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katerina_l's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
dblue236's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was the second book I've read by this author, and I think at this point, that's enough for me to add her to my list of writers whose work I buy every time they release something new. The story here was wildly original and compelling, and while there was one small aspect of it that was predictable, for the most part I was dying to find out where it went and spent every possible spare minute reading. I absolutely loved the creativity and the richness of the characters and setting and I cannot wait to read more by this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
confessionsofabibliophile's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Historical Fantasy/ Gothic Fantasy. Fast Paced. 5 Stars.
Themes: Loss, Love, Betrayal, Loyalty, Folk lore, Religion
"Be careful what you say in the dark of the night, Ellerie Downing, lest you promise something you might regret."
Amity Falls, God' Grasp valley somewhere in the new world (America's). I wish I could say this was a quaint tiny town in the middle of nowhere far off the beaten path from society. I mean technically it is that, but quaint not really. It is a town gripped by fear of what lies beyond the bells. A town that was settled many years ago in the time of wagon trains by families who clutched onto superstitions, lore and fear of the unknown. They put together a place that to the naked eye was perfect, protected and the best place to live, away from the monsters of the forest and the world. A town with rules, set by elders made up of founding families. A town with a hive mentality of a way of life and a way of doing things. They used a vote system to determine some events. Casting votes in a ceremony that stained your skin as a reminder to you and the rest of the town your choice and side in the matter for days to come, like a scarlet letter.
If the vote didn't decide it fell upon the shoulders of the Elders to decide the best course of action for Amity Falls to take. When I first dove into the book it reminded me a lot of that one M. Night Shyamalan, movie, The Village and to be honest how the story was tracking I thought that is exactly where this was headed, but boy was I wrong and it was a VERY welcoming surprise. The hive mentality of the town is a theme throughout the book, which is where I will introduce the main character Ellerie Downing. Her family is a founding family and they are the apiarists of the town, that's right the town with a hive complex actually have local beekeepers. She is from a family of 6. Mama, who can bake the best honey cake in the area that is rivalled by none, Papa who's honey is spoken about far and wide, Samuel; Ellerie's twin brother older by mere seconds who I ended up DESPISING throughout most the book. Ellerie, she is the level-headed, strong work ethic, has her own will underneath the rules and is smart. Merry, middle sister who is intelligent, very matter of fact but so devout when it comes to their religion. Sadie, she is the youngest Downing and honestly she is a sassy smart seven year old who is often running around with her imaginary friend Abigail. For what seemed like a normal town, it was not. Strange things begin to happen and I was often left thinking what in the hell is going on but I couldn't put the book down, I was enthralled and needed to know. The town has a bunch of horrible things happen, I won't get too into cause of spoilers. The new trappers in the area and the mutated woodland creatures are some of the oddities that befall Amity Falls. It is a story of love, family, survival, loss, and finding the truth. There were a couple predictable components, the character Whitaker being one of them, I saw that curve ball a million miles away, but Craig does a brilliant job not to divulge all the cards at play so easily. This is my first Erin Craig book and it won't be the last. It ended perfectly tied but I hope for a sequel. I want to know where the Downings go from here.
I definitely recommend. I can't wait to start House of Salt and Sorrow. Erin Craigs writing was so addictive, I could not put this down.
Themes: Loss, Love, Betrayal, Loyalty, Folk lore, Religion
"Be careful what you say in the dark of the night, Ellerie Downing, lest you promise something you might regret."
Amity Falls, God' Grasp valley somewhere in the new world (America's). I wish I could say this was a quaint tiny town in the middle of nowhere far off the beaten path from society. I mean technically it is that, but quaint not really. It is a town gripped by fear of what lies beyond the bells. A town that was settled many years ago in the time of wagon trains by families who clutched onto superstitions, lore and fear of the unknown. They put together a place that to the naked eye was perfect, protected and the best place to live, away from the monsters of the forest and the world. A town with rules, set by elders made up of founding families. A town with a hive mentality of a way of life and a way of doing things. They used a vote system to determine some events. Casting votes in a ceremony that stained your skin as a reminder to you and the rest of the town your choice and side in the matter for days to come, like a scarlet letter.
If the vote didn't decide it fell upon the shoulders of the Elders to decide the best course of action for Amity Falls to take. When I first dove into the book it reminded me a lot of that one M. Night Shyamalan, movie, The Village and to be honest how the story was tracking I thought that is exactly where this was headed, but boy was I wrong and it was a VERY welcoming surprise. The hive mentality of the town is a theme throughout the book, which is where I will introduce the main character Ellerie Downing. Her family is a founding family and they are the apiarists of the town, that's right the town with a hive complex actually have local beekeepers. She is from a family of 6. Mama, who can bake the best honey cake in the area that is rivalled by none, Papa who's honey is spoken about far and wide, Samuel; Ellerie's twin brother older by mere seconds who I ended up DESPISING throughout most the book. Ellerie, she is the level-headed, strong work ethic, has her own will underneath the rules and is smart. Merry, middle sister who is intelligent, very matter of fact but so devout when it comes to their religion. Sadie, she is the youngest Downing and honestly she is a sassy smart seven year old who is often running around with her imaginary friend Abigail. For what seemed like a normal town, it was not. Strange things begin to happen and I was often left thinking what in the hell is going on but I couldn't put the book down, I was enthralled and needed to know. The town has a bunch of horrible things happen, I won't get too into cause of spoilers. The new trappers in the area and the mutated woodland creatures are some of the oddities that befall Amity Falls. It is a story of love, family, survival, loss, and finding the truth. There were a couple predictable components, the character Whitaker being one of them, I saw that curve ball a million miles away, but Craig does a brilliant job not to divulge all the cards at play so easily. This is my first Erin Craig book and it won't be the last. It ended perfectly tied but I hope for a sequel. I want to know where the Downings go from here.
I definitely recommend. I can't wait to start House of Salt and Sorrow. Erin Craigs writing was so addictive, I could not put this down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Gun violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Miscarriage, Alcohol, and Classism
ashlikes's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, and Religious bigotry
afi_whatafireads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"Sometimes, we have to overlook our own desires for the betterment of the hives as whole."
Before you start reading this review, I would say, that, for a better reading experience for you, its best that you come in with your expectations to the very lowest.
And with that said, lets get on with my thoughts on the book.
Personal Ratings: 3.65🌟
This book was one that I am just OKAY with it. I don't necessarily hate it as there were aspects of the book that caught me off guard, but there was one big negative point of the book that made me just "meh". But the one thing that made me felt okay was how it caught me off guard. The book has sort of a mystery/horror/eerie/cult-ish vibes to it. You don't know what to expect, you won't know what is going on besides everything just becoming weird, and its a bit predictable at best, but towards the end the moral values and the characters was what saved the book.
Short Summary
Amity Falls is a serene village that is hidden in the middle of the woods away from everything else. It was a place that is still ingrained with culture and sticks heavily with it rules which seems almost cult-ish. Things started falling apart when a group that went on a supply run for the town had just vanished and the tale of monsters lurking in the woods was told. Ellerie Downing is a beekeeper's daughter, with the strength of queen. A stranger appeared and strange things started happening in the town. Will Ellerie manage to save the town or it just too late for them all which will lead to their downfall.
Personal Thoughts
I will not give away too much about the book as its best to go into this book without knowing much about anything. One thing I can say, it gives a vibe of Midnight Mass and Stranger Things with the small village's beliefs and ways of living that is outdated and almost seemed cult-ish, and the weird monsters that lurked.
I would say the setting of the book was what I struggled most with this book. The fact that You can't expect ANYTHING with this book makes it a good and bad point to the book. The good point is that, it keeps you questioning of what is about to happen, and it leaves you wanting to know more. Questions like.."Wait why is this happening?" .. "So okay... Where is this story going.." it makes it unpredictable but also enjoyable because it exceeded my expectations. However, the bad side of it is that, it made me felt just a teensy bored with the book. I would say there were some dialogues that can just be cut, and there was too much unnecessary filler scenes. I think this also relates to the Writing Style of the book. There were parts of the book that just jumped around which made me confused on how long has the period of time passed. Whilst it was easy to read, it was also quite confusing at some parts.
One of the things that I felt saved this book was the characters and scenes of the family relationship in this book. Ellerie Downing is such a character that I liked. She's strong, brave, tenacious, and she would do anything for her family. I also love how her siblings and her kept together even through hard times which I felt was the cutest thing ever. I also like the romance in this book. It was a bit instant ngl, and it ticked me off just a bit, but I like her dynamic with Whitaker. Its one that I felt was just cute but didn't come off as cringey.
Overall, I would say this is not a bad book but it won't be one that I will pick up again anytime soon. The biggest plus point of this book was how eerie it was. It has a bit of a mystery-vibe with dark secrets intertwining and just one that is a read that you can pick up during a rainy day with an eerie-vibe in the background.
Thank you to Times Reads for generously providing me a review copy of the book.
Disclaimers: All my reviews are my thoughts of the book and according to my personal preferences. Even though I had received a review copy, it does not affect my review and honest thoughts for the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Fire/Fire injury