The writing itself is very lyrical and atmospheric, which works for some, but just didn't work for me. But beyond the style, I had a hard time connecting with the story. The pacing felt slow, and I struggled to stay invested in what was happening. I kept hoping it would pick up or that something would click, but it never really did. The concept had potential, and there were a few moments that stood out, but overall it just didn’t leave much of an impact. I wanted more depth, more emotion—just... more. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t for me. Thank you, NetGalley!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have to say, this has been my most disappointing read of the year so far. Despite devouring the entire story in a single day—leading you to assume it must be really good—it unfortunately fell short.

I've read one other work from Ernshaw and I really enjoyed it. I was genuinely looking forward to this latest release, expecting a similar level of engagement and storytelling. However, as I delved into the book, I found myself wishing for more substance and more depth. While the book does bring up the worthwhile question of what's considered real love, the ultimate message it sends is disappointing to me. It's hard to describe without totally giving away the book, but when I read the end I was completely put off.

The concept of the story captivated me, and I enjoyed the writing style, which is very flowery so if that's not for you then you probably won't enjoy this. Also, I felt a connection to Lark's (FMC) struggles throughout. However, the plot left much to be desired. It simultaneously dragged on, yet flew by since there wasn't much to keep track of. The storyline is rather simplistic: a family curse (you won’t forget this curse since it’s repeated over and over and over, okay you get it), cursed girl who meets an inexplicably immune boy, an ill-fated crush that develops despite the odds, three almost-kisses, add in an emotional breakup despite the lack of anything resembling a formal relationship, the curse is somehow lifted, and do they really live happily ever after? Your guess is as good as mine.

The unresolved ending is my primary grievance with the book. I get that it's left open for the reader to interpret. Still, I feel like after investing so much time contemplating the authenticity of the character's emotions (which is a major fear for the FMC, might I add!) we’re ultimately left in limbo with no clear determination of what is real or imagined. It’s utterly maddening, to say the least.

It’s really hard to rate this one. I loved the nods to The Wicked Deep, and I feel like this one queues up a reread nicely.

I felt really bad for Lark and Archer Goode, who have been abandoned by both parents, left to fend for themselves in a run-down house built over a creek with cursed tulips in the garden out back. Their dad sends money for necessities, but that doesn’t make me absolve his decisions at all. Neither their Mother nor father love them based on their actions, and so I don’t blame Archer and Lark for not knowing what real love is. This is exacerbated by the cursed tulips. Every spring, they bloom, and a delirium falls upon the people of Cutwater as they feel drawn to the Goodes. It’s not real love, and Archer and Lark know that, but they still wish they could experience the real thing.

Oak shows up, and Lark thinks he’s different because he doesn’t fall head over heels for her. I wanted her to believe it was real, but then the whiplash towards the end of the book with the tulip petals was really . . . disappointing. There’s no real resolution to the story, or the tulips, and so to me it felt like a letdown after all the buildup.

The writing is really lyrical, with lots of figurative language, but it was also really repetitive at times. I get it, the tulips are cursed, the Goodes are cursed, and Lark can’t trust herself.

A great thing though is I do feel like this is actually written for the audience it was intended: teenagers. Lots of teen books these days don’t feel written for them, so I’m glad this one is.

Please note that this review does contain mild spoilers!

Lark Goode and her brother live alone in their rundown house built above the river in Cutwater. Abandoned by their parents, they face the end of their senior year of school, and Lark looks to a future as far away from home as possible. Their family has been cursed since their ancestor stole tulips from Holland and planted a garden of them that lies next to their house to this day. All the Goodes become irresistible to everyone around them when the tulips bloom, and resume their lives as outcasts once the season changes. Until the last week of school, where Lark meets a boy who somehow resists her unwanted charms.

First off, I have to say that this book is beautifully written. The prose is poetic and evocative. The story is emotional and heart-wrenching. The concept is fascinating: a family cursed for generations to be loved and yet unlovable. But there is also the incredibly fleeting nature of love and reality within the book that, rather than infusing the text with discernible lessons from the fantastical world, somehow cheapens the story in its conclusion. It could be a love-conquers-all tale, or one about the futility and inability to pin down love, especially in one's youth. But it ends with a whimper, and left me entirely unsatisfied.

The conclusion is still beautifully written, and akin to a fable, but the lesson doesn't take. The main character's choices lose all their weight in the final pages. [SPOILERS AHEAD] Lark choosing a fake love that she spends the entire story trying to escape makes absolutely no sense. All her ideals and protestations about how she won't accept anything else but a love she can discern for herself fall flat when she clings to the last petal. It felt like I was cheated out of some beautiful, if not heartbreaking, lesson at the end of it. The relationship itself also proceeded so quickly that it felt unearned. Perhaps it's part of the point, that the curse wends its way through the lives of the Goodes in ways that never end. And the ambiguity could be there to punctuate that in the end, but I still feel like we never get a proper resolution.

All that said, I’m really glad I got to experience this emotive story. If you like flowing prose, an exploration of whether we determine our own fates, and are interested in the not-so-HEAs, I’d suggest trying this one!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Rating: 2.75 stars

Review posted to StoryGraph: May 22, 2025 (https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a074e9ae-26a9-4aca-bade-9ca3d76b24a4)
Review posted to Instagram: May 25, 2025 (https://www.instagram.com/p/DKFUlarR84P/)

Characters: 3.75⭐️
Setting: 4.00⭐️
Plot: 4.00⭐️
Themes: 3.75⭐️
Personal enjoyment: 3.50⭐️
Emotional Impact: 3.50⭐️
Overall rating: 3.75⭐️

Lark Goode's family has been cursed for stealing rare tulips during Tulip Mania in the 1600s and bringing them to the new world. Every year when the tulips bloom, a madness envelopes the town making everyone feel infatuated with the Goode's to the point of madness. Lark wants to break free of the town called Cutwater and break the family curse.

This is a young adult contemporary fantasy with some magical realism. However, I thought there was be more magic in this book. The idea that the tulips cause this love madness is really interesting, but I felt there was no explanation like how long does it last? Is there an age limit? Like it would be kind of weird in my opinion if it started happening when they were children. I think it was good story, but there were parts that needed to be developed more. Ernshaw's writing was very poetic and flowery (no pun intended) which I felt took away from the story a little bit.

It was giving a little Practical Magic vibes, but without the magic.

Would I recommend this? Yes for those who like lovey contemporary fantasy books.

Thank you to Simon Teen for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital review copy.

I really enjoyed Shea Ernshaw's latest offering. Every time I pick up one of her books I know I'll get a fantastic story presented in the most beautiful and highlighter worthy language. The Beautiful Maddening is on sale June 3rd.

Thank you for my early copy to read and review. All thoughts are my own!

This book was just magical. I really enjoyed the concept of the magic being with tulips. I’ve never read a book like this. “Enchanted flowers” I absolutely loved it.

The “teen” love that was in this was a bit dramatic but then I was like well in real life it’s dramatic too, so it was honestly perfect.

I think if you’re looking for a book that is magical, dreamy, and that you don’t have to fully understand, this is for you.

4 stars!

I started this book not knowing what to expect and ended up binging it over a weekend. It was beautiful, at times sad and hauntingly magical. A coming of age story of first love with a touch of enchantment. I could not put it down. I think this might be my favorite book by the author.

This book unfortunately wasn’t for me. There wasn’t enough happening to keep me interested. The magic behind the tulips was interesting but the story was just moving too slow so I dnf it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for a free advanced ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a perfect book to pick up in the Spring. The lush garden of tulips in Lark Goode's backyard are the backdrop to this dreamy, lyrical story about love. Her family is cursed, the tulips influence those around the Goode family to fall hopelessly in love with them when the flowers are in bloom. Seventeen year old Lark is on a mission to graduate from high school and leave the small town of Cutwater to start fresh without her legacy. She is a loner, avoids people, is seen as the town outcast and ostracized. She's ready for a change, until she meets a boy named Oak who seems impervious to the tulips' power. A strange fortune, a love sickness that is sweeping the town, and Oak challenge Lark to examine her feelings about love, free will, choices and fate.

I really enjoyed the dreamy quality of the setting and story, Shea Ernshaw is so masterful at creating this fine line between reality and magic that brings me back to her writing, time and again. I would say this story would appeal to young adult readers who love magical realism and a love story. At times, this story has a lot of angst, but the yearning for love, for acceptance, for freedom is a tension that builds throughout the story and leaves the reader feeling that yearning for Lark up to the last page. The yearning is so deeply felt. I love that Lark had to explore her family trauma and figure out what love means to her, what acceptance looks like, how love can be both freeing and keep you captive. The ending was what was a bit jarring for me. Lark is a strong character who believes in choice and free will, the ending muddies the waters a bit and makes you question why she presented herself a certain way in the beginning to then betray her values. Her angst and yearning seem unnecessary if the ending is the result. I think readers will find the ending divisive. Some will love it and others will not. I did not feel it was authentic to Lark's character, therefore, I had some issues with it. Otherwise, this was a lush, lyrical, Spring time read that will draw you into a dreamscape of love and obsession.

This was my first Shea Ernshaw book and I am absolutely hooked on her magical, lyrical, beautiful way of writing. Her storytelling is completely immersive and addicting, I couldn't put it down. This book exists in the same world as some of her other novels, so I will absolutely be picking those up! I also loved the story itself, it was heartbreaking and emotional and reminded me of Practical Magic meets a 2000s John Green novel with its angst and tension but moments of truth and beauty. It releases on June 3rd and l'd definitely recommend picking this YA magical realism book up!!

Thank you to Shea Ernshaw, NetGalley, and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book!

2.5 stars
Age rating: 13+

Lark Goode has known only one kind of love for the entirety of her life: the false kind.
For decades, her family has been cursed by the tulips growing in their back yard. They cast a spell over everyone that views the Goodes, intoxicating them with simmering, desperate love that matures in the spring. But this love—though irresistible—is false, fleeting, and brings only a brittle despair with it, leaving emptiness when the tulips wilt in the fall.
Unlike her twin brother, Archer, who takes advantage of this unearthly power to woo several village teenagers, Lark wants nothing to do with it. Whenever someone gets close, she pushes them away, discouraging any relationships due to a fear that they will turn into this blind obsession. She sees where it got her mother, and adamantly refuses to follow that path. Instead, she is dead-set on becoming one of the first Goodes to leave the backwards town she calls home for somewhere bigger, away from the tulips, where—hopefully—their curse will no longer haunt her.
However, as graduation nears, she begins to find reasons to stay, and begins second-guessing her original decision. Can a Goode ever escape the clutches of the tulips?

I was very excited about this book, and read it quickly.
The structure of the individual sentences achieved a musical quality only a lover of words can manage. The dialogue flowed; there was no heaviness or awkwardness stunting the enjoyability of this book.
HOWEVER. There was very little plot. I expected this book to center around breaking the curse of the tulips, but it was much more focused around Lark as a person and the relationships she builds/loses along the way. Which was regrettable, due to the fact that none of the characters retained their motivations or goals or, honestly, even their personalities throughout the chapters.
Unfortunately, this focus was so concentrated that the storyline suffered because of it, resulting in massive plot holes. The magic system of the tulips, their influence on others, etc., was remarkably inconsistent, to the point where I couldn’t ignore it. This created a layer of discordance that successfully disrupted the overall flow and prevented me from appreciating the experience to the extent I believe I could have otherwise.
The ending was also anticlimactic and disappointing, but I won’t go into that too much, as I don’t want to spoil anything before this book is even released.
If you’re looking to read this book, look at it as more of a palate cleanser than anything serious.
That said, I would still read another of Ernshaw’s books without hesitation. The writing, itself, was by far the strongest point. Just for that, I would be willing to invest my time in another of her works.
Happy reading!

Oh. My. Gosh.
What did I just read?
Shea Ernshaw just ripped my heart to shreds and then stitched it together again.

Lark's emotions are so visceral and raw. Oak is sheer perfection. The tension, the secrets! The fear of being undeserving of love or unable to trust if someone really loves *you* all because of a curse on your family? UGH!

I know this isn't much of a review, just a slew of words and groanings, but this book is a new favorite. I haven't fallen this hard for a contemporary romantic fantasy in a good while. It is slow and cozy, but also doesn't feel like it is? Its tone is somber and weighty, filled with angst and questioning that so many teens struggle with as they wrestle with larger questions in life....and idk that there's one that's larger than "what if no one will love me for me" that I recall fearing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Shea Ernshaw has such a unique way of writing that I just know I will enjoy anything she writes.
This book centers around Lark Goode and her twin brother. The Goode family has been cursed ever since one of their ancestors brought over tulips and planted them in America. These tulips make people fall in love with anyone with Goode blood in their veins. But the love isn't real, and Lark just wants to be free from the curse.
This was not an action packed book, but the story it weaves does not need action. It was very character driven as we learn about Lark's heartbreaks and struggles. Her father left after a summer romance with her mother and only stops by once in a while. Her mother left 3 years ago with no warning or explanation, essentially leaving her and her brother orphans. They have had to fend for themselves for the last few years of high school and Lark is finally leaving for good. But she meets a boy who does not seem to fall in love with her - Oak. She needs to find out if Oak is somehow immune to the tulips.
I absolutely love Shea's writing style. She is able to produce such an intricate picture in my head no matter what she writes. It's very flowy and calm (which is a weird word for a writing style, but that's what it makes me think of).
The ending was such a rollercoaster of emotions, but it really brought Lark's journey full circle. It went from going a direction I was happy with, to not, to me being ok and thinking this different direction made sense, back to something I wanted to happen. I also really liked the epilogue. It almost made the whole story seem like a fairy tale.

This story is about magic tulips that produce a love potion effect as they come into bloom every year. A couple of teens have been left on their own to navigate a generational curse that these tulips have had on their family line.

Shea Ernshaw has such an atmospheric and dreamy quality to her writing style. I experienced an entire rollercoaster of emotions as I was immediately transported into Larks mind and emotions as she tries to navigate her family curse, personal safety, and abandonment issues that inevitably contribute to the way she perceives love and relationships. I loved reexperiencing the newness, awkwardness, and confusion of young and new love. Oak was not the most fleshed out of love interests, but who really is when you are meeting someone for the first time and your emotions are guarded. I think that was a large part of the point of his character.

I think the major plot hole for me what that tulips are a spring flower. Not summer.

Regardless, I am willing to overlook all the flaws because I was swept away in the beautiful writing.

I gratefully received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from Simon and Schuster Publishing through Netgalley. All the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

While I have loved this author's previous writings, this book very much missed the mark for me. The writing was definitely different and a lot more illustrative and "in the clouds" so I never really felt grounded with it.

Though the beginning of this book took a little for me to connect to, once I was about 25% of the way in, I did not want to put it down. The concept of the tulips was unique and what caught my attention to begin with. From there, the journey of Lark’s coming of age story and the stumbling along the way was what brought this story to life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this captivating book. The narrative skillfully explores the themes of love and heartbreak, incorporating magical elements and curses that shape Lark’s worldview.

The book explores Lark’s family’s experiences and the townspeople’s perceptions of them, shaping her understanding of love and loss. Ultimately, Lark must distinguish between reality and illusion, determine the worth of fighting for love, and let go of what she believes to be a curse.

I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this advanced reader copy.

✨Shea Ernshaw is back ✨

I was very curious to see where this book would land for me as I loved Shea Ernshaw’s first three books, but the Wilderness of Stars was a huge miss for me.

I’m happy to say I really enjoyed this. As a gardener, I always enjoy a book based around flowers of any kind. This was a unique concept that was entertaining to explore, and I really enjoyed the mystery of this story as well.

The one thing I did want is a little more of an epilogue that wrapped the story up. I do understand why the author left the ending to be something people can interpret on their own, but I do wish we can some solid answers.

Very excited to see what this author has in store for her next novel!

Shea Ernshaw's writing is haunting; a flowing current that drags you under and whisks you away to somewhere vulnerable and raw.

In The Beautiful Maddening, Ernshaw explores the bittersweet side of love; the pain and longing that so many of us tend to ignore in the hope of something beautiful and warm. Lark Goode has been tormented by the cursed tulips growing behind her home, and her plans to break free and rid herself of them slowly fall apart with the mysterious appearance of Oak.

Their romance is eerie and full of tension, and as their story ultimately ends with a quiet sadness that makes you wish you could just give them a hug, you can't help but be impressed by the way Ernshaw encapsulates Lark's fears and hesitations about falling in love. The truth can be scary, and especially for Lark and Oak, it may be be in their best interest not to confront it if they are content just the way they are.