"Where Darkness Blooms" is a dark, creepy book. The town of Bishop, Kansas was founded when a traveler responded to the call of the land and fed it the blood of his first wife. Where blood was spilled, beautiful sunflowers grew. However, the land continues to crave blood, which is unfortunate for the female residents of Bishop. Woman in Bishop tend to die mysterious and unexpected deaths; especially when the victim is a young healthy woman. The story focuses on four teenagers -- Delilah, twin sisters Whitney and Jude, and Bo -- with absentee fathers and whose mothers were friends and shared a house together and who mysteriously disappeared two years ago. The four girls have struggled since their mothers disappeared, and some were struggling even before that, especially Bo, who is a giant ball of anger. The founder and his descendants have managed to keep the land sated, and the means of doing so a secret to all but a select few, aided by the strong windstorms that plague the town, as well as the fields of sunflowers, which prevent those the land wants from leaving. As the town prepares a memorial for the three missing women, the girls will start uncovering information and delving into the secrets of the town in an effort to discover the truth about their disappearances, as well as the unexplained deaths of other women in town. The truth is far worse than anything they expected.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This is a story about a town called Bishop where windstorms are always happening, sunflower fields are on all sides of the town and women keep going missing,
When 3 women go missing at the same time, their 4 girls are left behind to try and find out what happened to their mothers. This book definitely had creepy vibes to it. I will never look at a sunflower the same way again. The mystery surrounding the women that go missing was very intriguing and had me keep turning the pages to find out what happened.
The only problem I had with the book was a part in the ending. I just didn't believe in some of the motivation for the reasons for the characters actions.
I gave the book 3.5 out of 5 stars.
This book comes out on Feb. 21st 2023
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday books for allowing me to read a arc.

In the tiny town of Bishop, the earth requires blood sacrifice to keep the howling winds from destroying everything. Women periodically go missing or turn up dead, yet no one seems to be able to find them or discover their killers. I wanted to read this because I am a big fan of supernatural elements, magical realism, etc. and I was anticipating this story would have that based on the description. The story was fast-paced (I don't mind alternating POVs) so I kept reading, waiting for something truly magical or for a reason to be revealed about the town. Some great concepts, for sure, but they didn't develop as I had hoped they would. Still, I did enjoy reading and turned lots of pages every night before bed. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.

This was such an interesting and weird story. I loved the details I got from this one. I have not read anything like it before. Overall, very interesting and felt unpredictable.

AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 10 | Atmosphere: 10 | Writing: 10 | Plot: 7 | Intrigue: 9 | Logic: 6 | Enjoyment: 9
Total: 8.71 / 4 Stars

I want to preface this review with a huge thanks to the author for including trigger warnings in the beginning of the book. It was done well, without spoiling anything, and made sure I was in the correct headspace before continuing. So seriously, thank you.
This book was written in the kind of prose that makes you want to highlight every other sentence. It was truly beautiful and emotion evoking in a way I haven't felt with a book in a really long time. The characters felt raw, and real, and their struggles truly tangible despite the curse/haunting going on. The ending had me in tears with the different layers of forgiveness and lack thereof, especially because most books swing heavily one way or the other on that topic. The feral and soft spectrum of each of the girls was beautifully written, and I had a really great time reading this one.
It had me on the edge of my seat, and pleased with the ending. There were times the logic was a little hard to follow, the plot stuttering around a bit, but the characters and prose made up for it.

When I first saw the deliciously creepy cover for this on NetGalley, I couldn't resist. And this book did not disappoint. This supernatural mystery/thriller with its bloodthirsty land, whispering sunflowers, violent windstorms, and claustrophobic small town setting were so well described that I could picture all of it as if I were there in that dusty town in Kansas (especially since I know what it's like to grow up in a dusty small town with a lot of sunflowers).

The main characters were fleshed out quite well. Their personalities, strengths, flaws, and character arcs complimented each other in believable ways, and I loved being able to watch them grow as the story progressed. Despite their mistakes, they ultimately remained loyal to each other, as well as determined to help each other bear their burdens and stand in the face of unspeakable evil perpetrated by men.

While this story is a mystery, there is much more to take away that that. There is the strength of family, and the courage and determination of women and girls to stand against the patriarchal society that would do them wrong, or even sacrifice them, without a second thought. This book perfectly shows their strength and resilience, and demonstrates just why stories like this need to continue to be told, even shouted about. It ultimately deserves a place among great feminist YA literature.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for allowing me to read the eARC of Where Darkness Blooms in exchange for my honest review.

Andrea Hannah chose a perfect backdrop for Where Darkness Blooms, a small dusty town in Kansas that is full of mysterious sunflowers and a dark secret.

The writing style drew me in, but there was something about this book that didn't really stick for me. Maybe it's because I am not the biggest fan of creepy novels or the fact that I got a bit confused by the many different POV told in this story. I wasn't able to connect with any of the characters and found myself skimming the last few chapters.

I feel bad not being able to rate this higher as I had such a soft spot for Bo and I thought the writing itself was beautiful!

Disclaimer: I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Did not gel with this book. I was drawn to the summary, cover, title, and mention of LGBT characters. This felt like a debut novel. I didn't enjoy the numerous point of views. I couldn't tell who was who or what the point was. It dragged too much and the writing wasn't my style. Overall, the book spent way too much time setting up and it did not deliver.

*I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Say something, I'm giving up on you.

No, for real, how much anticipation does a reader need? The book was constantly leading up to something big. After a while, I quit caring due to the lack of interesting details and horrible pacing.

We don't need that many characters if none of them are going to be fleshed out or distinctive. I was expecting captivating writing. It came off more like a mystery instead of a horror book with LGBT characters.

Can't say I'm impressed with the last chapter. The cover and title are intriguing, though. All-in-all, I just couldn't get into this book.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the eBook arc!

I was so excited for this book! The plot sounded so creepy and weird and that is my jam!
However, it never really got creepy or weird. I was quickly let down by how just ok this book was.

I can’t even begin to describe how amazing this book is! I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and I am honestly so blown away
This book was so beautiful, so heart breaking, and so complex. It was an amazing concept that actually wrapped up really well. It had diverse characters and so many twists and turns!
Can not recommend it enough, I’ve already gotten me friend to preorder it.
It was a truly breathtaking piece of art that I hope becomes as modern day classic
I hope the author is very proud of herself and this book

This was…. Not my cup of tea for some reason. It was well written and interesting, but also get bland to me. I couldn’t tell the characters apart. I’m sure some people will love it but it wasn’t for me.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this arc to read.

This book follows 4 girls and a gingham picnic blanket in the small town of Bishop, Kansas where there is a curse upon the land. Sunflowers are overpopulating the town and the wind is scary. Bo, Delilah, Jude, Whitney, and the blanket all experience turmoil as they try to figure out what the heck is going on in this town and why are all the women dying? Each of the girls mothers have skipped town and they don't know why. DUN DUN DUNNNNN

Where do I start? Should I start with the fact that it took 8 chapters to even get to the point of the book? the fact that there are FOUR POVs which to be honest, are way too many. It was super annoying to be left on a cliff hanger and completely change the POV and then to stop caring and wanting to continue the new line of thought only to be dragged back again to another new line of thinking. It was confusing and aggravating. I just stopped caring.

My favorite character was the gingham picnic blanket. It saw so much action. Literally it got brought up in almost every chapter. I could not stand any of the characters. They were all white and privileged and they only thought about themselves. They literally cried over every little inconvenience. They figured out this whole curse situation and instead of warning people about it, they did nothing. They didn't do a single thing to help anyone but themselves. I could not support a single one.

Delilah: hopelessly in love with Bennett Harding. Even though her intuition is screaming at her to stay away from him. She physically gets hurt every time he touches her. LIKE PHYSICALLY BABES! If a man is hurting you, PHYSICALLY, why are you staying with him FOR TWO YEARS??????

Bo: So angry. I honestly don't remember anything about her character expect that she was assaulted by this guy in the book and that is suppose to explain her less than stellar behaviour. Honestly, I feel for her, I do, but you don't get to treat everyone around you with emotional and mental abuse just because you have trauma. You need to sort your life out.

Whitney: *insert eye roll here* she's a lesbian. That's basically all she brings to the table. She has relations with women who move the story along. all the excitement.

Jude: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Jude Jude Jude... what to say about Jude... She was seeing Bennett before Delilah and is very much in love with him. She just "allows" Delilah to be happy with Bennett and never tells her that they were together before them. It felt like the other girls would constantly pick on Jude for no reason. Like they were always on her about something. It was super annoying and unneccessary. They never even gave her a chance.

Gingham Picnic Blanket: The best character of them all. This blanket saw all the action. It even did stuff to help. Like it was used as a blanket for teenage couples to have intercourse on AS WELL AS it was used as a tourniquet in order to stop bleeding. This blanket is way more important than any of the other characters. I wish it had more screen time.

Let's talk about the love interests. Like I get Whitney was only with Eleanor for a brief time before she kicked the bucket and became one with the dust, but like.... there didn't seem to be much chemistry beyond "She's cute, I wanna kiss her" and then there was Alma. She literally sees her at a nursing home and is just like, "Oh yeah, I'm in love" like excuse me?

Then there is Bennett. I do not understand the appeal. This man was trash. He literally did nothing special. It's not like he was super considerate or came around with groceries or helped around the house. Like he did nothing. NOTHING. He just made two women insecure. Like he isn't even described as attractive! Can someone please explain to me what the appeal was?

The mothers disappearance gets explained at the end of the book and I was so mad about it. Like, THEY LEFT THEIR KIDS. I'm sorry, but no. I don't have kids (yet) but if I did I WOULD NOT LEAVE THEM IN A TOWN THAT IS MURDERING THEM. We all leave or no one leaves! "But babes, the sunflowers wouldn't let them go back and get their kids" BRUH THEN YOU CUT THEM ALL DOWN THEY ARE SUNFLOWERS!!!!! Get some shears. Do SOMETHING!

The author made all the main characters white and then splashed in some "politically correct" characters in order to stay "woke". It was obnoxious and felt like she was using minorities in order to get ahead. I wish she just left them all out and it just wasn't a thing. Also, the curse made no sense. Why would they kill all the YOUNG women? Why young? Why wouldn't they go for women who are older and cannot have kids? Because if you kill a woman every six months, eventually you are going to run out of women and if you run out of women.... who's going to make more kids for you to slaughter? Like, maybe don't get rid of them all? Also, they didn't even biologically need to be women apparently so why not men too? It made no sense. You're over running the town with men. How are they suppose to get married and reproduce? If I lived in that town, I would never get married. It's like 7 men to 1 female! GIRL GET THOSE DATES!

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely not. If the author could actually just delete this and write it in the perspective of the gingham blanket, maybe then. Otherwise.... Just pass up on this one.

I was hooked on this book from the very beginning!

Going into it, I was expecting the writing of the whole novel to reflect that of the prologue- beautiful, lyrical, artistic, and a pleasure to read. However, once we start the present-time story, this style of writing falls away to a much more modern style. Don't get me wrong, I still loved the writing of this book and I found it very enjoyable, but I would have loved to see more of the prologue-style writing. Overall, the story really delivered for me, which was hard considering half of the mystery was revealed in the prologue. I was still hooked through the chapters.

If you know me, then you will know that I love multi-pov stories. I am very much a character-driven person, I can forgive a lot if I like the characters. A Lot. So to find out that this book shares the story from the perspective of the four different girls made me very happy, and I was immediately even more excited. Each girl felt distinct, with her own personality and thought process. They each had one or two major things about them to help you remember as well. I loved seeing how each story was interwoven, being able to see what was happening all around the town and finding out answers to questions from other parts of the story.

I will say, there were a few times when I got confused about where the scene was taking place or where the girl or girls were in the space. I would have to reread sections over again to really have it make sense, and sometimes I gave up. This could also be reader error, but I tried my best in these times to understand what was happening.

All in all, this was the perfect read for spooky season and I'm so glad I was able to read this.

I received this arc from NetGalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book as an ARC. Thank you, by the way, for the privilege of getting a copy to review. I know not everyone loves the cover, but I think it resonates well with the overall theme of the book. When I first say it, it gave me this very sinister vibe like the sunflowers were the killers, and I just knew I needed to read it. I definitely will have to grab a copy on release day!
This book captivated me by the first chapter. I was horrified and awestruck. This feeling did not dissipate. I was about 80% done and still losing my mind over the revelations. I think the author did a great job at detailing her story. I found how she let the story unfold about the sisters at the beginning fulfilling. Any questions I had at first as I read the first POV got answered within just a handful of pages which I like a lot. There are a lot of POVs in this book. It helped add suspense because Hannah would stop right at the big revelation and switch to a different sister.
I do have some negatives though, but they’re just personal taste. The ending!!! I swear if Jude makes one more stupid mistake over a boy, I’m gonna lose it. He is unredeemable. ⚠️I don’t care if he denounced the curse he’s a POS and I want revenge!



⚠️spoiler ⚠️
I did not like the lack of detail in the field death scene. After all Caleb did to Bo, I wanted the details of his death. I wanted the confirmation that there was no more Harding evilness (minus Ben). I wanted the “she looked up at me, blood dripping from her nose, eyes blank as William took his final breath. His hand stretching towards his son as the sunflowers claimed their revenge”. But NO. All we got was thwunk thwunk thwunk and the little “CALEB!” from William. Unsatisfied

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5076043849

This story was kind of predictable because of the prologue but I still loved how it ended. I loved that the sunflowers had so much meaning to the women of Bishop. The wind was so eerie and intense the entire book! Definitely read the trigger warnings before you read this book! I really loved how each girl in this friend group loved and care for each other. They really bonded over their missing mothers. The men of this town can literally ROT, especially Caleb… Bo deserved better. I’m so glad Bo did what she had to do. She was by far my favorite character. She was the person I was rooting the most for this entire book. Jude & Delilah were very much blinded by love so they made me so mad sometimes but ultimately they both came through at the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for approving me to read this ARC of Where Darkness Blooms! This novel is being released on February 21, 2023, and this is my honest review for it. This novel is a supernatural thriller which follows four main teen females named: Delilah, Bo, Whitney, and Jude who have all lost their mothers in a town where sunflowers and storms are endless. This follows each of their journeys from each characters perspective. Now. I gave this book 3 ⭐. I loved the creepy origin story, loved the chills and thrills, but the beginning was slow and confused me for at least a couple of chapters. I also didn't understand most of the characters decisions in certain serious moments. Including love interests that made me want to scream. Bo was my favorite character by far and I loved her role in this tale I just wish I was given a bit more detail from the beginning and that some characters were a bit more focused on the task because it seemed to draw away from the plot.

Wow. This is a dark story with well developed characters. You suffer with them, through every struggle and heartache and pain. But in the end, this is a beautiful story of friendship, forgiveness, love, family, resilience and hope.
Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

First of all this cover is gorgeous and drew me in instantly. After finishing this book I was not disappointed. I love a good mystery especially when elements of magic are intertwined. The characters were fleshed out and easy to connect with. The magical realism was done phenomenally and I just couldn't turn the pages quick enough. Well done!

I really enjoyed reading "Where Darkness Blooms" by Andrea Hannah. The town of Bishop, where women tend to go missing regularly and the abundance of sunflowers growing around it, really gave a creepy, unsettling vibe to the story. I requested the book, because the story sounded like it would be different from the many other thrillers I've read. This is a unique novel with relatable characters and some great twists and turns. I really liked the writing and look forward to seeing other novels by this author.