin A. Craig is 100% an auto-buy author for me, and I will always recommend her books to everyone I meet!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Random House Children's for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions stated are entirely my own. I was very excited to read Small Favors because I have heard good things about the author's first book and the plot looked pretty interesting. The book was about Ellerie Downing and strange events going on with the community in her small town. The book includes magic, mystery, and romance. I really enjoyed the book but it did seem a bit long and slow at times. I think it would be a good read for anyone who likes YA fantasy books with a hint of mystery as well.

I definitely enjoyed Small Favors more than House of Salt and Sorrows. I found that to be very repetitive. I loved the setting of Small Favors and the slightly creepy vibe. Thank you to Netgalley for this arc ebook!

I liked House of Salt and Sorrows better than Small Favors. I was enraptured with the story until the 45% mark when I realized nothing was really happening. This book is very long and much of it was fillers that could have been deleted. The story seemed to follow the pattern of something happens, filler for a few chapters, something different happens, more filler, something else happens, etc.

The romance was awkward and could have been left out or at least written differently. During Whitaker's second interaction with Ellerie (the first and second totaling maybe 5 minutes), he flirts and puts the moves on her which set off red flags. Ellerie basked in his attention despite knowing he was evasive and never told her the truth about anything. They both somehow fall in love over a course of months with meager interactions.

I would have enjoyed this more if it hadn't been as lengthy. Plus, I guessed the twists from the beginning so I had to endure Ellerie's thought process for hundreds of pages until she connected the dots. Overall, this was still a good read that reminded me of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.

There are not enough Rumpelstiltskin retellings out there, and even if there were, this one would blow them out of the park. Erin A Craig's second book does not disappoint. Small Favors brings incredible world building, simmering slow-burn romance, and heart-pounding spookiness It's spooky, dark, and atmospheric, with well built tension, I was drawn into this mysterious town's life and wanted to know what was going on. I do think that there are some very predictable elements of the story, but there were also some surprises as well. I would recommend for fans of The Village. Overall an excellent read.

Small Favors is a slow-build, horror fairy tale that would be the perfect read for the Halloween season!

There are a lot of things to love about this book: the quaint feel of the town, the bees, the relationship between Ellerie and her sisters, the building sense of panic and claustrophobia, the encroaching darkness, and the mythology. Craig has delivered another dark, mysterious retelling that becomes more and more horrific as the plot progresses. However, I do have a few issues. The beginning of the story feels quite long; Craig takes a lot of time to establish the town and provide evidence of the strange occurrences, and while I appreciate having a thorough sense of Amity Falls, I was definitely ready for some action long before it arrived. I also had quite a bit of difficulty keeping all the townspeople straight, and although there was a list of characters at the beginning of the book, I got tired of flipping back and forth. Part of this stems from the fact that many of the townspeople felt flat and almost interchangeable, although the main cast was better developed. Finally, the ending seemed abrupt. There's a fantastic build-up to the finale, and then we're left with a lot of questions and not a lot of resolution. I'm not exactly displeased with the ending, but I would've liked an epilogue or something to give me a bit more closure.

Having said all that, I really did enjoy this book. Ellerie and her sisters really sold the story for me. Their relationship is sweet and solid, and I loved how they cared for and supported one another. The sisters suffer a lot in this book, but they don't let their experiences tear them apart--a reality seen in many of the other families in town. Instead, they step into their new roles and do their best, even if that means having to make sacrifices. The Downing sisters' maturity is a stark contrast to the reaction of the rest of the town as their supplies dwindle and tensions and violence rise, and I appreciate that Craig portrayed this strong sisterly bond that couldn't be broken despite all the chaos. The same can't be said for Ellerie's twin, Sam, who further contrasted the love between his sisters and in fact put their lives in danger many times. That's not to say that the sisters are perfect--they still grumble and disagree and keep secrets from each other--but they still stick together, and their dedication is what eventually saves their lives.

And about that threat to their lives: Craig's villains take a number of forms in this novel. Presented first as supernatural monsters in the forest, the tone quickly shifts to the monsters within the townspeople themselves, who become more and more erratic as unexplained accidents and attacks occur and as leaving Amity Falls becomes essentially impossible. It's enthralling yet horrifying to see the citizens' paranoia grow until you begin to wonder if there are truly any monsters in the woods or if it's all the work of human monsters. I won't say that I was surprised with the reveal of the villains--what are the odds that random trappers would show up in the woods around the town at the same time that the town's supply parties are getting butchered by animals in the woods--but Craig does a good job of keeping up the suspense and creating an interesting mythology around the monsters. The villains are also where she ties in the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, albeit loosely up to the point where it's blatantly obvious, but I still liked the inclusion and the cleverness required to guess the head villain's true name.

Small Favors isn't a perfect read, but it's a satisfying one. Craig has once again presented a retelling of a less-popular fairy tale and created a fascinating narrative that will keep readers up past their bedtimes. Although it's a little long and the secondary characters are a little bland, Ellerie, her sisters, and the unyielding sense of panic eventually keep the pace moving at a breakneck speed until the final page. If you're looking for a seemingly innocent but dark read to make you wary of the dark woods or things glimpsed in the corner of your eye, Small Favors is definitely the book for you.

Oh my goodness....THIS BOOK! I cannot begin to put into words how much I enjoyed this book. I picked up without even knowing what it was about, mainly because I loved Erin's debut, House of Salt and Sorrows. Since the cover is so bright, I wasn't expected such a dark story but OH MAN. was I surprised---but in the best possible way! I binged-read this book in two days and pretty much let netflix parent my kids so that I could keep reading. This book kept me guessing right up until the very end. It has major THE VILLAGE vibes which is one of my favorite movies so I ADORED that about it. I don't want to say too much because I really do think this is the type of book you want to go into without knowing a whole lot, but if dark fantasy with a twist of magic and mystery is your thing, then I highly recommend this book! Erin Craig is an INCREDIBLE story teller and she has really outdone herself with this one! I LOVED HOSAS but SMALL FAVORS is my new favorite. It was incredible!!!

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

Your friendly neighborhood mermaid enthusiast is back! Naturally, I grabbed House of Salt and Sorrows because mermaids. I grabbed this one because I enjoyed Craig's first book. I definitely think she's growing as a writer and trying new and different things, which will prove interesting when she finds her niche!

Like House of Salt and Sorrows, this was a mostly enjoyable read. Craig is excellent at vivid world-building, which she achieves here as well. The story is definitely haunting, though more "campfire ghost story" scary than "gothic" scary. (There wasn't really anything to imply it was a gothic story, but I did make some assumptions based on the names of the locations.)

The pace on this one is very, very slow. It takes place over an extended period of time, which is a bit unusual for a YA novel. The characters are likable enough and you can easily cast suspicion where it belongs. (If you ever thought you could survive a horror movie, this book is for you.) However, the ending wasn't very strong or conclusive compared to the rest of the novel. Based on other (shorter) things I've read, I can tell what she was aiming for and didn't quite succeed with.

Otherwise, a pretty decent scary read to pass the time if you're in the mood!

The constant metaphor of bees and honey throughout this whole book might have been my favorite detail. From the start, there's something so eerie about a beautiful thing being attached to a horror book. It's eerie in the same way insects are both beautiful and yet disgusting and creepy, I don't know if I could explain it with words. If it wasn't for this honey bee detail, the book might have reminded me a little too much of that Amanda Seyfried Red Riding Hood movie - a small town, a scary wolf, and distrust everywhere. A very typical main character. But somehow, she managed to make it way better than I could imagine.

Small Favors was a solid 3.5 star read for me but since there are no half stars, I’ve decided to round down to three. I made this decision because while I do love a great deal about this book, I think the issues I have outnumbers what I love. Let’s start with the positive, shall we.

Craig is simply a good writer. Her books grab my attention and I can’t put them down. I FLEW through all 480 pages because I needed to see what happened next. Her worlds are immersive and her characters are always flawlessly written. It doesn’t matter how many characters there are, each one will be unique. In Small Favors, the main character is Ellerie. Ellerie has two sisters, Merry and Sadie, and a twin brother, Sam. Sometimes siblings in books can be kind of indistinguishable but that was not the case here. I truly loved every character, even the villains.

I also love the way Craig takes classic fairytales and twists them into something gothic and creepy. I’ve discovered after reading her books and The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson, that macabre fantasy is my favorite way to partake in the horror genre. The fantasy element keeps it from being too much for me. While House of Salt and Sorrows was a spooky take on “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”, this book was a take on “Rumpelstiltskin.” It was clear that this book was also heavily influenced by Needful Things by Stephen King. Needful Things is one of my favorite King books so I did enjoy that aspect of the story but at times, I think Small Favors borrowed a little too much from Needful Things. With that, let’s talk about my issues with this book.

Small Favors takes place in the fictional town of Amity Falls, located somewhere in the eastern United States… I think. This book never gives a clear location or time period. I don’t really care about the location because it’s fictional but I would like to have a better understanding of the time period. It’s definitely historical and if I had to guess, I would say the 1700s or 1800s. Craig also kept these details vague in House of Salt and Sorrows, however, I think it worked better in that book because everything from the location to the religion was fictional. Amity Falls is not only located in the USA, it’s also an intensely Christian town, bordering on cultish. While I don’t mind Christianity being used in books, I think it took away from the fantasy/fairytale element.

Along with the Christianity taking away from the fairytale feel, the story in general wasn’t fairytale like. The “Rumpelstiltskin” aspect was very vague throughout and nothing really happened with it until the end of the book. This was particularly disappointing to me because I really wanted to see Craig’s take on it. This book was honestly more inspired by Needful Things than “Rumpelstiltskin.” If you’ve read King’s book, you’ll know how it ends and that is almost exactly how Small Favors ends. Up until the ending, I was enjoying the similarities between the two but having this book end with a town wide fight scene just didn’t do it for me.

The ending in general is why I can’t rank this book higher. Until about the 50% mark, this was a five star read and it dipped down from there. There were a few random things that didn’t go where I expected them to and it affected my overall enjoyment of the story. I’m going to get into them now but I’m going to list them in a bullet list for clarity.

One of the main creepy things happening in the town was the animals giving birth to deformed and monstrous babies. This was brought up multiple times so when Ellerie’s mother and Sam’s girlfriend both became pregnant, I assumed we were going in a real spooky direction. I thought that either one or both the babies would be born deformed or as something other but that didn’t happen. Sam’s baby was born totally normal and we never find out about Ellerie and Sam’s sibling which brings me to my next issue.

Ellerie’s parents, Gideon and Sarah, played a pretty big role in the first part of this book. I really liked them and liked what they brought to the story. When a pregnant Sarah was severely injured, she and Gideon left the tiny village for a bigger city to seek medical care. We NEVER find out what happened to them. It’s left totally open ended so who knows if they lived or died. Leaving this open ended was a major misstep, in my opinion.

One of my only complaints in my review of House of Salt and Sorrows was the instalove. That is also a problem here. The love interest is Whitaker and I really do like him. I liked him and Ellerie together but I wanted more. There was not enough interactions between the two for me to believe that they were in love. Also, as in House of Salt and Sorrows, the male love interest is mysterious and possibly the bad guy. I DO like that but I can see it becoming very formulaic if Craig continues to do this in future books.

Sam is a very confusing character. As Ellerie’s twin, he’s literally her other half. We’re told repeatedly that Sam is (or was) a great guy but we never see that. Sam is truly awful from the beginning. I initially assumed it was because of the dark forces in the town but then we find out that nope, that’s just who he is. So, if he used to be a great guy, what happened to make him so awful? He also gets his girlfriend pregnant but refuses to believe the baby is his. When it’s born and looks just like him, he doesn’t seem surprised and in fact, acts like he knew it was his baby the whole time. He then meets an unfortunate end and that’s that on that… very unsatisfying.

The ending of this book was unsatisfying in general. I really feel that this could have been a five star read with just a few minor tweaks. I love the claustrophobic village, the characters, the bees and the writing in general but all of that isn’t enough to make me happy with the ending.

Small Favors is a is a wonderful and incredibly rich fantasy novel, so well built and fast paced that I wasn't able to put it down till I reached the end. I was absolutely captivated by the atmosphere, and the characters.

This novel submerges the reader in a landscape so imaginative and detailed that the information of the world building/plot never feels forced, and is never difficult to understand or picture in one's mind. I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone!

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to review.

I liked this book so much better than her debut novel, which, to be fair, was pretty good, too. This was like a horror version of Little House on the Prairie. Since it was comped to The Village, I kept waiting to be surprised by all of this set in a modern era, but that never came and, as a result, I could never pinpoint when exactly this novel takes place. I loved the bees, I loved Ellerie and Whitaker, it’s such a good story. I devoured it in almost a single sitting.

Erin A. Craig's ghoulish debut House of Salt and Sorrows left me in no doubt as to her talent for spine-chilling horror, and this small town, pioneer era gothic was even more deliciously claustrophobic. Craig is above all a wizard of atmospheric prose; just as HOSAS left me feeling salt-sprayed and emotionally wrung-out, Small Favors invokes in equal measure the suffocating heat of high summer and and the eerie silence of snow-silenced pines. The tension within these pages is palatable, as the isolated town of Amity Falls spirals closer and closer to a sort of Dionysian madness. The story is a loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, and I was impressed by how Craig put a thoroughly unique stamp on the classic fable. However, similar to my issues with HSOSAS, the brilliance of the setting and tight, even plot eclipsed the blandness of the characters, none of whom stood out to me as especially memorable. The romance felt hurried and unmotivated for what was otherwise a compelling story, and I found myself bored by leading man Whittaker. Furthermore, the plot itself unwound near the end culminating in an ending so furiously rushed and unsatisfying I thought I had missed something and had to flip a few pages back.

Still, this book will sink its hooks into you and keep you guessing right up until the final page. Craig's writing is phantasmagoric, and will transfix you as surely as smoke lull Ellerie's bees. TW for gore, violence, animal death, and a classic Erin A. Craig traumatizing birth scene.

When I heard Erin Craig had a new book, I jumped at the chance to request an arc. House of Salt and Sorrows was one of my absolute favorite books of last year! Dark, memorable, and terrifying; it took one book for me to figure out I love Erin Craig’s style. So, I fully thought that Erin Craig was switching gears from fairytales to small town horror in this book. I did not get this at all from the synopsis and I somehow missed this when I skimmed over other people’s reviews, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this book is actually a retelling of Rumplestilskin. We are keeping the fairytale trend going which I could not be happier about! Horrific fairytale fiction in YA? HELL YEAH.

Rather than a standard fairytale setting with castles and princesses like in her previous book, this fairytale retelling takes place in a claustrophobically small town in the mountains. Heavy creepy religious cult vibes, right from the first chapter. This book shows the danger of small town living and how fanatic people can easily get when they aren’t governed by anyone outside of their community. My main complaint is how slow to start this book was, aka my biggest book pet peeve. It’s a pretty long book, clocking in at nearly 500 pages, and I think it could’ve been far shorter. Seriously, this book could’ve been about 200 pages shorter. The first half showed the slow and mysterious decline of the community, which I think was solidified well enough 30% into the book. So much of it was unnecessary. I went from motivated to annoyed when I got to 80% of the book and still nothing had happened. Sorry but I can’t read 400 pages of essentially nothing and still be as excited as I was starting it. I spent most of the book antsy for something to just HAPPEN ALREADY.

The issue I had with this book was the same issue I had with House of Salt and Sorrows, which was nothing really happened until the last 10% of the book. It was overly long and repetitive until the last 10%, the big reveal was extremely predictable and I called it about 20% into the book. Overly long and nothing happening until the last 10% is a bad combo.

My other issue was that the ending was extremely unsatisfying. In House of Salt and Sorrows, the fairytale ambience and incredibly action packed last 10% made it an above average read for me, but unfortunately Small Favors missed the mark. It also desperately needs an epilogue, as that ending was so unsatisfactory. When I turned the page and saw that the book was over, I was like wtf that’s it?

I debated back and forth between 3 or a very generous and biased 4 stars due to my loyalty towards House of Salt and Sorrows and my love for fairytales. To be honest it would’ve been a 3.5 star read until that frustrating, unsatisfying ending, pushing this down to a 3/5. I’ve seen some comparisons between this book and The Grace Year, and if you are looking for something scarier with higher stakes and more action, I personally recommend that one instead.

Thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Small Favors is Erin A. Craig's follow up to debut House of Salt and Sorrows and it delivers on the slow building tension and dread and explosive finale. It follows 18 year-old Ellerie Downing and her beekeeping family in the extremely isolated mountain village, where mysterious creatures lurk in the forest using tricks and small favors to turn the village residents against each other until the tension erupts into violence. It's atmospheric and deliciously creepy. Craig is great at building spooky aesthetics and blending fantasy with horror. If you enjoyed House of Salt and Sorrows, Small Favors will scratch the same itch.

I really enjoyed this beautifully written, slow-burn thriller. It's kind of like the movie "The Village" if the monsters were real. There were a few loose ends that I felt were not brought to a satisfying conclusion (WTH, Sam??), but overall it was really good!

This is a dark little book, and I really enjoyed it. I have come to appreciate the dark notes that permeate Craig's writing, and the different intricacies of human nature that she explores and exploits.