Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden

Title: Empty Smiles (Small Spaces #4)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2022

Genre: MG Horror

Pages: 208

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Includes a Personal Phobia (can you guess?); Library Love

It’s been three months since Ollie made a daring deal with the smiling man to save those she loved, and then vanished without a trace. The smiling man promised Coco, Brian and Phil, that they’d have a chance to save her, but as time goes by, they begin to worry that the smiling man has lied to them and Ollie is gone forever. But then a terrified and rambling boy who went missing at a nearby traveling carnival appears with a message for the trio from the mysterious man who took him: Play if you dare.

Game on! The smiling man has finally made his move. Now it’s Coco, Brian, and Phil’s turn to make theirs. And they know just where to start. The traveling carnival is coming to Evansburg.

Meanwhile, Ollie is trapped in the world behind the mist, learning the horrifying secrets of the smiling man's carnival, and trying everything to help her friends find her. Brian, Coco and Phil will risk everything to rescue Ollie—but they all soon realize this game is much more dangerous than the ones before. This time the smiling man is playing for keeps.

And the end of this fun and spooky series! I have really enjoyed the fun creepy bits here and there and this one really amped up the spook factor. I was all for the carnival setting and the return of the smiling man. Plus we get some very creepy minions. The mystery of how Olivia and friends can ge3t out of the situation was extra fun. The storyline kept moving and progressing quickly just how I liked. My biggest problem was how quickly the ending happened. We don’t get to see Brian and Coco get through the carnival to save Olivia. They just show up and everything happens super quickly. I wanted to see more. sStill, it was a great ending to the series.

Small Spaces

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dark Waters by Katherine Arden

Title: Dark Waters (Small Spaces #3)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2021

Genre: MG Horror

Pages: 256

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

Until next time. That was chilling promise made to Ollie, Coco and Brian after they outsmarted the smiling man at Mount Hemlock Resort. And as the trio knows, the smiling man always keeps his promises. So when the lights flicker on and off at Brian's family's inn and a boom sounds at the door, there's just one visitor it could be. Only, there's no one there, just a cryptic note left outside signed simply as —S.

The smiling man loves his games and it seems a new one is afoot. But first, the three friends will have to survive a group trip to Lake Champlain where it's said Vermont's very own Loch Ness monster lives. When they’re left shipwrecked on an island haunted by a monster on both land and sea, Brian's survival instincts kick in and it's up to him to help everyone work together and find a way to escape.

One thing is for sure, the smiling man is back and he wants a rematch. And this time Brian is ready to play.

The third book in this fun middle grade horror series and I am still very intrigued. In this one, we get a fun shipwreck adventure featuring a sea monster and more ghosts. We get some more information about what happened back in the fall and the reintroduction of a previous character. I loved seeing Brian take a more central role in solving this particular mystery. And of course, we get one heck of a cliffhanger. I completely predicted what was going to happen, but it was still a great ride. And now, I just need to finish this series.

Small Spaces

#1 Small Spaces
#2 Dead Voices
#3 Dark Waters
#4 Empty Smiles

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden

Title: Dead Voices (Small Spaces #2)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2019

Genre: MG Horror

Pages: 256

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love; 52 Book Club - Timeframe of a Week or Less

Having survived sinister scarecrows and the malevolent smiling man in Small Spaces, newly minted best friends Ollie, Coco, and Brian are ready to spend a relaxing winter break skiing together with their parents at Mount Hemlock Resort. But when a snowstorm sets in, causing the power to flicker out and the cold to creep closer and closer, the three are forced to settle for hot chocolate and board games by the fire.

Ollie, Coco, and Brian are determined to make the best of being snowed in, but odd things keep happening. Coco is convinced she has seen a ghost, and Ollie is having nightmares about frostbitten girls pleading for help. Then Mr. Voland, a mysterious ghost hunter, arrives in the midst of the storm to investigate the hauntings at Hemlock Lodge. Ollie, Coco, and Brian want to trust him, but Ollie's watch, which once saved them from the smiling man, has a new cautionary message: BEWARE.

With Mr. Voland's help, Ollie, Coco, and Brian reach out to the dead voices at Mount Hemlock. Maybe the ghosts need their help--or maybe not all ghosts can or should be trusted.

After reading the first book in this series, I was completely hooked. I love a good spooky series and this one has a great premise. This one picks up soon after the first book. I loved the change of scenery and new situation that our kids find themselves in. The hotel in the middle of the snowstorm gave awesome Overlook Hotel in The Shining vibes. From there, we very quickly dive into the main conflict. I love how the mystery unravels. The scary parts are truly terrifying and I loved very single page of it. I’ll definitely be continuing this series soon.

Small Spaces

#1 Small Spaces
#2 Dead Voices
#3 Dark Waters
#4 Empty Smiles

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Title: The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight #1)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: Del Rey 2017

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 319

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; In Case You Missed It - 2017

Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.

Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.

But Vasya’s stepmother only grows harsher, determined to remake the village to her liking and to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or a convent. As the village’s defenses weaken and evil from the forest creeps nearer, Vasilisa must call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed—to protect her family from a threat sprung to life from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

Plodding. That’s the one word that comes to mind in attempting a review of this book. I just couldn’t seem to stay engaged in the story or the characters. Most of the characters are highly unlikeable. It doesn’t help that we really don’t get to see much of them except of glimpses through Vasya. The main character isn’t even that interesting. Most of the story is things happening to her, not her doing things. And for that, I was just not that interested in the story at all. I do like a good Russian folk tale redone, but this one was too slow and not engaging enough to make me want to read the rest of the series.

Winternight

#1 The Bear and the Nightingale
#2 The Girl in the Tower
#3 The Winter of the Witch

Next up on the TBR pile:

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

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: