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Where Darkness Blooms
Andrea Hannah's Where Darkness Blooms is a supernatural thriller about an eerie town where the sunflowers whisper secrets and the land hungers for blood.
The town of Bishop is known for exactly two recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women—missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, no one in Bishop is surprised. The case is closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers’ much-delayed memorial.
With secrets come the lies each of the girls is forced to confront. After caring for the other girls, Delilah would like to move on with her boyfriend, Bennett, but she can’t bear his touch. Whitney has already lost both her mother and her girlfriend, Eleanor, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney's twin sister, would rather ignore it all, but the wind kicks up her secret the summer fling she had with Delilah's boyfriend. And more than anything, Bo wants answers and she wants them now. Something happened to their mothers and the townsfolk know what it was. She’s sure of it.
Bishop has always been a strange town. But what the girls don’t know is that Bishop was founded on blood—and now it craves theirs.
The town of Bishop is known for exactly two recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women—missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, no one in Bishop is surprised. The case is closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers’ much-delayed memorial.
With secrets come the lies each of the girls is forced to confront. After caring for the other girls, Delilah would like to move on with her boyfriend, Bennett, but she can’t bear his touch. Whitney has already lost both her mother and her girlfriend, Eleanor, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney's twin sister, would rather ignore it all, but the wind kicks up her secret the summer fling she had with Delilah's boyfriend. And more than anything, Bo wants answers and she wants them now. Something happened to their mothers and the townsfolk know what it was. She’s sure of it.
Bishop has always been a strange town. But what the girls don’t know is that Bishop was founded on blood—and now it craves theirs.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 21, 2023
118 people are currently reading
19300 people want to read
About the author
Andrea Hannah
13 books266 followersAndrea Hannah is the author of non-fiction and novels for young adults. She teaches creatives all over the globe and writes everything from fierce modern fairytales to horoscopes (she’s a Gemini). Her work has appeared in Bustle, Elite Daily, Reader's Digest, Thrive Global, HuffPost, and Mslexia Magazine. Though her novels trend toward the dark and mysterious, she has also written for My Little Pony comics and created a tarot deck for Marvel's Agatha All Along. You can find her on socials @andeehannah
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April 2, 2023I am forever trash for the "creepy girls with plants growing over/out of their faces" YA cover trend, please don't make it end any time soon
August 11, 2024
**2.5-stars rounded up**
Where Darkness Blooms was an early-2023 release that I had been anticipating for months. The synopsis was intriguing and this cover called to me. I mean look at her...
Then I started seeing some reviews that made me pump the brakes a bit. They weren't bad necessarily, just some of the things mentioned made me question whether or not this would be to my tastes.
I knew I'd pick it up eventually, it just didn't end up making my priority list. Recently, the audiobook became available through my local library and I decided now was the time.
It's finally September and if this cover doesn't scream Autumnal, I don't know what does.
Sadly, I just felt sort of meh about this one. I've waited almost two weeks before writing my review, because I didn't want to come off as being too hard on it. I have a tendency to burn hot, even when I consider a book to be middle of the road, or even good.
Sorry for that, personality flaw, and the thing is, I know this is a solid story that a lot of Readers will love and connect with. The writing style, and overall story format though did not suit my tastes at all.
So, what's it all about?
This story is set in a small-Midwestern ((I believe)) town called Bishop, which is known for it's chronic windstorms, endless sunflower fields and disappearing women.
We follow four teen girls, who all live together, sans-adults. Whitney and Jude are twins and then there is Bo and Delilah. The girls are connected, besides by the regular bonds of friendship, by the fact that all of their moms disappeared on the same night, never to be seen again.
In the present timeline, while disappearances are still occurring, a much delayed memorial is planned for the moms and it causes the old tragedy to be dragged again to the surface, revealing new secrets in its wake.
The girls work together to dig into the town secrets, trying to get to the truth, all while navigating the basic trials and tribulations of teenage years.
We have a few things here that I do tend to enjoy, eerie small town vibes and long-buried secrets. Those elements did work for me somewhat. However, the way it was all presented sort of took the shine out of those two things.
Most critically, the way this one kicked off. By 25%, my overall feeling was confusion. I found the four girls difficult to distinguish from one another and didn't enjoy just being dropped off in their chaotic lives without context.
Unfortunately, I never really ended up finding my footing, and frankly, just gave up after a bit. I could appreciate the concepts, but had to work really hard not to DNF it.
One book that I couldn't help thinking about while reading this was, Burn Our Bodies Down, by Rory Power. I feel like there are quite a few similarities between the two books, and without being too harsh, I feel like Power did it better.
In spite of the fact that this didn't really work for me, if you think the synopsis sounds intriguing, or are as enamored by the cover as I was, you should absolutely check it out. You could end up loving it.
There's a Reader for every book and a book for every Reader. This one not being to my personal taste means absolutely nothing at the end of the day.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I always appreciate the opportunity!
Where Darkness Blooms was an early-2023 release that I had been anticipating for months. The synopsis was intriguing and this cover called to me. I mean look at her...
Then I started seeing some reviews that made me pump the brakes a bit. They weren't bad necessarily, just some of the things mentioned made me question whether or not this would be to my tastes.
I knew I'd pick it up eventually, it just didn't end up making my priority list. Recently, the audiobook became available through my local library and I decided now was the time.
It's finally September and if this cover doesn't scream Autumnal, I don't know what does.
Sadly, I just felt sort of meh about this one. I've waited almost two weeks before writing my review, because I didn't want to come off as being too hard on it. I have a tendency to burn hot, even when I consider a book to be middle of the road, or even good.
Sorry for that, personality flaw, and the thing is, I know this is a solid story that a lot of Readers will love and connect with. The writing style, and overall story format though did not suit my tastes at all.
So, what's it all about?
This story is set in a small-Midwestern ((I believe)) town called Bishop, which is known for it's chronic windstorms, endless sunflower fields and disappearing women.
We follow four teen girls, who all live together, sans-adults. Whitney and Jude are twins and then there is Bo and Delilah. The girls are connected, besides by the regular bonds of friendship, by the fact that all of their moms disappeared on the same night, never to be seen again.
In the present timeline, while disappearances are still occurring, a much delayed memorial is planned for the moms and it causes the old tragedy to be dragged again to the surface, revealing new secrets in its wake.
The girls work together to dig into the town secrets, trying to get to the truth, all while navigating the basic trials and tribulations of teenage years.
We have a few things here that I do tend to enjoy, eerie small town vibes and long-buried secrets. Those elements did work for me somewhat. However, the way it was all presented sort of took the shine out of those two things.
Most critically, the way this one kicked off. By 25%, my overall feeling was confusion. I found the four girls difficult to distinguish from one another and didn't enjoy just being dropped off in their chaotic lives without context.
Unfortunately, I never really ended up finding my footing, and frankly, just gave up after a bit. I could appreciate the concepts, but had to work really hard not to DNF it.
One book that I couldn't help thinking about while reading this was, Burn Our Bodies Down, by Rory Power. I feel like there are quite a few similarities between the two books, and without being too harsh, I feel like Power did it better.
In spite of the fact that this didn't really work for me, if you think the synopsis sounds intriguing, or are as enamored by the cover as I was, you should absolutely check it out. You could end up loving it.
There's a Reader for every book and a book for every Reader. This one not being to my personal taste means absolutely nothing at the end of the day.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I always appreciate the opportunity!
October 24, 2024
As I was reading this, I felt like I had read it before. I had. Only THE DEAD AND THE DARK was much better. We've got small town "horror" with the tiniest sprinkling of LGBTQ+. And I mean the tiniest. The cover is gorgeous, which is the first sign I should've not requested this.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books
January 5, 2023
The beautiful cover is what lured me to this book and of course it sounded good.
The prologue was really interesting and disturbing, but the story jumped ahead. I thought it was okay. I liked most of the characters. I just wish there was a bit more to the story.
Overall, I would recommend it.
*Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for a digital copy of the book.
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
BLOG: https://melissa413readsalot.blogspot....
The prologue was really interesting and disturbing, but the story jumped ahead. I thought it was okay. I liked most of the characters. I just wish there was a bit more to the story.
Overall, I would recommend it.
*Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for a digital copy of the book.
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
BLOG: https://melissa413readsalot.blogspot....
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April 26, 2025I get what this book was trying to do, but I don't know how successful the execution was. It is riddled with plot holes and motivations that don't make sense. It is clearly trying to evoke similar themes to The Handmaids Tale (the book is explicitly referenced in the text if it wasn't obvious) but I ultimately felt very meh about it. The prologue is great, creepy and very intriguing. But then it went sideways.
Where Darkness Blooms is a YA horror novel set in a mid-western small town with a long history of women disappearing and creepy sunflowers that want blood. It follows four girls who are kind of like sisters (two of them are actually twins) who live together after their mothers disappeared two years ago. It's a novel trying to tackle murdered and missing women, rape culture, and patriarchy writ large albeit through unexplained supernatural means.
Some of the problems with this book are more general. These include the fact that the four perspective characters are not very distinct (this might have done better with just one or two perspectives) but I'm not sure how to really talk about this without being spoilery, so here is your spoiler warning...
*************************************************
Here are some of the things I had issues with:
- The fact that ALL THREE of their mothers left their kids behind knowing how dangerous it was was just not believable. And then the fact that they are easily forgiven and we get this female utopia ending is is even less believable.
- The fact that the men at the center of this had some kind of magical attraction capability really muddies the waters. It is an attempt to make the women less culpable for things like cheating with a sisters boyfriend, and explain how it went on for so long. But it never really made sense and sexual assault or violence against women don't require this kind of magic.
- Really? No one in the town figured out there wasn't a hospital? Stuff like that is strange and unexplained.
- I can't tell if the ending was breaking the curse by killing the villainous men (hmm, interesting choice for a YA novel) or the one surviving boy spilling some of his own blood to the flowers (also doesn't make a lot of sense?). It's unclear, which is part of the problem. If this is going to be a revenge story, at least be decisive about it.
- Why do the flowers crave the blood of women? We don't know. Does this make the men less culpable for their own choices? What about the ones who knew about it and supported it? Is this actually justice? I don't think so but I'm left with a lot of questions.
- What happened to all the other people in town??? What about justice for everyone else? I hate novels like this that are pseudo-feminist but end up with these very individualistic endings. Technically there's a small group of survivors in this case, but the point stands. I don't think this book is actually doing what it thinks it's doing.
I see what the intended project of this book was, but ultimately it kind of failed in execution. The prose itself is reasonably good and there are definitely some creepy or interesting moments, but overall it was disappointing and just okay. The audio narration is done well though. I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Where Darkness Blooms is a YA horror novel set in a mid-western small town with a long history of women disappearing and creepy sunflowers that want blood. It follows four girls who are kind of like sisters (two of them are actually twins) who live together after their mothers disappeared two years ago. It's a novel trying to tackle murdered and missing women, rape culture, and patriarchy writ large albeit through unexplained supernatural means.
Some of the problems with this book are more general. These include the fact that the four perspective characters are not very distinct (this might have done better with just one or two perspectives) but I'm not sure how to really talk about this without being spoilery, so here is your spoiler warning...
*************************************************
Here are some of the things I had issues with:
- The fact that ALL THREE of their mothers left their kids behind knowing how dangerous it was was just not believable. And then the fact that they are easily forgiven and we get this female utopia ending is is even less believable.
- The fact that the men at the center of this had some kind of magical attraction capability really muddies the waters. It is an attempt to make the women less culpable for things like cheating with a sisters boyfriend, and explain how it went on for so long. But it never really made sense and sexual assault or violence against women don't require this kind of magic.
- Really? No one in the town figured out there wasn't a hospital? Stuff like that is strange and unexplained.
- I can't tell if the ending was breaking the curse by killing the villainous men (hmm, interesting choice for a YA novel) or the one surviving boy spilling some of his own blood to the flowers (also doesn't make a lot of sense?). It's unclear, which is part of the problem. If this is going to be a revenge story, at least be decisive about it.
- Why do the flowers crave the blood of women? We don't know. Does this make the men less culpable for their own choices? What about the ones who knew about it and supported it? Is this actually justice? I don't think so but I'm left with a lot of questions.
- What happened to all the other people in town??? What about justice for everyone else? I hate novels like this that are pseudo-feminist but end up with these very individualistic endings. Technically there's a small group of survivors in this case, but the point stands. I don't think this book is actually doing what it thinks it's doing.
I see what the intended project of this book was, but ultimately it kind of failed in execution. The prose itself is reasonably good and there are definitely some creepy or interesting moments, but overall it was disappointing and just okay. The audio narration is done well though. I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
June 19, 2024
Well, that certainly was a series of words on a series of pages.
I was excited about a YA story about a blood-thirsty town separated from the rest of the world with lesbian representation and feminist themes, but what I got was a jumble of plot holes, mediocre prose, underdeveloped and irritating characters, and an ending that had me seriously judging these girls' mothers.
To be fair, I am an adult. I'm in my 30s. I am probably closer to the mothers' ages than the protagonists' ages, and I am 100% sure that that impacts my view of this book and how I feel about these characters, so keep that in mind. I try to be fair when I read and review YA and remember that I'm not the target audience, but in this case, this story was just so poorly executed that I genuinely feel that not being my not being the target audience is the very least of this book's worries.
From this point forward, I am going to list a series of questions that I had while reading. Several of them will be spoilers, so leave now if you don't want to be spoiled!
You've been warned :)
I love the idea of isolated places cut off from the rest of the world, but in this case, I'm just wondering where they get their paper goods and electronics.
Why are these children living alone, and how can they afford bills and care for themselves? Do they have jobs? Do bills not exist here? Does the foster care system not exist here? Do none of these girls have any family other than their mothers? An aunt? A second cousin twice removed? Nobody?
How does no one in this town give a shit that women die like clockwork every six months? Why is no one questioning this? Why aren't people freaking out that they can't leave? Is that part of the curse? If so, why doesn't it affect the girls and their moms? If not, what the hell?
Also, speaking of the curse, why is it just women who need to die? Where do the powers come from? What does their Power actually consist of? I'd love even a crumb of explanation here.
Why isn't there more eeriness and atmosphere? I feel like the premise was created solely to allow for creepy ambiance, but it's just super windy all the time.
Whitney is a dumbass - she had no plan, so she threw a burning book in a Police station and then just stood outside in indecision about what to do next until a cop walked outside and arrested her? I actually laughed out loud because it was so ridiculously stupid.
Why doesn't Jude bring some broken glass or literally anything from Bennet's room as a weapon? Knowing she's trying to save her sisters from murderous people? Truly useless.
OK, I'm sorry; learning the mothers weren't killed but actually just decided to escape leaving their underage children to fend for themselves in a place where women are ritualistically murdered twice a year, is fucking wild. Like absolutely diabolical shit. And then the girls forgive them immediately??? Whitney is more pissed about her sister not going in with her to the "hospital" than she is at her mother abandoning them in a murder town!!!
Speaking of the hospital, how did no one realize that it wasn't real? There was never any medical emergency that required treatment? Did they just let anyone who ever got injured or sick die?
Some of these wounds are kind of hilarious. I love that these teenagers are stitching up slit throats and dealing with bullet wounds and are just generally apparently able to survive severe blood loss despite being some of the dumbest characters I've ever come across.
Is it over yet?
It is?? Thank god.
Representation: one POV character is a lesbian, with WLW relationships on the page
Trigger/Content Warnings: blood, violence, murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, neglect, loss of parents, misogyny
You can find me on...
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You can join our book club over on Patreon...
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I was excited about a YA story about a blood-thirsty town separated from the rest of the world with lesbian representation and feminist themes, but what I got was a jumble of plot holes, mediocre prose, underdeveloped and irritating characters, and an ending that had me seriously judging these girls' mothers.
To be fair, I am an adult. I'm in my 30s. I am probably closer to the mothers' ages than the protagonists' ages, and I am 100% sure that that impacts my view of this book and how I feel about these characters, so keep that in mind. I try to be fair when I read and review YA and remember that I'm not the target audience, but in this case, this story was just so poorly executed that I genuinely feel that not being my not being the target audience is the very least of this book's worries.
From this point forward, I am going to list a series of questions that I had while reading. Several of them will be spoilers, so leave now if you don't want to be spoiled!
You've been warned :)
I love the idea of isolated places cut off from the rest of the world, but in this case, I'm just wondering where they get their paper goods and electronics.
Why are these children living alone, and how can they afford bills and care for themselves? Do they have jobs? Do bills not exist here? Does the foster care system not exist here? Do none of these girls have any family other than their mothers? An aunt? A second cousin twice removed? Nobody?
How does no one in this town give a shit that women die like clockwork every six months? Why is no one questioning this? Why aren't people freaking out that they can't leave? Is that part of the curse? If so, why doesn't it affect the girls and their moms? If not, what the hell?
Also, speaking of the curse, why is it just women who need to die? Where do the powers come from? What does their Power actually consist of? I'd love even a crumb of explanation here.
Why isn't there more eeriness and atmosphere? I feel like the premise was created solely to allow for creepy ambiance, but it's just super windy all the time.
Whitney is a dumbass - she had no plan, so she threw a burning book in a Police station and then just stood outside in indecision about what to do next until a cop walked outside and arrested her? I actually laughed out loud because it was so ridiculously stupid.
Why doesn't Jude bring some broken glass or literally anything from Bennet's room as a weapon? Knowing she's trying to save her sisters from murderous people? Truly useless.
OK, I'm sorry; learning the mothers weren't killed but actually just decided to escape leaving their underage children to fend for themselves in a place where women are ritualistically murdered twice a year, is fucking wild. Like absolutely diabolical shit. And then the girls forgive them immediately??? Whitney is more pissed about her sister not going in with her to the "hospital" than she is at her mother abandoning them in a murder town!!!
Speaking of the hospital, how did no one realize that it wasn't real? There was never any medical emergency that required treatment? Did they just let anyone who ever got injured or sick die?
Some of these wounds are kind of hilarious. I love that these teenagers are stitching up slit throats and dealing with bullet wounds and are just generally apparently able to survive severe blood loss despite being some of the dumbest characters I've ever come across.
Is it over yet?
It is?? Thank god.
Representation: one POV character is a lesbian, with WLW relationships on the page
Trigger/Content Warnings: blood, violence, murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, neglect, loss of parents, misogyny
You can find me on...
Youtube | Instagram | TikTok
You can join our book club over on Patreon...
PBB Book Club
June 18, 2022
Bishop is a small town in central Kansas haunted by misfortune – it’s common for women of all ages to go missing. Bo, Whitney, Jude, and Delilah live together on the outskirts of this town with their mothers, until their mothers disappear one day and don’t come back. Two years later, a memorial is held to honor their mothers at Bo’s insistence. Disaster strikes at the memorial, unearthing secrets and causing the girls to begin questioning everything they thought they knew about themselves and their town.
I was blown away by this work of magical realism. The author excelled at creating an immersive setting through her descriptions, making it come alive in an engaging and immersive way. I was able to lose myself completely in the book and felt like I was in Bishop with the girls. Similarly, tension was built slowly and incorporated well throughout the work. I never thought I would find sunflowers menacing until I started reading this! The imagery and language the author used were perfect for the story she wove together, creating a highly satisfying experience.
The characters were excellently written. Despite following four girls of similar ages, it was easy to keep the characters separate. Their personalities, including strengths and flaws, were unique from each other and incorporated well to create realistic characters. I also enjoyed their relationships with each other, seeing the strength of their bonds and their emotional struggles as they try to navigate their investigation.
There were trigger warnings included at the beginning of the book, but the work itself did not contain any graphic scenes, though it did reference violence, rape, and abuse. There were a couple of errors, but they were few and relatively minor, so they didn’t detract much from my enjoyment of the work. I also felt like there was a little bit of a plot hole that was revealed at the end of the work, but again, this didn’t detract too much from it for me.
I highly recommend this tense and well-crafted work – I haven’t stayed up all night reading a book in years, but I just couldn’t put this down.
I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I was blown away by this work of magical realism. The author excelled at creating an immersive setting through her descriptions, making it come alive in an engaging and immersive way. I was able to lose myself completely in the book and felt like I was in Bishop with the girls. Similarly, tension was built slowly and incorporated well throughout the work. I never thought I would find sunflowers menacing until I started reading this! The imagery and language the author used were perfect for the story she wove together, creating a highly satisfying experience.
The characters were excellently written. Despite following four girls of similar ages, it was easy to keep the characters separate. Their personalities, including strengths and flaws, were unique from each other and incorporated well to create realistic characters. I also enjoyed their relationships with each other, seeing the strength of their bonds and their emotional struggles as they try to navigate their investigation.
There were trigger warnings included at the beginning of the book, but the work itself did not contain any graphic scenes, though it did reference violence, rape, and abuse. There were a couple of errors, but they were few and relatively minor, so they didn’t detract much from my enjoyment of the work. I also felt like there was a little bit of a plot hole that was revealed at the end of the work, but again, this didn’t detract too much from it for me.
I highly recommend this tense and well-crafted work – I haven’t stayed up all night reading a book in years, but I just couldn’t put this down.
I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
March 6, 2023
Star Rating: —> 4.5 Stars
BR with the lovely Malli!
Thank you to netgalley & the publisher for the ARC! All opinions are my own.
The town of Bishop is CREEPY AF, which is the understatement of the freaking century ! It’s known for missing women, being surrounded by a dense field of sunflowers, and mysterious storms! Why are 4 teen girls left alone without their mothers? Why do all the women seem to disappear; why does it always storm so heavily? Why do the wind & the sunflowers seem to whisper secrets ? And what exactly are they trying to say?
This YA mystery/ thriller/ horror novel was everything I could have asked for and MORE! It was Intriguing, addictive, THRILLING, & so good! It’s really best for you to go into this blind! My goodness, a freaking masterpiece! I will be looking for more books by Andrea Hannah non stop! This was THAT AMAZING! I mean, the creep factor is REAL .
Beyond that, there was great representation of mental illness, including anxiety, & depression… and the author did such a wonderful handling of that within her prose, in this absolutely addicting, thrilling, & dark novel.
*sunflowers whisper*
100% recommend!
BR with the lovely Malli!
Thank you to netgalley & the publisher for the ARC! All opinions are my own.
KEEP ME.
How? The traveler wondered.
The wind shuddered through the field where the sunflowers swayed, where the stolen lives of the dead lay. Blood. Blood. Blood.
The town of Bishop is CREEPY AF, which is the understatement of the freaking century ! It’s known for missing women, being surrounded by a dense field of sunflowers, and mysterious storms! Why are 4 teen girls left alone without their mothers? Why do all the women seem to disappear; why does it always storm so heavily? Why do the wind & the sunflowers seem to whisper secrets ? And what exactly are they trying to say?
This YA mystery/ thriller/ horror novel was everything I could have asked for and MORE! It was Intriguing, addictive, THRILLING, & so good! It’s really best for you to go into this blind! My goodness, a freaking masterpiece! I will be looking for more books by Andrea Hannah non stop! This was THAT AMAZING! I mean, the creep factor is REAL .
Beyond that, there was great representation of mental illness, including anxiety, & depression… and the author did such a wonderful handling of that within her prose, in this absolutely addicting, thrilling, & dark novel.
*sunflowers whisper*
100% recommend!
Read
June 3, 2022Obviously love this book lol
February 21, 2023
This YA book was just ok for me. There are multiple POV’s so you get to know each of the four girls. Although it was creepy at times I found myself bored most of the time.
Three women go missing in the town of Bishop. Their daughters come together to figure out what to do. They eventually discover the dark secrets the town’s male residents are keeping.
Where Darkness Blooms is available now.
Thank you netgalley and st.martins press for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
Three women go missing in the town of Bishop. Their daughters come together to figure out what to do. They eventually discover the dark secrets the town’s male residents are keeping.
Where Darkness Blooms is available now.
Thank you netgalley and st.martins press for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
April 8, 2023
1/5 stars
It’s been a while since a book made me angry enough to warrant a “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly style review, but thanks to Where Darkness Blooms here we are. I really appreciated what the author was trying to do, and the themes they were trying to tackle, but unfortunately, the execution was just all over the place. So much so, that it did more harm than good in some places.
Long review incoming!
The Good:
Credits where credits are due: this book nails its aesthetics. And I’m not just talking about the cover, although that one deserves some awards in its own right. Massive, massive compliments to Marcela Bolivar, for not only creating this stunning artwork, but also capturing the feeling of this book so well within it. Thát is what good cover-art is all about!!
The aesthetics within this book are spot on as well. Every descriptions of scenery of the rural town of Bishop and its surrounding sunflower-fields painted a vivid picture in my mind, and ended up tying into the plot as well. The beauty and claustrophobic, creeping dread of the landscape are balanced well, which isn’t easy to pull off.
Unfortunately, that’s where my praise ends.
The Bad:
Although the world that these characters inhabit may look pretty, it doesn’t make sense. Which is my way of saying: it’s riddled with plot holes. From page one, there are signs that this world either isn’t thought through enough, or the author accepted some non-sensical things, just so the plot could progress.
As a very early (so least spoilery) example: Our four protagonists are underaged, yet live completely emancipated in a giant house by themselves, after their mothers went missing years ago. How does any of this work? Who takes care of them? Where are their dads? Where the heck is CPS? How do they afford this house and bills when they’re all still in school? Why does nobody question any of this? The author makes a flimsy attempt at explaining that their fathers “were absent all their lives, so they can take care of themselves” or something… All I kept thinking was: these are literal children, none of this is legal, and none of this is okay…
Things only get worse from there: the town being fully functional, yet completely cut off from the entire rest of the world (like how the hell do supplies get here than? The townspeople don’t live off sunflower-seeds alone, do they?), the inhabitants not questioning some very strange and unacceptable situations and our protagonists being the first ever smart girls to do so… it all felt so unbelievable to me.
Also, the trope of non-communication does a lot of heavy lifting, which is never a good thing. If a conflict only holds as long as the protagonists don’t talk to each other, it isn’t a good conflict to center your story around.
The Ugly:
Depending on how sensitive to spoilers you are: consider this your warning. I will mention as few as possible specific plot-points, but I will discuss major themes and “reveals” , including late-story ones.
This book clearly tries to communicate a central message of feminism, but it’s a strange branch of feminism that is prevalent in YA these days, and that I’m increasingly uncomfortable with. Let’s call it “chosen-girl-feminism”.
In these stories, all men are assholes, and all women are victims. That alone is problematic enough of a take, but let’s continue. Enter our chosen protagonist: the first girl with the smarts to question the status quo, and the power to defeat the male-threat, where countless other women have failed. Where Darkness Blooms takes that to the extreme with the following. Near the end, our characters reflect on why they could break this curse, when generations of women, including their mothers failed. We then get this gem of an explanation: “they weren’t ready to break the curse”. It’s this strange way of making our protagonists feel special, but simultaneously victim-blaming the other women in the story as “if only they’d been strong/ready/special enough, this wouldn’t have happened”. Victim-blaming shows up in a more literal form as well, when
The “chosen-girl-feminism” makes another appearance at the end, when our four mains make it out of the town, after they’ve destroyed it with the power of their collected female rage. We’re supposed to see this as a victorious ending, and completely ignore the faith of literally every other woman in that town! Our mains made it out right… Who cares about the rest.
I don’t really know how else to say this than: this is not my kind of feminism. My kind of feminism is not just for a chosen few, but inclusive to everybody.
Speaking of inclusivity, my second gripe with this book lies with its minority-representation, which felt very tagged-on. I appreciate the mention of characters of colour, indigenous characters, and trans-characters, but neither these themes or the characters were explored enough to feel like they belonged in the story. They felt like tokens to pay the way past a sensitivity-panel. In my opinion, banning your minority characters so far to the margins of your story is almost more harmful than not mentioning them at all. “I acknowledge your existence, but you cannot take away center stage from my protagonists”. Again; not my kind of inclusivity.
On a final short note, as many other reviewers have already pointed this out: the mothers in this story are terrible for abandoning their daughters in the way they did and do not deserve to be forgiven so easily. The “happy ending” here is completely unearned and unsatisfying.
If you’re looking for something similar (small-town horror with ghosts/creepy vibes, similar themes and some LGBTQIA+ rep), I’d recommend: The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould, We Speak in Storms by Natalie Lunde or Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power.
It’s been a while since a book made me angry enough to warrant a “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly style review, but thanks to Where Darkness Blooms here we are. I really appreciated what the author was trying to do, and the themes they were trying to tackle, but unfortunately, the execution was just all over the place. So much so, that it did more harm than good in some places.
Long review incoming!
The Good:
Credits where credits are due: this book nails its aesthetics. And I’m not just talking about the cover, although that one deserves some awards in its own right. Massive, massive compliments to Marcela Bolivar, for not only creating this stunning artwork, but also capturing the feeling of this book so well within it. Thát is what good cover-art is all about!!
The aesthetics within this book are spot on as well. Every descriptions of scenery of the rural town of Bishop and its surrounding sunflower-fields painted a vivid picture in my mind, and ended up tying into the plot as well. The beauty and claustrophobic, creeping dread of the landscape are balanced well, which isn’t easy to pull off.
Unfortunately, that’s where my praise ends.
The Bad:
Although the world that these characters inhabit may look pretty, it doesn’t make sense. Which is my way of saying: it’s riddled with plot holes. From page one, there are signs that this world either isn’t thought through enough, or the author accepted some non-sensical things, just so the plot could progress.
As a very early (so least spoilery) example: Our four protagonists are underaged, yet live completely emancipated in a giant house by themselves, after their mothers went missing years ago. How does any of this work? Who takes care of them? Where are their dads? Where the heck is CPS? How do they afford this house and bills when they’re all still in school? Why does nobody question any of this? The author makes a flimsy attempt at explaining that their fathers “were absent all their lives, so they can take care of themselves” or something… All I kept thinking was: these are literal children, none of this is legal, and none of this is okay…
Things only get worse from there: the town being fully functional, yet completely cut off from the entire rest of the world (like how the hell do supplies get here than? The townspeople don’t live off sunflower-seeds alone, do they?), the inhabitants not questioning some very strange and unacceptable situations and our protagonists being the first ever smart girls to do so… it all felt so unbelievable to me.
Also, the trope of non-communication does a lot of heavy lifting, which is never a good thing. If a conflict only holds as long as the protagonists don’t talk to each other, it isn’t a good conflict to center your story around.
The Ugly:
Depending on how sensitive to spoilers you are: consider this your warning. I will mention as few as possible specific plot-points, but I will discuss major themes and “reveals” , including late-story ones.
This book clearly tries to communicate a central message of feminism, but it’s a strange branch of feminism that is prevalent in YA these days, and that I’m increasingly uncomfortable with. Let’s call it “chosen-girl-feminism”.
In these stories, all men are assholes, and all women are victims. That alone is problematic enough of a take, but let’s continue. Enter our chosen protagonist: the first girl with the smarts to question the status quo, and the power to defeat the male-threat, where countless other women have failed. Where Darkness Blooms takes that to the extreme with the following. Near the end, our characters reflect on why they could break this curse, when generations of women, including their mothers failed. We then get this gem of an explanation: “they weren’t ready to break the curse”. It’s this strange way of making our protagonists feel special, but simultaneously victim-blaming the other women in the story as “if only they’d been strong/ready/special enough, this wouldn’t have happened”. Victim-blaming shows up in a more literal form as well, when
The “chosen-girl-feminism” makes another appearance at the end, when our four mains make it out of the town, after they’ve destroyed it with the power of their collected female rage. We’re supposed to see this as a victorious ending, and completely ignore the faith of literally every other woman in that town! Our mains made it out right… Who cares about the rest.
I don’t really know how else to say this than: this is not my kind of feminism. My kind of feminism is not just for a chosen few, but inclusive to everybody.
Speaking of inclusivity, my second gripe with this book lies with its minority-representation, which felt very tagged-on. I appreciate the mention of characters of colour, indigenous characters, and trans-characters, but neither these themes or the characters were explored enough to feel like they belonged in the story. They felt like tokens to pay the way past a sensitivity-panel. In my opinion, banning your minority characters so far to the margins of your story is almost more harmful than not mentioning them at all. “I acknowledge your existence, but you cannot take away center stage from my protagonists”. Again; not my kind of inclusivity.
On a final short note, as many other reviewers have already pointed this out: the mothers in this story are terrible for abandoning their daughters in the way they did and do not deserve to be forgiven so easily. The “happy ending” here is completely unearned and unsatisfying.
If you’re looking for something similar (small-town horror with ghosts/creepy vibes, similar themes and some LGBTQIA+ rep), I’d recommend: The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould, We Speak in Storms by Natalie Lunde or Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power.
August 11, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!
I’m really saddened to give this book such a low rating. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn’t, so I’m not comfortable rating this any higher than 1 star. The novel just didn’t work for me in so many ways. I will try to write a constructive review, though, explaining what I did not enjoy and how I think the book might be improved.
Where Darkness Blooms has such an intriguing premise, along with a gorgeous cover. Four girls in their late teens have lived together for years with their single mothers in the small Kansas town of Bishop, surrounded by sunflowers and riddled with frequent storms. Two years ago, their mothers disappeared without a trace. Women frequently go missing or die at young ages in Bishop, but no one seems to question it. When the townspeople eventually create a memorial for their mothers, the girls start uncovering long-hidden secrets. What exactly is going on in Bishop, and what really happened to their mothers? I love a good, spooky read about land taking on its own personality, so I was excited to read this novel.
I would argue there are a few big issues that made the story difficult for me to enjoy, so I’ll try to explain them.
First, the decision to set the novel two years after the mothers’ disappearance didn’t make sense to me. The first 20% of the book consists of the characters slowly revealing the circumstances around the disappearance, their relationships with their mothers, and other important backstories. That significantly slowed down the pace. It also was hard for me to believe that the daughters didn’t investigate the disappearance for two years straight. Surely, at least one of them would have tried to understand what happened. Some of the clues they find throughout the story are easy to uncover (I’ll talk more about that in a bit); if they had even somewhat attempted to dig deeper into the mystery earlier, they would have made so much more progress. The novel would have been better if it were set before the mothers disappeared, so the reader could get a glimpse of their relationships and the group’s dynamic. If the author truly wanted to set the novel after the disappearance, then maybe six months later would have been more logical.
I also had trouble getting a grasp on the town and the characters’ daily lives. The story starts right before the mothers’ memorial, which kicks off the girls’ investigation. This novel actually helped me articulate a common problem I have with thrillers— sometimes they try to get to the action too quickly without letting the reader learn about the characters and the setting. I wasn’t sure why this bothered me until I read Where Darkness Blooms, which does very little setting up of the town. Since I was thrown into the action with no worldbuilding, I never got a clear image of Bishop and how it functioned on a day-to-day basis. Similarly, I never got to see the characters’ relationships with one another before they were stressed by the plot. Therefore, I had trouble understanding the setting, and I found so many plot points didn’t make sense because of it (why are no townspeople suspicious of the deaths? Does no one ever go to the hospital? What is “normal” to this group of people, and is it the same normal as our current society? Those are just a few questions I had). Reading the novel felt like staring at an unfinished painting: the main focus was clear, but everything in the background was clouded and underdeveloped.
I am a very character-driven reader, and there were far too many characters for this short of a book. The four main women had similar voices, so when the chapters shifted in focus between them, I frequently had a hard time telling who was speaking and remembering their backstories. On top of that, there were three mothers, and it was difficult to track each mother’s personality and their relationship with their daughter(s), particularly because we only saw the mothers in flashbacks. I didn’t find any of the characters likable, because none of them were developed past their initial archetypes. Whitney and Bo could have been the same character without affecting the plot much, and the mothers could have been combined, as well. Additionally, all of the male side characters were bad people. The author probably did that intentionally to further her themes, but reading about two of the women constantly longing for them got so old so quickly.
The writing in the novel is decent. I appreciated how the author tried to instill heavy themes about intergenerational trauma and the harms of societal expectations. The imagery is strong, which is nice. However, sometimes I found the writing to be a little overdramatic (there were a handful of one-liners that made me roll my eyes). There is also quite a bit of repetition, especially in descriptions. Repeated imagery as a theme is fine, but the adjectives and words themselves could have been more varied.
The story’s pacing went between too slow and too quick. There was so much that could have been cut from the middle and the end. There was too much time spent with the characters running inside from a storm and going out to the clearing to investigate something. It was as if the author had a few set places she wanted the novel to take place, and she only used those locations (which again, didn’t make the world feel developed). It also felt like the plot was reaching its climax from about the 40% point onward. The characters kept uncovering new things and making new revelations. There was little time to absorb one discovery before another was made. This could be improved by adding chapters between the discoveries making each individual breakthrough more challenging to obtain. It was too convenient that they just so happened to continually find groundbreaking evidence with little effort.
There were many smaller details that bothered me while reading. Most of them likely could have been prevented with better editing. For example, many problems could have been solved by texting or calling another character. We do see the characters occasionally text, so I knew they had working phones. The women also never seemed to communicate with one another at all about important topics. I know that’s a common theme in fiction, but there were some things they just should have noticed after living together for so long. The small town setting didn’t always make sense with the characters’ actions (like Bennett apparently had never met Delilah until two years prior— I don't believe they're the same exact age, but they likely ran in similar circles and would have encountered each other before then). Some scenarios were repeated too often, such as bonfires. There were two bonfires that were important to the plot, and I kept getting them confused. An editor could have suggested that one of them be a different activity (high schoolers in a small town have to do SOMETHING ELSE, right?). I could keep going on, but you get the point.
I won’t even get into the ending, but it seemed wildly unrealistic and created a bunch of plot holes.
This novel had a great deal of potential, but it fell flat for me. With more editing and some revisions, I think this could be a really strong story. The themes and allegory were interesting, and I appreciated how naturally some of the LGBTQ+ characters were represented. Even if a novel has an important message, it should still be an enjoyable read, though. This one was not fun for me, but I may be in the minority.
1 out of 5 stars.
I’m really saddened to give this book such a low rating. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn’t, so I’m not comfortable rating this any higher than 1 star. The novel just didn’t work for me in so many ways. I will try to write a constructive review, though, explaining what I did not enjoy and how I think the book might be improved.
Where Darkness Blooms has such an intriguing premise, along with a gorgeous cover. Four girls in their late teens have lived together for years with their single mothers in the small Kansas town of Bishop, surrounded by sunflowers and riddled with frequent storms. Two years ago, their mothers disappeared without a trace. Women frequently go missing or die at young ages in Bishop, but no one seems to question it. When the townspeople eventually create a memorial for their mothers, the girls start uncovering long-hidden secrets. What exactly is going on in Bishop, and what really happened to their mothers? I love a good, spooky read about land taking on its own personality, so I was excited to read this novel.
I would argue there are a few big issues that made the story difficult for me to enjoy, so I’ll try to explain them.
First, the decision to set the novel two years after the mothers’ disappearance didn’t make sense to me. The first 20% of the book consists of the characters slowly revealing the circumstances around the disappearance, their relationships with their mothers, and other important backstories. That significantly slowed down the pace. It also was hard for me to believe that the daughters didn’t investigate the disappearance for two years straight. Surely, at least one of them would have tried to understand what happened. Some of the clues they find throughout the story are easy to uncover (I’ll talk more about that in a bit); if they had even somewhat attempted to dig deeper into the mystery earlier, they would have made so much more progress. The novel would have been better if it were set before the mothers disappeared, so the reader could get a glimpse of their relationships and the group’s dynamic. If the author truly wanted to set the novel after the disappearance, then maybe six months later would have been more logical.
I also had trouble getting a grasp on the town and the characters’ daily lives. The story starts right before the mothers’ memorial, which kicks off the girls’ investigation. This novel actually helped me articulate a common problem I have with thrillers— sometimes they try to get to the action too quickly without letting the reader learn about the characters and the setting. I wasn’t sure why this bothered me until I read Where Darkness Blooms, which does very little setting up of the town. Since I was thrown into the action with no worldbuilding, I never got a clear image of Bishop and how it functioned on a day-to-day basis. Similarly, I never got to see the characters’ relationships with one another before they were stressed by the plot. Therefore, I had trouble understanding the setting, and I found so many plot points didn’t make sense because of it (why are no townspeople suspicious of the deaths? Does no one ever go to the hospital? What is “normal” to this group of people, and is it the same normal as our current society? Those are just a few questions I had). Reading the novel felt like staring at an unfinished painting: the main focus was clear, but everything in the background was clouded and underdeveloped.
I am a very character-driven reader, and there were far too many characters for this short of a book. The four main women had similar voices, so when the chapters shifted in focus between them, I frequently had a hard time telling who was speaking and remembering their backstories. On top of that, there were three mothers, and it was difficult to track each mother’s personality and their relationship with their daughter(s), particularly because we only saw the mothers in flashbacks. I didn’t find any of the characters likable, because none of them were developed past their initial archetypes. Whitney and Bo could have been the same character without affecting the plot much, and the mothers could have been combined, as well. Additionally, all of the male side characters were bad people. The author probably did that intentionally to further her themes, but reading about two of the women constantly longing for them got so old so quickly.
The writing in the novel is decent. I appreciated how the author tried to instill heavy themes about intergenerational trauma and the harms of societal expectations. The imagery is strong, which is nice. However, sometimes I found the writing to be a little overdramatic (there were a handful of one-liners that made me roll my eyes). There is also quite a bit of repetition, especially in descriptions. Repeated imagery as a theme is fine, but the adjectives and words themselves could have been more varied.
The story’s pacing went between too slow and too quick. There was so much that could have been cut from the middle and the end. There was too much time spent with the characters running inside from a storm and going out to the clearing to investigate something. It was as if the author had a few set places she wanted the novel to take place, and she only used those locations (which again, didn’t make the world feel developed). It also felt like the plot was reaching its climax from about the 40% point onward. The characters kept uncovering new things and making new revelations. There was little time to absorb one discovery before another was made. This could be improved by adding chapters between the discoveries making each individual breakthrough more challenging to obtain. It was too convenient that they just so happened to continually find groundbreaking evidence with little effort.
There were many smaller details that bothered me while reading. Most of them likely could have been prevented with better editing. For example, many problems could have been solved by texting or calling another character. We do see the characters occasionally text, so I knew they had working phones. The women also never seemed to communicate with one another at all about important topics. I know that’s a common theme in fiction, but there were some things they just should have noticed after living together for so long. The small town setting didn’t always make sense with the characters’ actions (like Bennett apparently had never met Delilah until two years prior— I don't believe they're the same exact age, but they likely ran in similar circles and would have encountered each other before then). Some scenarios were repeated too often, such as bonfires. There were two bonfires that were important to the plot, and I kept getting them confused. An editor could have suggested that one of them be a different activity (high schoolers in a small town have to do SOMETHING ELSE, right?). I could keep going on, but you get the point.
I won’t even get into the ending, but it seemed wildly unrealistic and created a bunch of plot holes.
This novel had a great deal of potential, but it fell flat for me. With more editing and some revisions, I think this could be a really strong story. The themes and allegory were interesting, and I appreciated how naturally some of the LGBTQ+ characters were represented. Even if a novel has an important message, it should still be an enjoyable read, though. This one was not fun for me, but I may be in the minority.
1 out of 5 stars.
May 26, 2023
I wouldn’t say this is an original concept; but the writing is quite good. Most of our characters (of which we have quite a few) are well put together and have distinct personalities. We have a queer lesbian relationship; as well as couple straight ones. So Where Darkness Blooms checks off my queer representation box.
What is a bit odd here is the obvious men versus women dynamic. Make it a weird evil curse or presence on the land all you want; when the men are targeting only women it sends a message. This oddly skewed message is why I drop this rating down to four stars. I didn’t like that all the men were pretty awful and (seemingly) unredeemable. Whereas the women were given passes for doing some equally awful things. One could argue the girls did some of those things to save themselves; but it still sticks out to me as gender disparity.
One of the major points to the novel is one I want to see more authors tackle (especially in teen books). The idea that our caregivers, parents, important adults, etc in our lives are not perfect. They are going to make mistakes, and it’s vital that we allow forgiveness for these errors. I’m still personally struggling with this from my own childhood. At 40 years old there are still moments i begrudge adults for; even when I know how hard it was at the time and how difficult a situation we were all in. And yet, somehow it feels easy to blame the adults of our childhood doesn’t it?
Andrea Hannah doesn’t go super deep into this idea; but she does graze it at the end and it just reinforced for me how much we need more literature that focuses on this concept. We must allow for errors as we are all human.
Overall this is a decent read. Certainly teens are likely to enjoy it and most adult readers of YA. If you’re hoping for ground breaking horror you are likely to be disappointed; but it’s grim enough that I wouldn’t remove the horror tag for Where Darkness Blooms. I’d definitely be game to read more by Andrea Hannah in the future.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
What is a bit odd here is the obvious men versus women dynamic. Make it a weird evil curse or presence on the land all you want; when the men are targeting only women it sends a message. This oddly skewed message is why I drop this rating down to four stars. I didn’t like that all the men were pretty awful and (seemingly) unredeemable. Whereas the women were given passes for doing some equally awful things. One could argue the girls did some of those things to save themselves; but it still sticks out to me as gender disparity.
One of the major points to the novel is one I want to see more authors tackle (especially in teen books). The idea that our caregivers, parents, important adults, etc in our lives are not perfect. They are going to make mistakes, and it’s vital that we allow forgiveness for these errors. I’m still personally struggling with this from my own childhood. At 40 years old there are still moments i begrudge adults for; even when I know how hard it was at the time and how difficult a situation we were all in. And yet, somehow it feels easy to blame the adults of our childhood doesn’t it?
Andrea Hannah doesn’t go super deep into this idea; but she does graze it at the end and it just reinforced for me how much we need more literature that focuses on this concept. We must allow for errors as we are all human.
Overall this is a decent read. Certainly teens are likely to enjoy it and most adult readers of YA. If you’re hoping for ground breaking horror you are likely to be disappointed; but it’s grim enough that I wouldn’t remove the horror tag for Where Darkness Blooms. I’d definitely be game to read more by Andrea Hannah in the future.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
July 3, 2022
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Where Darkness Blooms unlocked a new fear of mine that I never knew existed. Now I've heard of sunflower fields before, but I've never actually seen one with my own eyes. After reading this book, I have a feeling I probably never will or go to a town that has one.
In this, you will meet the lovely girls who live within the creepiest town ever: Bishop. Delilah, Jude, Whitney, and Bo have one thing in common: Their mothers are missing. No one seems completely shocked by this news but then again, the people within this town were already weird. The weirdest bunch were the Harding boys.
Yes, these guys and other people were acting just way too suspicious for me. Something felt off right from the very beginning. Which made me sort of frustrated with certain characters because of how they acted around them. It's like they see all the red flags but end up ignoring them until it's too late.
With each twist and turn, I constantly wondered what actually happened to their moms. Also, why are the flowers so creepy? Why does the wind only talk to certain people? Once I got some of my answers, it was way too hard to put the book down until I reached the very last page. Mostly because I wanted to figure out the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and then get some revenge.
In the end, I wanted the whole town to burn to the ground with certain people in it. I'll admit it's a little bittersweet to know not everyone on my list died but I'm happy to know that the curse has been defeated. Sort of. Still suspicious of a certain someone and probably always will be.
I'd also like to state that I'm really happy that I got the chance to jump into this wonderful book. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and can't wait for the next book Andrea writes!
Where Darkness Blooms unlocked a new fear of mine that I never knew existed. Now I've heard of sunflower fields before, but I've never actually seen one with my own eyes. After reading this book, I have a feeling I probably never will or go to a town that has one.
In this, you will meet the lovely girls who live within the creepiest town ever: Bishop. Delilah, Jude, Whitney, and Bo have one thing in common: Their mothers are missing. No one seems completely shocked by this news but then again, the people within this town were already weird. The weirdest bunch were the Harding boys.
Yes, these guys and other people were acting just way too suspicious for me. Something felt off right from the very beginning. Which made me sort of frustrated with certain characters because of how they acted around them. It's like they see all the red flags but end up ignoring them until it's too late.
With each twist and turn, I constantly wondered what actually happened to their moms. Also, why are the flowers so creepy? Why does the wind only talk to certain people? Once I got some of my answers, it was way too hard to put the book down until I reached the very last page. Mostly because I wanted to figure out the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and then get some revenge.
In the end, I wanted the whole town to burn to the ground with certain people in it. I'll admit it's a little bittersweet to know not everyone on my list died but I'm happy to know that the curse has been defeated. Sort of. Still suspicious of a certain someone and probably always will be.
I'd also like to state that I'm really happy that I got the chance to jump into this wonderful book. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and can't wait for the next book Andrea writes!
November 29, 2022
"The land had always been parched but its thirst for blood was learned.”
This cover! Have you seen this cover? Okay, I know! I know! I know! I’m not supposed to read a book based on its spectacular cover but this one caught my eye with its beauty. Just look at it! It’s horrifyingly gorgeous. It screams welcome to the twilight zone. Let my plants feast on your eyes and your flesh. It just gives you the chills.
I knew way too much about this book going into it. I made the mistake (like I always do) of reading the synopsis and it ruined it for me. The synopsis gives away too much information and definite spoilers. Whoever wrote that synopsis needs a quick slap. It basically ruined this book for me. The story would have been so much better if I went into this blind. I think we all need to learn that lesson.
This story was a decent one even though I knew what to expect. I liked the idea of a small corrupt town with terrifying secrets. It gives off Children of the Corn vibes and we all know how much I love anything horror. If you didn't have trust issues, to begin with, you do now after reading this book.
Where Darkness Blooms was good but not as spooky as I was led to believe. The cast of ladies in this was all spectacular in their own way and not one was better than the other. They were all strong and sassy. That's what we all love in a main character. This will make you think again before you trust anyone with your heart and your soul. And remember to always listen to the sunflowers, they will lead you to the path of righteousness.
This cover! Have you seen this cover? Okay, I know! I know! I know! I’m not supposed to read a book based on its spectacular cover but this one caught my eye with its beauty. Just look at it! It’s horrifyingly gorgeous. It screams welcome to the twilight zone. Let my plants feast on your eyes and your flesh. It just gives you the chills.
I knew way too much about this book going into it. I made the mistake (like I always do) of reading the synopsis and it ruined it for me. The synopsis gives away too much information and definite spoilers. Whoever wrote that synopsis needs a quick slap. It basically ruined this book for me. The story would have been so much better if I went into this blind. I think we all need to learn that lesson.
This story was a decent one even though I knew what to expect. I liked the idea of a small corrupt town with terrifying secrets. It gives off Children of the Corn vibes and we all know how much I love anything horror. If you didn't have trust issues, to begin with, you do now after reading this book.
Where Darkness Blooms was good but not as spooky as I was led to believe. The cast of ladies in this was all spectacular in their own way and not one was better than the other. They were all strong and sassy. That's what we all love in a main character. This will make you think again before you trust anyone with your heart and your soul. And remember to always listen to the sunflowers, they will lead you to the path of righteousness.
February 21, 2023
Happy Release day...
Sep 2022: Thanks to Netgalley for a copy to review. Like other reviewers, I see squandered potential in this book, and give it two stars. It drops next year, so maybe some improvements will be made, though I won't hold my breath.
For me this vibed on a level with Wake the Bones, on the surface and atmospherically. The heartland/rust belt Americana meets folk horror, down to spooky things happening in the farmland and taxidermy popping up. The thing is, I loved that other book, while this just didn't deliver.
My main thought reading this was "messy", again and again. There seemed no structure to the narrative, no reason for the multiple POVs that were not distinct enough to distinguish whose we were in during a given chapter, and slapdash romantic drama all over. It read muddled. I couldn't gauge the age or characters, how they legally all lived together, or any of the pragmatic measuring points that would normally tie even a fantasy narrative together for me.
We push the cornfield as a setting ripe for horror, but may I present the sunflower crop as the next candidate, because wow, I see it. I'm mad it didn't pan out in this book. The setting had immense potential to be super creepy, but the writing went the opposite direction of atmospheric for me. It read flat, and I was soon incredibly bored by that and other narrative choices like the multiple POVs.
This didn't float my boat but I hope it'll work for others with different tastes!
Sep 2022: Thanks to Netgalley for a copy to review. Like other reviewers, I see squandered potential in this book, and give it two stars. It drops next year, so maybe some improvements will be made, though I won't hold my breath.
For me this vibed on a level with Wake the Bones, on the surface and atmospherically. The heartland/rust belt Americana meets folk horror, down to spooky things happening in the farmland and taxidermy popping up. The thing is, I loved that other book, while this just didn't deliver.
My main thought reading this was "messy", again and again. There seemed no structure to the narrative, no reason for the multiple POVs that were not distinct enough to distinguish whose we were in during a given chapter, and slapdash romantic drama all over. It read muddled. I couldn't gauge the age or characters, how they legally all lived together, or any of the pragmatic measuring points that would normally tie even a fantasy narrative together for me.
We push the cornfield as a setting ripe for horror, but may I present the sunflower crop as the next candidate, because wow, I see it. I'm mad it didn't pan out in this book. The setting had immense potential to be super creepy, but the writing went the opposite direction of atmospheric for me. It read flat, and I was soon incredibly bored by that and other narrative choices like the multiple POVs.
This didn't float my boat but I hope it'll work for others with different tastes!
October 10, 2023
Quick read with a supernatural concept - I was a bit confused on whether the wind and sunflowers were positive or negative influences. This is primarily a book about relationships: between mothers and daughters, sisters and friends. Well written but nothing really new. Trigger warnings for violence and rape. I suggest appropriate for 14+.
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the free Kindle edition. All opinions are my own.
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the free Kindle edition. All opinions are my own.
September 6, 2022
***Link to video***
Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Where Darkness Blooms in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Trigger Warning: mention and referral to sexual assault/rape.
The Gist
I started reading Where Darkness Blooms at the beginning of my vacation and then wasn’t able to read anymore until I was on the plane back home. So, there was a good week and a half during which the book stayed unopened.
I don’t like taking big breaks while reading a book. It takes me out of the story and makes it difficult for me to form a consistent opinion, since I almost feel stressed when I don’t read and then relieved when I do.
But, is that feeling of relief just because I’m finally reading at all? Or because I’m reading this specific book?
I’m not sure. I do know that my opinion of this story changed at around the halfway point.
Let me explain.
The Details
Firstly, the reader is sort of thrown into the story when all the actions starts. There is no real set up or explanation of what’s going on or how things became this way.
It’s this typical attitude of storytelling where the reader just has to figure things out along the way. Okay, sure.
There is one problem, though. If the story drags like molasses, nothing much can be figured out.
There are four major characters, all of them pretty much sound the same. There isn’t really any clear distinction in their personalities that would set them apart. So, regardless of what chapter one reads and from what character’s perspective this chapter is supposed to be, it’s all the same.
Almost every scene is told from all four characters’ perspectives as well, so there isn’t a whole lot of progression in the story. At the same time, it skips over parts that should deserve more attention.
The plot is very intriguing. I mean, there is a town, with creepy sunflowers, women keep going missing or dying and no-one will admit to what’s really going on. There are shifty secondary characters that I just love to hate and want to see get their comeuppance. It just all takes way too long and I lost interest.
I’m really not sure about the writing. Some parts are written quite well and others feel like the author tried too hard.
For example, there is no need for all these metaphors and similes to describe something. It really threw me out of the story every time the author had to include phrases like “the realisation settled like glitter in a snow globe”.
I dare you not to think of a snow globe right now.
Other parts were only vaguely described, like this weird town they all live in. It felt very obscure and made it difficult for me to imagine certain scenes.
The Verdict
Overall, this could have been so eerie and creepy, but it got lost along the way. I’m a little disappointed and feel let down.
Where Darkness Blooms has such a great premise and I am so ready for moody, Fall stories.
I guess I have to keep looking. It’s a no from me.
Want to read
June 3, 2022This cover is one of my new favorite things. Very excited.
Thank you to Wednesday Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Wednesday Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
December 12, 2022
Review coming soon.
January 17, 2023
4.5 stars
I don't know what to call this genre of almost-gothic light horror with magical women taking on their oppressors, but whatever it is, I love it. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of horror, but when I do read it, it's always something like this. (Think Mexican Gothic meets Sawkill Girls with hints of Spellbook of the Lost and Found and Wild Beauty )
First of all, I love this almost ensemble-style cast of main characters. Each of the four girls is clearly defined as their own unique personality early on without seeming to fall too heavily into the typical YA tropes of teenage girls in a small town.
I really appreciated Whitney being given a prominent sapphic arc that went beyond the more common "coming-out" storyline a lot of conemprary YA follows — and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that she still gets the happy ending she needed. I love the prickly sweetheart that is Bo, and the whole time I just wanted to hug her. Jude annoyed the hell out of me, but she was kind of supposed to.
One critique I have is that as much as I like Asma, I feel like she gets the short end of the stick as a side character. Her backstory is very minimal, and she gets dragged into the action without much of an explanation of how she feels about it and what she's forced to leave behind. Maybe I just missed something, but it was kind of strange.
I also do kind of wish the prologue had been left out. The history of the town and all the slow reveals were so fascinating, but I wish we'd been able to learn about it through slow reveals at the same time as the main characters. Revealing a good chunk of the background right of the bat took away from some of that wonder for me.
As I alluded to in the beginning, I have read some similar works to this one and it definitely plays on familiar tropes, so I honestly had my doubts about how much new material I'd find in this book. But in terms of the concept it's honestly pretty original and the themes at work here are great. The magical realism esque vibes of small-town desolation combine with low fantasy elements and a plot that evokes a murder mystery to make for a really enthralling read. As someone who grew up in the midwest, the imagery of murderous earth is genuinely scary... I'll definitely be feel creeped out the next time I see sunflowers!
Also the ending made me tear up (which is rare for me) and I read 90% of it in one sitting (which is sadly also rare these days) so there's that. I just genuinely really enjoyed my reading experience, and I'm interested to see what else Andrea Hannah has to say in her writing.
Content Warnings: past rape (not on the page), relationship that can be interpreted as abusive, femicide
I got this ARC thanks to a Goodreads giveaway, but it in no way impacted my rating.
I don't know what to call this genre of almost-gothic light horror with magical women taking on their oppressors, but whatever it is, I love it. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of horror, but when I do read it, it's always something like this. (Think Mexican Gothic meets Sawkill Girls with hints of Spellbook of the Lost and Found and Wild Beauty )
First of all, I love this almost ensemble-style cast of main characters. Each of the four girls is clearly defined as their own unique personality early on without seeming to fall too heavily into the typical YA tropes of teenage girls in a small town.
I really appreciated Whitney being given a prominent sapphic arc that went beyond the more common "coming-out" storyline a lot of conemprary YA follows — and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that she still gets the happy ending she needed. I love the prickly sweetheart that is Bo, and the whole time I just wanted to hug her. Jude annoyed the hell out of me, but she was kind of supposed to.
One critique I have is that as much as I like Asma, I feel like she gets the short end of the stick as a side character. Her backstory is very minimal, and she gets dragged into the action without much of an explanation of how she feels about it and what she's forced to leave behind. Maybe I just missed something, but it was kind of strange.
I also do kind of wish the prologue had been left out. The history of the town and all the slow reveals were so fascinating, but I wish we'd been able to learn about it through slow reveals at the same time as the main characters. Revealing a good chunk of the background right of the bat took away from some of that wonder for me.
As I alluded to in the beginning, I have read some similar works to this one and it definitely plays on familiar tropes, so I honestly had my doubts about how much new material I'd find in this book. But in terms of the concept it's honestly pretty original and the themes at work here are great. The magical realism esque vibes of small-town desolation combine with low fantasy elements and a plot that evokes a murder mystery to make for a really enthralling read. As someone who grew up in the midwest, the imagery of murderous earth is genuinely scary... I'll definitely be feel creeped out the next time I see sunflowers!
Also the ending made me tear up (which is rare for me) and I read 90% of it in one sitting (which is sadly also rare these days) so there's that. I just genuinely really enjoyed my reading experience, and I'm interested to see what else Andrea Hannah has to say in her writing.
Content Warnings: past rape (not on the page), relationship that can be interpreted as abusive, femicide
I got this ARC thanks to a Goodreads giveaway, but it in no way impacted my rating.
February 23, 2023
The story opens with a prologue, and we learn how the town was founded. Fast forward and we are in the dilapidated farmhouse where Delilah, Jude, Whitney and Bo live. They’ve been alone since their mothers disappeared two years ago. Delilah is mourning not just the loss of her mother, but Eleanor, the girl that made her stomach flip-flop. Elenor dropped dead in her front yard, just another unexplained female death in this town’s history. Bo is angry, so furious. Jude likes to pretend all is well and Whitney is dating the boy Delilah shared an evening with… the very night their mothers went missing.
Strange, unexplained wind storms, voices carried on the wind, and sunflowers that are always watching, waiting, and listening.
When the town builds a memorial to the girls’ mothers, things come to a head. Eleanor is speaking to Delilah, Whitney is looking for answers, and Bo has found a knife. The tale that unfolds pulled me in as we received perspectives of the girls and the wind kicked up. This town holds a dark secret, one that affects the woman and it’s hungry. Starving.
I thought Hannah did a good job of laying down the history and building the suspense. I’ve always been creeped out by tall fields of vegetation thanks to King and Hill. The tale was dark and atmospheric, with supernatural elements. The ending left me satisfied, but I won’t be visiting any rural towns called Bishop.
This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
Strange, unexplained wind storms, voices carried on the wind, and sunflowers that are always watching, waiting, and listening.
When the town builds a memorial to the girls’ mothers, things come to a head. Eleanor is speaking to Delilah, Whitney is looking for answers, and Bo has found a knife. The tale that unfolds pulled me in as we received perspectives of the girls and the wind kicked up. This town holds a dark secret, one that affects the woman and it’s hungry. Starving.
I thought Hannah did a good job of laying down the history and building the suspense. I’ve always been creeped out by tall fields of vegetation thanks to King and Hill. The tale was dark and atmospheric, with supernatural elements. The ending left me satisfied, but I won’t be visiting any rural towns called Bishop.
This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
February 20, 2024
I’m still trying to process what I just read and what my feelings are towards this book. Where Darkness Blooms has been on my to-be-read shelf for quite a while now. Ever since I saw the beautiful cover of the decaying plants growing out of the girl’s body, I knew that I had to read this book. Here we are, almost a year later, and well. . .
I just don’t know.
I certainly liked it, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t know if it amazed me, or wowed me. Honestly, I found it to be quite short and wished it could have been longer.
Our story follows four different points of view with four girls. At the young ages of seventeen and eighteen, these girls live together with no parental guidance. What happened to their parents? Well, I honestly cannot remember if their fathers are even mentioned. As for their mothers, they all disappeared on the very same night. Which isn’t uncommon for the town of Bishop.
People go missing all the time. More importantly, women go missing. One of these young women happened to be the girlfriend of one of our heroines, and as you can imagine, she is still suffering from the losses.
Haunted by the recurring disappearances, and the constant storm, the town has decided to honor the girls’ mothers by hosting a memorial. They have constructed statues displaying their “remarkable talents”. One of the girls, Whitney, gets fed up and takes a stand to speak against the town. She is still upset that no one has tried to look for her girlfriend, Eleanor. But just as Whitney brings up Eleanor’s loss, the storm picks up and sends the statues crumbling to the ground, injuring Whitney in the process.
In the rubble, another one of the girls (Bo) finds something mysterious that raises a lot of questions. What secrets is the town hiding? What is the mayor and his sons hiding? Why did their mothers suddenly go missing? What happened to Eleanor?
I feel like this might have been a fantasy spin on the MMIW (Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women) movement and there was a split moment when something similar is mentioned. But alas, it is never actually said and I’m really bad when it comes to implication. I honestly don’t even know if the characters or author are of Indigenous descent.
The “monster” at the end is never revealed or even explained what it is, so that was another thing that I wished had taken more time to explore. Also the “magic” between the men and women is never really explained either. There was just a lot that was left unsaid and it ended really fast.
SPOILERS
Before you leave and go about your day, I just need to rant about something really quick. Spoilers have already been warned so if you no likey, then you are excused. Have a good day!
So I think what really hit the final nail for me was the reveal of the girls’ mothers. We learn that they are still alive, or at least somewhat. Honestly, I think it would have been better if not all of them were alive. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just used to the tragedy trope in horror, but it just seemed so mehhh that they all hadn’t died. (Not me still wondering where the dads are.)
By the very end of the book, once our four protagonists are finally able to leave the town, they just so happen to come across this shop where the owner just so happens to give a description of their mother’s. Turns out that all three of them were just shacking it up together while their daughters suffered the possibility of being murdered/sacrificed.
And for whatever reason, they couldn’t come back to Bishop. Sounds fake, but okay.
I’m sorry, but if I knew that my kids weren’t safe, I would not just up and leave them in the middle of the night. And even if that were the case, I would be finding a way back to them. What? They couldn’t give the girls a call and be like, “Yo, the mayor is murdering and sacrificing people to the land, get outta there”? Hmmm.
And the girls just forgive their mothers. Couldn’t be me. Nope. I would be holding a grudge so hard like, wow guess I know where I stand. Sure got your priorities straight there, huh mama?
I don’t know. I just didn’t believe it.
⋆⁺₊⋆⁺₊⋆
• 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 •
✰ 3 ✰ Average read. The story/characters were nice, but I’ll most likely forget about it in a month.
━━━━━━━━━━☽✰☾━━━━━━━━━━
I just don’t know.
I certainly liked it, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t know if it amazed me, or wowed me. Honestly, I found it to be quite short and wished it could have been longer.
Our story follows four different points of view with four girls. At the young ages of seventeen and eighteen, these girls live together with no parental guidance. What happened to their parents? Well, I honestly cannot remember if their fathers are even mentioned. As for their mothers, they all disappeared on the very same night. Which isn’t uncommon for the town of Bishop.
People go missing all the time. More importantly, women go missing. One of these young women happened to be the girlfriend of one of our heroines, and as you can imagine, she is still suffering from the losses.
Haunted by the recurring disappearances, and the constant storm, the town has decided to honor the girls’ mothers by hosting a memorial. They have constructed statues displaying their “remarkable talents”. One of the girls, Whitney, gets fed up and takes a stand to speak against the town. She is still upset that no one has tried to look for her girlfriend, Eleanor. But just as Whitney brings up Eleanor’s loss, the storm picks up and sends the statues crumbling to the ground, injuring Whitney in the process.
In the rubble, another one of the girls (Bo) finds something mysterious that raises a lot of questions. What secrets is the town hiding? What is the mayor and his sons hiding? Why did their mothers suddenly go missing? What happened to Eleanor?
I feel like this might have been a fantasy spin on the MMIW (Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women) movement and there was a split moment when something similar is mentioned. But alas, it is never actually said and I’m really bad when it comes to implication. I honestly don’t even know if the characters or author are of Indigenous descent.
The “monster” at the end is never revealed or even explained what it is, so that was another thing that I wished had taken more time to explore. Also the “magic” between the men and women is never really explained either. There was just a lot that was left unsaid and it ended really fast.
SPOILERS
Before you leave and go about your day, I just need to rant about something really quick. Spoilers have already been warned so if you no likey, then you are excused. Have a good day!
So I think what really hit the final nail for me was the reveal of the girls’ mothers. We learn that they are still alive, or at least somewhat. Honestly, I think it would have been better if not all of them were alive. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just used to the tragedy trope in horror, but it just seemed so mehhh that they all hadn’t died. (Not me still wondering where the dads are.)
By the very end of the book, once our four protagonists are finally able to leave the town, they just so happen to come across this shop where the owner just so happens to give a description of their mother’s. Turns out that all three of them were just shacking it up together while their daughters suffered the possibility of being murdered/sacrificed.
And for whatever reason, they couldn’t come back to Bishop. Sounds fake, but okay.
I’m sorry, but if I knew that my kids weren’t safe, I would not just up and leave them in the middle of the night. And even if that were the case, I would be finding a way back to them. What? They couldn’t give the girls a call and be like, “Yo, the mayor is murdering and sacrificing people to the land, get outta there”? Hmmm.
And the girls just forgive their mothers. Couldn’t be me. Nope. I would be holding a grudge so hard like, wow guess I know where I stand. Sure got your priorities straight there, huh mama?
I don’t know. I just didn’t believe it.
⋆⁺₊⋆⁺₊⋆
• 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 •
✰ 3 ✰ Average read. The story/characters were nice, but I’ll most likely forget about it in a month.
━━━━━━━━━━☽✰☾━━━━━━━━━━
December 8, 2022
3.5
Bishop is known for its recurring windstorms and endless field of sunflowers. But some have started to notice something else about the town: how frequently women go missing. When three women go missing, their daughters are desperate to find out what happened to them.
This book started off pretty slowly, but eventually picked up. However, it didn’t hold my interest as much as I thought it would. The atmosphere was spooky and the whole thing with the sunflowers was interesting, I just felt like there was something missing from the story that didn’t make me as invested in it.
Bishop is known for its recurring windstorms and endless field of sunflowers. But some have started to notice something else about the town: how frequently women go missing. When three women go missing, their daughters are desperate to find out what happened to them.
This book started off pretty slowly, but eventually picked up. However, it didn’t hold my interest as much as I thought it would. The atmosphere was spooky and the whole thing with the sunflowers was interesting, I just felt like there was something missing from the story that didn’t make me as invested in it.
October 23, 2022
Delilah, Whitney, Jo and Jude all have had mother’s disappear in the creepy town of Bishop.
Deaths of women have been going on for years.
There are many supernatural aspects to this town. This was a good thrilling read that creeped me out. I’ll never look at sunflower’s the same way again. Thanks NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC!
Deaths of women have been going on for years.
There are many supernatural aspects to this town. This was a good thrilling read that creeped me out. I’ll never look at sunflower’s the same way again. Thanks NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC!
October 30, 2022
The small town of Bishop has a history of disappearing women, so when three more go missing one night, few people raise a fuss. The only ones concerned are their four daughters: Delilah, Bo, Whitney, and Jude. Delilah is trying to hold things together for her family, Bo is battling a dark secret, Jude is secretly in love with Delilah’s boyfriend, and Whitney can’t get past the unexplained death of her girlfriend. When the secrets buried in Bishop start to surface, they realize something terrible may have happened to their mothers, and they might be its next target. I received an invitation to read a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books. Trigger warnings: death (on-page), rape, abduction, captivity, severe injury, blood, stitches, sexism.
This was one of my most anticipated releases this year, but it fell short of expectation. It’s possible I was hoping for too much out of it, but the whole thing just left me lukewarm. I think the biggest letdown was the lack of horror, and there’s very little development on whatever is cursing the town. That’s not to say all books need extensive world-building, or that there’s something wrong with leaving the supernatural parts vague–sometimes answers are much less interesting than questions–but it didn’t really work for me here. On their own, wind and sunflowers just aren’t that frightening.
The real horror of the book, of course, is the rampant sexism and the way the men of the town are completely fine with sacrificing women for personal gain. It’s a message I can get behind, and the human villains are definitely worse than the supernatural ones. It handles a number of important issues, including rape, with sensitivity. Unfortunately, a lot of the plot is sidelined in favor of petty high school dramas and uncomfortable romances, which are probably better suited to its target audience than adults venturing into YA. Sometimes it’s really clear to me that I’ve aged out of YA, however much I still enjoy it.
I didn’t have a problem with any of the main characters, but they all ended up sounding very similar. It could be hard to distinguish whose chapter we were in, and the differences between the four main girls are already starting to run together on me, with the exception of Bo–love a smol, angry queen. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it, but it’s probably not something that will stay with me.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
This was one of my most anticipated releases this year, but it fell short of expectation. It’s possible I was hoping for too much out of it, but the whole thing just left me lukewarm. I think the biggest letdown was the lack of horror, and there’s very little development on whatever is cursing the town. That’s not to say all books need extensive world-building, or that there’s something wrong with leaving the supernatural parts vague–sometimes answers are much less interesting than questions–but it didn’t really work for me here. On their own, wind and sunflowers just aren’t that frightening.
The real horror of the book, of course, is the rampant sexism and the way the men of the town are completely fine with sacrificing women for personal gain. It’s a message I can get behind, and the human villains are definitely worse than the supernatural ones. It handles a number of important issues, including rape, with sensitivity. Unfortunately, a lot of the plot is sidelined in favor of petty high school dramas and uncomfortable romances, which are probably better suited to its target audience than adults venturing into YA. Sometimes it’s really clear to me that I’ve aged out of YA, however much I still enjoy it.
I didn’t have a problem with any of the main characters, but they all ended up sounding very similar. It could be hard to distinguish whose chapter we were in, and the differences between the four main girls are already starting to run together on me, with the exception of Bo–love a smol, angry queen. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it, but it’s probably not something that will stay with me.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
September 14, 2022
Overview:
🆗 Multi POV
🆗 Female centric/feminist story
🆗 Magical realism
🆗 Mystery
👍 Spooky town
I wanted so much to love Where Darkness Blooms. The prologue was so stunning that I was screenshotting it and sharing it on social media. It MUST be a 5 star book if the author can bust out writing chops like this!
Sadly, this fell short of my expectations.
Where Darkness Blooms focuses on four girls who have lost their mothers to mysterious circumstances in their small Kansas town of Bishop.
As the girls start exploring these deaths, and the deaths of other local women, they uncover the secret of Bishop's long buried in the town's roots.
Immediately I was jarred by 4 POVs for this one standalone. Two girls are very hard to tell apart, and the other two have a little more personality. Getting caught in the POV of the two less interesting girls slowed the story down considerably, and the moody "more interesting" girls could feel repetitive. I didn't find any of the main characters likable, which made their struggles hard to follow.
I love Rory Power's Burn Our Bodies Down, and I was hoping to get that vibe from this book. I feel that, once again, the author wanted to spread the story out between too many characters, and with those characters already coming off as fairly unlikable, the pace is so much slower. A lot of this story starts off focusing on dating and personal relationships. Each girl's story needs to be built and defined, which means again- for a stand-alone, you are starting four stories instead of 1. You are spending so much time on setup.
The mystery is cool, but you do know part of it from the beginning, thanks to the prologue, so execution is everything. Sadly, I felt that this mystery/spooky shit was overshadowed by lukewarm characters.
🆗 Multi POV
🆗 Female centric/feminist story
🆗 Magical realism
🆗 Mystery
👍 Spooky town
I wanted so much to love Where Darkness Blooms. The prologue was so stunning that I was screenshotting it and sharing it on social media. It MUST be a 5 star book if the author can bust out writing chops like this!
Sadly, this fell short of my expectations.
Where Darkness Blooms focuses on four girls who have lost their mothers to mysterious circumstances in their small Kansas town of Bishop.
As the girls start exploring these deaths, and the deaths of other local women, they uncover the secret of Bishop's long buried in the town's roots.
Immediately I was jarred by 4 POVs for this one standalone. Two girls are very hard to tell apart, and the other two have a little more personality. Getting caught in the POV of the two less interesting girls slowed the story down considerably, and the moody "more interesting" girls could feel repetitive. I didn't find any of the main characters likable, which made their struggles hard to follow.
I love Rory Power's Burn Our Bodies Down, and I was hoping to get that vibe from this book. I feel that, once again, the author wanted to spread the story out between too many characters, and with those characters already coming off as fairly unlikable, the pace is so much slower. A lot of this story starts off focusing on dating and personal relationships. Each girl's story needs to be built and defined, which means again- for a stand-alone, you are starting four stories instead of 1. You are spending so much time on setup.
The mystery is cool, but you do know part of it from the beginning, thanks to the prologue, so execution is everything. Sadly, I felt that this mystery/spooky shit was overshadowed by lukewarm characters.
October 17, 2023
The town of Bishop has a secret and the sunflowers that surround it in endless fields are always watching. Windstorms are a danger and no one really seems to leave the town…save for the number of women that just seem to die or vanish.
Where Darkness Blooms combines the claustrophobic aura of living in an isolated town with the frightening mystery of disappearing women that no one-save for four daughters-has any interest in solving.
Bo, Delilah and twin sisters Whitney and Jude share a home with their three mothers, until one stormy night the women disappear without any explanation. Years later, Delilah tries to hold the household together, as she, Bo, Whitney and Jude struggle with their own secrets and traumas while also dealing with the shared pain of their mothers’ disappearance. When Bo finds unusual evidence following a memorial held for the three women, the dark history of Bishop is eventually unearthed and the four girls find themselves dealing with danger they never imagined.
Where Darkness Blooms is an engrossing novel with themes and characters that many women may relate to. The sacrifice of innocent women and the loss of their lives and their potential for the enrichment of others was a particularly poignant one. Each character had a unique voice and their own tribulations to contend with. The ending did seem a tiny bit too neat, but the characters truly earned their ending and thus I didn’t find it to be too troubling.
There are mentiones of sexual assault/rape and violence, for readers that are sensitive to these topics.
Where Darkness Blooms combines the claustrophobic aura of living in an isolated town with the frightening mystery of disappearing women that no one-save for four daughters-has any interest in solving.
Bo, Delilah and twin sisters Whitney and Jude share a home with their three mothers, until one stormy night the women disappear without any explanation. Years later, Delilah tries to hold the household together, as she, Bo, Whitney and Jude struggle with their own secrets and traumas while also dealing with the shared pain of their mothers’ disappearance. When Bo finds unusual evidence following a memorial held for the three women, the dark history of Bishop is eventually unearthed and the four girls find themselves dealing with danger they never imagined.
Where Darkness Blooms is an engrossing novel with themes and characters that many women may relate to. The sacrifice of innocent women and the loss of their lives and their potential for the enrichment of others was a particularly poignant one. Each character had a unique voice and their own tribulations to contend with. The ending did seem a tiny bit too neat, but the characters truly earned their ending and thus I didn’t find it to be too troubling.
There are mentiones of sexual assault/rape and violence, for readers that are sensitive to these topics.
September 9, 2024
slight spoilers (?)
this was eerie as fuck in a way i can’t explain. just the thought of those closest to you betraying you in such an inexplicable way makes me shiver. good world building and environmental details too. 3.5 / 5 🌟 !!
this was eerie as fuck in a way i can’t explain. just the thought of those closest to you betraying you in such an inexplicable way makes me shiver. good world building and environmental details too. 3.5 / 5 🌟 !!
March 27, 2023
2.5
There are some good ideas here, and moments. But honestly, it just felt very lackluster and like something was missing. This could’ve really leaned more into the horror, but really this was more a mystery. I also think for a book with only 300 pages, you shouldn’t have 4 different perspectives. The narrative was so overcomplicated due to this.
Overall, an ok read. Definitely liked the overall theme, but it could’ve been executed MUCH better and not had such a dumpster fire of an ending.
TW: SA, death of loved ones, violence, kidnapping, murder
There are some good ideas here, and moments. But honestly, it just felt very lackluster and like something was missing. This could’ve really leaned more into the horror, but really this was more a mystery. I also think for a book with only 300 pages, you shouldn’t have 4 different perspectives. The narrative was so overcomplicated due to this.
Overall, an ok read. Definitely liked the overall theme, but it could’ve been executed MUCH better and not had such a dumpster fire of an ending.
TW: SA, death of loved ones, violence, kidnapping, murder
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