Kelly Gunderman

“Bishop just wasn't the kind of place that could satisfy restless, hungry women with sharp edges.”

Bishop is a town with a history - and not a positive one. It is known for deaths, frightening sunflower fields, and an eerie atmosphere that makes everyone feel on edge. Don't forget about the missing women - including the daughters of one of the town's women. The three daughters - Bo, Delilah, Whitney, and Jude, each have their own problems, but they long to know what happened to their mother, and what other secrets the town is holding.

Searching for their mother and dealing with the town's secrets and their own is not only exhausting - it's tearing the girls apart.

“Bo had forgotten how to cry but she still knew how to bleed.”

When the town of Bishop begins craving more and more blood - especially when it craves the blood of the four sisters - what will happen to them? Will it completely destroy their relationships? Or will it destroy their very lives, eliminating the chance for them to ever find their mother, and whether or not she is still alive?

So I don't want to give too much about the book away, because Where Darkness Blooms focuses  a lot on secrets that the girls have from one another. You learn more and more about each girl and their stories as you read, which makes it feel not only fleshed out, but complete in that respect.

I did have some difficulty concentrating on who was telling the story, because it switched out viewpoints every chapter or so and it would be told from one of the four sisters. Although I feel like they all kind of grew a bit in terms of character development, I kind of sensed that they didn't all receive the same amount of love. Which yeah, it can happen, especially when you are writing a book telling a main story and then personal stories of four different characters. So I won't fault the author for that. It can even be something on my part, such as I wasn't as attached to that character as I was a different one, I'm not sure.

One thing I have to say - if you are expecting straight up horror, like I was, you might be a little let down. While the overall atmosphere is creepy, it isn't that horrifying. In fact, it's more of a psychological thriller or psychological suspense than a horror. I was looking forward to some more scary elements than those that were present. But if you go into this book knowing that about it, you will be able to adjust your expectations accordingly.

Overall, this was a pretty good book, and I would definitely read it again. It was a good read for when you want something that is going to mess with your mind a bit, but it wasn't as full on scary as I had hoped for.

“Yeah, sorry, I ate a homeless guy’s eyeball last night, and I’m really struggling with it, so. . . .”

Ji-won lives at home with her mother and her sister, and all three of them are reeling from their father's departure to be with another woman, leaving Ji-won and the rest of the family alone. Ji-won's mother is sure he will come back - and even starts eating the eyes of fish, which she says will bring love into her life.

Days pass into weeks, and he doesn't come back.

Ji-won and her sister are beginning to get on with their lives, and their mother eventually does, too - she gets a new boyfriend. Neither of the girls like him, but their mother is completely taken with him, and before anyone realizes what's going on, he's already moving in with them.

But the girls? They hate him, and they can see him for what he truly is.