Title: Small Spaces (Small Spaces #1)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Genre: MG Horror

Pages: 218

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie who only finds solace in books discovers a chilling ghost story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man"—a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.
Captivated by the tale, Ollie begins to wonder if the smiling man might be real when she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about on a school trip to a nearby farm. Then, later, when her school bus breaks down on the ride home, the strange bus driver tells Ollie and her classmates: "Best get moving. At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you." Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie's previously broken digital wristwatch begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.
Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed these warnings. As the trio head out into the woods—bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them—the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: "Avoid large places. Keep to small."
And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

Ooooohhhhh… this book was deliciously creepy! It takes awhile to set up the story. We need to understand a bit about Ollie and the dynamics within her class. We need to get some tantalizing clues as to what’s actually going on. After everything is established, Arden turns up the creep factor and plunges ahead. Once the action gets going, it doesn’t stop until the last page. There were some very creepy scenes in this story. I would not give it to my 6 year old or even my 9 year old (he’s pretty sensitive to the scary). But this adult with a black heart absolutely loved it. I will definitely be picking up the other books in this series.

Small Spaces

• #1 Small Spaces

• #2 Dead Voices

• #3 Dark Waters

• #4 Empty Smiles

Next up on the TBR pile: