The idea was interesting, the cover gorgeous of course, but the idea falls apart in the writing. I was absolutely worried about the writing not being strong enough to carry it apart from other YA writings. I will probably check out the author's other works in the future.

A town where woman seem to disappear every 6 months.
4 girls who mother's disappeared live together and try to unravel the mystery.
Sunflowers that want blood
Evil men
Too be honest nothing is really explained

This book was one with great atmosphere. The setting is well done to the point it almost feels like a fantasy setting. The mystery is well-built and interesting. The characters and differing POVs give the story depth. The use of the flowers was enjoyable and it made the story feel symbolic without being something that takes itself overly-seriously.

'Where Darkness Blooms' is an atmospheric YA horror with four female protagonists: Delilah, Jude, Whitney, and Bo. The girls are left in the wake of their mothers' disappearances, trying to scrape together a life in the town of Bishop. Bishop is an eerie place, prone to mysterious accidents, deaths and disappearances which only seem to impact women.

This was a good, thrilling book with a fast-pace and engaging unraveling of the plot. It was difficult to keep the girls straight at first, but their personalities did shine through as the story progressed. I think my struggles came down to the quick introduction of so many characters so quickly. I appreciated the implicit and explicit diversity throughout the book. There were a few scenes in which I found it hard to keep up with all of the four girls, rushing in and out back-to-back. This made the overall timeframe of the book hard to track for me too. One of the girls would mention that an event that I thought had happened that same day had actually happened "a few days ago". This wasn't a book-breaking issue for me, since generally these kinds of twisty-turny horror books can benefit from an element of confusion and disorientation. The biggest issue I did have with the book regards the ending and some of the "justification" for why characters didn't reach out to the girls. A little bit more magical explaining away could have helped, even if it was just that- magic.

I enjoyed the overall messages the book had to offer through the lens of each girl's journey. There were points at which I was nervous the antagonists wouldn't be punished or that they'd be redeemed in some way. I'm glad that Hannah didn't try to force redemption or sympathy arcs for characters who, in my opinion, didn't deserve it.

Delilah, Bo, Whitney, and Jude have been living together in a little Kansas town called Bishop ever since their mothers disappeared two years ago. Now there's talk of a memorial, even though there's never been a conclusion about if their mothers took off or died. But Bishop has a history of women dying suddenly or disappearing, and each of the girls is finding that out in her own way... and sometimes it's whispered by the big yellow sunflowers that seem to grow everywhere...

I really enjoy this genre of horror where plants are creeping in - this would sit nicely on shelves alongside Burn Our Bodies Down, What We Harvest, and Blood and Salt. The multiple narrators made it a little hard to really connect to any of the main characters, although it did allow for some great tension especially between Jude and Delilah, who are into the same guy. There was just enough of all the horror tropes that I love - library research, weird notes, wind storms, stalking plants - to keep the pace fast. I would have liked to go a little deeper into the history and how exactly this pact with the land was forged, but overall it was a fast-paced read for those who like rural horror.

“It wasn't so much Bishop itself that she had to be afraid of. It was at the edges where bad things happened.”

Bishop is a small town surrounded by sunflowers that is plagued with missing and dead women. The story revolves around four girls and their quest to discover what happened to their mothers, even as their own secrets come to light.

This was such a deliciously creepy story! I loved the spooky small-town atmosphere and the characters. It was so hard to put down and it's just beautifully haunting.

The town of Bishop is known for two things: its sunflowers and its missing women, so when three mothers go missing, nobody bats an eye and the case is closed. Instead, it’s up to their daughters to uncover the startling truth.

Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah is an atmospheric Midwest gothic that transports readers to the rural, small town of Bishop.

I first fell in love with the book's incredible surrealist cover and the opening prologue where we get the town’s origins completely hooked me in.

However, as the story goes on, the premise itself really strained my suspension of disbelief. For instance, it baffles me that Bo waited two years to investigate her mother’s extremely suspicious disappearance when time is of the essence for a missing persons case.

And then there’s the big plot twist reveal.

We learn at the end that the mothers are actually alive but the sunflowers barred their return. I mean, phones exist. Why couldn't they have called? Why would loving mothers let their daughters live in a town where women and girls are used as human sacrifices and not do anything about it? This would have made more sense if the story took place in the pre 1900s or if the story had taken place over a shorter period of time and the power had temporarily gone out.

Overall, the writing is gorgeous at a sentence level, but the story itself contains way too many glaring questions for it to feel believable to me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Wednesday Books, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3⭐️

<b> Besides, missing women were as much a part of Bishop as the sunflowers and storms.</b>

Whitney, Jude, Delilah, and Bo’s mothers disappeared without a trace 2 years ago in their town that has a history of women mysteriously disappearing or dying. The town is plagued by severe winds and sunflowers that seem to watch you. It’s up to the four of them to uncover Bishop’s secrets and find out the truth about their mothers.

Overall, this book was just okay. I was bored for a lot of it and had a hard time getting into it. The premise is really interesting, and I like the idea of the sunflowers being the women who have died over the years, but it was hard to be creeped out by sunflowers.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this title. I enjoyed the story for the most part, but found some moments a little hard to get through. I feel like there should have been a warning that there were triggering scenes that could be upsetting for some people. Other then that I did enjoy it.

This felt like it was lacking something. I did enjoy the start of the story and the ending was ok. But I just felt like the story overall was just missing something to make it really good.

Quick and Dirty
-YA horror
-gothic fiction
-eerie AF
-Midwestern setting/vibes

Musings
Wow, y’all! This book was a wild ride! I didn’t quite know what to expect when I started the book, having only briefly read the synopsis months ago when I requested the book. I knew it was YA, so my hopes, honestly, weren’t that high. I don’t have the greatest record with YA fiction, but I was willing to get this one a shot. I mean, have you seen the cover? Who wouldn’t want to read a book with that gorgeous cover? Nevertheless, I went in with my eyes open and expectations low. Lucky for me, this book was terrific! I thoroughly enjoyed the premise and the presentation. The book is written from the POV of all four girls, with each girl getting dedicated chapters (which were short, btw). I loved how the story constantly switched between the four characters but still remained linked and linear. The pacing was perfect for me, tense when needed and more relaxed when setting the stage for future events to unfold. There came a time in the book, probably midway, when I legit did not want to put this down. I walked around my kitchen trying to make dinner with a Kindle in my hands (didn’t work very well) because I was so engrossed in the story. But, all good things must come to an end, and, sadly, the ending was a little bit of a letdown for me. I completely understand why the author did what she did, but I wanted a different outcome. The way things tidied up seemed a bit YA for my liking, rather tidy despite the rest of the book is a mess of trauma and grief (in a good way). Overall, I still think this was a terrific read that YA horror fans will love and anyone who has an interest in earth magic will appreciate it. Big marks to this author for such a creative story! I will be on the lookout for more of her work, for sure.

An interesting premise with a town kept alive by blood sacrifices. This one was hard for me to get into until the last 1/4 of the book. The switching between the four sister narrators is the only thing that kept me engaged. A solid story, just hard to really get into for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for the eARC.

Wow. This book is a ride. It follows four girls in Kansas and somehow Andrea Hannah makes you feel the emotions of all four of these girls. I really think this one will be a hit and one that people are very intrigued by. It certainly left me feeling all the feels.

The women of Bishop go missing. They drop dead of “natural causes”. They disappear into the fields of sunflowers. And the world keeps turning.
After the disappearance of their mothers, four teen girls are left alone in the house they once shared with them: the twins- quiet Jude and beautiful Whitney-, Delilah, the capable one, and Bo, who wears her anger in her skinned knuckles. Bo is convinced whatever happened to their mothers was anything but natural and it doesn’t take long for the odd occurrences to begin to pile up. Someone- or something- doesn’t want the girls to find the answers they seek. The wind is dangerous in Bishop and the flowers are always watching.

A solid YA horror with feminist themes that undercuts some of its atmosphere with over-explanation, but stands strong with its character writing.

The cast of this story alongside the creepy visuals were my favorite parts. There’s something to love with all these girls- Jude struggles with being underestimated, Whitney is grieving her girlfriend and trying to be able to love again, Bo shows her trauma far more externally than the others, Delilah is trying to hold their family together while navigating her own romantic relationship. I connected with Delilah the least, but all four are distinct characters with something to root for.

I think this would make a better mini-series than a book. By nature of the medium, some things are over explained in a way that makes them less creepy. I liked this book, but I could see it being an atmospheric horror series that I love, leaning into the supernatural and unnerving elements of the story.

Overall though, I’d recommend. It’s a quick read. I liked the messiness of the girls’ relationships with each other. Some stuff with the resolution bothered me, but on the whole- solid teen horror that ties into deeper themes of the treatment of women’s bodies and friendship between girls.

2.5/5 stars - An okay book about a creepy town and men feeding on women. Overall it felt a bit long and a bit short on plot. I suspect this could’ve made a better short story.

I read this in one sitting, and because it held my attention that way I’m giving it 3.5-4 stars. It was a pretty brutal story, to me it felt symbolic of everything women have been through at the hands of men. In reality, the success of men has always been on the backs of women. In this story, a towns existence is dependent on their blood. I really felt for Bo and really sympathized with Jude, battling such pain and also feeling so weak against intimidating people, blinded by and dependent on any form of affection. I know the characters are going to be relatable for so many people.

3.5-4 stars

This was a strange yet intriguing story about women in the town of Bishop, Kansas who have gone missing under bizarre circumstances.

After three women vanish and are presumed dead, their daughters uncover a terrible secret during their mothers’ much overdue memorial. Suddenly they question everything they were ever told, and they’re convinced the townsfolk know who or what is really to blame for the disappearances. There’s something strange about the way the wind whispers, and it’s almost as if the sunflowers are trying to lead them to the truth. But unbeknownst to the girls, the land craves blood and they fear they may be next.

This was a really creative and eerie supernatural thriller, and I loved the way in which nature was manipulated by characters, both past and present, to further the story. It did take a little while for the story to fully grasp my attention, but it was definitely worth reading and I really enjoyed the twist at the end.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing a copy of this book to review.*

Horror fans will probably appreciate Where Darkness Blooms. Hannah’s masterful creation of atmosphere and the classic cursed land story will go down well. But others might not care for this tale very much. Between the muddy timelines and the “Lord of the Flies” way the teens seem to run the town, it might be a bit much for some readers. Overall, a solid horror story with a few real-world kinks and a disappointing ending.

Full review at thecosmiccircus.com

First of all, this cover. THIS COVER.
I am absolutely loving plant horror right now. I’m making it a genre now.

I could not put this down.
This is told in the four POV’s of cousins whose mothers have disappeared. Bo and Whitney were my favorite characters but I could resonate with something in all of the girls.

The dry Kansas backdrop of a creepy town that quite literally needs blood was very atmospheric and unsettling.

Thank you NetGalley for the earc!

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Wednesday Books for sending me an E-ARC in return for an honest review.

From the first page of the book to the last one I could feel chills down my spine as we are delved into a town that has a sinister history. Disappearing women, deaths that can't be explained, sunflowers that seem to have a mind of their own, and a wind that howls so loud it destroys everything in its path. I loved each of the four different girls and the chance we get to read their perspectives and also the life they live as they struggle to come to terms with the disappearance of their moms.

The mystery behind the town drew me further and further into the story, I wanted to learn more of the town and its dark secrets.

The only thing I wish that had been delved a bit more on is that I felt many things were not further explained as needed, and just in general I felt there was something missing from the story.