Hey ForeverBookers,
I’ve finished “Empty Smiles” by Katherine Arden and I enjoyed it. I’d say it was a far simpler story than the other three in the series but I liked it all the same. It didn’t scare me at all but I’m not afraid of clowns.
3 Stars!
“Empty Smiles” is based around a carnival with evil clowns, as well as the Smiling Man. Ollie needs to be saved from the Smiling Man. That’s basically the overall point of this novel, after what happened to her in “Dark Waters,” book 3, where she drowned on the island and the Smiling Man took her. We see chapters with what she’s experiencing at the carnival, as well as what’s happening to Brian and Coco and Phil too. Can her friends save her or will she be forever at the mercy of the Smiling Man?
I read “Empty Smiles” for a couple of readathons! They were:
Reading Rivalry - Blended Family - there’s a hint of a future whereby 2 of the parents get together in “Empty Smiles.” They both already have children.
Reading Rainbow Challenge - Purple - the bottom of the book cover is purple.
Spoilers below…
At the start of “Empty Smiles” we see 2 children who aren’t one of the main characters being captured by the evil clowns at the circus. This was creepy to read and intrigued me.
“He tried to get away. Thrashed. Screamed. Beside him, Ruth was screaming too. Fingernails snagged in his shirt. The eyes bored into his.
And then Tim Jenkins stopped screaming.”
Tim is a minimal character. I would have liked to know more about him. He appears to Coco and Brian at the swimming hole, a few weeks after this ordeal above. That’s when they think there’s a chance that they can truly save Ollie.
“During the day, the funhouse resembles any other carnival funhouse, except it was cooler. You walked through its winding halls and galleries. A bright green sign glowed just ahead. The giggles of families echoed off the mirrors. There were mirrors on all sides. Walls. Ceiling. Floor. The mirrors distorted your reflection. Sometimes they made you taller. Sometimes shorter. Sometimes basketball-shaped, sometimes skinny, with an S curve to your middle. Sometimes you’d be pigheaded or bug eyed.”
This actually put me in the story because it’s directed to the reader or “you.”I enjoyed reading about the descriptions of the carnival. These descriptions were sprinkled throughout “Empty Smiles” in Ollie’s parts. She doesn’t like being trapped in the funhouse and just wants to be back with her friends. Does she get that wish or does the Smiling Man keep her forever, like he threatened? You’ll have to read for yourself! I appreciated that we got to see Ollie’s parts as well as Coco and Brian’s.
“It’s not just about being safe. We need help Brian!” Coco said passionately. “We need help getting Ollie back. We need all the help we can get.”
Coco wants to save her friend more than anything. She’s pleading to Brian above that they need help. She then goes on to tell her mom and Ollie’s dad about the Smiling Man. They just accept what Coco tells them as gospel. I found this a little unbelievable. Brian does the same to his parents later in the book. I found this even more unbelievable. That’s one thing that was lacking in “Empty Smiles” for me, parents that are believable. I didn’t think ANY of the parents in the book were believable in anything they did.
Overall, I enjoyed “Empty Smiles,” not quite as much as “Small Spaces” or “Dead Voices,” but probably more than “Dark Waters.” I got through it in two days, so could have been longer in my opinion. “Dead Voices”is the best of the 4 books to me. That story had the more twists and was more complex than the others. If anything I was a little disappointed in “Empty Smiles,” only because the Smiling Man was never revealed. He didn’t have a motive for doing what he’s done to the three children, four if you add Phil, he was just being mean. I didn’t get that part of the story. That’s why I’m only giving “Empty Smiles” 3 stars! I feel as though there should be a fifth book just based around the Smiling Man to reveal his true intentions. I thought that as a finale to the series “Empty Smiles” was very lack lustre. I expected more.
I’m going to quickly reread “The Book Of Life” by Deborah Harkness, a favourite next so I won’t review it as I already have!
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