Title: Small Spaces
(Small Spaces #1)
Author: Katherine Arden
Genre: MG, Fantasy, Paranormal
First published: September 25th 2018
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books For Young Readers
Finished reading: July 16th 2019
Pages: 224
“Even bad things can lead to good.”
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books For Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
I’ve been meaning to try Katherine Arden‘s work for a long time now… It’s true that I was planning to read the Winternight trilogy first, but I simply couldn’t resist the sound of this middle grade paranormal horror story when I saw it on Twitter. The grey and cold weather we are facing down here was the perfect backdrop for Small Spaces, a story that it set close to Halloween and gives off that creepy and dark October vibe. Although it shows that Small Spaces written for younger middle graders, it’s probably still a fun read for the older half of the target group as well. The key is in the story giving off the right horror vibe with the help of the descriptions… Although I wish there would have more dept and development in both the worldbuilding and characters, I really liked the idea behind Small Spaces. Ollie is without doubt an interesting character, and it’s understandable why she has the leading role in this first book of the series. It’s true I would have loved to see her character more developed, but she did grow over time and I enjoyed learning more about her relationship with her parents. The writing is engaging and makes you fly through the pages… I did find some of the dialogue to be too childish and not all that natural, but overall Small Spaces was still an interesting read. The story in the book Ollie snatched from the mysterous lady, the mist, the disappearances, the situation Ollie, Coco and Brian find themselves in afterwards… They all give off that paranormal horror and ghost vibe that is both properly creepy while still being appropriate for the target group. Small Spaces is without doubt a story that would be perfect addition for your Halloween month TBR.
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I haven’t got the book. Maybe one day I will get to it. Great review. I am still not sure about it
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I guess it depends on how you react to stories written for the younger MG target group… Small Spaces is quite a fun and quick read, but I’ve heard her Winternight trilogy is fantastic.
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I have yet to read her Trilogy… I like MG books.. Maybe the cover put me off
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Ah yes I was surprised by the choice of cover as well… It’s not all that appealing, isn’t it?
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True
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Fab review!
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Thanks! xx
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Small Spaces was just an okay read for me…. I was expecting much more from Arden to be honest. Don’t judge her until you’ve read the Winternight trilogy though! It blew my socks off and I KNOW you’d love it 🙂
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I still have to read the Winternight trilogy, so I guess I didn’t have my expectations that high yet… I’m having a feeling I will LOVE those books though. (One of the reasons I’m waiting until I have time to binge-read all three books together.)
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I haven’t read the author’s winternight trilogy yet either but I have seen many 5 stars on Goodreads. I’m glad you gave her new middle grade book a read and enjoyed the idea behind small spaces. Great review!
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Same here; the reviews for the Winternight trilogy have been fantastic so far.
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Great review, Yvo. I am glad that you enjoyed this one. It sounds different but definitely interesting.
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Oh it was without doubt a nice little break from my usual reads! 🙂
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