This is Erin A. Craig’s second book, and I had a great time reading it. I enjoyed her first book a little better, but this was still a great book that kept me on the edge of my seat. I gave it 4 stars.

Small Favors is a book is about the mysteries of a forest and what those mysteries hold. A lot of strange things happen to the small town over a course of a year. Friendly neighbors are no longer being friendly, and begin turning against one another. What is what happening to this town? It seems that the pass is coming back to haunt them. This story had me guessing about who or what was causing all the havoc.

Craig’s last book was based off the fairy tale 12 dancing princesses, and Small Favors has a small base story of Rumpelstiltskin. I find her fairytale based stories to be enjoyable reads.

In my ridiculous mind, this book was about a cult, à la The Village. (view spoiler) It was definitely giving me great vibes of creepiness and isolation in the woods, which is a great start to any novel that is supposed to be mysterious, so I enjoyed it from the start.

In Ellerie's once seemingly idyllic town, strange events start to occur. At first, they can be chalked up to a feud between neighbors, scorned lovers, and what have you. But as time goes on, it's clear that there is more at play. When a medical emergency makes her parents unavailable to hold down the fort, it falls on Ellerie (and mostly useless twin brother Samuel) to keep everyone alive through the harsh winter. Of course, this becomes even harder when the townspeople begin to turn on each other, and Ellerie finds herself caught in the middle of several groups' squabbles.

I really liked Ellerie, and loved how she stepped up when her crappy brother wouldn't. She cares deeply for her sisters, but she also wants to see the town be safe, which I liked. I also liked love interest Whitaker, even if I didn't really trust him through a large chunk of the book. He seemed at least like a decent guy at his core, and like he actually did care about Ellerie. (In fairness, I think their relationship could have been fleshed out a bit more, but it was still good.)

As I mentioned, the atmosphere for the story was wholly on point. The author did a phenomenal job of making the stakes feel very high, and the whole town felt thick with wrongness. It was spot on, and made me so excited to learn what was the cause of the town's struggles. I also heavily rooted for Ellerie and her family, because they were incredibly likable, and I wanted them to make it!

My one qualm with the story was that the ending felt... rushed perhaps? Too open? I am not entirely sure, but I didn't feel wholly satisfied. Like, the story does wrap up, so don't think you'll just be left completely hanging, but I did want more, especially after a strong start.

Bottom Line: So creepy and atmospheric, it's a great sophomore offering from Erin A. Craig, and I cannot wait for whatever she does next!

Erin Craig, author of the bestselling House of Salt and Sorrows, is back with another atmospheric tale. Amity Falls is a village that keeps its rules, keeps to itself, and most of all, keeps evil at bay. Until the monsters the founders warned of return, and the citizens of Ellerie Downing realize that evil might just lurk in the hearts of most men, and she doesn't know her neighbors--or her family--as well as she thought she did. An evocative page-turner with a dollop of fairy-tale and even a smattering of romance, Small Favors is one honey of a good book!

I love Ellerie, Merry & Sadie!! I had so much fun reading this book and it was so different than anything I read before. I think Erin Craig did an amazing job with the writing and I was truly invested in the sisters. I only wish we got to find out what happened with her parents!! I will absolutely be recommending this to all of my friends!!

This book was so interesting, but so disjointed. As a librarian, I have a hard time thinking of what type of reader would enjoy this book. It is not a seamless blending of many tropes and genres, but they are more crudely stitched together in chunks. Parts of the book remind me of The Grace Year, others remind me of a horror novel, still others are more fairytale-ish and reminiscent of the author’s first book. I think it is simply too long and weirdly paced. I did enjoy it, but I’m a bit of an eclectic reader, as long as it’s YA. I’m not sure what other sorts of readers would like it.

A community that has lived in Amity Falls for generations with legends of monsters in the forest. Recently, some strange occurrences are happening leading some to believe that these monsters are back.
It was interesting to be in the middle of a small community living a simple life in the mountains far from any city or other resources. They depended on eachother but as supplies started to dwindle and they started to hold grudges and do things behind each other's backs, really odd things started to happen.
Read the synopsis below - I am having a hard time explaining too much since there were a lot of seemingly small things that converged at the end resolving the huge mystery. OMG the ending though was so crazy!
This is in line with a Rumplestiltskin retelling. This book got so dark but was in line with her other book and I really enjoyed it! I felt like I had no idea what the mystery was or who was doing what the whole time until things started to reveal.
Can I just say Sam is a real douchehole?

I want to start by saying a HUGE thank you to Delacort Press and NetGalley for a review copy of Small Favors by Erin A Craig.
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I am absolutely in love with Erins books. She roped me in with House of Salt and Sorrows, and kept me hooked with Small Favors. I adore Ellarie with all my heart. She is such a relatable and fun character. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and mystery surrounding the woods. I instantly got creepy meets Red Riding Hood, when wolfs were mentioned. Small Favors had me on the edge of my seat from the first chapter to the last. I can NOT WAIT!! Until Erin’s next book!! I just know it’s gonna be another hit!

The very best review I can give of this book is to mention that while I was reading it at night, before bed, only a few chapters in, it absolutely terrified me to where I could not turn off my Kindle and put myself into the dark so I could go to sleep. And nothing had really happened yet!!! It was still the beginning, only about 7-9% into the book! Erin Craig writes an incredible atmosphere of terror that leaves you breathless to know what happens next. I really enjoyed House of Salt and Sorrows, but this was a whole different level of creepiness and way more intense! She is quickly becoming a must-read author for me!

Happy release day to Small Favors and thank you so much to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of it! This book was one I fell in love with as soon as I saw the cover of it, so I'm very excited for everyone to be able to read it!
Small Favors 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads: 
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. 

Man, this book was so good! It wasn't my normal, fast paced fantasy, but I really liked the intrigue and the small town, neighbor turning on neighbor aspects of it. It also really reminded me of the hysteria around the Salem Witch Trials/those accusations (even though nothing was the same) and I loved that. I also got some The Grace Year vibes too, which were cool. Character wise, I loved Ellerie- not only does she have the coolest name, but she's so tenacious and she stands by her family, pretty much no matter what, which I love. I also really liked Whitaker, even though he wasn't really around all that much- the parts he touched were great. Sam made me sad- I know twins grow apart sometimes and I know the events in the book were a forcing function for that, but I wish him and Ellerie hadn't grown apart as much as they did/I wish he wasn't as horrible a person as he was throughout the book. I loved how the bees and the theme of that/their hierarchy and structure were used throughout the book in multiple ways (or at least I saw them used multiple times/in multiple ways). This book was really long, and while I did like the build up in certain parts, in others it felt like aspects were rushed or forgotten or justy drawn out far too much. Overall though, I really enjoyed Small Favors and I think y'all will too!

I thought I would give Erin A. Craig another chance, but this book ended up being similar to her first for me, and even then, I think A House of Salt and Sorrows was more enjoyable. I truly hate that I haven't loved her books, because her writing is genuinely beautiful and her stories dark and mysterious. They each, however, fall short of my expectations.

I did enjoy the world of Small Favors a lot and the myths surrounding the mysterious creatures they are faced with. The town of Amity Falls, while not anywhere I would want to live, or even visit, is so easy to picture and get wrapped up in. I love reading about towns so small that everyone knows everyone's business and so much more.

Plus, Ellerie was an interesting main character. The beekeeping aspect of her and her family was unique and fun to read about. I enjoyed the family ties (and disagreement) in this book and how Ellerie's relationships with everyone ebb and flow. Her relationship with Whitaker on the other hand can only be described as strange.

For these reasons and others, I am not surprised that a lot of people did end up loving this book, especially if they were fans of Craig's first book.

I, however, found a few too many faults with this book. Namely, that it was so slow. All the mysterious aspects of this book were super intriguing, but it takes forever to get any answers, or even any more true mystery. For a book to be this long with not much happening is a bit disappointing. Now, when things did heat up in the last chunk of the book, it was fine, but it took way too long to get there.

I could also make the argument for it being too "clean" haha. While this book, like HoSaS, is dark and twisty, it is not nearly as deadly and gory. And I honestly missed it. I needed something else to hold onto in this book. Something else to drag me down into a hellish world.

Also, nitpicky tidbit: like HoSaS, this book is (very) loosely based on a fairytale. But said fairytale does not play a huge role at all, unlike HoSaS. Like one chapter is related and that's it. Until I got to that point, I didn't know it was a retelling at all.

Overall, a decent read. If you loved Craig's first book, you'll probably love this one. I will probably continue to read whatever Craig writes next, just to hold out hope that one of these days, her books will completely blow me away.

One thing about historical fiction fantasy is that usually, the year/era isn't always clear. This book is no exception. While it's clear it's some time in the 1800's, it's unclear when. The western expansion has already started and these people have settled somewhere in the midwest. Our story takes place in a small, secluded town, away from the rest of the cities and towns in the area. It's clear that there were rumors of monsters and beasts in the woods when the original families were settling the land, but they haven't been seen in a long while.

I have to say, Ellerie was a great protagonist. She's inquisitive and smart, but is also willing to listen and learn from others. Her twin brother, Sam, is kind of the opposite. Stubborn and very private, he cares more about his interests than others. And then we have her two younger sisters, Merry and Sadie, and their parents. Weird stuff starts to happen around town though. Items go missing, things get destroyed, and tensions start to run high between neighbors and townspeople.

The story progression was so perfect. Small things turned to medium things turned to big things. The tension and agitation between neighbors rises until all hell breaks loose. And I loved seeing how the characters change over time too. How everyone in town is so nice and friendly, until things start going downhill, and then it's every man for himself.

And poor Ellerie, who tries to hold everyone together, has to navigate new, treacherous waters. Especially during the winter months when food is scarce and everyone is tired of the same thing. The one thing keeping Ellerie together is the strange boy, Whitaker, a trapper who showed up in town one day and has quickly caught her eye. I love the small moments and interactions that the two of them have, unable to stay away from each other, even during the worst of times.

I really, really liked how this book was set up and how we get to the ending - which is really intense. By the end though, I had a few questions that went unanswered. Maybe it was to add to the overall mystery, but I really wanted to know what happened and I didn't get any closure. I like when some things are left a mystery or left unsaid - but generally, when it comes to a character's well being or a plot point, I like to have some idea of what happened, and I didn't get that with this book. Part of me wanted an epilogue so we could get an idea of what happened after these events, but alas, there wasn't. 

Overall, this book was a solid 4 stars for me. It was a great mystery, filled with suspense, and I loved the historical fantasy vibes that went along with it. This book definitely creeped me out more than once and left me a little scared to read it after dark. I definitely recommend it to anyone who love House of Salt and Sorrows or who likes creepy, fantastical, mysteries!

I…what? My feelings about this book are thumping around in my brain like a wadded up shirt in a tumble drier. And not in the fun, “Wwhhheeee!” way the makes you think of a roller coaster. More of the, “I think I may vomit,” kind of way. Where do I even begin to talk about this book?

Let’s start with some positives. The first half of this book was honestly pretty good. Ellerie started off as a very interesting character who was showing a lot of growth and change when her life got turned on its head when her mother was horribly injured and her father had to take her far away to see a proper doctor. With her father away she had to learn to take care of the family home, her younger sisters, and the bees that provided them with a living. Seeing her struggles and how she tried her best to overcome them, how they changed her, was entertaining and I became invested in the character.

Then, well, then we get to the second half of the book. I swear, it was as if the second half was written by someone completely different than the first half. Being a YA novel we end up, of course, with a love interest for Ellerie. Now, that is not something I normally have a complaint about as I enjoy romance in my books but this was just…bad. Talk about instalove! Whitaker is everything you expect in a YA love interest. Handsome, charming, and possessing all the personality of cauliflower rice. His story has a “big twist” but if you have more than two brains cells knocking around it isn’t difficult to figure out.

I’m finding it difficult to review this book. There are a lot of little plot points that come together to pretend to make a whole and they are all made to feel important but none are ever properly addressed. There is a lot of, “Oh! This thing happened and it is a big deal and we need to talk about it constantly for two chapters and consult our old white man elders about it!” and then it gets brushed under the rug and we move onto the next Thing. Even the conclusion felt like a bunch of plot points brushed aside under the guise of a finale. Nothing was resolved at any point and there were so many plot points left flapping in the breeze that it was impossible to feel any kind of closure.

Heres the thing. If you enjoyed Craig’s House of Salt and Sorrows I very much imagine that you will enjoy Small Favors as well. Why? I had very similar feelings at the end of Salt and Sorrows as I did this novel. Completely unnecessary and dull love interest, plot points that go nowhere, and an unsatisfying conclusion under the guise of some fantasy elements. Not very entertaining and it left quite a bad taste in my mouth

First off, I just want to say this is my favorite cover of the year. It really needs to be winning some awards on how beautiful it is. I am such a fan of the author’s writing because it really takes you to the place and you can imagine everything, I loved her first book House of Salt and Sorrows and this one was just as atmospheric.

Ellerie is the main character and lives in a super small village called Amity Falls. They are basically bordered off from the rest of the world by the “pines” and people only travel through them twice a year to get supplies for the town. Some say monsters live in those woods so nobody ventures into them. Something very wrong starts to happen in the town, first deformed animals start making their way into town from the woods, all of their crops start to rot, and it almost feels like such a small knit community is turning on one another. No one can make the supply run for the winter because every time someone goes into the pines, they end up being brutally murdered. Ellerie is just trying to keep her little sisters and twin brother safe through the winter, but something is happening in Amity Falls and she may not be able to stop it.

I don’t want to go into too much detail, but this was a mix of fantasy, horror, mystery, and romance. It really had everything going for it. I was utterly captivated with the lush world that Craig has made and how deep the family dynamic was developed. I loved the strangeness of Amity Falls and it definitely gave me the creeps reading about the deformed animals and people being murdered. I do have to say the beginning was quite slow, but once we got to part two it really picked up and got interesting. I do wish more things would have been drawn out and explained, especially because it felt like some huge revelations were made but they didn’t go in depth. I really did enjoy this book and can’t wait for more from this author!

The best way that I can describe Erin A. Craig's "Small Favors" is as follows.... Reading this book feels the exact same a watching an M. Night Shyamalan movie. There is that constant element of "what the hell is going on" that keeps you guessing and speculating until finally everything comes together and is explained, and yet you still have that confusingly aloof look to you while you rack your brain trying to figure out was was real in the story and what wasnt. Luckily I am a large M. Night fan so this eldritch story was absolutely up my alley.

"Enter not the forest deep. Beyond the Bells, the dark fiends keep."

This is a stunningly beautiful, eloquently written novel. I was a little confused by some of the happenings at the end, and thinking on things didn't help clarify the rushed climax, so I'm just going to take the hit and move along, enjoying the lush atmosphere Small Favors provides. Aside from a few characters being a main part of the first half of the book, and then disappearing with no update on what happened to them (mom and dad), a character who was so unlikable and acted out of character from what we were being told (brother), I really grew attached to this quirky, creepy community and the children that tried to hold it all together along the way.

THIS BOOK. I honestly went into Small Favors knowing nothing about it except that it was written by Erin A. Craig. I enjoyed her debut novel House of Salt and Sorrows, so I knew I wanted to read Small Favors. I'm so very glad I did. This book pulled me in from the beginning and didn't let go. It's haunting, creepy, and full of mystery. I loved Ellerie and her sisters so much, but I wasn't a huge fan of the romance. It was a little too instant for me, but I did still like Whitaker as a character. Although there were certain reveals I saw coming, there was still plenty that kept me guessing. My biggest complaint was that I wanted more closure on certain aspects of the story, but overall I was very pleased with Small Favors! I'd highly recommend this book if you like haunting, atmospheric stories!

Ellerie and her family live in a small village. They grow flower fields to keep their bees producing the best honey around. They live pretty quiet lives.
Until the silver-eyed monsters come.

This was a decent read. I definitely got "The Village" vibes. I really liked Ellerie, and I loved the village rules at the beginning of the chapters.

Craig’s new spooky weird novel delivers in some ways and falls short in others.

First and foremost, those who are drawn to atmospheric, woodsy settings in spooky books will not be disappointed here. The trees are everywhere in this one. We start out at the edge of the woods in a small, isolated village with a Utopia-style community. All appears to be harmonious until the interlopers show up and stuff goes to pot. I could not be pleased enough with how transporting the setting was in this book. It lended very well to the sense of foreboding that was constantly present.

The tension for this one just adds to the fantastic setting; Craig starts the book with peaceful sunlight streaming through the tree leaves, butterflies visiting the wildflowers, bees buzzing and making honey with a bit of classical music in the background and then BAM! The ball of bad gets rolling and only collects more bad; and by the end of the book, a giant bolder just lands at the bottom of the hill and clobbers everyone and everything. It really is a masterful use of setting and eeriness that makes for a great horror book.

I also absolutely loved the characters, especially the main character. She’s very relatable and believable, not too naive but rightly so for a girl her age, and she’s not prone to fits of doe-eyed fancy when she sees nice-looking boys strutting around town. I like that the maturity level is appropriate for the age of the character as well.

A couple of setbacks for me:

The climax. It was short and almost not even there for me. The villain(s) is/are not there but briefly, and the method of bringing the conflict to an end fell extremely short for me. It was flat, anticlimactic, and disappointing. Quite unbelievable as well.

The violence. This book is extremely violent (mostly toward the end); it went from pretty okay for a YA-genre book to very adult for the level of gore and description by the end. This added to the age of the main protagonist would put it solidly in the New Adult or Adult genre for me. As it is, I’d have to put an advisory on this for violence alone. Profanity and sexual situations are not a problem here, as far as I’m concerned.

Overall, a pretty good read. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, for which I give my own opinion.

I had a hard time rating this book initially - it is *seriously* messed up in a lot of ways - but I'm ultimately going with 4 stars because it really stuck with me. I liked Craig's House of Salt and Sorrows, but I felt like it fell apart a bit at the end. This is, to me, a much tighter narrative. It is described as a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin which I finally saw wayyyy at the end. It reminded me a lot more of like, The Village + The Year of the Witching + The Crucible with a tiny bit of Rumpelstiltskin thrown in at the end. Craig really captures the sort of mania of a close knit, isolated town whose residents are surprisingly easy to turn against each other with the help of a few devilish creatures. I thought it would be like, pranks and stuff, but pretty early on someone is brutally burned and nearly killed, and the violence just escalates from there. Loads of trigger warnings for brutal violence, but I do think it was done well and it unfolded in a way that seemed very messed up but somehow organically so.

4.5 stars
This book was good! I have been highlighting/tabbing my books and there were so many times reading this that I just read a big chunk and I totally forgot to highight everything because I was just so immersed in the story.
I really liked Ellerie's character. She was so dedicated to her family and such a strong character. I also really liked Ellerie's sisters Merry and Sadie as well as their parents. They had an amazing family dynamic that was really heartwarming.
For the most part, the plot was super engaging. It immediately starts with a supply run party going missing and ending up basically being massacered by they don't know what. There is a nice pattern of exciting moments and more slow parts. Just when one of the slow parts seemed like it was starting to slow the whole book down, something exciting would happen and pull my attention right back in. I really don't want to say too much about the actual plot points because there's so much that happens.
This book is kind of a fantasy/horror which isn't my usual genre, but I loved House of Salt and Sorrows. At one point, I won't say why, Ellerie's parents have to leave the town and that's when things start to get really scary. Ellerie being 18 has to kind of be the parent once her parents leave and what happens is so much scarier because their parents are gone.
The ending was a little bit less than what I was expecting. It was still fast paced and exciting, but I just kind of thought it was going to be different. I feel like a lot of the marketing of this book has to do with bees, but I thought the bees played a really small part in the book and I was hoping that by the end their part was going to be bigger. There were a lot of huge things left unsaid by the end and since I believe this is a standalone, we are just not going to get the answers which hurts my poor heart. That was really the only real issues I had with this book and overall really really enjoyed it!