I will definitely be recommending this one to everyone and I am so excited to see what else Katherine writes in the future! I think this would be the perfect book for younger readers who want a creepy story or even for adults who enjoy good writing and classic ghost stories. It was also a really quick read in the best kind of way. Overall I really enjoyed this book and felt better after having read it. Ollie is dealing with some serious depressing issues through out the book and learns how to come out the other side and find yourself again.īut as well as this book having depth it is also a spooky story that sinks its teeth into you right from the start. Escapism through books and how to cope with your loss. This story is about friendship, grief and healing. Ollie is drawn into the story until the next day when her class takes a school trip to a local farm with a haunting history very similar to the one in her book.Īs Ollie starts to wonder if the talk in her book could be true things take a turn and Ollie and two of her classmates are forced to try and survive in the wilderness as they try to unravel the mystery. But there is another character in the story, “the smiling man” who grants your greatest wish but at a cost.

Ollie steals the book knowing she couldn’t bear to see a book destroyed like that.Īs she begins to read the book she discovers a chilling story about a girl names Beth who lived on a farm and the two brothers who fell in love with her. One day she comes across a crazed woman threatening to throw a book into the river.

Small Spaces follows our main character, eleven-year-old Ollie, who has recently suffered a tragic loss and finds her peace in books. As I’m sure you all know I have been a huge fan of Katherine Arden ever since I read Bear and the Nightingale so when I heard she was coming out with a middle grade ghost story I was super excited and knew I had to read it! “When the mist rises, and the smiling man comes walking,Įek I really liked this book.

Small spaces katherine arden