Those Fatal Flowers is a dark, gothic tale that blends mystery, romance, and supernatural elements in a way that’s both intriguing and immersive. Shannon Ives creates a moody, atmospheric world with characters who feel complex and haunted by secrets. The slow-burning plot keeps you guessing, and the writing style draws you into the eerie setting without being overdone.

A few storylines might have benefited from tighter pacing, but the emotional depth and constant suspense make up for it. Themes of grief, identity, and forbidden love are handled with care, giving the novel an almost lyrical quality.

If you enjoy gothic mysteries with a hint of the paranormal and strong character work, Those Fatal Flowers is definitely worth picking up.

Such an intriguing premise, but with unsatisfactory execution. I had high hopes that this would be a new favorite mythology read.

Let me start by saying this isn’t typically the type of book I read, but I thought the description sounded intriguing. I liked the idea of mythology tied in with the Roanoke colony disappearing and thought it was worth trying. This book did a great job world building and I thought the characters seemed in depth, but I couldn’t get into it like I hoped. There was a lot going on and I found myself struggling to keep up at times. I don’t think this was a bad book at all, just not the right one for me. I still enjoyed the ride though, there were some parts that pulled me in even though this wasn’t my typical read.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Monsters are made, Thelia. Not born."


Those Fatal Flowers was honestly an interesting book. It's just unfortunate that it took me so long to finally get into it. Like at 70% in, I was finally hooked. Now I'm all about romance and revenge. Women, I mean sirens, luring men to their death? Yes, let's slay the evil together!

Yet, men can't be the only evil ones... right?

Well, our girl Thelia is about to figure that out. Sure, it might not be her original mission, but everyone needs to learn something new every once in a while. It's called growth. Now the whole past and present was annoying me for most of this book. I either liked one version or didn't care for the other. Yet, both were very important because they helped show Thelia (and her sisters) in a different light.

As for the colony of Roanoke, I was prepared to watch it burn to the ground. I'm so happy that Thelia eventually found her people and earned their trust. I'm also glad that she realized one female in particular was completely evil and dealt with her. Other than that, there were parts of this book that I enjoyed and others I just got annoyed with very quickly.

It was an okay book but had the potential to be better in my eyes.

I tried with this one, but as a lapsed classics scholar I found the voice far too modern and couldn’t get it to mesh in my head. Probably a me problem, but here we are.

Thank you Net Galley and Publishers for letting me read an arc of this book in return for an honest review.

Wow, this book was just full of emotion and awe. There was violence but beauty behind it. It had me thinking of the morality of humans and that "monsters aren't born, they're made". I loved the dual points of time, between the now and before and how they connected each as the story unfolded. The men in this book deserved what they had coming as they were vile, murderous creatures and the ending was just the gory finality I needed for them. Unlike most myths, I'm glad this one ended happily. This was a great book but slow at times. Definitely one I would recommend to people though.

This story felt to me a bit like making a meal out of whatever you have in your pantry. Is it a meal? Yes. Is it necessarily great? Not often.

Combining Greek and Roman Mythology, with early colonial mystery, while also avoiding speaking of the indigenous people at the time of the colonial mystery, felt like it was being pulled in too many directions. Add in timeline jumps, impassioned responses, and some eons long trauma, and it can seem a bit chaotic, even disjointed. Which I know is in some people’s taste! Unfortunately not mine. And I’m very sad about that! I love the myths, both Greek and early American.. they just didn’t blend well to me.

I think something that might have made it work a little better for me would be to apply the mystery of a missing town, to a fictional place, or one closer to the initial time period. One where an author could comfortably build a history and people without either erasure or awkward tip toeing around the real history.

3.5 stars rounded up, because I finished it so much more quickly than I anticipated

So, this book was on my reading list for months, and I had the ARC for almost as long, but I kept passing it off for other books, partly because of the cover. I know it's meant to invoke classic Greek mythology, but for me, it just made me think that other books would be much more interesting. I know not to judge a book by its cover, but when your reading list is huge, it easy to do that.

All this said, once I finally started, I was intrigued by the main character, Thelia, and the apparent role she played in the kidnapping of Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres, the goddess of the Harvest (among other things). But this is told in dual timelines, and interestingly, the author chose the lost colony of Roanoke as the focus of the present timeline. Thelia shows up in a boat full of treasure and claims she is a princess from the Island of Scopuli, unknown to the colonists. She is seeking a husband, and while they are naturally suspicious of her, given their uneasy relationship with the native people, they are enamored by the thoughts of having an alliance with such an apparently wealthy kingdom. That's a nice way of putting it because the family in charge of the colony is not very nice and cruelty, particularly by the men in the colony (but also at least one woman) is the norm. We slowly learn about why Thelia is really there, and the full story in both story is slowly revealed in parallel.

This story was an anthem to female rage, and yet, despite that, Thelia learns that being a man doesn't mean that he is inherently evil and being a woman does not mean she is an ally and worthy of trust. While this story was a lot more graphically violent than I expected, I still very much enjoyed the tale and even though I put off starting it for months and I was in the throes of exams for students, each time I put the book down, I couldn't wait to get back into the story. I think without revealing any spoilers I can safely say that this story did have a happy ending, so if you're looking for that, this book has it.

I found the author's note to be helpful, particularly in letting us, the reader, know what actually came from history, and what was completely made up, as well as her reason for making such an odd choice of placing Thelia and her sisters in this time period and place.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and the publisher, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Tragedy, regret, redemption and love. This book is brilliantly written, expertly developed and fun to read. I was surprised to discover that this was the authors debut. Greek mythology mixed with founding America. Plenty of hook and a satisfying climax.

To be critical, the love story is not traditional and there are a couple of descriptive deaths that will make this book best for a more mature, open-minded audience. I enjoyed it and connected with the characters.

This was a fainting take on the mysteries surrounding Roanoke. Roanoke has always been one of those tales that I have been drawn to so when I saw that this was a blend of that and mythos I jumped at the chance to read it. I will say as a whole at pure fiction face value I enjoyed the story a lot. I thought the characters were compelling and the plot moved in a timely pace. There were definitely some things that clashed with the actual historical aspect of the setting and the people that she chose to represent there. I feel like this was a real missed opportunity to really bring the story home.

I was contacted directly by the publisher on this title and it just isn't something that I am typically drawn to.

My attention was instantly drawn to "Those Fatal Flowers" because of its connection to Greco-Roman mythology, which is a passion of mine. While I enjoyed that aspect of the novel, I found the pacing inconsistent—sometimes rushed and at other times slow. The writing truly shone when it delved into mythology or created an ominous atmosphere; however, much of the narrative felt drawn out and a bit tedious.

I appreciated the portrayal of the female characters overall, but at times they seemed unrealistic. Given that the story deals with female suffering throughout history, I found it strange that there was no mention of Indigenous peoples or women, particularly considering the historical context. The ending left me feeling unsatisfied; certain characters seemed to escape the consequences they deserved.

In summary, while the novel is a beautiful homage to mythology, it falls short in terms of pacing and plot. Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this was not for me. The premise immediately called to me but I thought the execution was lacking a bit. The story was choppy and did not flow as well as I would have liked for it to go from past to present.
I also could not get by with this being "female rage" and the men characters being cardboard cutouts of just "men bad". It was very superficial and so the rage was just eh.
The sapphic romance was the one thing I was holding onto but was unfortunately what lacked for me the most. Insta love is just not for me.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Respectfully, this book did not land for me. It took a very real historical event and made a bit of a mockery of it under the guise of gay romance. She was hiding the inert racism and classism behind a message of women empowerment. This author could definitely have used myriad of sensitivity readers for this one. I'm sorry, this was a real miss for me in the same way I felt Bable was.

As for the story, the author blended the alternating timelines pretty well, and leaned heavily into the Hades/ Persephone lor. I found myself most interested in the harpies/ sirens storyline. I really enjoyed it When I could pull myself away from the morally questionable aspects and live in the fantasy of it all.

I liked the description and comps for this book, but overall it wasn't for me. It was a little gory and it bothered me that there was no Indigenous character(s) considering the Roanoke setting. I understand that the author didn't feel like that was her story to tell, but there are ways to approach that thoughtfully, in my opinion.

I wanted to get on board with the "women empowerment" of it all, but that's hard to do when the empowerment is in question is only for white women. While I do appreciate a sapphic love story and some good ole yearning, I'm not sure this was the best setting/backdrop for such a story.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found the concept of combining Ancient Greek mythology and Roanoke fascinating, and the writing was beautiful!

Unfortunately this books is not for me. The subject matter just ended up being a little problematic for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Shannon Ives makes the combo of fantastical and history work so well in this stunning debut.

We follow Thelia, one of Proserpina’s former handmaidens turned siren, as she navigates two timelines—ancient myth and colonial America. The blend of past and present gives us a deep look at her growth, especially as she sheds black-and-white thinking and starts to embrace nuance and healing.

Ives does an incredible job exploring themes like feminine rage, resilience, and the power of storytelling (seriously, the oral symbolism in here is chef’s kiss). And yes—Thelia gets a love story that’s messy and beautiful and hard-won.

If you liked Circe or The Song of Achilles, you need to read this one. It’s got teeth, heart, and something new to say. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC—this was a powerful ride.

This book was all over the place. Greek/Roman retelling of Persephone (or Proserpina in this one) and Thelia (a siren) juxtaposed with the mysterious disappearance of the colonists of Roanoke. How these two ended up in unholy matrimony is still a mystery to me as it simply did not work.

I will preface by saying I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Greek mythological scenes. They were well-written and I felt like I was on the island along with them. The 16th century Roanoke storyline however was a hot mess. The language, the actions of the colonists, the queer love stories were all just wrong for that time period. The breaking of betrothals, the acceptance of some distant foreign queen looking for a suitor - none of it made any sense whatsoever. Also the fact that there wasn't a single Native to be found was strange - even if the author felt it wasn't her story to tell, then don't use a colony on Native land as your setting. Having multiple queer Puritans was also eyebrow raising as Puritans are going to be...well, puritanical. The love stories themselves were highly confusing and everything about the Roanoke chapters just felt like a headscratcher.

Overall, this felt and read like poorly constructed fanfiction and was not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dell, and Shannon Ives for an advanced readers' copy in exchange for an honest review.

what an interesting book about flowers and gods and trying to find someone. loved that she lost her memory and in this town and finds what she is looking for.