“He’s lived in dread for months, but now that something bad had happened, he felt calm. Somehow actual, specific danger was better than danger that you imagined but couldn’t see.”
In the third installment of Arden’s Small Spaces series, we catch up with Ollie, Brian, and Coco. After having met and outsmarted the scary Smiling Man, they are now searching for a way to permanently defeat him. While they think they’re safe for now, they know the Smiling Man will come back and when the friends hang out together, first hints are shown—flickering lights, doors opening without the slightest of touch that raise their hackles. When Coco’s mother tells them about a trip she has to take for work on Lake Champlain, the trio is all too happy to tag along. What promises to be a fun adventure derails quickly when Brian’s old best friend Phil shows up on the boat and the lake monster Coco’s mother is investigating turns out to be more than just a legend. Stranded on a mysterious island, the gang will have to do their best to stay alive as past events come back to haunt them.
Dark Waters really brought the anxiety the characters were feeling to life. Throughout the story, there was this underlying sense of dread and it guaranteed that my shoulders never lodged from their place up to my ears. Much more so than in previous books, the fear and anxiousness is anticipatory; the characters and especially Brian who we follow this time around, are more scared for what’s to come than having something actual to face. You’d think that would feel like a reprieve after having had to face the Smiling Man in the second installment, and yet I found myself much more prone to jump scares in this one. We also get to see Brian take charge when they’re stranded on the island and together with Coco and Phil, relationships and problems are tackled.
Beyond the mysterious island that is hidden away in fog and apparently invisible to the outside world, I loved how Brian’s story focused on his friendships and especially the initial awkwardness with Phil where you don’t know how much he really remembers that caused tension between all five of them. Despite their differences and their muddled past, in the end the friends band together when push comes to shove. Since I don’t want to spoil anything about this book, I’ll just say that the ending definitely ramped up the stakes once more and I’m now anxiously awaiting the conclusion to this dark, creepy middle-grade series. If you haven’t picked up this series yet, now is the perfect time to do so, if only to suffer with us all through the wait for the final book.
Dark Waters is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of August 3rd 2021.
Will you be picking up Dark Waters? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
New York Times bestselling author Katherine Arden returns with another creepy, spine-tingling adventure in this follow-up to the critically acclaimed Small Spaces and Dead Voices.
Having met and outsmarted the smiling man in Dead Voices but fearful of when he’ll come again, Ollie, Brian, and Coco are anxiously searching for a way to defeat him once and for all. By staying together and avoiding remote places, they’ve steered clear of him so far but their constant worry and stress is taking a toll on their lives and friendship. So when Ollie’s dad and Coco’s mom plan a “fun” boat trip on Lake Champlain, the three are apprehensive to say the least. They haven’t had the best of luck on their recent trips and even worse their frenemy Phil is on the boat as well. But when a lake monster destroys their boat, they end up shipwrecked on a deserted island. This isn’t just any island though. It’s hidden from the outside world in a fog and unless everyone works together to find a way to escape, they won’t survive long.
I love this cover! I’ve seen great reviews of this book, so I’m planning on catching up on this whole series soon!