I'll be the first to admit, I'm a sucker for a beautiful book cover. It's what initially drew me in to this novel but I stayed for the twisty, bizarre adventure. I can't say I was particularly fond of any of the characters but the plot had me, I needed to know what happened. Yes, there were quite a few holes but if you sort of put reality aside you can enjoy the journey. This was fun and creepy.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this!

I’ll admit, I find sunflowers pretty creepy, so this cover instantly had me ready to be scared. Perfect for fans of Rory Powers this was some weird, creepy stuff. There were a lot of POVs and characters to keep track of and I kept getting a little confused, but that’s something I usually struggle with.

Where Darkness Blooms was definitely me scrolling through NetGalley and seeing a beautiful cover and requesting without reading the synopsis. Sometimes you DO judge a book by its cover, and in this case, I was not disappointed.

Bishop, Kansas is a small town that was founded on blood, and ever since, they’ve been plagued by horrible storms. While they are indeed in tornado alley, these storms feel different… sentient, even.

This book has SO many things I love in a story:
-a small town
-a cult
-a mystery
-a group of girls solving a mystery
-secrets on secrets
-normalizing queer relationships 🖤

It is a young adult story, so the story is based on younger main characters, but they do have to grow up pretty fast since all of their mothers have gone missing. It’s a horror book with thrilling parts and a sad underlying story. What most people love.

The only problem I had with this story is that it was slow at first, then moved way too quickly. Just a bit of a pacing issue, but it didn’t take much joy out of the story. I also was confused between the timelines.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this advanced review copy. When Darkness Blooms releases on February 21st.

CW for blood, death, murder, grief, injury, sexual assault, rape (not on page), gaslighting, and police brutality

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for sending me an early copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

If you are looking for a feminist story with a side of spooky, this is just the book for you! I think my favorite part was how it's a story about women surviving and overcoming despite a world that is not made for them. This book contains the stories of women who have such amazing strength and resilience, no matter what they face in the world around them, and it was so inspiring to read.

I loved how suspenseful the book was and how it all unfolds. It did start a bit confusing because there are four POVs, and that made it a bit hard to follow at first. But once I was oriented and acquainted with all of the girls, I needed more immediately. They were all so unique and their stories were all had such depth to them that I wanted all the pieces to each of the girls. The way that this story really embodies all aspects of womanhood is so touching and meant the world to me.

I also loved how unique the story is. I've never read anything like it in fantasy or thrillers, and I absolutely wanted more and more of the world. I really hope that the story will continue, and I can't wait to devour more of it!

I loved this book! It’s got creepy vibe and I love a good thriller. The town of bishop was founded on blood and it’s a town where the sunflowers whisper secrets. This book centers around a group of girls whose mothers disappear is the town of bishop and no one is surprised. Read this book and prepare to be hooked

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC of Where Darkness Blooms in exchange for my honest review!

When I first encountered this eARC, I instantly knew that I just had to read it thanks to its eye-catching cover. Its usage of nature as body horror strongly reminded me of Wilder Girls by Rory Power. So it's unfortunate that I dived into Where Darkness Blooms and ended up feeling like its narrative doesn't measure up to the cover. I can appreciate what it's attempting to achieve with its supernatural atmosphere and its themes of misogyny, the patriarchy, and living in a home that stands due to the blood that's been previously spilled to sustain it. But they're not nearly as layered as they could have been, and it doesn't help that the main characters come off as thinly written. I did find Whitney to be a little more nuanced than Bo, Delilah, and Jude, but still, there weren't that many facets of her character for me to latch onto. Even the mood wasn't as thick and enthralling as I'd expected it to be—certainly nothing like Wilder Girls.

Overall, Where Darkness Blooms had plenty of potential, so I'm sad that it didn't fully live up to it.

This book is as confusing as its synopsis. There were a lot of characters to keep track of. The main four friends were in theory different but had very similar voices. The mothers in turn seemed like the same person as each other. There were plotholes that I just had a hard time getting past. Their mothers disappear 2 years earlier and they are now just deciding to do something about it? Because crime scenes usually still have clues laying around for that long. *rolls eyes*. And don't even get me started on [spoiler] the fact that the mothers are alive and well. They realized the towns secret and how dangerous it was for women and saved each other but left their female children behind. On what planet would that happen? I was infuriated when I got to this point in the story. The mothers excuse was the sunflowers wouldn't let them back in. I would have ripped out every sunflower that was in my way. Honestly, it would have been better if they would have found their mother's dead bodies. (hide spoiler)]

With all that being said there was something captivating about the story. Something that pulled me in. I think the author had a good idea but maybe executed it wrong.

***Advanced copy obtained from St Martin's Press/Wednesday Books via Netgalley***

I really enjoyed this book. I was immediately drawn in the second I saw the beautiful (and slightly creepy) cover and the story definitely didn’t disappoint. The cast of characters were all very interesting and unique. There were a few times the story fell a little flat and didn’t quite live up to the creepy vibes of the prolog, but overall such a fun read!

This book was just the right amount of creepy, but I was really thrown off by the ending. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I was unhappy with the decisions and actions, that we didn’t know about until the end, of some of the characters. Overall, it’s a very intriguing premise, I just think some of the characters were under developed.

This one won’t be for everyone but if you love books that are strange and creepy with strong feminist vibes then pick this one up. It’s a bit of a slow burn thriller but I found it engaging and connected with the characters deeply.

This book focuses around loss and trauma but also highlights strong female bonds. I loved that this book was about women coming together for support and strength and the mystery of the town’s origin and curse really hooked me.

I will always be a fan of found family and Where Darkness Blooms focuses heavily on this. It isn’t always what dreams are made of and this is found in the differing personalities of four young women thrown together by tragic circumstances. Each with a unique take on their surroundings and what led them there.

The author takes her time in the telling, giving each character a voice and allowing the reader to get to know them through their stories of loss. Magical realism is hit or miss with me, if it’s told in a way that doesn’t float right over my head then I love it but if it’s just a magical fantasy that makes no sense, then obviously, not for me. In this case, I enjoyed it. I liked the fact that the town of Bishop was a character within itself and malleable to the evil that resided within it. All it took was a little nudge.

This is a full cast narration and it really works! Rachanee Lumayo, Emily Ellet, Sarah Beth Pfeifer and Lindsey Dorcus do a spectacular job.

Definitely one I’ll be recommending to fans of the genre.

My thanks to Wednesday Books for a gifted DRC and to OrangeSky Audio for a gifted ALC.

This story follows four girls, Delilah, Whitney, Jude, and Bo. They live in a town called Bishop in Kansas that is known for terrible wind storms, however, they never need to evacuate because they dissipate as quickly as they come. Their three mothers were best friends and roommates after each of their husbands took off. Two years ago, though, their mothers disappeared and the girls have tried living normal teenage lives ever since. Until one day Delilah finds a note in her mother's art studio that has a phone number and a note that says "call me". Delilah begins to wonder what may have actually happened to their mothers, especially when Bo finds evidence with a sinister meaning.

First off, this is not at all the usual genre that I personally would read. I don't normally read thrillers or horror novels, especially with a paranormal twist to it. However, I really enjoyed this one! I loved the found family in here with these four girls who are each so different and yet are a family and look out for each other, even when they make mistakes or may hurt the other. Each of them have their secrets, some more heartbreaking than the other, which are revealed as the story progresses and it's heartbreaking and heartwarming to see how each of the sisters react.

I liked Bo the most. Probably because she seemed the most logical of the four girls, and she also wanted answers, she hated having only questions about their mothers' disappearances instead of answers. I would have reacted the same way, and would have been frustrated with my sisters not willing to look into their disappearances further. Her story is the most heartbreaking and I just love how strong she is and just, I just love her!

The horror aspect in this book is very unique, creepy and terrifying, oh and totally messed up! And kept me on my toes through the story, especially at the end wondering how this would exactly play out.

A couple qualms I did have is spoiler-y, so I won't go into detail, but let's just say it's one of the revelations at the end we have that I did not like the revelation, and it did not really make sense to me. The other is I wish there was more doubt-causing situations. I knew who the "bad guy" was immediately, and I wish the story made me think and wonder who could be the "bad guy" rather than just know at the start of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story, and maybe I will start looking into reading more paranormal horror contemporary reads now!

I received a free digital copy to read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"There are a lot of strange things in this town," Evan said slowly, "It's best to keep the strangest one close to be safe."

-------------------------

Delilah, Jude, Whitney and Bo are teenage girls who live together and are desperately trying to find their mothers who went missing. The town seems overall disinterested in solving the mystery. Bishop is a creepy town encompassed by sunflowers where the wind is treacherous and no one ever leaves... except for women who go missing with no explanation. Can the girls find out what is happening to the women before one of them is next?

This one melds supernatural creepy with real world creepy. There are natural elements but also people being awful to one another. Generally YA has very flat teen characters but I thought the author did a good job at giving us girls with different personalities, motivations and reactions. We do get an explanation about the underlying darkness but I wanted maybe a little more about its genesis and the bonds with which it operated. Either way this was definitely one of the more original YA fantasies I've read in a long time. 

Read this one if you liked Erin A Craig's Small Favors.

Thanks to Wednesday Books for gifted access to this novel via Netgalley. All opinions above are my own.

This is an interesting and somewhat confusing novel that deals with themes of male privilege and inherent female danger. The characters are not very developed as it appears each is given their principal trait and that is what leads them throughout the story. The premise is quite fascinating but the execution of the story, in my opinion, was not completed to its best possibility. Even so, the book is intense and disturbing in a way that made me want to keep reading.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me at about the halfway point. This was a good idea that failed to come together for me. There were too many perspectives and characters that didn’t feel all that different. Add in the flashbacks mid page that we’re not well differentiated from the current timeline, and it was a disjointed reading experience. I wasn’t able to fully connect with the story in any meaningful way. There was so much going on with not much explanation and I was not captivated enough to read on and find out.

Thank you for the opportunity to read, this one was just not for me.

The town of Bishop is practically famous. People know it for its windstorms, its sunflowers and its missing women. When three more women disappear in one night, no one is surprised. Two years later, the daughters of these women hold a memorial where disaster strikes. The wind kicks up a terrible secret, and soon the girls begin questioning everything they thought they knew about themselves and their home.

As soon as I saw the cover, I knew Where Darkness Blooms would easily make it to my most anticipated young adult books of 2023 list. The spooky atmosphere and messy real characters make for a great read.

I do think this storyline had so much potential. I think it could have been very moving and joined the ranks of dystopian classics had it been a little bit more developed. However, the multiple POVs got lost in the similarity of each main character. Those characters were also often very unlikable. Maybe it's because there wasn't really any world-building before the main "action" of the story was introduced so we didn't really have an understanding of who the girls were outside of minimal flashbacks and their current actions. Or maybe it's because two of them spent the better part of the book pining after a boy who was so obviously the bad guy. And don't get me started on the actual antagonists of the story. There was almost no character development of them. William made random appearances and then was revealed as the ring leader of everything bad happening.

My biggest problem though, is that these four girls lost their mothers TWO YEARS AGO. Meaning that they were approximately fifteen at the time. And the town just let them live alone together in that house? They didn't investigate the disappearance for two whole years? No one else in the town was suspicious of how many women were missing or turning up dead? It's just so unbelievable that it takes away from the actual supernatural parts of the story.

This one just really fell short for me.

Where Darkness Blooms is a small town YA horror novel where women are going missing, and the sunflowers are creepy.

Unfortunately, it’s a DNF @ 30%.

Normally, I love me some YA horror but this just missed the mark. It’s slow, and I can’t really tell any of the four girls apart. There’s nothing distinct enough to make me want to continue reading to find out where their mothers have disappeared to.

Delilah seems to be the only character with an interesting aspect so far, and by that I just mean she can’t stand the physical touch of boys. She experiences pain which is interesting but again, not interesting enough for me to continue reading.

I absolutely loved it. The prose was rich and lush without being overwrought or distracting. The characters--especially Bo--were distinct with their own goals, struggles, and outlooks on the events of the story. Though we know exactly where it's going with the land that hungers for blood, the sentient sunflowers were a delightful twist as was the source of Delilah's discomfort around her then-boyfriend Bennett. I was a little unsure how I felt about the ending, the epilogue with the mother's, but even that was well written and with nuance so I can't complain. Excited to see what Andrea does next.

Not judging a book by its cover is a great practice in theory, but let’s be honest, a pretty or interesting cover is 90% of the reason many of us pick up a book. While not my only reason for requesting this arc—the description also sounded right up my alley—it did play a big part in it. I mean come on, the cover is amazing! But I digress, on to the story itself.
Where Darkness Blooms is what I term “feminist horror.” I am not sure if that is a proper genre or something I just made up, but it is apt. Basically a horror narrative that centres specifically around loss of autonomy and gaslighting, as opposed to jumpscares and physical harm. I find that I have been super into these types of horror stories lately, and Where Darkness Blooms was no different. Yet, while I enjoyed the book, I am a little disappointed that the conclusion took the direction it did. Originally I thought that the conclusion to the book felt rushed, but upon reflection, I don’t think that that is necessarily the case at all. While the initial setup of the novel was a little vague in terms of how big a part the supernatural element would play, as the story progressed and certain character dynamics and events were revealed I started believing that the final conflict would end up being more organic. Person versus person, as opposed to person versus the paranormal. It wasn’t, and as a result the conclusion came together too neatly thereby making it feel condensed.
While Where Darkness Blooms is a good book, and I would still definitely recommend it for how creepy and atmospheric it is, it does feel like the ends tied together a little too neatly for the type of narrative it is.