4.5 stars

Ominous, lingering, Americana gone wrong with a dose of the eldritch.

Concept:★★★★
Pacing: ★★★★
Atmosphere: ★★★★★

This is one of those books that you either barely describe or seriously over describe—it's rich, the plot is layered, and some of the magic in this story's structure comes from knowing the movements of the plot and yet being absolutely compelled to savor it anyway for the journey. A really masterful horror-speculative from an author to watch.

In the town of Amity Falls, a family of beekeepers lives in relative harmony with their close-knit group of townspeople. Their town exists in the valley of a hard-to-travel mountain range, and monsters, perils, and death plague anyone who tries to get into Amity Falls....and out. Supply runs to the outside world are dangerous and infrequent. The people of Amity Falls are isolated.

In this setup of isolation and crowd-based community, Ellerie Downing is learning to care for the bees. And trying to find her place in the community as a young woman of seventeen with dreams and goals that don't *quite* align with the patriarchal lifestyle of her town.

When she meets a strange boy at the fringes of the woods, Ellerie has no idea that everything is about to change.

The woods are dark and deep. And something has been drawn to the glowing jewel of Amity Falls like a moth to a flickering flame...

Keep your luck with you, and don't go lending out small favors.

Ohhhhhh, this was delicious. Like the honey that this novel's bee motif alludes to, Small Favors is a book that seeps into your consciousness with a sweet yet hard-to-escape sticky residue. You're caught like a fly in the amber within the author's beautiful words, aware that the story is heading for destruction and yet unable to stop, happy to sink in.

What an interesting combination to add the Salem witch trials-esque Americana spirit to the folkloric eldritch horrors of the older worlds. You'd think this would have been done before and therefore boring in its familiarity, but the author took those familiar concepts and really tangled them up into something fresh on the market (or at least it was fresh for me, a fan of folklore horror).

I wonder how this novel would translate to an international audience, because it is so rooted in that sense of nebulously frontier Americana with all of the folklore, superstitions, and religion vs. folk that seems to have a unique flavor in this particular country and time. But then, the core concepts are familiar to a lot of Western countries that are based in Christianity, so who knows.

A fantastic entry into the folklore horror canon, and another beautifully written story by Erin A. Craig.

2.5 stars

I had high hopes for this one and it fell way below for me.

It was SLOW, like painfully slow in the beginning. It almost felt like a chore to pick my kindle up to read this. But I stuck it out and I did finish it.

The final 1/3 of the book is good, I really feel like the rest could’ve been edited way down. Once it got into the meat of the action I did find it easier and better to read.

I know this is a YA set back in a pioneer-like era but the romance seemed way too immature. More like the romance between preteens than an 18 year old.

I’ve heard phenomenal things about the authors debut work and even though this was a bit of a let down I definitely didn’t dislike it enough to not read her other work.

I was really excited about this book but it fell short of my expectations. I really did struggle to get through this book because of the pacing. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy! First off, the cover is gorgeous and even more gorgeous on the physical book. It took me a little bit to get into this one, I'm like what kind of weird town is this and what could really happen? Overall I ended up getting into it and really enjoying it! I also learned a lot about bees.

This was a really solid read. I love retellings and felt as if the author did such a tremendous job with it. The plot sucked me in and kept me captivated till the end. The beginning was really strong and it started to falter towards the end. Some plotlines were confusing and hard to follow. Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy!

This read like you were reading the origins of a fairy tale. A young girl who’s pretty bored with her life meets a young fellow in the woods. He’s mysteriously, but provides a sense of reprieve from the humdrum of her life. And then things start happening. The story itself is slow burning all the way up to the end. It felt like such a good pace up until all the action started taking place. Then, it just kept moving so quickly that I was worried I’ll be left with a lot of questions without any answers. But they did and thankfully I loved the ending.
Full review to come on YouTube.

I didn’t fully know how to feel after reading this book, which is why I’m giving it a solid 3 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and Ellerie was a wonderful protagonist. The ending felt a bit rushed to me, but also felt like it had been a long time coming. There were some plot holes that confused me as well, but overall I loved guessing what was going to happen next and if there were actually dark forces at work or just a small town gone mad at being secluded for so long during the winter. Not a top recommendation from me, but still a very good and fun read. (I didn’t love the romance though… I felt it could have been left out.)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

Oh how I wanted to absolutely love this. I adored her first book, but this one just was too slow for me I think. While I liked the characters well enough I never really connected with any of them, and outside of Ellerie, they never felt fully fleshed out, or they were and I just didn't care about them enough. The comparison to M. Night Shyamalan are pretty on point, because nothing happens and also does happen at the same time. I liked the setting. The secluded village in a mountain pass was very picturesque and well done. I find it hard to go into details with this one without serious spoilers. Whitaker was a fun relief from Ellerie's constant worry. I wish he was around more honestly.

Overall I found this to be ok, I didn't completely hate it, but I was very bored for a majority of the book.

Once again, Erin A. Craig hit it out of the park. If you enjoyed the film The Village, or the books Strange Grace and The Grace Year, this one should be right up your alley. It’s a little bit fantasy, a little bit mystery, and a little bit horror, and I devoured every moment of it.

Ellerie lives in the small, secluded village of Amity Falls. The village is surrounded by forest, and when an unknown calamity befalls their supply party, the townspeople find themselves even more isolated from the outside world. There are terrifying beasts prowling the woods, but the worst monsters are the ones who live just doors away. Dark times have come to Amity Falls, and mysterious occurrences turn the townspeople against each other. This book begs the question of just who you’ll trust, and how far you’ll go, to protected your loved ones when help isn’t coming.

I loved the romance, the family dynamics, the politics, the mythology and setting of this book. Truly, everything about it hit the mark for me.

This is quite easily one of my favorite reads of 2021, and I sure love Erin A. Craig’s brand of hauntingly atmospheric fantasy. She certainly has a way of writing compelling stories that are downright unsettling and suck you right in!

Another thrilling story by Erin A. Craig, this time with a new fairytale in mind. This whole story gave me The Village and Salem Witch Trial vibes. It was a great read for the spooky season and I loved the element of beekeeping in place. A unique story that will have you questioning every character you meet.

If you’re looking for a book to give you goosebumps as you read, you’re going to want to add this one to your TBR! Erin A. Craig is a master at creating the creepiest book atmospheres; I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading this book. Amity Falls is a masterfully crafted world where it’s not just about the monsters that might be hiding out in the woods, but the ones hiding within ourselves as well. You’ll find engaging and enigmatic characters that seem like friends, but might also be hiding some fiendish intent behind their easy smiles. And if you love The Village, you’re absolutely going to love this book.

This was so good. It was spooky and creepy and everything that I wanted it to be. I totally got the Village vibes. Ellerie was one of my favorite characters. I just felt so much for her and her siblings. They live in the perfect secluded community until strange things start to happen. I could not put this book down. This is an auto buy author for me. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s / Delacorte Press for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest review.

Erin A. Craig is a master at world-building and creating atmosphere in her stories. That was my favorite part of House of Salt and Sorrows (which I LOVED) and my favorite part of Small Favors as well. The settings and atmospheres are totally different, but both creepy and fantastical in their own ways.

However, Small Favors did not draw me in the way HOSAS did. I loved the setting of Amity Falls and I liked the characters ok and the villains were really cool once you find out what they truly are, but the story was just very very slow. With HOSAS, I couldn’t put it down but I had to make myself keep picking up (figuratively as it was an ebook) Small Favors. Great setting, fascinating premise, but it was just too slow to hold my interest like I thought it would. I liked it but I didn’t love it.

Ellerie lives in Amity Falls, a town surrounded by forest - a forest populated by monsters. The monsters are real, and they are deadly - and they are targeting Amity Falls. When Ellerie's parents leave to seek medical care across the mountains, she is left in charge of the farm and her siblings. Join her as she finds that wishes can backfire, and not all monsters are visible.

This was an engrossing and enjoyable book - I recommend it for anyone from about middle school age and up who enjoys strong female protagonists, self-exploration, and characters who discover they can go beyond what they thought were their limits. I can only hope there will be a sequel.

With a cover as pretty as this one, it is easy to forget that Erin A. Craig's sophomore novel Small Favors is a horror story. Actually, I reacquainted myself with that fact just in time to read this YA novel for spooky season, and I am glad I did because it gave off just the right vibes for a Halloween read. If you saw and enjoyed M. Night Shyamalan's 2004 thriller The Village, then pick up this book! While the plot and twist are not the same, The Village and Small Favors have a similar look and feel.

Small Favors takes place in the fictional town of Amity Falls during an unidentified era that we can assume to be colonial times. Amity Falls is quiet and quaint, and adheres to the Bible and "The Rules," which warn of the monsters lurking in the woods. The residents of Amity Falls know not to venture in the forest alone because they may not make it out alive. When a supply party goes missing and more strange occurrences begin happening around town, the citizens of Amity Falls become more fearful of the forces at play. With winter closing in without supplies and living conditions becoming more perilous in Amity Falls, the townsfolk become desperate to survive. Everyone knows that evil comes disguised as everything that you ever wanted, but will the people of Amity Falls recognize wicked when they are faced with it or will they fall prey to the darkness?

As a fan of both The Village and Twilight Zone's iconic episode, The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, I appreciated Craig's Small Favors. This novel is so atmospheric and portentous - while everything may seem fairly innocent on the surface, I couldn't help the goosebumps that appeared on my arms every time my guard went up due to strange happenings and people around town. In fact, the setting and mood that Craig creates really takes the spotlight in this book, and kept me reeled in, even throughout the story's often languid plot.

Additionally, I enjoyed Small Favors' narrator Ellerie Downing, and appreciated Craig writing her as both strong and womanly, courageous and suspicious, loving and resilient. While she does have a romantic interest in the story, she doesn't become completely swept away as YA characters are so apt to do. Instead, she keeps her wits about her, and does what is necessary to protect her family as the oldest Downing daughter.

As previously mentioned, the book reminded me of The Monsters are Due on Maple Street because, like in the episode, when unusual things begin happening in the community, the citizens point fingers at each other, instead of standing united against the intruding force. This added an interesting level of conflict in the story, and enhanced the plot by introducing more than one adversary in the village.

Small Favors' downside is that the hook of the story - the monsters - do not play a huge role in this book. Yes, they are always there, but they are not addressed head-on until nearly the end of this rather long novel. I kept expecting them to make a major appearance on every page that I turned, but was disappointed to find their role to be not as significant as I initially thought. The book is still good, mind you, I just expected more of a horror show.

Small Favors is a book all of its own, and will appeal to those who love atmospheric tales of old featuring strong female leads.

Small Favors, much like House of Salt and Sorrows, opens
with an incredibly intriguing premise and group of
characters.
And then, much like House of Salt and Sorrows, a few
interesting events are tossed in with a whole bunch of
absolutely nothing happening to advance the plot, and
then it's over. 6
The plot moves along so slowly that I was beginning to
think we were never going to reach any sort of
conclusion. When we finally did, it was so
underwhelming that I honestly thought there had to be
some sort of mistake. That I was going to turn the
page and find that actually, it was the more exciting
outcome that I'd suspected all along. But nope. It was
not.
Despite that, I loved the spooky elements of this book,
even though they wound up not being terribly spooky
at all, in my opinion.

Initial Thoughts
I loved HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS so I knew I wanted to read Erin A. Craig’s next book. And, I knew I wanted to read it during spooky season!

Some Things I Liked
Thought provoking and philosophical. It’s not often that YA literature leaves me thinking about humanity in a profound way but this book really did that for me. The idea that the evil our characters are working against is inherently inside of all people and all the bad guys did was bring it to the surface was a real 🤯 moment.
Secrets, lies, and mysteries. I wouldn’t go so far as to call Ellorie an unreliable narrator but she often didn’t have the whole picture. I loved the way she puzzled out the mysteries at the same time as the reader.
Romance. This book isn’t romantic. But I enjoyed the romance element here. It was dark and realistic.

Series Value
I don’t think I’d want a series here. The ominous note at the end of the book is best left undisturbed.

Final Thoughts
I knew I’d like this book. I didn’t think I’d love it. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time to come.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was a really quick and easy read! I loved how whimsical the setting was. The romance was very sweet and the horror aspects were very unsettling. I will continue picking up anything this author writes, because it just keeps getting better and better.

I LOVE Erin A. Craig's writing. It is immersive and detailed. I get lost in her world building and sentence structure. While I didn't love the plot as much as her previous novel I felt incredibly invested in her characters. I could have spent the entire book enjoying spending time in this village without anything ever happening. Her world is so creative and fresh. I cannot say enough good things about this up and coming author.

Once again, Erin A. Craig hit this one out of the park! It was the perfect blend of romance and creepy. As always, will highly recommend any book Craig writes! Can't wait for the next one!