2.5/5

I really wanted to love this book. The premise is right up my alley, and I think it could have worked if the book had been structured differently.

As it stands, the story loses momentum from the beginning because it starts too late. I thought at some point there’d be a revelation for why the story starts two years after a such a major event, but there’s not, and the story suffers for it.

By starting the story two years too late, the stakes are lowered significantly, and for a good chunk of the book you’re left wondering “Why now?”

The book also begins with this incredible prologue that, despite being delightfully creepy, also kinda kills momentum. There’s no real mystery to the book, it’s all exactly what you’d expect, because it’s right there in front of you.

Finally, the characters all blended together to me. The chapters rotate between four girls who all live together in the wake of their mothers’ disappearance, but none of them really have a distinct narrative voice. I kept mistaking Whitney and Delilah, and forgetting whose mom was whose, or what they did. It got exhausting fast.

Even the paranormal elements felt mishandled, in a way. They weren’t given the proper build up.

After about 30-40% the book really picks up, though, and what little threads of mystery start getting unraveled. The book also does a good job of depicting feminine rage (but I feel like we didn’t get it from the perspective of the right characters). The conclusion is fairly satisfying, but in the end the book was a shadow of what it could have been.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars. This novel sucked me in from the very first sentence of the prologue, and didn't let me go until it was over. I thought the characters of Delilah, Bo, Whitney and Jude leapt from the pages. I really enjoyed this novel, both for the characters and the plot. Bishop and the sunflowers are basically a character of their own, and the atmosphere is electric.

The town of Bishop is known for exactly two things: recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women—missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, no one in Bishop is surprised. The case is closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers’ much-delayed memorial.

With secrets come the lies each of the girls is forced to confront. After caring for the other girls, Delilah would like to move on with her boyfriend, Bennett, but she can’t bear his touch. Whitney has already lost both her mother and her girlfriend, Eleanor, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney's twin sister, would rather ignore it all, but the wind kicks up her secret too: the summer fling she had with Delilah's boyfriend. And more than anything, Bo wants answers and she wants them now. Something happened to their mothers and the townsfolk know what it was. She’s sure of it.

Bishop has always been a strange town. But what the girls don’t know is that Bishop was founded on blood—and now it craves theirs.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday books for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

This book was damn creepy. I've never seen a more perfect use of a book set somewhere that there are fields of flowers and also tornadoes. I felt uneasy the entire way through and even with the dark themes, I still really thought it was a clever story. It was a little slow but I think that was necessary for the story to really paint the picture the author was going for. I definitely needed an emotional support stuffed animal to make it to the end of this one. Many thanks to Wednesday Books for an early copy.

A creepy story in the vein of M. Night Shyamalan that drags you deep into a diabolical curse and the land that thirsts for blood. The town of Bishop has a nasty secret, and four young girls hold the power to break a centuries-old curse. But can they do what no one else can, or will they fall prey to the evils that lurk within Bishop? This was a dark read and I appreciate that the author included trigger warnings for the emotional and physical trauma portrayed. Though none was explicit, the ramifications ring through loud and clear, and the characters are written with exquisite detail. I always knew which character's head I was in thanks to their distinct personalities and how they handled the situation at hand. The creep factor sold me on this one.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

The small town of Bishop is known for two things, the recurring windstorms and the endless fields of sunflowers. Oh and missing women! When three more teenage girls bodies are found, secrets come loose.

This story is magical realism at its core. It’s haunting and beautiful, and at times sheer creepy. Tension and slow builds drive this story home. At times, the sunflowers kept bringing me back to the corn crops in Stephen Kings ‘Children of the Corn’ because you never knew what horror was lurking in those fields.

There are some triggers in this book, of course the violence but also rape. So be warn! But all in all, I really loved this story and I think it will be sticking with me for a few months.. lurking in the back of mind.

I was nervous about Where Darkness Blooms because in all honesty, I saw the cover and that it was a mystery/thriller and immediately requested an ARC. I was so beyond pleasantly surprised.

The writing in this story was beautiful. It was not rushed and all of the details were natural and real. I loved that none of the girls were that perfectly imperfect heroine we see so often. They all had realistic issues and realistic feelings. Some of their flaws were not the typical romantic flaws - they were honest and seem like they would be flaws that would make you dislike a character, but I still loved them all.

This pacing was not typical mystery/thriller pacing. It was much slower, and at first I wasn't sure how I would feel because I usually love a quick page-turner. But now that I'm finished, I think the slower pacing was much more fitting. This story would not have been as attractive if it had been forced into the traditional mystery pacing.

To me, this was also the type of story where I liked it throughout, but took a few days after finishing for me to realize that I actually loved it. I will definitely be buying a copy of this as soon as it's published.

Creepy, spooky, and haunting with atmosphere for days. I really enjoyed the way the beginning of this book is structured and how it adds to the creeping sense of menace as the four girls at its center start to unravel the mystery of not just their mothers' disappearances, but also the rot at the center of Bishop. Once Where Darkness Blooms gets going, the pace is breakneck, and I did like how the mystery unspools. I would have appreciated a little more exploration of the relationships between Delilah, Whitney, Bo, and Jude, but overall I really enjoyed this. Definitely won't ever look at a sunflower the same way again!

Have you seen this cover?! It definitely caught my eye, and I knew I had to read it! I liked the pacing, and was hooked from the beginning. The horror vibes were definitely there! I’ll never look at sunflowers the same again.

The small town of Bishop is harboring a dark secret involving the women in their town; and when three more women disappear overnight the only ones concerned are their four daughters - Delilah, Whitney, Jude and Bo. Delilah tries to hold their makeshift family together, Whitney can’t get over the unexplained death of her girlfriend, Jude is trying to hide her feelings for Delilah’s boyfriend and Bo is battling a dark secret of her own. When the girls start digging into their mothers disappearance they come across the towns dark secret, that the men in town want to keep hidden. Can the girls figure it out before it’s too late or will they become the town’s next victims? Overall this was an enjoyable read! **Please review the trigger warnings in this one.

I loved the beautiful yet creepy cover and the synopsis of this book sounded so great. Unfortunately I felt like the prologue gave everything away and was the only scary part to the story. We the reader already have learned what’s happening in the town and why. Why do women stay in this town? Why hasn’t any females in the length of time since the town was founded discovered what’s happening to the missing women and why? Oh wait, the men all know. Yet women just stay? Not likely. Also the author did not include any real character descriptions like hair color, etc of any of the girls so they kind of blended together in my mind.

Admittedly maybe I’m not that target audience for this book as I’m not in the YA age bracket but I do love all things horror from kids books on up but this one missed the mark for me.

Thanks to the publisher for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book and I liked the writing. Unfortunately the ending was just so infuriating and disappointing that it made the entire book not worth it to me. I do still think Hannah is a talented author, and I appreciated the creepy vibes, but the ending totally ruined the entire thing for me.

Read if you like: Supernatural aspects, small towns, Indigenous representation

Wow. I loved the creepy vibes in this book. What an eerie town. It's the perfect amount of strange. It's very atmospheric. It read a bit on the slow side but I still enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down. The characters are very well-developed. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and St. Martin's Press/ Wednesday Books for the gifted e-book ❤️

This story revolves around 4 teenagers–young women who are fending for themselves after the strange disappearances of their mothers in the town of Bishop: a small Kansas town dominated by the supernatural and ominous presence of sunflowers and wind. From the beginning I felt on edge reading this story, that at any moment something disastrous or horrible could happen. The relationships between the 4 young women–twins Whitney and Jude, Delilah, and Bo–are central to this story. As are their relationships with their mothers–Ava, Indigo, and Cori–who are presumed dead after their disappearance two years ago. They must rely on themselves and each other to survive the looming threats around them. The supernatural aura of those threats also felt grounded in a familiar reality of patriarchy and power.

Despite the compelling theme and much that resonates about the four characters as they grapple with their experiences and identities as they enter adulthood, there were a couple plot points that didn’t make sense to me and were even inconsistent with the characters. The ending also didn’t wholly work for me. This book is for a young adult audience, and I think this is an instance where what would be satisfying for that audience didn't completely land for me.

I liked this story, but I didn’t love it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 3.5/5 stars.

Overall, I liked this story mainly for the spooky atmosphere vibes in Kansas and how it discussed men and the power they hold over women (very much patriarchal power). There is a lot of discussion about women and men, and I enjoyed how it had the spooky magical element of the men controlling wind to keep the women in town (and inevitably murder them). Each of the four girls have their own POV chapters and it alternates telling their individual stories while they also figure out the story of the town (and their missing mothers).

Besides the metaphorical and power discussions, it was okay. The pacing was super quick though, and I wish more explanation had been given for the girls and their "powers" and also the ending felt rushed.

This would 10/10 make a good TV show though.

Creepy story about a small Kansas town that has a horrific past! I was all in for most of the story. I loved the setting, the characters, and even wish there had been more about the girls' relationships with each other. But there was one thing near the end that kind of killed the whole thing for me. The author had so many other options and I was incredibly disappointed that this was the avenue chosen for the story line. I can't say more and it doesn't ruin the whole story, but it did leave a dissatisfied taste in my mouth. So if the premise sounds good to you, go for it, but be prepared for the awkward plot hole at the end.

I loved this book. I think it's going to have such a huge readership in YA fantasy, YA horror, and general speculative readers. It's so interesting and a little bit odd, to tell the truth, but I thought that was a fantastic thing. The author did an amazing job and since this is her debut I can't wait to see how she grows with future titles if she's setting the bar so high here.

This was something unexpected. I'm such a cover buyer, and this was, no exception, a cover request - wanted to read it based on the cover alone. It gave some creepy, horror vibes and this book was not that, but still good.

It is a creepy and dark story, though not a horror. It is magical realism about curses, and secrets, and bad things that happen to girls.

It had so many great themes, the whole idea behind the book is so good - it is the darkest truths on paper, about what it is women have to endure, and how it is usually hidden behind beautiful coverings. It hits close to home, as I see women around me currently struggling with this, with being overpowered, abused, used, and all for what? Power? Self love?

The story is about a town, where something dark has been happening - women who are "different" (I say it in parentheses as I think we're all different and beautiful, and it is not a bad thing), disappear. And it is excused, oh that's normal for a girl who is too loud, who is too brash, who is a fighter, etc. All the excuses, and no care in the world as it is the norm of this town. Until one day, all the bad things start to fester, and it starts to attract attention. Questions are being asked, the secrets are being revealed. And the four girls that are the main characters of this story find out what their actual reality is.

One thing bothered me about this book, were the main four girls were not strong as separate entities, and their characters didn't shine. They did not have their unique voices. But maybe thats the point - to interlace them, and not separate them, as every girls' destiny in this town was still the same.

The writing was lush and oppressive. It had some gothic vibes. And after reading this book, you wont look at sunflowers the same. Overall a good book.

Wednesday/St Martin's press... thank you! Where Darkness Blooms is a fascinating addition to what I consider an needed trend in modern day gothic stories that empower readers to see the lived lives of adolescent females today and offers perspectives on strength, found families, and resilience (the CDC recently reporting that 1 in 3 adolescent females today are struggling with trauma... this book reflects important timely themes). The writing is powerful, the multiple POVs are resonant, and the symbolism in sunflowers is deft and nuanced.

Recommended for fans of Wilder Girls, My Grace Year, and fans of Courtney Summers work.

Where Darkness Blooms is a YA supernatural thriller about four friends who’s mothers have all gone missing in a town where dead and missing women is the norm. Two years after, the town is putting up a memorial for the missing mothers, and that’s when secrets start being revealed.
This book is a little different than my expectations. This book is as much about the supernatural undercurrent in the town that causes weird things, like the feeling of being watched and women regularly going missing, but it’s just as much about what happened two years ago at this bonfire all the characters went together that was also the night their mothers disappeared. There are secrets the town is keeping, but also normal teenager secrets that the characters are keeping from each other.
Speaking of, Delilah, Bo, Whitney, and Jude were all fine protagonists, but I think having four POVs was to the detriment of the book. Our attention was stretched too thin and that left some of the girls feeling flat. Really, Bo felt like the most fleshed out character of all of them, and I just wanted more and more from this angry, messy character.
I especially wanted more from Whitney, who’s mourning the loss of her girlfriend. I felt like there could’ve been more done with queerness in Middle America and what is said earlier in the book, how women who don’t “kick up a fuss” don’t disappear.
I rated this book 3.25 stars! The majority of the book was just ‘ok’ for me, but the ending really got to me.

Where Darkness Blooms embodies suspense from the very beginning. From chapter one, the reader knows that there's something sinister in this town. We aren't exactly sure what, but we know that ghosts haunt their steps and blood seeps out from the cracks. Hannah takes the reality that this community and the authorities which don't take the missing and dead women and girls seriously and adds a supernatural twist. In many ways, you can read it as a story which examines lives which go missing to 'serve' the powers at be, the narratives in place.

But Hannah creates a dangerous supernatural story as well. Of wind that whispers and gut instincts that twist our stomachs. You're never really sure if it's the wind or echoes of your own thoughts reflected back at you. There's a distinct sense of suspense and tension oozing from every page. And at the core of Where Darkness Blooms is friendship. Not only between Jude, Whitney, Delilah and Bo's mothers, but also between them. The cracks that form, the secrets we keep, and the hopes we harbor.

3.5

“Bishop just wasn't the kind of place that could satisfy restless, hungry women with sharp edges.”

A small town, missing women, creeping dread, and a mysterious curse. All of these are things that drew me to this book, and there were many things to like as relationships were tested, mysteries were investigated, and secrets were revealed.


Some things I liked:

🌻 The found family aspect of books is always my favorite, and I enjoyed seeing the different personalities each main character brought to their friend group.

🌻 There was some excellent creeping dread as the reader is trying to figure out what’s going on and why.

🌻 There are many flawed characters, and none of them are picture perfect.

🌻 I really enjoyed the symbols, like the wind and the sunflowers.



Some things I didn’t:

🌻 I felt like parts of the book dragged heavily, and it took me a long time to finish it because it didn’t quite hold my attention consistently.

🌻 One of the characters was kind of redeemed in a way that felt undeserved, and I can’t say I agree with this choice. Really, I’m just not sure I vibed with the ending in general.


Overall I did enjoy the book, but I felt like the premise was better than the execution. That being said, it was a debut and I’d definitely be interested in seeing what the author comes up with next!