A Deadly Blooming

by Daphne Fama

Lured into a terrifying inheritance competition when returning home for her mother's funeral, a young woman must reckon with her mother’s secrets and a town’s past of deathly sacrifice.

Be careful of what grows here…

Maria's strongest memory of her hometown Talalora is crying as her mother sent her away. But when the sudden news of her mother’s death leaves Maria in shock, she returns. She’ll close old wounds for good and claim the inheritance her mother left behind; the home they once shared and a fresh start.

But Talalora isn't what Maria remembers. Once lush fields are barren; the flowers are withered. The townspeople are devoted to a lone priest, Father Benito, who declares her mother’s inheritance must be earned. To stake her claim, Maria must brave a series of trials pitting her against relatives she's never known.

Each trial, crueler than the last, tests Maria in the ways of the babaylan, healers that commune with the spirits. And with each trial passed Talalora's plants grow faster and stranger. But Maria’s progress brings memories of her mother. Now a childhood friend, a beautiful woman who shakes Maria’s heart, insists her mother's death was planned.

And Maria remembers the Diwata, a spirit and goddess who's ensured Talalora's fertile land for decades. She now wanders Talalora at night, twisted and strange, leaving flowers and ruin in her wake. Maria's fight for her inheritance becomes a search for the buried truth of Talalora, her mother, and a curse that threatens them all. What's been buried must bloom.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Adult, Horror Thriller

352 pages, Paperback

Expected publication March 9, 2027

Reviews

[Mai H.]

ANHPI TBR

Filipino American History Month TBR

Halloween TBR

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley

[Rudi McKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, I LOVED how strange and unsettling A Deadly Blooming was. 🌺🩸

This is exactly the kind of atmospheric horror I’m always looking for. Daphne Fama takes family secrets, grief, folklore, faith, and a beautiful but increasingly disturbing natural world and turns them into something genuinely creepy.

Maria returning to Talalora after her mother’s death immediately pulled me in. The inheritance competition was such a fantastic setup, and every trial made the story feel more dangerous. I loved watching the town—and especially the plants—become increasingly unnatural. There is something deeply unsettling about flowers that should be beautiful becoming symbols of something much darker.

The Filipino folklore was one of my favorite parts. It gave the horror a distinct identity and made the supernatural elements feel deeply connected to the history and people of Talalora rather than simply being there for scares.

I also really enjoyed the emotional layers surrounding Maria, her mother, her childhood memories, and the woman who helps her question everything she thought she knew. There’s grief, complicated family relationships, love, betrayal, and so many buried secrets underneath the horror.

And that atmosphere! 🌿 The story has this gorgeous, almost hypnotic quality where you know something is terribly wrong even when everything looks beautiful on the surface.

* A Deadly Blooming* is lush, creepy, unsettling, and beautifully weird. It’s folk horror with teeth, and I absolutely loved watching everything slowly unravel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the advanced copy.

[frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Berkley and Net Galley for a copy of this Arc

Daphne Fama is a master at turning nature monstrous be it flora or fauna.

A Deadly Blooming is a romantic horror novel that manages to explore quite a few things in its aprox 260 page count that make it feel expansive in the most delightful way.

Our Protagonist Maria is no fool and the far too real world circumstances that keep her drawn in to the central plot feel quite tangible. As a reader you want to scream don’t go, stay away while also being at the edge of your seat knowing that she must.

Fama infuses her characters with community in a way that makes her world feel full and inhabited. Maria is surrounded by connections that even when fleeting feel important and impactful. This makes the bodies that start dropping feel like they have weight to them.

The romance is full of yearning and I think captures a feeling that many gothic classic give. If you thought the real romance in the 1999 Mummy was Imhotep and Anck Su Namun then this book is for you.

The botanical horror elements are akin to the Ruins by Scott Smith with visceral descriptions that will make your skin crawl while combining elements of possession and infection all while paining a picture thats vivid as it is beautiful.

I loved this book and it has firmly planted Fama in the auto buy category for me. House of Monstrous Women was already in the running for my favorite book of the year but I think A Deadly Blooming might have just taken its place

[coven · Rating 5 out of 5]

i received this arc for free through netgalley and am writing this review voluntarily

ahhh!! i am reading some FANTASTIC eco/botanical horrors this year! i thoroughly enjoyed this one. this book has so much!!rich filipino folklore and mythology, creepy diwata (nature spirits), inheritance rituals, nature takeover?? what more could you want?! fama does a wonderful job pulling you into this story and making you feel like you need to know what happens next. it was hard to put this one down! a beautiful story about grief, belonging and family.

these characters are great!! there really wasn’t a single one that i didn’t care for! they’re all driving forces in this narrative with different purposes and motives. yet, all interwoven and connected in some way. it was an awesome one to read and find out how everything tied together!! i loved maria’s arc, coming to terms with her mother’s mysterious death and finding love/acceptance with her estranged aunties. and while i wouldn’t consider this a romance, i was pleasantly delighted with the quite a bit of sapphic flirting and undertones!! sapphic september for the win!! this one isn’t out until march of next year, but i WILL be adding this to my personal shelf!

[Elena M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

I adored the setting of this novel, especially the blend of Filipino folklore, jungle flora and fauna with the element of the trials. The characters and their motives were very well thought-out and the plot and pacing at the beginning was perfect. I also enjoyed how the author touched upon some more philosophical questions throughout such as the nature of worship, belonging and identity. The book did let me down in the second half, where I felt that the plot became a bit convoluted in some places and rushed in others. Additionally, and this is a purely personal preference, the "botanic gore" was slightly excessive in parts and did not add to the story. I would have preferred a deeper exploration into Filipino folklore in some places. Overall, an enjoyable read which for me could have ended in a slightly different way.

[Thisisnotkaty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved A Deadly Blooming by Daphne Fama! This eerie body horror has a captivating blend of unsettling imagery and rich family lore, reminiscent of Ari Aster’s Midsommar, though it takes us far from Scandinavia(Sweden). The tension surrounding the trial adds an intriguing layer to the narrative.

If I had one critique, it would be that I craved even more spookiness and gore to heighten the overall experience. 👻 😈 Nevertheless, I can’t recommend this book highly enough! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5 Stars!