Small Favors by Erin Craig

Small Favors by Erin CraigSmall Favors by Erin A. Craig
Published by Delacorte on July 21, 2021
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 480
Format: Hardcover
Goodreads
four-half-stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

About Small Favors

Small Favors is is similar to House of Salt and Sorrows in that it features a strong, young woman protagonist, in an isolated setting, dealing with creeping dread and loss.

Ellerie lives with her twin brother, two younger sisters and their parents in a small rural community. Things start to fall apart when the group making the supply run is destroyed by wolves (or is it something scarier). Now Amity Falls needs to survive the winter with severely limited supplies. As the worries mount, so do the fears. Of each other and of what’s out there in the darkness, beyond the perimeter of bells and signal fires.

My thoughts about Small Favors

If you’re looking for unsettling creatures in the dark, Small Favors is for you. When friends and neighbors turn on each other, it’s reminiscent of the Twilight Zone episode “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.”

Erin Craig’s writing is so beautifully ominous! I was so engaged with Ellerie and her resourcefulness. And of course, I needed to know what was going to happen with Whitaker, the mysterious trapper who seems to know far more about what’s happening than a simple stranger should. And his obvious feelings about Ellerie.

I raced through this book although I kept trying to pace myself. I couldn’t! I had to know what was going on with Amity Falls.

Her world-building captured the feel of how difficult life in a small rural town can be – isolated with limited resources and how dependent everyone is on each other for survival. She added just enough tension to let you know that you’re not in Little House on the Prairie.

Small Favors has a Kendare Blake or Rin Chupeco vibe that’s deliciously scary.

In conclusion

No one creates that long slow burn as tension mounts until it’s full-blown, full-out terror like Erin A. Craig. And I love it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte for the ARC.

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About Erin A. Craig

New York Times bestselling author Erin A. Craig has always loved telling stories.

After getting her B.F.A. from the University of Michigan, in Theatre Design and Production, she stage managed tragic operas with hunchbacks, séances, and murderous clowns, then decided she wanted to write books that were just as spooky.

An avid reader, decent embroiderer, rabid basketball fan, and collector of typewriters, Erin makes her home in West Michigan with her husband and daughter.

She is represented by Sarah Landis at Sterling Lord Literistic.

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