I am catching up on my reviews, so this one is a bit old. The town in this book is cursed, and residents need to give the ground blood - I don’t remember exactly why. The story is told from four girls POV, each one the daughter of a woman that goes missing on the same night. They join together to try and figure out what happened as they are dealing with grief, and secrets of their own. As the story goes, more women go missing, including the girlfriend of one of the main girls.

Overall, the book wasn’t terrible, but there were a lot of plot holes and a lot of the characters seemed one dimensional to me. However, I did finish it and was fairly satisfied with the ending!

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Potential TRIGGER WARNING: brief mention of r*PE, on page description but nothing graphic/through flashbacks.......... probably a 4.25? Still debating (7/10/24)
(Edit 7/16/24) Okay, I think I finally found what I wanted to write. First of all, this book is told through multiple POVs, so if that's not your thing then maybe skip this one.
Long story short, the blood of innocent women, of all ages, is used to feed the land. Why? Not entirely sure but from what I understood, it needs that blood in order to be able to let anything grow. The town itself prospers/holds life because of this "offering". The founder of the town used a bit of his own and I'm guessing that's what bonded him to the land. Anyway, the story is told through the POVs of the daughters of 3 missing women. Delilah, Bo, Jude and Whitney. Each girl is dealing with the disappearance of the moms in different ways. Whitney, Delilah and Bo are all actively trying to find a reason or clue as to why/how their mothers left and..... personally I feel like Jude was more caught up in her crush than anything else. Her crush being Delilah's current boyfriend and as we later find out, part of the family that feeds blood to the cursed land. And yes, I feel bad saying this but I feel like that was literally the only thing that defined this character. Sounds harsh yes but she gave all her trust and benefit of doubt to some guy when her sister was SEVERELY INJURED. And SHE KNEW, SHE KNEW the place they were taking her to get "treated" wasn't even a real hospital (small town and all) and yet....she didn't find it urgent to go with her? Instead let this guy tell her to "wait in the car, while he took care of it"? Yeah no. Guy's name is Bennett by the way 😆. Anyway, I think the thing that annoyed me the most about Bennett and Jude's relationship was that he manipulated her and Delilah both. He strung Jude along, told her he'd rather be with her, that it was always her on his mind and yet he called himself Delilah's boyfriend? Despite him and Delilah (for some odd reason) not being able to physically touch without causing her some type of intense pain(although this is actually sort of explained why toward the end of the book when the bad guy's evil plans are revealed and what not)? The story itself was good, the mystery as to why the town was weird, had weird freak weather and sinister sunflowers definitely kept me reading but Bennett and Jude's characters keep me from giving it a 5 star rating......they were just..... infuriating to say the least. And then (SPOILER) Bennett gets a small redemption arc?????!!!!!! Out of nowhere? Despite being a passive accomplice to everything? He suddenly gets a change of heart? Also a "yeah no" moment for me. It was a good story but expect some characters to get on your nerves ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I am currently supporting the boycott against St. Martin’s Press until they respond to influencer’s concerns about safety, inequality, systemic issues at hand and also meet the demands of the boycott. I am looking forward to leaving an updated review for this book once the demands are met.

Based on the cover I was really intrigued by this read, even more so when the synopsis dropped. Unfortunately, it did not hold my attention the way I had hoped. Overall, it felt a bit muddied and hard to unravel but not in the fun, edge of your seat, who-dunnit, kind of way. Just in a way that made me want to set it down and not pick it back up for awhile.

This cover looks way too much like alot of other books right now. IDK what the craze it but it makes it hard for me to remember what book is which. This however did stick with me and the story really played well to it. I just wish it gave us a bit more.

Andrea Hannah has crafted a gripping thriller that moonlights as a scathing review of the patriarchy. I love watching these girls struggle with each other, themselves, and their town. Also I will never look at sunflowers the same way again.

Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah

320 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
Release Date: February 21, 2023

Fiction, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Teens, Young Adult, Creepy Town

Bishop, Kansas is a cursed town. The ground calls for blood. To say the town is creepy to say the least. It is surrounded by sunflowers as if to keep in the inhabitants. Its founder made a sacrifice of his wife when they arrived.

Delilah Cortez, Bo Wagner, Whitney and Jude Montgomery live together in Bishop, Kansas. Two years ago, all their mothers vanished one evening when the girls were at a bonfire. Six months ago, Whitney’s girlfriend, Eleanor Craft, was found dead. Although she was an athlete, they were told she died of a heart attack. William, Caleb and Bennett Harding are distant descendants from the town’s founder.

This is written in a Stephen King style. I really wanted to love this book. The pace was okay, the characters were somewhat developed, and it was written in the third person point of view. I thought the premise was good, but the teenagers were so similar it was easy to get them confused. I also thought the idea of female sacrifice was a bit much. If you like young adult sci fi/fantasy books, you may like this story.

Bishop, Kansas, appears to be a classic Midwest town, with fields of sunflowers and wind storms that keep everyone hunkered down. But Bishop is no ordinary place, and darker secrets lie beneath. Literally beneath. As in the soil itself, which manifested a lust for human blood a century ago. Since then, raging wind storms keep the town’s population from venturing far afield, those fields being endless stretches of sunflowers that seem to be watching everything that happens.

Today, four girls have banded together, sharing a dusty, broken-down house after their mothers mysteriously disappear. In addition, equally mysterious deaths—always women—including the girlfriend of Whitney, one of the girls. The friends have their own secrets: Jude, Whitney’s sister, had a fling with her friend Delilah’s boyfriend; Delilah can’t stand anyone’s touch, including the boyfriend’s; and Bo’s perpetual anger hides a trauma she can’t speak of. During the memorial for the missing mothers, the storm reveals a terrible secret that sets the girls off on a mission to discover what’s really going on.

With the exception of the (very brief) prolog that establishes the thirst of the soil for blood, the story kept me turning pages, engaged with the characters, alternately terrified for them, rejoicing in their strength and insights, hoping that at least one of them gets a happy ending, and ready to strangle the men than keep them in windy chains. All in all, this was a great read. I’ll be looking out for the author’s next.

OKay, I am SO SO mad at myself that I didn't get to this sooner. I can't recommend this enough. It's one that you'll want on your shelf. I couldn't wait to snag a physical copy!

Andrea Hannah's "Where Darkness Blooms" is a haunting, atmospheric novel that blends mystery and magical realism against the eerie backdrop of a windswept Midwestern town. When three more women inexplicably vanish in Bishop, a place known for both its endless sunflower fields and disappearing women, their daughters are left to untangle the dark secrets their mothers Left behind.
Hannah's prose has a hypnotic, lyrical quality that perfectly captures the town's ominous yet beautiful desolation. The harsh, unforgiving landscape acts as both a symbolic and literal windstorm, whipping up long-buried truths that the four young women must confront. The novel deftly oscillates between gritty realism and feverish supernatural elements, keeping readers deliciously off-balance.
At its core, "Where Darkness Blooms" is a poignant exploration of grief, trauma, and the suffocating lies families can tell themselves. The intricate dynamics between the four protagonists - Delilah, Whitney, Jude, and Bo - form the beating heart of the narrative. Hannah renders their frayed relationships and inner turmoils with empathy and nuance as they struggle to escape the town's haunting legacy.
While steeped in an aura of gothic dread, the novel ultimately blossoms into a luminous meditation on resilience, confronting one's demons, and the transformative power of female bonds. Hannah's captivating storytelling will linger like Bishop's cloying perfume of sunflowers and sorrow long after the final page.
Atmospheric, haunting, and Lyrically spellbinding, "Where Darkness Blooms" announces Andrea Hannah as a unique new voice in contemporary fiction. A must-read for fans of grounded magical realism and poignant human stories cloaked in an aura of mystery.

An engaging read that I thoroughly enjoyed! Creepy and amazing! Highly recommend and will purchase several physical and digital copies for library collections. Thank you!!

I probably shouldn’t have accepted this arc when I was offered because it really isn’t my kind of book. The creepy American Midwest setting and the horror elements are completely out of my comfort zone and the messy plus boring writing didn’t really invite me in. However, it’s probably more of a me issue and others might find it more to their liking.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review! Unfortunately, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

While there was some real great representation in this book, the story was unfortunately very repetitive and lacked on execution.

I was obsessed with the idea of this book and the prologue really drew me in. I love small-town horror and the idea of the town itself being a bad entity keeping people within its boundaries was such an interesting vibe. Unfortunately, this book was riddled with plot holes and indistinct characters. I am also confused by there being about 3 sapphic characters but having a more straight romance.

✨ PRINCEMAN REVIEW ✨

📝 Four teen girls live together and are forever linked by a mystery or curse surrounding them. Their moms disappeared on the same night, never seen or heard from again. The sunflowers know the secrets, and disappearances seem to continually happen. Can they work together to break the curse? Or, is it destined to happen to them?

What I 🤍:
😱 YA Horror
🌻 Creative Plot Idea
🏚️ Small Town Vibes
❓ Disappearing Women

This book had such a creative plot idea with murderous sunflowers. However, I felt lost in the four perspectives. They didn't really stand out to me, so sometimes I mixed them up.

Overall, this story is perfect for those wanting to dive into the horror genre. It will give you a little scare, but won't keep you up at night.

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

With a constant and creeping sense of atmospheric dread, Where Darkness Blooms was a delightfully twisty character-driven horror/suspense novel that had me hooked immediately!

I love books with a strong focus on atmosphere and immersion and Andrea Hannah weaves a dark and mysterious tale with interesting characters and beautiful writing. While not all elements of this book worked as well as I personally hoped for, I was overall enamoured with the setting and the premise.

I loved the cover of this book, it's what caught my attention. The synopsis then drew me in pretty quick. Unfortunately, the book did not live up to the hype of the cover and synopsis for me though. It was a hard read to get through.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy in exchange for an honest opinion. Review has been posted on Amazon.