eeehhhhh. far too similar to the dead and the dark by courtney gould, which i thought was very good. bummer.

Where Darkness Blooms, penned by Andrea Hannah, is a gripping and atmospheric thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. This haunting novel weaves together elements of mystery, psychological suspense, and the supernatural, delivering an immersive reading experience filled with tension and intrigue.

At the center of the story is a complex and deeply flawed protagonist who finds herself entangled in a web of secrets and supernatural occurrences. The character development is skillfully executed, allowing readers to connect with the protagonist on a personal level. Hannah explores the depths of her character's psyche, delving into her fears, insecurities, and her relentless pursuit of the truth.

The atmospheric setting plays a vital role in the novel, serving as both a backdrop and a character in itself. The small town with its dark history and hidden secrets adds an additional layer of intrigue to the narrative. The author's attention to detail in describing the surroundings immerses readers in a world that feels chillingly real.

Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah offers a suspenseful premise with its focus on a town plagued by disappearances and secrets. While the atmospheric setting of Bishop, with its windstorms and sunflower fields, creates a sense of intrigue, some readers may find themselves disconnected from the characters and feel that the plot lacks momentum at times. The daughters of the missing women, who come together to unravel the mysteries surrounding their mothers' disappearances, serve as the driving force of the story.

However, their characterization may not resonate as strongly with all readers, and the emotional connection that is crucial for a deeper engagement might be missing. Additionally, the plot's pacing could be uneven, with certain areas lacking the necessary urgency to maintain consistent tension. Nonetheless, the premise and the exploration of hidden secrets and the aftermath of the disappearances still offer intrigue and keep readers intrigued, even if the overall execution falls short of expectations in terms of character connection and plot development.

Thank you to Wednesday Book and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in return for a review.

The best part of this book was the prologue. After that it goes and stays downhill riddled with plot holes and a storyline that doesn’t make sense leading up to a lackluster end that doesn’t make any sense.

I was drawn to this book based on the description, the gorgeous cover, and the vibes that reminded me of The Dead and The Dark by Courtney Gould but this book was a disappointment that left me, as a reader, with more questions than answers. The author doesn’t flesh out the story enough to explain to the reader why this is the way things are… perhaps we’re supposed to draw our own conclusion as to why the sunflowers crave the blood of women for example. Maybe the point was to be vague and mysterious… it just didn’t pan out.

I see what the author was trying to accomplish with this book but it just didn’t work for me as a reader.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was really fun. Very dark too.

Where Darkness Blooms is about a strange town where our MCs mothers all disappeared. The town is also ravaged by wind storms and they only seem to be getting worse. All four of our MCs have secrets, and those secrets are about to come out even as the girls try their hardest not to let them.

I loved how complicated the relationships between all the girls were. There was so much interpersonal drama and I just wanted to know more about them all. Bo and Whitney were definitely my favorites, but I did like Delilah. Jude was a bit harder to like with the whole cheating storyline. But she redeemed herself to an extent at the end.

Read this book when you want a book about a haunted town and creepy flora. It was so cool!

Rep: white lesbian cis female MC, white cishet female MC, white cishet female MC with PTSD, racially ambiguous cishet female MC, Black sapphic cis female side charcter, sapphic trans female side character, various queer side characters.

CWs: Sexual assault, rape, kidnapping, murder, death, death of loved one, blood, injury/injury detail, non-consensual drugging, pain from touch, infidelity, abandonment, violence, medical content (including botched medical attempts), sexism, misogyny.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review. Unfortunately this was not the best choice for me. I was hoping that the eerie small town vibes with hints of horror and suspense were going to delivered, but it did not. This felt like a very young high school drama book with characters that were very immature. I found it hard to believe the way that they acted and the situations that they kept running into. I normally can suspend my disbeliefs but this book was way too far out of the realms of believable. The author did a good job at differentiating the characters. I normally have trouble keeping them straight but it was very easy to read from each perspective.

A creepy town where the land craves blood, and the sunflowers go on forever. And where women go missing. Lots of women go missing. Left behind are their daughters, who want answers. But the town doesn't want to let go of it's secrets so easily. With a well paced story line, you won't be able to put this book down!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the ARC!

Title: Where Darkness Blooms
Author: Andrea Hannah
Release Date: February 21st, 2023
Page Count: 312
Format: Audiobook and Netgalley
Start Date: March 11th, 2023
Finish Date: March 17th, 2023

Rating: 5 Stars

Review:

This book is definitely not for people who aren't fans of darker books. This is a book that will smack you in the face at multiple points in the book. Just when you think that you have things figured it out, something else slams you in the face. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. I'll also point out that the book is just as creepy as the cover. If not more. I love books like that though. I am kind of glad that this won't be turned into a series. I'm not really sure if I could handle it as a series. I'd consider it anyway though. I'm a sucker for a good series. I am open to reading other books by this author. I love the writing style!

The town of Bishop has a strange history and a scary request from some of its residents... Two years ago, three women went missing. Their 4 daughters, Delilah, Bo, Whitney and Jude, left behind to raise themselves. But strange things have been happening over the past 2 years... Young, healthy women are dying from odd inflictions. Delilah, Bo, Whitney and Jude know something is very wrong this time around. The storms the town suffers from aren't usually this strong. And the wind or something else is speaking to them... When one of them starts down the path of the town history, things take an ugly turn...

This book had me hooked within a few chapters. I had to know what was going on and what was going to happen with these young women. Were their moms still alive? Were they going to survive? I honestly had a hard time plugging this one into a specific genre because it fit so many. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of thrillers/mysteries or even mild horror.

My only "complaint" is that the ending felt a little rushed. I don't want to give spoilers, so I won't' say why.

Thank you to NetGalley, Andrea Hannah and St. Martin's Press for an Advanced Review Copy in exchange for my honest review.

I had really high hopes going into this read, but I was ultimately disappointed by the actual story.

When I saw the cover, title, and description, I immediately thought of Belladonna and The Last Tale of the Flower Bride and expected this book to have similar vibes. However, after getting through 30% of the book, I could see a difference in the quality of the writing that made it really hard for me to get into the story. Unfortunately, the novel did not grow on me beyond this point.

There were a lot of scenes where I felt that the author was telling me exactly what was happening instead of showing me. Too many of the odd occurrences in the small town felt like they were constantly pointed out and explained, rather than letting me make my own deductions about what was going on.

Overall, I think that this story has a very interesting underlying premise but could have used a lot more polish in terms of the storytelling.

This book had great characterization, excellent story telling, and made me want to keep reading. I will continue to read from this author and look out for their new releases.

What I liked: I like stories where towns have dark legacies or histories and this book did it well. The set up and the vibes were excellent. I didn't care for the huge cast of characters. For me there were just too many and some were names on the wind or from the past. It was just confusing for me. The writing was great, though, and the atmosphere was super creepy!

Quite a bizarre read, but definitely not bad at all. I expected it to be odd from the blurb. Definitely give this one a try.

I really liked the ending and Whitney and Deliah as characters, but I feel like half of the mystery was taken away with the prologue and I really really didn't like Jude. Overall the the imagery was great and the overall story too, but I think there were one too many character pov, I was having hard time caring about all of them.

Perfect for fans of The Grace Year by Kim Liggett!
Creepy, mysterious, found family, everything is not what is seems in this little town where the sunflowers are watching your every move.

Yikes?? I can see what the author tried to do with the plot. It was just a huge miss I think. It lacked feeling. And well, it was just plain Ole wierd. I don't know how to describe it.

“Where Darkness Blooms” is an interesting horror novel with an amazing cover. The cover and description lured me in but I was overall not very impressed with the story. I feel like it’s very reminiscent of other novels and while that’s okay, there are better renditions of it. Despite that, I still had a decent time with the book and really liked the general idea.

Thank you to netgalley for an arc. First of all, the cover is stunning. It is honestly what made me even want to pick this up. This is a book told in multiple POV's. The book was definitely creepy but also a bit slow as well. Three women go missing in a town where women seem to frequently go missing. Their daughters set out to find out what happened.

I scooped this up for the cover. Of course pretty girls and plants will always get me.

The story itself not only felt like it was something I had read before or a Frankenstein or works I had read before, but one that was missing plot points, character motivation, and ultimately fell short. There are multiple POVs, but if you eliminated the names, I could have been convinced they were all 1-2 different characters as they were so lacking in distinct qualities.

However, I know this is more of a YA horror story, so that might have contributed towards the overall tone and cheapened retelling feeling.

CREEPY is an understatement I was really interested in this book because of the cover and I was not disappointed