This book is creepy and weird. And to be honest, I just couldn't get a handle on the characters or the writing style. Also I have so many more questions now then I did before. If you like strangely off putting books, this one might be for you.

The book blurb drew me in, and the prologue was significantly creepy enough to pique my interest further, but I didn't love it. The story itself was ok and the characters were interesting in their own different ways. I have no issue with the supernatural, but I find it odd that the "town" allowed 4 teenagers to live alone with no explanation as to why that was a valid solution or that the town has to be 75% male by now, but none of the other residents find this odd or if they do, it is not mentioned. I did like the explanation of the sunflowers, but I was not a fan of the ending and can't explain why without spoiling the story, so I will leave it there.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press-Wednesday Books, and Andrea Hannah for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC!!

Content warning for rape (not on page, but talked about multiple times)

There was a lot about this that I liked! I love a weird sentient location, like when the setting for the story is a character unto itself? LOVE that. It worked very well here, I think! I did not ever think I’d find myself creeped out by sunflowers but here we are!

I also enjoyed the four girls—some more than others, but they were all good! I was impressed at how individual they all felt within the story. The author did a great job of making them all feel like distinct characters with their own motivations and traits.

The end felt a little lackluster to me, but it was still fine. I did appreciate the focus on healing/moving forward/etc. I did not like that it felt like I was supposed to feel bad for Bennett? He can die. He should have died. I don’t care.

Overall, I did enjoy this! It has a good, atmospheric vibe and it was easy to read for sure.

Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah is a title that totally caught my eye. Plus, that cover is pretty eye catching as well. The story has a great prologue that made me want to keep going. The storyline has quite a hook, but the pacing drags a bit though it does have an unsettling atmosphere. The main issue I had with this story is that the cast needs to be more fleshed out. I had to remind myself constantly about who's who.

This book was not for me. I found it to be trying to be too much, yet also not very interesting. Each character didn't feel like they had a distinct voice, and I found it hard to keep everyone straight. I also wasn't a fan of the premise, and the ending reveal did not leave me satisfied. I wish there had been so many more feelings and tension present. I hope this finds the right readers.

I was sucked into this book solely because of the cover. That was probably a mistake. This book has great tense feelings throughout the entire book. However, I wasn't a fan of the writing and I felt the premise of the book just barely missed the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for early access to Where Darkness Blooms in exchange for a honest review!

This. Book. I’ve spent the past two days eager to learn just what was going to happen next in Bishop. The characters are dynamic, flawed in ways you can’t help but feel for, and just wanting a taste of freedom from this town that’s taking so much from them all.

I did get teary eyed around 70% in, and I can still feel it now that I’ve finished reading this amazing story. I truly adore this book and can’t wait to see what the author will write next!

5 stars!

"Delilah thought there could be something very wrong with the sunflowers, then why not the wind? Strangeness didn't discriminate between flowers and the breeze."

This book follows 4 teenagers who are trying to put their life back together and carry on after their mothers all disappear on the same day. This isn't uncommon in the small town of Bishop, Kansas - women go missing or mysteriously pass away from heart attacks or natural causes. Delilah just wants her sisters to move on, but Bo simply refuses to believe her mother would ever just leave her behind.

Wow, I was hurt, angry, so upset, and yet in love, with every one of these girls as I read their story. The changing POV between chapters kept me on my toes as the girls work to uncover the secret history of their town and their missing mothers.

I appreciate that the author included a content warning of sorts at the beginning, especially since this covers some harder topics at times and it is geared towards a YA audience. I still recommend it for adults though as this gripped me the entire read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for supplying me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved the different narrators for the different POVs. I especially loved the found family essence of this, and the spooky town. Gorgeous and well written with a delightfully perfect cover to match it!

A midwestern folk horror perfect for fans of Rory Power, Where Darkness Blooms is the story of five teenage girls fighting in every way they can against a town that can't be content with already taking everything from them. The multiple POVs may not be for everyone, but each of the four protagonists feels fleshed out in a way that highlights both their best qualities and their flaws. Unafraid to be angry while showcasing all the different ways the world betrays adolescent girls, this book weaves a tale of oppressive patriarchy that never feels like a caricature.

This one is more of a 3.5 for me but I just didn't round up to 4 stars. Our book starts off interestingly creepy with a quick backstory on our land. It's vague but intriguing and has you sucked in for more. Once we hit "modern-day" is when our pacing slows and things get a little distracted. Our main character all lost their mothers on the same day and no one really knows why. Now no one is really surprised considering the town has a history of this happening to girls. Which absolutely no one has really questioned it seems like. We cut between povs of the girls to find out what led them to the day their mother disappears and so on. I enjoyed the creepy factor we're given and the great tension that built up the entire book, the pacing had me flicking through but I was adamant about sticking to it because I wanted to know what happened. Everyone around them seems super suspicious the entire time to me and none of it really sits right, and when you do find out some truth you'll be happy you questioned everyone's motives from the start.

**I was provided a digital ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

For this work, please review content warnings prior to reading. The author is courteous enough to provide a list of content warnings prior to beginning the body of work.

Andrea Hannah presents Where Darkness Blooms, a young adult supernatural thriller centered on the small town of Bishop. Bishop is a town with a history of dead and missing women. Bishop is also a town with vicious windstorms that sprout up whenever certain topics are spoken about. The windstorms last until everyone goes home. There are fields of sunflowers. The sunflowers keep watch. When the mothers of Bo, Delilah, and twins Whitney and Jude join the ranks of missing women, the girls realize they need to find out what is happening in Bishop.

I liked the incorporation of the supernatural into the story of Bishop. The small town vibes and the sense of tension as the girls go about learning the history of the town was exactly the sort of thing I like. I even liked the explanations provided regarding how Bishop came to be as it is.

I absolutely did not like the explanations provided regarding how and why the girls' mothers went missing. I very much disliked the neat and tidy ending with the vaguest hint of open-ended quality.

As such, I am left feeling conflicted about how to feel about this work overall, which is made no easier by the fact that I was not overly attached to any of our four main characters. I think that this work did accomplish what it set out to do, but I am, at best, unsatisfied with the way things ended.

I would still recommend this book to other readers, as I believe that a majority of my issues with this book are personal taste problems and not necessarily issues with the work.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read this work early and hope that this book finds its audience.

Where Darkness Blooms is a powerful and chilling story. The women in the town of Bishop have never been safe. They have always gone missing and there is always an excuse ready. When four girls all lose their mothers at the same time, they are the only ones in the town who seem concerned. Sisters Jude and Whitney have a complex relationship with each other and their mother. Delilah examines the clues her mother left behind, while struggling to be with her boyfriend. Bo wants answers, no matter the danger. All four girls must work together to uncover the secrets of the bloodthirsty town and find out what really happened to their mothers.

What a gripping and compelling read; I couldn’t put this down! All of the girls are complicated and flawed characters, making for intense scenes as they uncover what happened to the women who were never supposed to leave them. I loved the little details that the author included as clues for what was really going on. Where Darkness Blooms tackles sisterhood, motherhood, and neglect. It is powerful and at times difficult to read. Andrea Hannah depicts the sinister way people may react when a woman goes missing, from fear to denial to excuses. The book is woven through with contemporary magic that was horrific and fascinating to read about. I would recommend this for readers of Elizabeth Kilcoyne (Wake the Bones), Shea Ernshaw (A History of Wild Places) and Erin Craig (Small Favors).

Where Darkness Blooms releases February 21, 2023. Thank you to Andrea Hannah, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

I liked this one. I find myself to be more forgiving with Young Adult novels for some reason. The characters were interesting, and I'm always a sucker for setting as a character. There were some plot holes when it comes to why the characters get where they're going. I also wasn't a fan of the disconnect of the prologue and the actual meat of the book - which seemed to be indicative of larger pacing issues.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook and reader copy of Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah in exchange for an honest review. I really liked this story of sacrifice, love, oppression and hope. I thought it was wonderfully written and it was nice getting the different viewpoints of different characters. I felt like the reader was able to better understand, sympathize and forgive the girls more by switching narratives.

This was probably one of the most bizarre and unique books I’ve read in a while. The story itself was very interesting and slowly unfolded in a truly ominous and uneasy way. I felt a little confused at the beginning. It was almost as if I had been dropped in the middle of the story, but as I kept reading, the pieces fell into place and it made more sense. I did feel like it dragged in a few places, but I wasn’t ever bored during this story. I was more intrigued to see where it was going. I liked having all four of the girls’ POVs and also the town’s prologue and epilogue. I thought that was a really cool touch. The action scenes did feel a little confusing at times, especially when one chapter ended and another began. I had to go back a few times as the POVs changed to remember what was happening to each girl. The overall ending was well done, with the exception of a character getting redemption that I didn’t feel like deserved it. I did enjoy this book for the most part, but I didn’t feel like the story completely grabbed me or that I fully connected with it. However, I’d still recommend it for people who want a creepy, ominous story of female power and friendship.
TW: mentions of sexual assault, violence, murder, injury

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

this was so eerie and haunting, i loved it! the writing was great and the entire story felt very immersive. sometimes fantasy is really hit or miss for me but i really enjoyed this.

The town of Bishop, Kansas is not a good place.
In fact, if you are a woman, it is basically a death sentence.
Why?
The land feeds off the blood of others.
Yikes!!

This story centers on four teen girls who are basically orphaned. There really isn't much talk about their fathers, but on one day two years ago, their three mothers up and disappeared. Did they just abandon the girls? Or were they killed?
Whitney, Jude, Bo and Delilah seek answers to these questions. Or die trying.

Other than the prologue, it isn't clear what is going on in Bishop, but weather, specifically wind, is used to control the town's citizens. It seems every time one of the girls’ challenges what is going on in town, a massive wind storm pops up to stop them. But these girls are fighters. Individually, they question their situation, some more aggressively than others. However, with time, they come together as a group to stand up for what is very clear - the town believes they are expendable.

I loved the creep factor in this book, so original. And I admired how hard the girls fought back when the odds seemed to be against them.

Overall, this was a fascinating and creative story that kept me engaged throughout. If you like darker YA themes, this is worth checking out.

Wow, this beautifully haunting story just pulled me right it, like I was in the town of Bishop with the girls. The brutality they faced from a cursed land, and their fight to find out more about their mothers’ disappearances just took my breath away. A must read.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book, it's based in a small town with terrifying secrets. If you love horror books, this is a must read. The female cast was strong and sassy in their own ways. This book will make you wonder if you can ever truly trust someone.