Toto, I've a feeling we're still in Kansas.

Women have been disappearing from the town of Bishop for years. But almost no one ever leaves. Something about the mysterious whispering land with its thousands and thousands of swaying sunflowers seem to trap everyone like a tightly bound bouquet. And then a group of girls band together after their moms disappear to try and find answers and leave the town and it's terrible secrets behind for good.

I'm not sure what to think about Where Darkness Blooms. It's not my usual type of read. It starts out with a creepy spooky vibes prologue that draws you in immediately. But after the prologue, things seem to fizzle. The povs aren't always distinct. Nothing really ever happens except a lot of situationship square dancing. I still have no idea who the actual couples were supposed to be. Everybody was in love with someone who was in love with someone else who *shocker* was in love with someone else. In the end, the conclusion didn't make me feel satisfied. What happens if someone starts the (fingerquote)thing(fingerquote) all over again? Not much is made clear.

I read Where Darkness Blooms on audio and really enjoyed the narrators. They were probably the biggest reason I finished the book. And it was something to listen to on my work commutes.


***Thank you to Netgalley, Wednesday Books, and OrangeSky Audio for providing me with a review copy.

I started reading this book late at night and read 54% the first night, that is how good this book is. While my boyfriend played games I read this book until 1 am and read the other half the next day, all while having Covid.
The setting was so eerie and the atmosphere was amazing. The descriptions, of how the small town works was vivid. I loved how diverse the characters were.
Without giving too much away, the found family trope is what I really loved. The way the four girls became sisters and protectors of one another was beautiful. If I have to pick my favorite character it would be Bo, she was fierce.

More of my review coming to my IG

dnf @ 40%

I was definitely intrigued by Where Darkness Blooms, and I do want to know what was causing the deaths/disappearances and what the sunflowers had to do with everything going on in the town, but unfortunately, I was so bored and it felt like such a slog to get through so I decided not to finish it

The town of Bishop is a place that outsiders don’t visit. In fact, the people who live here never leave, almost as if a spell has been cast preventing anyone from departing. That can’t be true though right? I mean after all, in a town that seems to consume women, no one would stay unless they wanted to or something wouldn’t let them go. So perhaps there is more to Bishop than meets the eye.
What if your mother just vanished? In Bishop, it doesn’t even raise an eyebrow. Would that make you look more closely at all the women who have died or disappeared mysteriously? Delilah, Bo, Whitney, and Jude are now part of that club, the one where they have no idea what happened to their mother’s They soon start looking at things that they always took for granted and they learn more,especially the way the wind can whip up a ferocious storm, taking the town apart almost as if Bishop has a mind of its own.
Such an unputdownable story. I just had to know what was wrong in Bishop and if Delilah, Bo, Jude, and Whitney had any chance of figuring out what is going on in this town. He is a We follow each of their POVs and learn that they each have secrets, weaknesses, and strengths. Creepy, creepy, creepy.As someone who grows sunflowers every year, I will never look at them following the sun in the same way again. I really enjoyed this story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC! This book was pretty heavy, pretty stressful, but it's just. wow. I mean. wowwwww. I have to say, the first thing that stood out to me was the cover. I've loved pretty much every book I've read with this sort of style of cover, and this did not disappoint.
The author's writing and mind is just amazing. All the different plot lines are amazing, with the sunflowers, the happy (ish) ending, the mothers, the Hardings, the winds, all of it. They all came together to create a sinister, creepy atmosphere.
I loved the main characters. They all felt really raw and real, and the whole found family trope fit really well. The descriptions of the characters and the scenery were so real they made me feel like I was in the book. I loved the feminist angle too. I think my favorite character was Whitney, and I'm glad she found peace with Eleanor (however much she could get) and happiness with Alma.
I do think that the intense nature of the book made me take longer to read this than I would have with another book, however, because I needed a break after reading it for too long. It also didn't hook me until about 40-50 percent of the way through the book, possibly for this reason. That's really my only complaint though.

I'm just not going to connect with this one sadly. No fault of its own, I'm just not in the headspace to enjoy this right now.
The book is creepy, the main characters are interesting and feel real and fleshed out. I love the freaky back story of the town. I'll revisit later in the year.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC!

I picked up this ARC solely for the cover. Stunning. But the book itself was also stunning, in a twisted, creepy kind of way.

It's totally normal for sunflowers to talk to you, right? For the wind to whisper to you? Nothing to see here.

I picked up this ARC solely for the cover. I didn’t know what it was about, just that I needed to find out.

This was a unique concept for a familiar story. There’s evil in a small town consuming the men, targeting the women. I liked the dynamic between the girls and the fact that they had intermingling conflicts with each other and weren’t just living happily.

But the boys - gosh those Harding boys rubbed me the wrong way right from the start. I felt very much like Jude and Delilah; wistfully obsessed with them without being able to really figure out why.

That was a huge drive forward for me. The desire - no, the need - to know what was going on with these boys.

An interesting read, a satisfying ending, and a hell of a beautiful cover.

"Andrea Hannah's Where Darkness Blooms is a supernatural thriller about an eerie town where the sunflowers whisper secrets and the land hungers for blood.

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."

Sunflowers fed on blood and women.

The narration was fantastic in this book, kept me invested when the story started out a little slow. It did pick up and with four girls to follow you, as they try to live their lives after their moms disappear. They have no idea what happened to them but the town kind of just accepts that women go missing here. The paced picked up about midway all the way to the end, I loved that the signs were small at first and then then starting seeing them everywhere. I did have some problem with the believability of some of things that happen, not the magic part of it but choices that are made or things believed.


Thank you to Wendsey books and NetGalley for my review copy.

"Where blood had been spilled, sunflowers grew over the unmarked graves."

Welcome to the town of Bishop, Kansas, known for its fierce windstorms and endless fields of sunflowers. With countless women dead, missing or lost without consequence and the shattered lives left behind, Bishop was a town filled with so many dangerous hidden secrets and unexplained occurrences, threatening women especially as it took away the possibility of ever escaping its hold. In a town founded on blood with land that always craved more, with echoes of words on the wind and sunflowers that always seemed to be sentient and watching, never dying, what was really going on in this eerie town?

"They’re never going to let us leave Bishop. We’re going to be trapped in this town until they kill us all, one by one."

Where Darkness Blooms is an atmospheric supernatural thriller that pulled me in with its stunning cover and kept me enthralled throughout its entirety. This was the story of four teenage girls who had lost their mothers to the town and were trying to pick up the pieces and move forward with their lives while trying to explain the mystery surrounding their mothers' disappearance.

Each of the girls also harbored secrets of her own. Delilah diligently looked out for the others to keep them safe and protected but she couldn't bear the touch of her boyfriend, Bennett. Whitney was trying to deal with the loss of her mother as well as her girlfriend, Eleanor, finding solace in the whispers of an old weathervane. Her twin sister, Jude, was quiet and trying to ignore it all but she felt the pain of others deeply and she was hiding a summer fling with Delilah's boyfriend. And Bo wanted to finally get answers to what really happened to their mothers but why was she always so angry?

I loved everything about this story! It was truly unique in both the storyline and the details. With well-developed characters and a captivating setting, I felt like I was right there with the girls, feeling their emotions and experiencing everything they went through, especially in how they could see only what others wanted them to see. Multiple twists and turns embedded in a sense of urgency kept me turning the pages and rooting for the girls.

The story itself contained so many layers, shedding light on friendship and forbidden love, jealousy and betrayal, grief and loss. It was about sacrifice and destiny and paying for the sins of our ancestors. Ultimately, it was a lesson in standing up for what you believe in and in women reclaiming their power, opening up the possibilities of everything the future may hold. Not many books can go in so many different directions and pull it all together into a cohesive story, but this one did it flawlessly. This was absolutely a solid five stars for me and I don't hesitate to wholeheartedly recommend reading it.

"This time, when the wind threaded itself through her hair, she welcomed it. It felt like freedom."

** Special thanks to St. Martin's Press / Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Quotes subject to change at time of publication. Available February 21, 2023. **

Where Darkness Blooms is a wonderfully eerie horror story about a piece of land that craves blood and the women who are sacrificed to it. Bishop, Kansas has a strange pattern of women accidentally dying and disappearing. Almost no woman is safe from the curse, certainly not Delilah, Bo, Whitney and Jude whose mothers all disappeared two years ago without a trace. Wishing in the backs of their minds that their mother’s may still be alive, while at the same time not wanting to believe they would abandon their daughters in the dead end town of Bishop, the girls struggle with their grief and tenuous relationships with one another.

Delilah, the oldest, is the caretaker. Bo, the youngest, is so angry it hurts, but she is also brave. Whitney and Jude, the twins, are about as different as twins can be, they’ve never experienced the twin connection that supposedly links so many pairs. Whitney is the adventurous one, never afraid to speak her mind. And Jude is the soft one; she feels so deeply it can be unbearable. These four girls, connected by their mother’s friendship, live together at the house on the edge of Bishop, attempting to take care of one another since the fateful night two years ago when their mother’s disappeared and so many things changed. Bo not only lost her mother that night, but she lost everything when Caleb Harding raped her. Jude lost the boy she loved, Bennet Harding, to Delilah and she has had to watch their relationship, trying to disguise her feelings, ever since. Whitney lost the chance to introduce her mother to her girlfriend, Eleanor Craft, who Whitney confessed her love for 6 months ago on the night before Eleanor dies of supposed natural causes. Worst of all the wind seems to have become angrier since that night, storming so often that boarding up inside their homes has become the normal routine in Bishop, and the sunflowers that surround the town seem to have taken on a life of their own, moving in impossible directions and whispering to the girls.

Told in an alternating point of view from all four of the girls, we are really able to connect with each of the characters. Though only getting to spend one out of four chapters in each characters’ head did make it a bit difficult to get settled in to their perspective, but I think that was okay because the story itself is unsettling and the stark differences between each girl helped contribute to that overall vibe that I loved so much. And that really was the highlight of the novel for me; the atmosphere of this novel was just delightful. I loved the setting of the creepy, maze-like sunflower fields, and the oppressive wind that essentially holds the entire town captive. It really conveys the feeling that something is not quite right in the town of Bishop, and that feeling builds at the perfect pace, so that readers are realizing it right along with the characters.

This novel was also about the power of women, rising up, even from beyond the grave, to fight back against misogynistic traditions. Only women are chosen by the land and killed by its devoted servants, the descendants of the town founder, who are given power over the wind to keep the women trapped and awaiting their untimely end. I think it’s biggest downfall in this area was the fact that every single man in this story was awful, even the ones with minor redeemable qualities give off such negative vibes. Because it’s a horror novel, and one about women coming into their power at that, this worked for me, but I do think it could come off a bit preachy for some.

At it’s core Where Darkness Blooms is just the right amount of creepy, in a thrilling exploration of small town life, with feminist undertones. Fans of atmospheric horror will gobble this one up, and it’s always nice to have a girl power horror novel to share.

First, this cover! *GASP* Absolutely stunning and really draws you in.

Second, the blurb, yes! Drew you in again.

The story.. fell flat. I think the main reason for this book just not hitting right for me was the fact that there is about 50 characters to try and keep up with. I was constantly having to back track to see who was who. The plot developed nicely but a bit lackluster.

WAR IS OVER! I began reading this in August, and it is now January.

This cover is stunning in every way. Even for someone who doesn't frequently read horror or thrillers, the plot was quite compelling. But as I've already mentioned, it did take me a while to finish because it revolves around so many people that it's difficult to fully develop them in a short period of time. I still don't remember everyone. However, I believe my opinions are a little biased because I read this book just before my final, and finishing a book you've been reading since August is a tremendous relief. Additionally, that little acknowledgment was the perfect finishing touch. Although I believe there could have been improvements made, concentrating more on a single character to really develop their personality and connections to create the creepy universe would undoubtedly make this novel much better. The climactic moments also needed to be clearer and continue longer because I felt like they were lacking and left me hanging.

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

A big thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and of course Andrea Hannah for providing me with an eARC of this book. I am voluntarily leaving a review, all opinions are my own.

I wanted to absolutely love this book, I mean the cover is gorgeous and it sounds so good when you read the description, but it just fell short for me in some ways. I felt like the execution just wasn't quite there for me, with some plot holes throughout and muddled character convictions.

It was interesting, and as things started to come together, I definitely enjoyed the last little chunk. But I guessed so much of it from nearly the beginning and it took away a lot of the experience of the book for me. It was dark and twisted though, and I know that many people will enjoy this book.

The one thing I liked the most was the friendship, the family bonds amongst the girls.

Absolutely amazing! This gripping tale will sink its teeth in you and not let go until you are done. The story of 4 girls and their fight to save themselves and the town, but also avenge women and girls throughout the town's founding. This book will stick with me for a long time and will be recommended to anyone who is a fan of dystopia/mystery.

First off can we take a minute to appreciate how beautiful this cover is?!
Who doesn’t like a book set around a small town filled with secrets?
I love a book with multiple POV’s, but sometimes less is more. When you get into more than 2 characters POV it’s hard to keep track sometimes. I felt that way a bit with this books 4 POV’s.

Overall I did enjoy the book though, and would recommend it to others.

I get what this book was trying to do, but I don't know how successful the execution was. It is riddled with plot holes and motivations that don't make sense. It is clearly trying to evoke similar themes to The Handmaids Tale (the book is explicitly referenced in the text if it wasn't obvious) but I ultimately felt very meh about it. The prologue is great, creepy and very intriguing. But then it went sideways.

Where Darkness Blooms is a YA horror novel set in a mid-western small town with a long history of women disappearing and creepy sunflowers that want blood. It follows four girls who are kind of like sisters (two of them are actually twins) who live together after their mothers disappeared two years ago. It's a novel trying to tackle murdered and missing women, rape culture, and patriarchy writ large albeit through unexplained supernatural means.

Some of the problems with this book are more general. These include the fact that the four perspective characters are not very distinct (this might have done better with just one or two perspectives) but I'm not sure how to really talk about this without being spoilery, so here is your spoiler warning...



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Here are some of the things I had issues with:

- The fact that ALL THREE of their mothers left their kids behind knowing how dangerous it was was just not believable. And then the fact that they are easily forgiven and we get this female utopia ending is is even less believable.

- The fact that the men at the center of this had some kind of magical attraction capability really muddies the waters. It is an attempt to make the women less culpable for things like cheating with a sisters boyfriend, and explain how it went on for so long. But it never really made sense and sexual assault or violence against women don't require this kind of magic.

- Really? No one in the town figured out there wasn't a hospital? Stuff like that is strange and unexplained.

- I can't tell if the ending was breaking the curse by killing the villainous men (hmm, interesting choice for a YA novel) or the one surviving boy spilling some of his own blood to the flowers (also doesn't make a lot of sense?). It's unclear, which is part of the problem. If this is going to be a revenge story, at least be decisive about it.

- Why do the flowers crave the blood of women? We don't know. Does this make the men less culpable for their own choices? What about the ones who knew about it and supported it? Is this actually justice? I don't think so but I'm left with a lot of questions.

- What happened to all the other people in town??? What about justice for everyone else? I hate novels like this that are pseudo-feminist but end up with these very individualistic endings. Technically there's a small group of survivors in this case, but the point stands. I don't think this book is actually doing what it thinks it's doing.

I see what the intended project of this book was, but ultimately it kind of failed in execution. The prose itself is reasonably good and there are definitely some creepy or interesting moments, but overall it was disappointing and just okay. The audio narration is done well though. I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

2.5/5 stars! The cover of this book is absolutely stunning. I can't stop staring at it. When I read the premise about a creepy, maybe supernatural, town that craves the blood of the females who live there, I was excited to jump in. My issue with this book is the pacing. You immediately are thrown into the action, which is ... umm fine I guess. But then the rest of the novel is so darn slow you can barely wade through it. The conclusion was interesting and pulled me back in. Overall a decent venture into the genre but the pacing was a major factor.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Delightfully creepy and full of feminine rage. I am quite a wimp when it comes to scary stories, so I had to take this one slowly. Until it hooked me in and I sped through the last few chapters.

[1 Star]

if only this book had been as amazing as its cover

Pros:
- the cover is gorgeous

Cons:
- everything else

no seriously

- all 4 POV's that we follow sound exactly the same. I thought the audiobook would help since there are separate narrators for each POV, but it didn't. The characters just lacked any sense of voice or distinction from each other.
- the plot was so predictable. I guessed everything that would happen within the first couple chapters. This made all the 'reveals' incredibly lackluster and even the process of getting to said reveals was boring.
- there were so many illogical (or straight-up impossible) events. And I know there's a certain amount of magical realism in this, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about things like how there were 4 minors who were allowed to just live in a house by themselves for 2 YEARS after their mothers disappeared. No one in the town thought "hey, maybe someone should watch over them"? How did they even provide for themselves? For the sake of avoiding spoilers I won't give more examples, but I really found a lot of events in this book to be frankly absurd in a way that detracted from my overall enjoyment.
- instalove exists


Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. While my review is honest, I apologize for it not being very positive.