Dead Voices

3.5 again; a solid continuation of [b:Small Spaces 36959639 Small Spaces (Small Spaces, #1) Katherine Arden https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539180297l/36959639.SY75.jpg 56656020]. Pretty scary for middle grade, and easy to gobble up. It leaves enough ambiguous for there to be at least one more book. There was much more focus on Coco in Dead Voices, which was interesting. Brian was pretty secondary by comparison, and when he was there always seemed to be talking “reasonably” or “practically.” Coco starts off helpless in both books, then when there are real stakes, morphs into someone much more cunning and dimensional like she's flipping a switch. I get that people behave differently under pressure, but it still feels abrupt. Ollie's dad remains the best. Fiction in general features some awful fathers, and Mr. Adler's constant baking and nurturing is a refreshing delight.If Arden puts out more of this series, I'd definitely pick them up. They're perfect October reads.