This is the sequel to Small Spaces which I reviewed HERE. If you don't want anything ruined about Small Spaces, I'd recommend not reading this review.
This book will be published on August 27, 2019. I read an advance uncorrected galley; there will undoubtedly be differences between the version I read and the published edition.
I don't like scary books. I don't like horror books. I don't like thriller books. ...so why is it that I read another scary book??? ...because it's really good and I can read anything with all the lights on... and sleep with the lights on at times. It's fine, and worth it in some cases. In this case.
An amazon summary, "Having survived sinister scarecrows and the malevolent smiling man in Small Spaces, newly minted best friends Ollie, Coco, and Brian are ready to spend a relaxing winter break skiing together with their parents at Mount Hemlock Resort. But when a snowstorm sets in, causing the power to flicker out and the cold to creep closer and closer, the three are forced to settle for hot chocolate and board games by the fire.
Ollie, Coco, and Brian are determined to make the best of being snowed in, but odd things keep happening. Coco is convinced she has seen a ghost, and Ollie is having nightmares about frostbitten girls pleading for help. Then Mr. Voland, a mysterious ghost hunter, arrives in the midst of the storm to investigate the hauntings at Hemlock Lodge. Ollie, Coco, and Brian want to trust him, but Ollie's watch, which once saved them from the smiling man, has a new cautionary message: BEWARE.
With Mr. Voland's help, Ollie, Coco, and Brian reach out to the dead voices at Mount Hemlock. Maybe the ghosts need their help--or maybe not all ghosts can or should be trusted." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
After the chilling events of Small Spaces, Ollie, Coco, and Brian, along with Ollie's Dad and Coco's Mom are off to spend their winter break in the Mount Hemlock Resort. They dream of skiing, smores, and hanging around by the fire place playing games. Ollie's Dad won the resort trip from work, and they make the trek to the resort in the middle of a very bad snowstorm. On the way there, Coco happens to fall asleep in the back, only to wake up and see a man standing in the room, holding up his hand as if urging them to stop. She verbally panics, the car stops, and everyone gets out to investigate to find no footprints in the snow. They move on and manage to get to the resort despite the snow storm.
Once at the resort, they're greeted by a lovely couple who own it, and also a wall full of taxidermy animals that the owner shot and stuffed himself. They're shown to their rooms, but there's something unsettling about the resort. Ollie and Coco share a room and that night, Ollie dreams of a girl pleading for help and determined to hide from someone. When everyone gets up and goes down to breakfast (where Ollie's Dad helps in the kitchen), a ghost investigator arrives and tells them stories about the resorts past... just as the fire goes out.
Dun dun dunnnnnnnn
This was a fantastic sequel to the first one, and followed very much in the same vein. Small Spaces was Ollie's book to shine in, and she plays a big role in Dead Voices, but this was very much a book more focused on Coco. Brian was kind of there but in meaningful ways.
The story is well paced, the scene was well set, and I think it still wasn't too scary, but definitely scary enough. I'll also say that Ollie, Coco, and Brian are some of the most....robust children I've come across in a book in a while (since the first one, ha...ha). They're very clever, they don't rely on the adults to do things for them, and they possess a strong sense of determination.
I also thought the maybe romance (it's hinted at in the first quarter of the book, it's fair game) between Ollie's Dad and Coco's Mom was more cute than forced or "just happened to happen". Their seems to be a fundamental likability about their relationship and I am here for it!
I'm pretty sure the next book will be more focused on Brian, and I'm pretty excited to see how his perspective will change more about what we know of this world. Already some new/interesting concepts were presented in this book, and I'm kind of hopeful this becomes some sort of series due to the feeling of an old fairy tale; where they were sinister and there were no happy endings to be found.
This book was the best and spookiest in all the good ways.
Happy reading!
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