Elizabeth Reviews: Small Favors

While Small Favors isn’t a retelling of any particular traditional fairy tale, it is absolutely steeped in fairy-tale tropes and themes. At the core of the story is a small farming community called Amity Falls, isolated from the rest of the world by a deep forest. The original settlers and founders of Amity Falls spoke of strange monsters in forest, although most of the current residents think of them as only tall tales. The story primarily follows the Downing family; apiarists who pride themselves in the high quality of their carefully-tended honey. In particular, our protagonist is Ellerie Downing, a young woman on the cusp of adulthood who wants to prove herself capable of taking over her father’s craft–tending to their bees and their hives.

As with House of Salt and Sorrows, Craig does an excellent job crafting and depicting a world in Small Favors which is captivating and immersive. She allows readers to get to know everyone in Amity Falls, and the dynamics within and between its residents help this settlement to come alive, and end up being a vital component of the plot.

This book is not a sequel to House of Salt and Sorrows, nor does it take place within the same setting as that fairy tale retelling. If you loved Craig’s first novel, though, you will almost certainly also love Small Favors. It follows the same spirit as that novel; Small Favors blends fairy-tale vibes with psychological horror, and does so beautifully.

I don’t want to go too much into the plot here, as I felt that going into the book without any knowledge of what to expect enhanced my enjoyment of this novel. 

If I had to state any criticism of this novel, it would be that the resolution of the story’s primary conflict is a little bit too neat, verging on unbelievably coincidental. However, this did not significantly diminish my enjoyment of the story overall.

Ultimately, I highly recommend Small Favors. It and House of Salt and Sorrows were two of my favorite reads of 2021, and I very much look forward to seeing what we’ll get next from Erin A. Craig.