Dark Waters

Super enjoyable! I absolutely love this middle grade series. It's genuinely dark and creepy and I adore the characters. The third installment in the Small Spaces series is set in the spring and they are about to face a whole new nightmare. The kids know that the smiling man is still out there, the only question is - when is he going to strike next? When the adults are gone, the power turns off and someone starts pounding on the door. Whoever it was, left a black dot and a cryptic note. It's up to Ollie, Coco, and Brian to get to the bottom of it before IT gets to the bottom of then. In the meantime they have a happy distraction, Coco's mom is going to take them on a boat tour of Lake Champlain for a news story about Vermont's very own show more "loch ness monster," Champ. Very quickly this trip turns creepy and they wonder if the black dot and cryptic note have something to do with a real monster or a mysterious island that just popped up. A nice little twist at the end of this one - I can't wait for the next installment! show less

Better than "Dead Voices", because there are way less ghosts appearing out of the woodwork and from under every pebble accidentally turned. Although there is an actual death in the story. A minor one, largely unmourned, but still.
And this time, obviously, was Brian's time to save the day. Which meant, in turn, that Ollie just stood aside and acted stupidly, just because there was a need for her to do that for the sake of the plot, and to have a reason to make a forth book. Ollie has turned from a resourceful girl, ready to tackle anything for the sake of her friends, into a thing that doesn't trust her friends and quivers with dread all the time. Not a good role model. I didn't like this, but there you have it. At least, Coco is shaping show more up nicely as a very resourceful and brave girl, but I don't like the implications of a white, blonde, petit woman improving herself, while the brown, curly haired one is not trusting anyone. Maybe little kiddies don't mind as I do. It was so obvious what was happening that it was infuriating, but maybe it was just me being me. That's why I give this book three stars and not four.
Am I asking too much from a children's book? show less

Really enjoyable middle grade horror with just the right about of scare-factor for me. I love the way the characters are growing during this series, and the way the trauma of their past experiences is neither ignored nor debilitating.

It pains me to do this. I just didn't feel right about giving this book 3 stars or more. Sleeping on it over night highlighted even more issues I had with this and I don't know if the fourth book will even be worth it.

"Small Spaces" was so good that, that book freaked me out. Following Ollie and her grief and how she ended up defeating the Smiling Man was a great book. Maybe it should have ended there? I don't know.

"Dead Voices" had some scary bits, but the writing was uneven. And Arden deciding to split the story through different narrative voices hurt the book. If Ollie was our main protagonist in the first book, then Coco should have been the main character we followed in that one.

Now in "Dark Wates" we get to follow Brian. And I show more don't know. This should have been a novella, or short story. Or something. Having Brian lead a book for it to be the shortest in the quartet (btw when did that happen?) and it ended on a cliffhanger was some nonsense. I saw other readers reviews after I finished and I agree with their complaints that having a book be 20 percent excerpts from prior books is some crap. I am glad I borrowed this from the library, because I would have been upset about paying for this. And to have things happening "offscreen" so to speak....that was another are you serious moment for me.

"Dark Waters" follows the trio of Ollie, Coco, and Brian. It's been about 3 months since the events in the last book and the group is happy to be welcoming Spring. All of them are tense still about the Smiling Man and what if anything he has planned to hurt them and their families. Brian, Ollie, and Coco have been reading what they can of ghost stories to see if they can figure out what the Smiling Man may have up his sleeve. However, Brian's parents finally realize that hey their has not been the same since he started hanging out with Ollie and Coco and they want him to see less of them. However, a boat trip comes up, and Brian begs to go along. Of course dark things happen when Brian and his friends realize that they have been lured into a trap.

So I have a fondness for Brian. A black kid living in a predominately white town who loves hockey and reading. We got some of his backstory in the earlier books. But in this one, I was prepared to get fully immersed. And instead we don't get that. We get hints of that though when Arden has Brian's parents echo concerns about him hanging out with two white girls and forgetting how much he loves hockey and his grades have dropped. One wonders why Ollie's dad and Coco's mom haven't said anything yet. And we get Brian realizing that he has forgotten and pushed away his other friends, like Phil. And I wish that the book had been longer to explore that, but nope. We don't get that. We pretty much get everyone in peril. Some more peril and then an awful choice is made and that is it.

We don't get Ollie or Coco's perspectives in this one. Which after what occurred, was a bad idea. And this is from someone who complained that the last book didn't have enough of Coco in it. It's also interesting to see how not selfish, but blind the trio was in thinking they are the only ones who remember or are dealing with the events that happened in "Small Spaces." I wish that Arden had followed that enough so we can see what if any other classmates had the trio been wrong about.

The writing was fine. Arden has written scarier stuff. This book was just okay on the horror scale to me. The flow was actually really good. The book itself was just too short. And reading enough about the fourth planned book had me going meh. I assume that we will be in "Summer" so we have Arden playing with all four seasons or something. show less

Series Info/Source: This is the third book in The Small Spaces Quartet. I borrowed this from my library on audiobook.

Thoughts: I still enjoyed this but it was my least favorite in this series so far. I think this book is supposed to focus on Brian, but it jumps between all the characters. This book finds the kids and their parents out on a boat on Lake Champlain. They are left shipwrecked on a mysterious island. It is up to the kids to unravel the clues and escape.

I definitely enjoyed the first book of this series the most. The later books have been a bit formulaic. You know right away that the Smiling Man is involved again. The characters are well done and this time we focus on Brian and his survival skills (although you hear a lot show more from Ollie and Coco too).

The writing is easy to follow and the description is very well done. This is an easy and creepy read. For some reason this book didn't seem as creepy as the first couple books to me. I enjoyed it and liked seeing how things played out, didn't love it though. I am eager to see how the series wraps up for sure.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a well done continuation of this series. This involves another creepy mystery with ghosts and the Smiling Man. The characters and mystery are well done and the writing is engaging and easy to read. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first two books in this series, I think they are becoming a bit formulaic. However, I am looking forward to the wrap-up in the fourth book, "Empty Smiles". show less

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and after a wonderful third installment I am looking forward to the 4th book. It seems that after beating the Smiling Man in the mirror world, he is back with a vengeance. The kids also discover that they aren't the only ones who remember the events at the farm and the shadow world of scarecrows. With a new ally they set out on Lake Champlain to encounter a lake monster, ghosts, and death. The Smiling Man is serious this time and it may cost them more than they realize to defeat him this time - if they can. I love Arden's writing and the plot and characters are well done, as usual. An excellent addition to the Small Spaces series!

I love this middle grade series by Katherine Arden, the author who wrote The Bear and the Nightingale. It seems crazy to me that the same author wrote both of these series. They are just so different! This is the third book in the series, and takes place on the infamous Lake Champlain this time. The trio of friends has to face lake monsters, ghosts, and shipwrecks this time around, and the ending was a surprise. The next book should be a good one, and in video game talk, the one where they meet the “boss.”

It was a great spooky middle grade to read at the beginning of summer!