I found this to be a very enjoyable read, filled with magic, heartbreak, and love.

I really liked the Goode family’s curse—with the people of Cutwater being undeniably attracted to the Goodes and falling in love with them so long as the tulips are in bloom. It was interesting to see how the twins handle the curse differently—with Archer embracing it, and Lark wanting to be free of it. So they were good characters to follow, as was Oak, the boy who seemingly isn’t affected by the curse (and the romance that possibly ensues between him and Lark).

The writing in this book was lovely overall. It just had a magical quality to it, being lyrical without being confusing, which I liked.

I was left with a few questions at the end. For example, I wanted to know how Lark and Acher’s parents got away with essentially abandoning their minor children. And I wanted to know a bit more about the lore regarding the tulips, as they were such a unique concept (and I liked how a beautiful, delicate flower could cause such madness and delirium). However, I would still recommend this book for anyone looking to enjoy a whimsical yet heartbreaking read.


Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read the eARC!

Just like tulips lure those to the Goodes family, they lured me into this story and before I knew it, it was over.

This was an interesting book with a generational curse on a family due to tulips. Tulips you ask? Yes, one of Lark's ancestors stole tulips from overseas and when they were planted on American soil, every spring the tulips make the town fall madly in love with them.

Because of this, lark is afraid she will never be loved for who she is and only from the cursed tulips.

The mysterious boy kept me wanting to read more and see where this madness of tulips went. It as a quick enjoyable read.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I sat down on a Sunday morning to start reading this and didn’t stop until Sunday afternoon. As I was drawn unto Lark’s story, her family curse, and the tulips. I wanted to find out what was happening, if it was all in her head, or if there really was some sort of magic at play.

I would have liked to have the epilogue a bit expanded to include both twins, as this story involves them both. But overall, this was a fun and addicting read.

the Beautiful Maddening is a gem of a precious, twisty, atmospheric story! it’s full of what Shea does best–entangling characters in a complex web of magic, love, heartbreak, and pasts they can’t escape, wrapped up in a ethereal setting you wish were real so you could go and disappear there. while I don’t feel it was the strongest of her previous YA novels, revolving a story around cursed tulips was so refreshingly unique, and the ending definitely had me in an absolute chokehold and broke my heart at least five times...

pros:
➳ tons of inner turmoil and depth in Lark & the other main characters
➳ immersive, atmospheric, & emotional writing style
➳ ending filled with unpredictable twists
➳ love & heartbreak portrayed torturously well
➳ memorable, unique town & setting

cons:
➳ the buildup took the majority of the story, and certain elements felt flat until about 70% of the way through
➳ felt like a repeat of the boy & girl character tropes in all her previous YA books (mysterious boy from out-of-town, girl who is “not like other girls”)

this book in particular felt like it really took a whiiiile to get to the true character development and conflict. but MAN in the final 30 ish percent of the book… I was stuuuuunned by how perfectly Shea wove every tiny detail into its place. I had a similar experience while reading A Wilderness of Stars–the ending was WILD and so worth it, but until I got to that point and everything clicked into place, I was having a hard time feeling invested in the story.

overall, I was so so excited to see a new Shea Ernshaw book out in the wild, and The Beautiful Maddening absolutely did not disappoint!! thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this LOVELY book!!

I really get on well with Shea Ernshaw's writing, and this book was no exception. She paints a beautiful story. The only issue I has for this book was that I wish the romance and plot were more balanced. It was very heavy on the romance and the rest of the plot fell by the wayside.

I love Shea's writing style, but I just don't think her books are for me anymore. I LOVED The Wicked Deep, but since then I've found her writing to have too much repetition and a strange focus on teens in vague consent situations sexually. In The Wicked Deep there was teen body possession and kissing while not in control of the girl's body. Then in this book there is a flower that causes obsession and her brother is out sleeping around because of these effects. These kids aren't fully consenting to sexual contact in these situations. It's a choice and one I just don't understand. How are you going to focus on this in several books when you could do anything-write anything? It doesn't sit right with me. Which sucks, because I enjoy her aesthetic and settings-but I can't get over this fact in her novels. It's so off-putting,

sweetly maddening magical..just as the crazy press of first love feels.
thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon Teen for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review

Magical tulip garden and a cursed family, generation after generation, sounds interesting, right? I thought so too.

The book started interestingly with Goode’s family and their history, and how the curse has been affecting them and the town they live in. After that small part, the book was exhaustingly slow and kept going in circles. I was hoping for more magic, more history behind the tulips, and more effort from the main characters to break the curse or at least do something about it. But no, it was all about Lark and her weird obsession with Oak, a guy she knows nothing about. Her twin (Archer?) didn’t have much to offer except getting letters and food from girls, that’s all. All of the characters felt painfully shallow and one-dimensional.

The writing was very flowery and poetic, which might work for some people, but it just made the story feel slow and hard to connect with. I was desperately looking for some story or conversations among these ongoing texts of details.

Overall, it felt like a huge missed opportunity. I am so sad that I picked this book for my weekend.

It’s so easy to lose yourself in a Shea Ernshaw book. They’re dreamy, magical, mystical and lyrical all bundled up in a blanket of words and The Beautiful Maddening was no exception.

Goode is a cursed name in the small town of Cutwater and Lark Goode only wants to escape. Ever since Larks ancestor stole the last tulip bulbs and fled to America the Goode’s have been cursed. Every spring when the tulips bloom the people of Cutwater are indescribably attracted to the Goode’s - falling madly in love with them until the tulips wilt back into the earth. While her twin brother embraces this curse Lark wants nothing more than to be free of it so when she sees a strange green eyed boy who seems immune to the curse she’s inexplicably drawn to him. Filled with heartbreak, magic and love Lark must go after the freedom she so desires and risk her heart in the process or carry the curse of the Goode’s for the rest of her life.

The way Shea Ernshaw writes just reels me in every time. I loved how magically heartbreaking this book was. Full of loss, love and breaking free from the generational bonds that tie us. I really enjoyed Lark as a main character. The way she was so full of sorrow and hope made her feel real. I especially loved how poetic Lark and Oak were together. Two people defying all odds. The tension these two had - had me on the edge of my seat as I flew through these pages. I wanted so badly for everything to be okay at the end of this book.

I think my favorite thing about this book though was the tulips. This story was so refreshing and unique. I loved how these beautiful tulips caused madness and delirium. I appreciated how something initially perceived as delicate and beautiful could also be seen as a curse. I thought it was the perfect metaphor for generational trauma and the magical madness that is love.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time reading this book. I could not put it down. Ernshaw’s writing teleports you into such a whimsically crafted world. The magical elements and romance in this book were so well done and refreshing. I highly recommend this book and anything that Ernshaw writes.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Beautiful Maddening is exactly what the title says. It is beautifully written and has taken my attention like a curse! I love Shea’s writing. All her stories pull you in. Even if it’s about a flower that controls centuries worth of lives. I loved this book so much. It’s an amazing love story. I hope we get more of Oak and Lark!!!

The Goode family are cursed by tulips. Every season when they bloom, the town is enchanted, and go mad/ fall in love with the Goodes. Lark Goode just wants to graduate and leave the small town of Cutwater and her family's tulips behind. But when a mysterious boy that she is inexplicably drawn to shows up who doesn't seem to be affected by her family's curse, she has to decide if the chance of love is worth the hurt.

I have read a handful of Shea Ernshaw's books and I always enjoy them, but this one did not hit the same for me. While I enjoyed the readability and the main character, I felt the rest fell a little bit flat. A lot of it felt repetitive to me. At one point I was like I get it- it's the tulips. I get it- your family is cursed. It sort of hounded these points over and over to the point where it felt like it was just fluff. I wanted more about the curse, or her ancestors, or even more about the love interests learning more about each other so it felt less insta-lovey.
I rated it 2.75/5 rounded up to 3.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC.
Will return in a few days to to post review link within a month of book release.

2.5/5 (rounded up to 3)
For generations when the Goode family’s tulips bloom, others are bewitched to fall in love with them. Lark Goode wants nothing more than to escape her family’s curse.

The Beautiful Maddening was just not for me. While I really liked the vibes at the beginning, I lost interest with the back and forth of the romance. I wanted to know more about the magical tulips with love spell properties. I would have liked more about the generations of this family that have been cursed. I was just expecting more and this book never delivered.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Lark Goode lives in a small town with her twin brother Archer Goode. They are part of the cursed Goode family, passed down by generations all because of a Tulip. These tulips cause " love or lust " they make you go crazy , believe things that aren't true and cause damage. Only during Tulip season does this happen, and it's up to Lark and Archer to keep the tulips safe and out of the hands of other people. Lark and Archer are feared and mesmerizing to the people of this little town.



Lark and Archer have been abandoned by both parents and live alone. Their mother left when they were little and we don't hear much about her in the beginning of the story, and their father works away from home. I have a lot of feelings about this especially since they are kids, what kind of mom abandons her kids. We find out that their mother used a tulip to entice their dad, he didn't really Lover her, only thought he did. Thats what the tulips do , but why did he leave , why not stay to take care of the kids ? He will send them money and give them things, but again kids , living alone .

So we essentially have these kids from the town and high school stealing petals from the tulips, it becomes a craze. They are fighting over them , fighting each other and one day at school Lark gets trampled on and notices a boy standing far away watching the whole thing. But the he walks away.
No one walks away when there are tulips involved , so this ,to Lark is a mystery.

She starts seeing this boy around town, and one day they talk. He confesses his name is Oak and he knows of her. They start to have these secret meetings, where they talk about things in their life. Lark is confused because " why is he not falling head over heels in love with her" . Most people act crazy , but he seems to be able to walk away, leave whenever he wants and genuinely doesn't seem to be in Love/ lust with her.

She tells Oak she is leaving the small town after graduation, that even with her twin brother, there is nothing left for her. Thats her plan, but then things change . Oak gives her a book, they spend more tine together, he seems to want to protect her and cares for her. Nothing like being possessed by a tulip. But then one night while at Oaks house , Lark stumbles upon a picture of her mom and Oaks dad. She finds out the horrible truth that her mom had convinced Oaks dad to run away with her, that Oak has also been alone for such long time.

Upon hearing this Lark is devastated and says she's leaving that night, but things change and they make up . BUT , then she notices tucked between the pages of the book Oak is reading , a small tulip petal. She comes to the realization that Oak may not have been in love with her, that the curse had them the whole time. She feels just crushes and leaves that night.

Lark finds a small room for rent in a little town and often thinks of Oak . She's missing him and wonders if he misses her too. But one day Oak comes to find her. You , as a reader think that it really was love and that everything worked out as it should. BUT THEN..
*MAJOR SPOILERS HERE *


we find out that Lark has kept a tulip petal in her pocket. That she's is madly obsessed/ in love with Oak, to the point that she can't risk losing him. Her biggest fear in life is being unloved. I just wonder if come the end of tulip season, Oak will feel the same way .



When I tell you I was shocked by the ending, I mean I was SHOCKED. I just assumed it was going to be love, because Lark deserved some good in her life . It's been pretty bad so far. But no, she had to go and pull the rug from under our feet and now I feel sad and betrayed . Did I love the book " Absolutely . Will I read it again ? Definitely. Will I recommend Sheas books in the future ? Always.
But I think I need to take some time to process that ending. Am I being a little dramatic ? probably. But this is the thing with Shea's book. Her writing captivates you. It makes you FEEL . I was happy, sad, giddy and all of these emotions while reading TBM. Then bam, betrayal . And that is why this book get 5 stars.

Well done.

3.5 stars rounded down

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Beautiful Maddening tells the story of Lark Goode, born to a family followed by cursed tulips that make people fall in love with them. One day when many of these flowers are stolen, the curse begins to spread a certain madness around the town of Cutwater.

I have so many mixed feelings about this book. Up until one moment late in the book, I was absolutely in love. The way the story tackled topics like fate, fear, belonging, grief, and love was incredible. I found myself lost in the words of this book, never wanting it to end. But as I reached the inevitable end, the story started to go in a direction that wasn't as enjoyable for me.

I'll start with the good things. One thing I always love in any book is description and pretty prose. I know a lot of people don't like a lot of description in their books, but I can never get enough of it. Fantasy books can always keep me gripped with several pages of non-stop description. It pulls me into the world and gives me a more vivid imagination as I flip through the pages. This book had the most stunning prose and I wanted to read it forever.

I also found the nature-based magic system to be addictive to follow. The way the plants and land in this story were utilized to create that perfect whimsical feeling is something I'll never get over. It's books like this that make magic feel real.

The twin dynamic was interesting as well, but I wish we had gotten just a little bit more of it. I feel like there was plenty of time to dive into Lark and Archer's relationship more.

As for the elements of the story I didn't like, I'll start with where it first started going downhill for me. Fairly late into the book, there's a big plot twist between the main characters that just did not work for me. Out of all the answers we could've gotten for this specific question, I feel like this was one of the less enjoyable ones. The direction the relationship went on after this point was what really knocked the rating down for me. I can't say much more than this for the sake of not spoiling one of the biggest moments of the book.

The other big thing was the ending. After everything we had gone through and everything we had learned about the characters, it just felt all wrong. The story seemed to be building up to something completely different, and I really wish it had been. The last couple chapters felt like a different story with much different characters. It's definitely not the worst ending this book could've had, but it wasn't the best either.

For me, The Beautiful Maddening is a stunning start to a story with an ending that doesn't quite work. I know some people enjoy the ending of the book, and I'm sure even more will in the future, but it felt so out of place for the way I understood the characters and their stories. Even though the end fell flat for me, this is still a book I think is worth giving a try if you like YA contemporary fantasy with romance, nature-based magic, and gorgeous prose.

Review on Goodreads (sophreadingbooks https://www.goodreads.com/sophreadingbooks) expected of 6/7/2025
Review on Instagram (sophiesreading https://www.instagram.com/sophiesreading/) expected 6/7/2025

"From #1 New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw comes a haunting romantic contemporary fantasy about a teen navigating her family's love curse that blooms with their enchanted tulips every year.

Seventeen year-old Lark Goode wants only one thing: to escape her small town of Cutwater and the history of her family name. It's a history that began during the Dutch tulip mania of 1636, when Lark's ancestor stole the last remaining tulip bulbs and fled to America. But when the tulips bloomed on American soil, madness sprouted from their snowy white petals.

The madness was love.

Now, generations later, the Goodes remain cursed - the unnatural flowers outside their home causing locals to fall helplessly in love with anyone carrying Goode blood in their veins. While her brother embraces the strange power, Lark wants nothing more than to be free from it.

But when she meets a boy who seems unaffected by the family curse, Lark finds herself falling headlong into a feeling she's spent her whole life trying to avoid. Yet, all curses and magic come with a price, and the town of Cutwater soon sinks into a dangerous sickness tied to Lark and the ill-fated tulips.

To save the town, Lark will need to sacrifice everything - even true love - to break the spell. Because in the Goode family, love has a way of destroying everything."

Damn, that cover is art!

2.5 Stars. Sigh. I am so bummed. I was SO excited for this one. So excited, in fact that I requested the arc on Netgalley. Something I haven't done for a few years now. I was delighted to find my request approved just in time for my Flower Themed Readathon in April. This story is about magical tulips that put a curse on our main character so that people fall in love with her and her brother when they are in bloom......but also when they are not? The magic was very confusing and contradictory in different places at various times. This story was more about the characters and the romance, but we also didn't get a lot of background on the characters or a reason to bond with them. Our MC was constantly wallowing about her situation and not really doing anything about it. The plot was slow and I thought at first it was because I don't really love reading ebooks, but my other friend felt the same way. I feel terrible since I'm grateful to have received the arc and rarely give out 2 stars. But I want to be honest and unfortunately, this felt more like a contemporary with bits of odd magic and incredibly angsty teens , which didn't work well for me.

‘From #1 New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw comes a haunting romantic contemporary fantasy about a teen navigating her family’s love curse that blooms with their enchanted tulips every year.’

I would read Ernshaw’s to-do list. And this was no exception. Love is heady, dangerous, needy and necessary. I’m left with nothing but chills.

Dig in.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for this arc in exchange for review!

Pub: 6.3.2025.

I'm a sucker for anything gothic! So this was right up my alley. I want to ensure I don't spoil anything, but the storyline was well written. I enjoyed watching our main character try to grapple with the curse. I loved the tension and mystery elements of the story. I wish we got more world-building, especially with the magic, but I still had a great time with this. If you're into gothic mystery vibes, you'll have a fun time with this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In the spirit of this story, I’m pretty convinced that Shea Ernshaw is carrying around an enchanted tulip that keeps drawing me back to her work. 🌷

I have read, or attempted to read, every book she’s ever published. I don’t think I realized that until I looked back on my previous reviews.

It’s been a while since I’ve read something by her, but I think I’ll always come back. Even though my reading taste has evolved over the past 5 years of reading her stories, she somehow keeps me entranced.

In every story I’ve read from her, it takes me at least 100 pages to get invested, and I often find I like the second half of the book more than the first. But her flowery writing and heartbreaking love stories are what sell me every time. This one is no different.

Inspired by the Dutch Tulip Mania, Shea wove a story about the cursed Goode Family. To them, love was always a lie. The tulips that bloomed in their backyard every spring would cause locals to fall helplessly and hopelessly in love with them.

Lark Goode wants nothing more than to be free from her family’s curse, until one day she happens upon a boy who seems unaffected by the tulips.

There were two things that help my attention in this story. The first was the question of who this mysterious boy was, and the second was the empathy and heartbreak of watching Lark wrestle with living a life where you never truly know if anyone will love you outside of your family’s curse. 🥺

I also loved the nods to her first book, The Wicked Deep!

I think if you enjoy the enchantment of Practical Magic mixed with the vibes of books like The Unmaking of June Farrow, you might also enjoy The Beautiful Maddening.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the free e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Tragic tale of a family that seems blessed but is actually cursed. The story revolves around teen twins left to fend for themselves in a town that excludes them. Lark has dreams of escaping from this small town, while Archer plans to stay and capitalize on the family curse. When the family curse infiltrates the townspeople, their plans are ruined. The story is sad, but hope blooms like the tulips. Oak is a stranger that enters Lark's life at this critical time, and he is a wildcard. I like the way Lark's hopes are expressed as she shares her dreams and frustrations with Oak. The story probably is a fable with life lessons, but I found the tale to be magical and about not trusting destiny or fate. There is a lot of negativity in this book, in the way the other teens treat the twins, the way the town ostracizes them, and the way their family land is desecrated. I am ambivalent about the ending, especially as it pertains to Archer and Lark. Still, I give a thank you to NetGalley for granting me an ARC of this book; I found it to be equal parts somber and hopeful, but with the warmth of Springtime and friends that 'get you.'