Hi ForeverBookers,
How are you? I hope you’re well!
I’ve just finished “Dark Waters” by Katherine Arden and I enjoyed it. It wasn’t as good as “Small Spaces” or “Dead Voices,” books 1 and 2 in this series, in my opinion but it was still a good read.
4 Stars!
“Dark Waters” takes us to an island with our characters, Ollie, Coco and Brian. There’s another child this time as well, Phil as well as Coco’s mom and Ollie’s dad. What I did appreciate in this novel was the presence of the parents. In most middle grade/young adult novels, the parents don’t really play a part but in this one especially, Coco’s mom, who plans the trip to the island and Ollie’s dad who just goes along for the ride do play a vital role. If I’m being honest, the atmosphere in Dark Waters let it down considerably for me. It just didn’t feel as scary or dangerous as the other two books did, and I think that being stuck on a deserted, unknown island is scarier than either of the other two premises. You’ll know what they were of you read the other two books. If you haven’t go and read them, they’re very good!
Coco’s mom, Zelda Zintner, is a reporter and is going to write an article about Mr. Dimmonds, a boat tour driver. She invites Coco’s two friends, Ollie and Brian to go with her and Coco over the next weekend, on the boat tour, as well as Ollie’s dad. Brian’s parents don’t want him going at first because they think he’s got too much homework to do, but of course he persuades them to let him go. What adventures do the children get up to in “Dark Waters?” Are there any mishaps on the tour? Let’s just say that not all goes according to plan!
I read “Dark Waters” for a few readathons. They were:
Reading Rivalry - When The Chips Are Down - to me this means when you’ve got nothing better to do in a certain situation you’re often pushed out of your comfort zone. This I feel happens to the characters of “Dead Waters” multiple times!
Always Fully Booked, 2025 Reading Challenge - A book you meant to read last year - I was going to read it in spring time last year but Spring came and went, so I put it off to this year instead.
Always Fully Booked, Reading Rainbow Challenge - Green - most of the cover of my hardcover of “Dark Waters” is green or has some element of green on.
Spoilers Below
“…I’m going to do an article for the paper about Mr Dimmonds. I’ll spend a day on the Cassandra, take his tour, and write about it. But the boat’s pretty big—I though we could all go. Roger?” This was to Ollie’s dad. “Make a day of it. What do you think, kids? Win? Amelia?”
“Yes, for sure,” said Mr. Adler. “This weekend?”
Ms. Zinmer nodded.
“I don’t think we have anything else going on,” said Mr. Adler. “Ollie?”
“Yeah!” said Ollie. “Sounds fun.” She eyed the black, streaming windows. “I mean, if it gets warmer and stops raining.”
“For sure,” said Ms. Zintner, and shivered too. “But the forecast is good this weekend.” She smiled at Ollie, and Ollie smiled back, a little uncertainly. Ollie’s dad and Coco’s mom liked each other. They like liked each other.”
This is basically what starts the novel off and what I’ve just explained above. Ollie is excited to go on the tour. I expected more from Ollie, I’ve got to say in “Dark Waters.” I feel that “Small Spaces” was centred around her and that “Dead Voices” certainly had more of her in than “Dark Waters.” This kind of let me down as I like reading about her sassy attitude. The story was quite plain and a little boring and run of the mill in the middle just with Brian and Coco.
Phil, the new child character is new to the mysteries that Ollie, Coco and Brian solve. He’s a bit of a klutz to begin with, but when he learns what the children have gone through he begins to be more of a help. Phil was a bit of a boring character to me as well. He didn’t seem to have the same pizazz as the other three. Ollie was so strong in both “Small Spaces” and “Dark Voices,” but Phil just seemed very much less with it. He wasn’t a very good replacement for Ollie, I don’t think.
“You were looking,” said Phil, and then his hand shook or something, because then his whole heap of messy papers went tumbling, whoosh, onto the floor of the bus.
Instinctively, Brian bent to help pick them up. “Here,” he said. “This one went under the seat. I’ll grab—”
Phil said, “No, wait, don’t.”
But Brian had already put his hand down to the paper. He saw the one on top and froze.
It wasn’t homework at all.
It was a drawing of a scarecrow. But not just any scarecrow. This scarecrow had a stitched-on scowl and stabbing garden rakes for hands and a long, ragged black coat. Brian knew this scarecrows name.
“Jonathan,” he whispered. He picked up the paper without thinking. The page was covered in drawings of scarecrows. Some with sewn-on grins, some with gaping scowls, some with pumpkin heads, some with heads made of burlap sacks.
Phil snatched the paper back. His face was very red. “Dude,” he said. “You shouldn’t just grab private stuff. That’s mine! You don’t have any right to look at it.”
Brian said, “But, Phil. I thought you didn’t remember.”
“Remember what?” Phil demanded suspiciously.
Brian stared. “October? The smiling man!”
“I don’t know what your talking about,” said Phil.
“But,” said Brian confused. “Where’d you get all this—the ideas for all those?” He pointed at the sketches.
“Phil was still glaring, his mouth shut up tight. Then he said, “Just dreams, that’s all. Just dreams.”
Brian licked his lips. “Bad dreams?”
He thought Phil wasn’t going to answer. Then he said softly, “Yeah, the worst dreams. The worst dreams in the world.”
This happens on the bus when Brian is going to school. He sees Phil, his old best friend before the scarecrows in “Small Spaces.” Phil doesn’t like how Brian is being nosey. When Phil drops one of his sheets of ‘homework’ — that he’s forgotten to do until that bus ride — Brian picks it up he sees that it’s not homework at all. It’s in fact, drawings of creepy pumpkins, like the ones that haunted Ollie, Coco and Brian in “Small Spaces.” Phil says they’re just from “bad dreams” but of course, they’re not…Does Phil remember the pumpkins from “Small Spaces?” I’ll let you read for yourself how this links to the third book as a whole…
When Brian, Ollie and Coco get to the boat the tour will be happening on a few chapters later, they see Phil there with his uncle. His uncle is the boat’s captain, Mr. Dimmonds. Mr Dimmonds doesn’t play a huge role in “Dark Waters” but is necessary for a reason that I don’t want to spoil as it takes a surprise away from the overall plot, I feel.
The real story starts at around the half way point when the Cassandra, the boat they’re sailing on sinks.
“Someone would see them; there were boats all over Lake Champlain. They just had to get there safely. He and Phil dragged the decoy to the lake-facing side of the sinking Cassandra, ready to slide it into the water.
Ollie was pulling on her dad’s hand. “Come on,” she said. “Dad—Dad, please. You have to get up. Try. We can’t stay on the boat . . .”
“Yeah,” said Mr. Adler. He was looking even more greenish now, Brian thought worriedly. He stumbled to his feet. His hand was swollen, and black stuff still leaked out of the punctures from under the bandage. His eyes were half closed.
Coco’s mom ran to help. Between her and Ollie, they got him in the boat. Brian yelled, “Phil! Now!”
What has happened to let the boat sink? I’ll let you read for yourself. The children know they need to get to the unmarked island they see in the distance. Of course, Mr Dimmonds wants to be famous for discovering said island so he tries to keep them there on the water. However, when Phil goes fishing and fishes up a literal sea monster everything goes to hell! Mr Dimmonds ends up being killed, or does he?! And the rest of the characters end up shipwrecked on said island! Can they survive? I’ll let you read for yourself, but it gets good. Ollie’s dad was bitten by an evil sea snake. Is he okay? Can they get off the island? What characters do they meet on the island?
“Dark Waters” if very much a character driven story as the other two novels in this series have been. We don’t really get much setting description apart from the basics of where the characters are. I think this is because the books are for a middle-grade audience and children get bored when they’re bogged down by too much description. Of course, we know that the island and its dwellings are creepy, just not the ins and outs of every place Coco, Brian, Phil and Ollie visit.
Overall then, as I said in my introduction to this review, I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as the other two because Ollie didn’t play as big of a role as she maybe should have, I feel. Saying that, it was nice to see Coco and Brian have a little more of the limelight. And Ollie does have a role to play at the end of the story and she’ll be significant in book 4, “Empty Smiles.” What happens at the end of Dark Waters? I don’t want to spoil it but let’s just say a sacrifice might mean the end for a certain character. Who? I’ll let you read for yourself. The Smiling Man, the evil presence in this series isn’t actually in “Dark Waters” at all. There are small references to him but nothing overly significant apart from at the end. I thought this was a little tacky, if I’m being honest. Yes, there are other ghosts and creepy characters, but I feel we needed the Smiling Man to bring it all together. His evil presence was present in the other books in the series, and he’ll be present in the last book because it is the last book, so I don’t know why he wasn’t in this one. The only tidbit we get from him is a letter right at the end. As I said, I would have liked a more threatening presence in “Dark Waters,” as to me at least it felt a little too tidy. It just didn’t have quite the same fear factor, I don’t think. That’s why I’m giving “Dark Waters” 4 stars! I enjoyed it, but not as much as the other two books. The ending of “Dark Waters” has me very much excited to pick up Empty Smiles, book 4 this summer however. The ending hooked me, again.
I’m going to read a middle-grade hopefully quickly next! I might not review it. We’ll see…! My next review will be coming after that if I don’t review it.
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