Small Spaces By Katherine Arden

Pages 1-166

The book “Small Spaces” caught my eye and looked like a very interesting book and was not in my first three picks. It seems like a middle school type book but also seems very interesting. It starts off with a girl named Ollie Alder and she is 11-years-old and she is also grieving the recent loss of her mother. She comes across a woman trying to throw a book into a swimming hole and ends up stealing the book from her hands. The book is named “Small Spaces” and tells a scary story about a family that made a scary deal with a scary person known as "The Smiling Man”. A few days later Ollie’s class goes on a field trip to a farm and happens to be the same farm mentioned in the book that Ollie stole from the woman. Strange things seem to happen at the farm and Ollie notices eerie parallels between the book story and real life. It becomes the same as it was in the book. When they are on their way home their school bus breaks down and Ollie and a few of her classmates named Brian and Coco find themselves in a very odd and scary situation. Supernatural things begin to happen and appear like scarecrows seemingly coming to life and the kids being chased by an unseen Force. Ollie remembers the warning from the book “ avoid large places at night. keep too small.” This becomes very important later on because they soon only get chased at Night by the scarecrows. Ollie remembers a man from a form that had a sweet and soft smile and he would milk the cows and take care of them. and they soon discover more about the smiling man and who he is and how he's connected at the farm. They try to stay one step ahead of the supernatural creatures that seem to chase them but they always fall behind.

Small Spaces By Katherine Arden

Pages 160-225

In the pages that I have read when the students were on their way home of the farm they had to stop and escape the school bus because the scarecrows had trapped them in there. Some of them started running but Ollie, Coco, and Brian found a old farmhouse to take refuge to hide from the scarecrows but it wasn't;t safe. They hide for a long time until the sun comes up because the scarecrows only come out at night. Ollie, Coco, and Brian are still trapped in the eerie world behind the fog with the smiling man. They are trying to find a good way to escape and save their other classmates. The scarecrows continue to capture the students and turning them into scarecrows. They try their best to get out and try to outsmart the Smiling man. They uncover more and more clues about the history of the scarecrows. A watch the Ollie's dead mother had given her turns out to be a magical tool that helps protect them. The trio face many many challenges with the scarecrows but they always pull through with their quick thinking. The three being in this situation, they grow closer and create a strong bond with each other. This book has many themes and I think that it is such a great book for friendship and teamwork. It can get you very far. The loyalty and courage is great motivation to always be kind and help others out. The characters are developing and Coco is not as shy and is actually very brave and Brian is less cocky and is more helpful. My questions are how are they going to get out and when? How can the smiling man control the scarecrows?

Small Spaces By Katherine Arden

pager 200-230

Date 10/15/24

As I Came Upon the ending the tension reaches its peak as ollie, Coco, and Brian face the terrifying smiling man. They use their Wixom bravery to outsmart him and save their friends. The trio navigates through the earring and Supernatural elements of the story and they rely on the advice given by the mysterious book Ali found earlier. They confront their fears and work together to protect each other. the climax of the ending involves a showdown with the smiling man where the kids use their knowledge to encourage to break his holes over the haunted Farm. In the end they manage to free the Trap souls and restore peace. I find it fascinating How brave they were to go face such a scary and Supernatural person and I think this book is really inspiring to face your fears and protect your friends and family as much as possible. I really enjoyed this book and I hope that other people read it aswell.

Dead Voices By Katherine Arden

Pages 1-92

This is the second part of the 4 book series and I like this one more than the other. It starts out when Ollie, Coco, and Brian go to this lodge in the woods in the winter. When they get there it is really isolated and kinda gives this creepy and eerie vibe. The owner begins to tell them that it might be haunted in the past and is very strange. Later on after they get settled Ollie begins to hear weird voices almost like ghosts. To make matters worse they get snowed in and stuck at the lodge and the power goes out. Out of nowhere this ghost hunter shows up, Mr. Voland, who tries to help them. But things get darker and darker as they uncover more about the loges past. This defiantly set the tone for the rest of the book and I am so eager to find out what happened next. Do they start seeing the ghost? Will they get chased like they did in the last book? So many questions!! The writer makes it very engaging and scary which is what I love. It is hard for me to stay with a book but this one is so good!

Dead Voices By Katherine Arden

92-171

As this book goes on the tension and the supernatural vibe ramps of a good amount. Ollie, Coco, and Brian are stuck at the ski lodge and it becomes increasingly scary. They encounter more ghostly occurrences and this soon confirms that it is not their imagination nor Paranoia. The three work together to uncover the Erie and scary Mysteries of the lodge. Define clues that hint that the lodge has a dark past and the spirits are trapped there. Each of them face personal fears but their friendship and determination keeps them going. As they dive deeper they realize that they must confront the ghost to break free from the largest group. The dead and stuffed animals are also moving and they get really scared. The story during these pages is full of suspense keeping encounters and growing realization that there are fight for their lives against Supernatural forces. They also think that a lot of this has to do with the smiling man and they are on their toes because they are nervous because they know what the smiling man did to them last time. I have so many predictions and questions about this. What will be the next move? How will the smiling man be incorporated? I think that they will meet him very soon.

Dead Voices By Katherine Arden

Pages 171-236

The three are still trapped in the ski lodge and they are still trying to find a way out. They keep encountering more and more ghosts and weird things that make their situation scarier. They continue to uncover more and more about the lodges past. as they dig deeper they begin to pick up on the fact that the ghost are trying to communicate with them. They try to understand what they are saying to survive. They use teamwork and trust to help themselves out. Ollie had to find a key to get out of the lodge and used her mother watch for it. They find out the ghost hunter was the smiling man and that he keeps trying to kidnap them and make them suffer. Ollie saves the day with the help of her friend and they defeat the smiling man for now. With the help of the ghost she escapes the smiling man and get through to the real world and not the world behind the miss. But I can tell that this is definitely not the end and they have a long way to go. I think this book was great on teamwork and how trust is such an important part in a lot of things. I feel like it ended similarly to the last book but it still teaches a very great lesson

Pages 1-180

January 30, 2025

This story picks up with Ollie, Coco, and Brian again. They all decided to go on a trip with Ollie's dad to get away from all the stuff that had happened lately. They go on this boat and soon find their selves stranded on this island after their boat breaks down. It was a very creepy island and made a lot of weird sounds and noises. They had this feeling that something was watching them and they weren't alone. Then encounter this ghostly figure that warns them of the scary creature in the water. The tension builds up as they try to figure out what this creature is while having fears about the woods. Their friendship, like the other books, always powers through and they begin to figure out. I feel like even though this book doesn't focus completely on friendship, it has a deep meaning of how important connections can be and how beneficial they are. I connect to this book in so many ways and having close friends I can trust. I also love seeing how this author evolves in her writing because I feel like in every book I engage more and more and I scramble to know more. I am so excited to read the rest of this book and to read the last one.

Pages 180-213

February 16, 2025

I was expecting this book to be longer but unfortunately it is not. Even though its a short book it is still very good. It ends on the best cliffhanger and has a super eerie and scary theme that I LOVE. We left off where they go and find food in the forest and when they look up there are fishing hooks. They were really suspicious and creeped out but they kept going. They found this little hut. It was filled with dusty furniture and old artifacts. The things inside make them ask even more questions but they move on before it gets too dark. They decide to split to cover more ground. Bad idea. They collect some things and head back but all of a sudden the hooks start to make sound and they realize something is very wrong. It was the creature. The nights after that got worse and worse and they had to fight for their lives and they had a chance to leave and they did. But it followed them so Ollie made a deal with the smiling man that if she went with him her friends and family would be safe. They didn't know that and she said something and jumped off the boat and into the water. This was such a good cliffhanger. I read the last line and it made my stomach drop. I am so eager to read the next book. It looks so good and I can't wait. I hope it brings out my emotions like the other books did. Again it has a great example of friendship and determination to keep everyone safe. To me this stuff is extremely important and I cherish the way the care about one another so much. These books may before younger people but they are still really good and are exactly what I like.

Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden

Pages 1-164

Starting off with the book I was super excited to finally start the last book of this series. The book starts off and continues with the story of Ollie, Coco, and Brian who have been through scary and risky experiences in the other books. In the start they are continuously battling with the smiling man and his tricks. In the beginning they try to restore their regular lives and go back to normal and fix everything that had gone wrong. But this didn't last long because they begin to notice more strange things that happen in signs of The Smiling man. There's so much tension that builds up and they start receiving messages and warnings that let them know that it was a smiling man. Like the other books they begin to uncover Clues and they begin to know more about the smiling man so they can outsmart him. There's so much suspense in this book and so much mystery that keeps me entertained and makes me so hungry for more. There is constant questioning and high alert that keeps me on the edge of my seat constantly. There are so many Cliffhangers that make my heart drop and give me a mix of emotions. And they go to this Carnival that goes behind the Mist of the Smiling man and gives this eerie vibe that I love. But Catherine never fails to show what real friendship and dedication looks like. All four of these books have such a great representation of what real friendship should look like. And I admire that so much even though this book is meant for younger people.

Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden

Pages 164-288

The story continues with chaos and they try to find their friend that has been taken by the smiling man. They continue to discover more about the smiling man and his tricks. They have to try to get past the creepy and scary stuff to get their friend and get out of the mist. They get help from very unexpected people and former enemies. These story's are filled with bravery, tension, and have a very high climax. It is very interesting to see the character development and their teamwork. This book shows that teamwork is very important and how all of their brains working together is so powerful. I'm really sad that this series is over because these books kept me so entertained and always wanting to know more. It made my emotions all over the place and it was exciting. I might try and read her other books because, kin my opinion, these were great!

Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Pages 1-118

The book starts out with this character named Sawyer Taft and her grandmother approaches her with an offer of $500,000 to participate in the debutante season. She accepts because she wants to find out the truth about her father. As she finds the world of southern debutantes she encounters old money, secrets, and lies. She makes a treaty and begins to find out the truth about her family's past. She does this while dealing with her other dramas. This book already has a lot of mystery and secrets. This book has me questioning and eager to find out what happens next. It leaves me hungry for more. I absolutely love mystery and books like this and so far I am enjoying this book.

Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Pages 188-240

As I read more…Sawyer’s investigation into her family's secrets gets pretty intense. She starts putting all the clues together about her mother's mysterious and odd past and why her grandmother is so adamant on bringing her into the loop. There's a lot of drama with the debutantes and Sawyer is super careful about who she trusts. Some of her friendships are tested and she gets herself and does some pretty confusing and sticky situations. When she's out in public it gets more dangerous than it used to be and she can't let her guard down anymore. As I keep reading I discovered that Sawyer is really brave and she is a great person to look up to and I think that she is such a great example of perseverance and confidence. This book really has me on the edge of my seat and I am thrilled. She gets closer to uncovering the truth and there's a lot of suspense building up and I can't wait to find out what's next.