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?

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!

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!

4 STARS

Amity Falls lies alone in God's Grasp, the only town for miles.

Idyllic and peaceful, the town lives by a set of rules that aim to keep everyone safe. Community takes precedent over all else here, and petty squabbles are often resolved in the public eye.

But when petty squabbles turn into dangerous disagreements, and the forest surrounding Amity Falls teems with unseen dangers, Ellerie Downing begins to question the truth of the town's humble existence. How far is too far to protect Amity Falls? To protect her family?

And how do you even begin when all it takes is a series of small favors to start great fires?


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

Just like House of Salt and Sorrows, Erin A. Craig's debut, Small Favors is loaded with atmosphere. Instead of a salt-drenched gothic seaside, this book takes us to a secluded little town, one built with a great deal of faith and determination. Sometimes, especially early in the book, Amity Falls feels like a breath of fresh summer air, open and light, marching steadily onward to a predetermined beat.

But as the seasons change and winter descends, the claustrophobia reaches its peak. It's delightful, the way the shifting seasons lend so much character and strength to the story, the way they exacerbate all the problems that lie beneath the plot. For all the wide open fields and endless wilderness, Amity Falls starts to feel cramped, even suffocating. Combine that with character decisions that are made based on limited information, decisions made because they seemed right at the time, and you end up with a book that slowly but surely twines all its troubles together until they crash down on Amity Falls with a furious roar.

There's a certain amount of subtlety at work here, blending atmosphere and plot together so carefully. It is without a doubt one of Erin A. Craig's great strengths.


Small Favors isn't my cup of tea in the romance department, though.

Surely some of you saw this coming. As much as I love the characters, especially when they make flawed decisions and let their emotions get the best of them, I just can't make myself love the love interest. I've seen the mysterious evasive broody white boy too many times to care by now, and those feelings haven't changed even toward Whitaker Price.

Sure, the mystery surrounding him is well-crafted. You get the sense he holds his cards close to his chest for a reason. And yes, he does treat Ellerie right for the most part instead of belittling her or other things that make me want to boot a love interest to a curve.

But so much of his character is built on dodging questions and telling half-truths, and I'm just not about it. I find it boring, I find it frustrating, I find it distracting from so many other more interesting parts of the book.

Forgive me, friends. The Romance Grinch in me has struck once more. And it's even angrier because occasionally Ellerie's feelings for Whitaker seem to eclipse those for her family, especially in the final scenes of the book. All that trauma, all the pieces to pick up, and you're worried about a boy?

I liked it more when Ellerie had greater concern for the bees.


Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the bees.

They're not as front and center as I expected, but they're still there, buzzing away, and I'm pretty sure most of them are saying to give Small Favors a try! It's perfect for people who love atmospheric reads, especially when that atmosphere blends fantasy and historical fiction into a tidy little parcel. And for those of you who enjoy horror elements? Never fear, because this book has them in spades.

(Honestly, I'm still unsettled by some of the descriptions. Lots of body horror in particular, folks. Tread lightly if that's not your cup of tea.)

Thankfully, if any part of Small Favors catches your eye, it flies onto the shelves tomorrow. The wait is already almost over, and you too can hold that very pretty, very unsettling book in your hands. Overall, it's pretty arguably the bee's knees. 🐝🐝🐝


CW: animal death, gore, graphic injury, loss of a loved one, miscarriage mention, medical scenes, violence (including gun violence), suicide, body horror

[This review will go live on Hail & Well Read at 10am EST on 7/26/21.]

Where do I start?? The title! The characters! The plot! The writing! It was all so excellent.
Ellerie Downing and her family live on a farm in the village of Amity Falls. The villagers all work together to create a great life and everything seems fine, until a supply run is ambushed and brutally murdered. Then, little things start going missing. There are strange, mutated creatures in the woods. Crops either. Chaos ensues.
This book reminded me of The Village in the beginning. A village built on taking care of each other, legends of creatures in the woods, etc. But it took a very different turn and I LOVED it. The writing was beautiful, and I couldn’t stop reading; the plot was very well paced and kept me engaged. The characters felt very authentic to me and I felt as though I was living along with them. Some great themes in here that I will be thinking about for a while to come.

I kept going because I love Craig's writing style. The prose flows brilliantly and I know that after The House of Salt and Sorrows, she can construct a refreshing fairytale retelling. But this book is almost 500 pages and it felt like I never got anything for the time I put in. There's some instalove-esque thing going on. A bunch of people are "acting out of character" (but we don't get to see what "in character" looks like, so it feels just like melodrama). And because there's not a lot of movement, it has started to feel repetitive. Something happens, Sam has the least possible logical response, Ellerie is concerned for / mad at Sam for being a total waste of space, something bad happens, Ellerie rushes in to fix everything by herself - repeat ad infinitum.

There's no release of tension, and only the barest peeks at the spooky stuff (so bare that Ellerie can dismiss it all outright and we can say "yeah, that tracks, nothing spooky to see here, folks")

Read it if you like pretty writing and want a slow burn.

In the small town of Amity Falls, where elders watch over everyone and the townsfolk all lend one another a helping hand, something has found it’s way into the town. Something with a dark purpose lurking in the pine forest, causing people to turn on each other without a second’s pause.

Ellerie Downing lives in this mountain town with her twin brother Sam, two younger sisters and her parents. Her father keeps bees and her mother’s honey cakes are beloved by everyone.

When it is announced that people have gone missing and strange creatures have been sighted, the town begins to fear that the monsters of old that used to roam have returned. Now, neighbors are turning against neighbors, happy to watch the people they have always cared for fall victim to hard times.

Erin A. Craig does a wonderful job of amping up the intensity. In this book, we see hardships fall on many a family, especially the Downings. Tragedy strikes again, causing her parents to leave town, leaving Ellerie and her siblings to tend the homestead… with some help from the handsome and beguiling young man who has just arrived. And as winter approaches and more and more strange occurrences are happening, it is a race against the clock for Ellerie to save her family.

There is a serious heaviness in this book and it’s perfection. You can sense the dread around every corner, lurking in every shadow of the pine forest. This was a phenomenal and vivid tale that I would recommend to anyone who wants a bit of horror/fantasy mixed in with their historical fiction.

So I went into this one COMPLETELY blind 🤣🤣 I requested this on NetGalley simply because of who the author is. I really enjoyed House of Salt & Sorrows so I was ecstatic to snag this E-ARC. That being said....

While this was enjoyable I definitely loved House of Salt & Sorrows more. The writing is good and I love this author's style but I honestly feel like this could have been 100pgs shorter and still been just as good. Also, the mystery wasn't really a mystery as I figured it all out from beginning...and I mean all of it. 🤣🤣 I guess I read too many of these LMAO

However, THAT being said this has super creepy vibes (like The Village movie by M. Night Shyamalan vibes) and I was there for all of that. This would be a very fun one to add to those Spooktober lists and make sure to read in the darkest dark of the night 🤣🤣🤣

I sincerely appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an E-ARC. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.

I absolutely loved House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin Craig, so when I saw this book on Netgalley I knew I had to read it.

Craig’s atmospheric writing style really makes you feel like you are a part of the story. So the setting is what truly enveloped me into this story. I will say by the time I got to the end of the book, I felt like it could have been at least 100 pages shorter.

All in all though, this was a very enjoyable and creepy read. I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't mind a predictable mystery that is backdropped with a creepy small town secrets atmosphere.

I look forward to picking up whatever Craig writes next, because the writing is truly great!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was... Creepy. Far too creepy for me, tbh, but also very good. I expected creepy after Erin Craig's first book, but this one took it to the next level. It reminded me a lot of the movie The Village, with some fairy tales / lore mixed in.

Ellerie was a strong heroine, though her habit of almost realizing something important and then being distracted from it and forgetting for several chapters was a bit annoying. Whitaker was rather too perfect and had a tinge of heartache and desperation that it took a long time for Ellerie to see.

It was also a bit... gory. I really wasn't expecting that. So, like I said, it was really well-written and a good story, just not really one I would normally read. It also wrapped up rather quickly / easily, after dragging on a bit too long, though it's a stronger ending than in her first book.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for providing an e-arc for review.