I have been on a bit of an audiobook streak recently, it’s just so handy for my commute and this is the first of a few that I’ve listened to.
Small Favors
Erin A. Craig
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.
Goodreads | The StoryGraph | Amazon
I won’t lie, I went into this book not knowing a lot about it, but I do enjoy a small-town story. It sounded like it had a fantastical element, which is right up my street and I have heard good things about other books by this author, so I decided to give it a shot.
I loved how atmospheric this book was, I felt transported to Amity Falls and was excited to see how this secluded community would handle something out of the ordinary happening. What I didn’t realise was that this story has a horror element and very gradually the atmosphere of the content simplistic town turns menacing, but it does it in such a subtle way that it got under my skin and at times gave me chills.
The characters are fascinating, they are part of this tight-knit community and have this perceived idyllic life but as the cracks start to show they can’t rely on each other and have to fend for themselves. I liked that Ellerie tried her best for her family but wasn’t immune from some of the bad behaviours that became rampant throughout the town.
There were some characters though that I really couldn’t stand from the start and it only gets worse as the story progresses, but the author managed to, at some points in the story, make me feel sorry for them which I was amazed by. The narration by Rachel Music helped with this because she was great at bringing the characters to life and creating a chilling atmosphere.
I’m not going to say too much more about the story because it’s something you need to experience for yourself. There were a lot of unexpected things that happened and every time I felt I had an inclination about what was happening I was thrown off track. I would say that because of the slower pace of the story, as things come to a head, it almost starts to feel a bit too rushed, but I don’t know if that is just because of how sudden the change of pace is to keep up with what is happening in the town.
Whilst this story was not entirely what I had expected, because I’m not always keen on horror, it captivated me the whole way through and I’ll be looking out for more books by this author.
everywhere-and-nowhere.com 