Occasionally, I love stumbling into books that feel like they were written just for me, catering to all my specific interests. This novel has all of it: the botanical and coastal eco-environmentalist horror from Annihilation, the kind of cryptic, unsettling small town disappearances from my favorite horror podcasts and slightly southern gothic vibes, and visceral, very raw body imagery and monstrosities of the flesh, with poignant trans queer allegorical value, reminiscent of Jade Song's Chlorine.
I like my YA novels a little bitter, angry and mouthy and ferocious, not always high school love stories or found family stuff. My teenage years were often hell for me, growing up queer and trans in India, and I quite love to see a mirror of myself in the experiences of queer trans Asian-American youth.
The way Vietnamese folklore and immigrant experiences are woven into the horror story were incredible. Once again, I thought of Chlorine while reading this, and K. Ming Chang's Bestiary; all these new works are heralding a delightful new era of Asian diaspora-related queer horror and speculative fiction slash "coming-of-age" tales.
The writing style was super atmospheric, and I really enjoyed the side characters, which is rare for me in young adult horror novels. Noon's character arc pulled off environmentalism, anti-capitalism and gentrification, diasporic identity, queer community, familial neglect, trauma recovery, and folk horror in a single narrative: resulting in an effectively scary and moving story (the butch hunter girl love interest helped).
This was an absolute treat.

I was immediately taken in by this cover when I saw it and knew I had to check it out! I really had no idea what to expect from this one, but it did not disappoint! There were so many things happening in this book, from horror to sci-fi elements to Vietnamese mythology and so much more, all brought together to create a very haunting story that I think will continue to stay with me for a while. I found the pacing on the faster side, but in a good way where it made me want to keep turning the pages, rather than feeling like we were rushing through things. I did feel as though there were a lot of ideas that Trang Thanh Tran wanted to explore in this book, and unfortunately I feel like there wasn't quite enough time for all of them. This isn't inherently a bad thing, as I loved seeing all the ideas, but I do wish there had been a bit more time to work everything in well. That being said, I overall really appreciated the atmosphere of this book and how the author conveyed many of Noon's thoughts and experience and would certainly recommend this to any YA horror fans!

The Shape of Water meets Hell Followed With Us in this gorgeously lush body horror climate apocalypse. I find that the best horror writing tends to lay its most lyrical prose within its most grotesque scenes, and here They Bloom At Night succeeds beautifully. As a fan of narratives about the aftermath of sexual violence that don't hinge on the main character just finding the 'right' partner, this book's handling of it also gets a big thumbs up from me.

This post-apocalyptic story catches you right in the gills (I'm sorry I had to). I read this on a beach vacation and it really hit the spot. It's not a genre I usually go for, but I found that once I started this book it was hard to put down. Noon and Covey have a ping-pong dynamic, one that keeps you engaged and guessing. There were a few characters that rang one-dimensional but overall, the story, the events that unfold, and how they connected were all highly satisfactory.

This book is listed under Teens & YA but the language and content sometimes felt a bit mature. I recommend this book to anyone that loves a bleak adventure, but would use discretion if recommending it to teens.

This was not a favourite. Yes, I loved the setting, the concept of the monstrous algae but I couldn't connect much with the characters. I didn't care what was happening to them. There were moments thriller but overall it was a little too bland for my taste, especially in this particular subgenre. It wasn't bad or extremely good, but somewhere in between. Definitely a decent book that some sections of readers will really love. Sadly, I was not one of them.

This was a very interesting book. I hadn't expected the transformation that Noon underwent and I'm curious what she looks like. There wasn't much of a final description for her. It was mostly left up to imagination I believe. It was hard to read at some points because of the trauma that Noon endured and with all of the family stuff that was going on. Some of my favorite characters were Sandbag (a cat) and Saffy and Wilder. They weren't in it much but they really helped elevate the story in my opinion. I did like Covey a lot too. I liked how observant she was and how much she cared for Noon and Noon cared for her.

Trang Thanh Tran is a brilliant writer, both in regards to technical skill as well as in her ability to create truly original stories (no small feat for a horror novelist). However, They Bloom at Night seems too densely packed - there is just too much going on for one novel.

Giving credit where credit is due, the incorporation of Vietnamese mythology with a dystopian world destroyed by climate change is incredibly interesting; the novel shines in the moments that the reader is allowed to visualize this world and imagine the horrors of the creatures living in it.
But it is the multitude of personal traumas placed upon the main character that bogs down the story. While her vast inner monologues and relentless self-questioning would have been well-placed in a work of adult literary fiction, they ultimately take away from the action and suspense one normally expects from a horror story.

Thank you for an advance copy in exchange for review.

Like everyone else in the myriad reviews here, I was drawn in by this cover. It is absolutely stunning and there should be awards just solely for cover design. This would win all of them.

Noon and her mother are shrimp trawlers, eking out a living in the slowly drowning world of Mercy, Louisiana. The red algae in the water leads to more of the fish the pair catch deformed and uneatable, but most people are used to that by now. Noon's rhythmic life chances pace when her dirtbag employer sends her on a mission with his daughter, Covey, to find out what underwater terror has been taking people from the streets. With her mom sick, Noon has no choice but to take the job and the partnership. There are dangerous things in Louisiana - and not all of them are human.

This book's premise is so good - in a world ravaged by natural disasters and horrific monsters, what would life for the average Joe look like? From the beginning, Noon is just trying to live her life as best she can and stay out of the way of the dangerous groups that have popped up in answer to the apocalypse slowly happening around her. Her mom is slowly losing her mind, and Noon is desperate for a way to slough off the debt that her father left when he died. Forcing her into a partnership with someone so aggressively different from her leads to a delightful dynamic. I really enjoyed the found family aspect of this book as well as the romance subplot. (Yes, it really is a subplot. I swear.)

The thing keeping this rating down for me is the writing. Noon has a lot of big feelings. She is unsure of her gender identity, has thoughts about the Asian community and how it is treated in Louisiana, and often broods over the nature of life and her relationships - especially with her parents. I have no issue with this as a concept, but I felt like the multitude of pages spent on Noon's Shower Thoughts detracted from the pace of the book. By the time she pulled herself out of her musings, I'd sometimes forgotten what was happening before and had to flip back (which is honestly pretty irritating to do on an e-reader).

Paired up with this, I think maybe this book tried to do a bit too much to be cohesive. Noon has a strained-at-best relationship with her mother, who believes that her dead father and brother are going to be reincarnated into the world in a different form. There's a bit of talk about spiritualism and her mom's beliefs, but that never really gets fleshed out. There's a few scenes with racism present, but it stays in the backdrop of the story. There is sexual assault and abuse mentioned multiple times, and that is referenced heavily in the latter half of the book. We have eco-horror happening, since the entire premise of the book is built on the fact that the state of Louisiana is sinking into the ocean after a never-before-experienced storm and, finally, we have Noon's exploration of her gender and struggles with body dysmorphia.

These are all very important themes, but all of them being so important makes it hard for this book to maintain focus when it has so many huge elements present. None of them feel like they are explored thoroughly because they are all sharing page space. I think a slightly narrower focus might have helped this feel a little less chaotic. Either that, or a higher page count. I would genuinely read several books worth of this, especially now that the friend group is fully developed.

I would recommend this to people with the caveat that there are some points where the narrator gets a little existential at times. The horror portions of this are extremely well-written and I look forward to reading more from this author in particular.

First and foremost, thank you to the publishers for the e-arc of this book. when I saw that I got to read this early I screamed. I loved this book! I wish that i could have read for the first time again. this is such a ride, I think i must have read this so fast in like a day. The book propels you on the journey to the conclusion of the book. IT was a solid 5 stars!

An LGBT eco-horror novel? Sign me up!

Noon lives with her mother in what remains of Mercy, Louisiana; a town that has been taken over by an algae they call "the bloom." They live on the water searching for Noon's lost father and brother as her mother is convinced they have been reincarnated as sea creatures. Unfortunately, they also live in fear of Jimmy, a dangerous man who owns an emporium and decides they are the perfect team to find whatever creature has been hunting the townsfolk, along with his own daughter Covey. On their journey, they uncover why the bloom exists in the first place and how it is connected to Noon.

I really enjoyed this book. It was short enough that the pace didn't slow down and kept me engaged all the way through. I am also a sucker for a book that uses a character transforming into a monster as an allegory for being trans. This book had it all. It was an eco-horror, gothic, coming-of-age novel that was unsettling and had some vivid descriptions of body horror. I was here for it. Overall, I would recommend this for anyone who is interested in a solid YA LGBT horror novel.

Actual rating: 4.5 🌟

I love Trang Thanh Tran’s covers, and was very excited to get my hands on They Bloom at Night. This starts as a very quiet kind of book,but the last 50 pages or so make this an excellent read. I love Noon’s journey and the changes she goes through to feel more herself and less like a girl she has never been. There are a lot of messy family dynamics and dealing with grief, but also so much love, especially maternal love. I really loved a lot of what was done in this book, and look forward to more stories from Trang Thanh Tran.

“It's a relief to not be the adult here."

Wow - this is a wonderful queer YA gothic horror that immediately captivated me with its prose and storytelling. From the very first page, it draws you deep into a submerged small town grappling with the ravages of climate change. And even better, it is richly infused with Vietnamese cultural elements and numerous LGBTQIA+ representations.

At its core, this explores an impressive tapestry of complex themes—ranging from the scars of intergenerational trauma, sexual assault, and grief, to the struggles with gender identity and the challenging dynamics of family relationships. The way Tran weaves these elements together is nothing short of astonishing; it’s hard to believe how much depth and emotional weight can be packed into a single SHORT book. Noon’s journey back to her traumatic past, along with her inner battle to reconcile the changes in her body and identity, is deeply moving. I think there will be different elements that will resonate with different people.

What makes They Bloom at Night so uniquely resonant is its blend of horror and hope. The eerie, atmospheric quality of the story is unmistakably gothic—a dark, mesmerizing world where the supernatural and the very real dangers of our changing environment collide. Despite its bleak subject matter, the story is also a testament to resilience, offering a raw and powerful exploration of how one navigates and ultimately strives to heal from past wounds.

Overall, this novel is pure, refreshing, and intelligent—a rare gem that challenges its readers while offering a horror-filled escape into a world as haunting as it is beautiful. If you’re looking for a story that combines rich cultural nuance, complex familial bonds, and a deeply emotional narrative, They Bloom at Night is a winner.

Thanks so much to Colored Pages Book Tours, Bloomsbury Publishing, and the author for the complimentary copy! Thanks to Libro.fm for the complimentary audiobook copy! This review is voluntary and all opinions are my own.

This seemed somewhat inspired by Speak, which the author acknowledges. In truth, I had a hard time following the rules of the algae, and how it affected one person and another. (I also found it amusing that Noon shares such a connection with the ocean, and has come from a long line of people who are connected to the ocean, and she can't swim.) I liked the team that Noon ended up with, including Sandbag, the cat. I liked the descriptions of the bayous of Louisiana. However, the rest of the story seemed a little confusing, and tiresome. After the librarian went missing I pretty much lost interest, and forced my way to the end.

They Bloom At Night is a gothic horror story following a Vietnamese American teen, Noon, in the Louisiana bayou. As she begins to uncover chilling family secrets and supernatural forces tied to her heritage, the lines between reality and nightmare start to blur.

The concept was super cool, and the setting was unlike anything I’ve read before, rich, atmospheric, and hauntingly unique. The plot itself was clever and full of twists. Unfortunately, I found the main character really frustrating and hard to connect with, which made it tough to stay fully engaged. It just wasn’t the book for me, though I can absolutely see others loving it.

I’d still be excited to read more from Trang Thanh Tran in the future, and I’m grateful to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

While I rarely read or seek out horror novels, this one was right up my alley and I loved it a lot.

It’s a relatively short read and it doesn’t take long for you to get sucked into it.

The setting of Louisiana and the water in general was just fascinating and engaging. It was a vital part of the story and I really enjoyed getting to learn more about little details and facts from the characters and their own little niches.

My favorite character was of course, Noon. I think they were really strong and her feelings on gender are so relatable to me. I liked that this was a very lgbtqia+ friendly read. It was also diverse with a Vietnamese MC and included that in here as well, which was nice!

Some topics discussed in here, such as SA/r***e were heavy but I think they were written with care and I enjoyed the ending because yes!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!

Some characters in this were so awful and I wanted to punch them while others were better and I wanted to give them a hug and take away all their trauma. It was enjoyable to see a bit of found family while they were preparing for a hurricane to hit.

Creepy things were in this that made my skin crawl just thinking of what that would look like/feel like/sound like and I adore that. Good horror novels have the ability to freak you out and I think this one did.

I will definitely be picking up more of works of this author!

Thank you to Bloomsbury for the digital ARC and Libro.fm for the ALC!

Strange things are happening in Mercy, Louisiana. Nhung (aka Noon) travels with her mother on her father’s old shrimp trawler, searching for answers about dead loved ones and the mysterious red algae that took over the region’s waters after a devastating hurricane. But the water appears to hold more than just algae, and something about Noon doesn’t feel … right.

Trang Thahn Tran really knows how to build a horrific atmosphere. Between the Gulf, the Mississippi River and the swamplands of Louisiana, this novel is chock-full of eerie settings holding spooky things beneath their depths. The descriptions of the books’ horror elements were done extremely well—creepy crawlies, sloughing skin, tangled algae blooms and not-quite-right sea creatures made me want to stay far away from bodies of water.

The horror setting was just a base for the meat of the story, though, which tackles big themes. Unfortunately, I think there were just too many crammed into this short book to truly pack a punch. Noon’s story brings up ecological changes, the U.S.’s poor response to environmental disasters, sexual assault, gender identity, queer relationships—on top of Noon’s overarching coming-of-age. I struggled to keep up with the horror story’s ties to these larger concepts. At times, it felt like I understood the metaphor the author was trying to link together, but by the end, I mostly felt lost.

In a similar vein, I felt like a lot of the story was interrupted by “punchy” statements that felt like they were trying to hammer home a point, but ended up feeling preachy and out of place. I don’t mind a good “statement” line or two, but paired with the lack of togetherness I felt by the end, I really didn’t understand what exactly this novel was trying to say.

I do think this had a lot of great things that will appeal to younger readers. I particularly liked the queer rep, Noon’s perseverance and self-discovery, and found family elements. The inclusion of Vietnamese mythology, as well as the culture/history/struggles of Vietnamese Americans living in the South, were also really well done and added a layer of depth to the story.

I heard so many incredible things about Tran’s debut that I’ve been eagerly anticipating reading their books. I still need to read She is a Haunting, but after reading They Bloom at Night, I seriously cannot wait. Just wow.

The balance between the elements of this book– its characters, the setting, and the tension in the horrific elements is absolutely perfect. The mostly abandoned town of Mercy feels incredibly real. It was so easy to picture where things happened and feel completely immersed in the landscape of this story. Noon is also a fabulous main character. Her relationships with others are so layered. She loves her mom but feels trapped by their life and grief over her brother and dad’s deaths. She reconnects with an estranged friend and has mixed feelings about that, too. When circumstances force her into a reluctant alliance with a girl, Noon is surprised by the relationship the two forge.

I loved the themes in this book about identity, specifically about being more than one thing that happened to you. I loved the message about having a found family or community to protect you and help you face uncomfortable truths. One line in particular says it well: “Sometimes we need people to hunt the things inside of us that need to die but that we aren’t ready to kill.”

They Bloom at Night is a tightly plotted story that doesn’t waste a single word. This would be a perfect (or terrifying) book to read during a hurricane or big storm. Fans of The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade or Don’t Let the Forest In by C. G. Drews will not want to miss this one.

This book was creepy, beautiful, and moving. If you like books that deal with heavy handed topics such as SA, gender identity, failure of parental figures, and the fact our world is being ruined. Everything was handled with beautiful prose and complex plot. Honestly, this is one of the best YA horror books I have ever read.

Thanks Bloomsbury USA Childrens Books, Trang Thanh Tran, and Netgalley for the ARC!

This book is an extremely slow burn. It wasn't quite what I was hoping it would be. There wasn't enough of the monster aspect of it as I had hoped. Still well written.

They Bloom at Night is a queer, coming of age, environmental horror story. A classic tale of “Man vs Nature,” we quickly learn that the “monster” and environment are not the main antagonists, so much as the greedy human, and to an extent the environmental destruction caused by humans.

Since Hurricane Arlene destroyed the town of Mercy Louisiana two years ago a red algae bloom on the Mississippi River has become the longest-lasting known to humans. The algae have made fishing difficult for the teenaged Noon (real name Nhung, but most white people can’t pronounce that) and her mother, Tien. The two women have taken over fishing after the disappearance of Noon’s brother and father, who Tien believes are either still alive or have been reincarnated as sea animals and are waiting for rescue out there somewhere. Their family has a guardian water spirit, named Sông, who Noon sees as little more than superstition. Sông is said to have kept her father’s family safe as they made their perilous journey from Vietnam to the United States by sea, and Sông is the reason Tien is convinced that her husband and son are still out there. Even though in all likelihood both have drowned Noon’s mother insists they must stay in Mercy to find them, despite her daughter’s desperation to leave the small town. Mercy holds nothing but bad memories for Noon. After her brother, Jaylen, was born her parents began to ignore her and favor their son. Their home was all but destroyed by Hurricane Arlene. Noon has never felt welcomed among the racist, sexist town folks who hurl jeers at her and her mother when they dock their boat. Loan Shark and businessman Jimmy, the man who controls most of the town through money and fear, still owns their boat and demands Noon and Tien bring him strange, mutated sea life to sell. And Noon was sexually assaulted at Mercy’s Cove by an older boy who had groomed her. When her mother had found her Noon’s hair had turned white and her skin was flaking off. Her body continues to change, her fingernails all fall out and she can only digest raw meat.

When Noon and Tien get to the dock a girl named Covey who seems to be overseeing things says they must go see her father, who is revealed to be Jimmy. Jimmy explains he wants them to look for a sea monster. People around Mercy have been disappearing, most recently a government scientist studying the algae bloom named Dr. Lucía Delgado. Now the government wants to close the fishing season early and possibly designate the whole area a disaster zone, and Jimmy can’t have that. He orders Noon and Tien to find whatever creature is causing the disappearances and bring it back to him in three weeks’ time. He informs them that Covey will be accompanying them on their mission. After Tien becomes ill from a rusty nail injury she receives from Jimmy the two teens are forced to work together to find Jimmy’s monster. A tense relationship between Covey and Noon slowly blossoms into friendship and then into something more as they race to solve the mysterious disappearances and face their own trauma. On their journey Noon reconnects with her old friend, Wilder, who has run away from home, and meet Saffy, who was kicked out of her home after her parents discovered she was transgender.

The hurricane that nearly destroys Mercy has clear parallels to Hurricane Katrina,
the 2005 hurricane that decimated New Orleans and caused nearly 1,000 fatalities. Noon refers to her life after Hurricane Arlene as post-Apocalyptic, even though even though everything is business as usual outside Louisiana. Mercy has some electricity and running water, but it’s unreliable at best. A Rolling Stone article about Hurricane Katrina entitled it Apocalypse in New Orleans. Vanity Fair has one called Hell and High Water: American Apocalypse. Noon explains that politicians think the people who chose to stay in Mercy deserve what they got. A research paper entitled System Justification in Responding to the Poor and Displaced in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina states “One sentiment that took hold following Katrina was that those who lived in New Orleans were at fault for having chosen to live there in the first place, and for not having evacuated when the officials issued a mandate. Some went so far as to ask why people would choose to live in a city that lies beneath sea level. Talk show hosts and local newspapers blamed victims and asked why the government was obligated to help those who did not evacuate.”

Besides environmental disaster, one of the major themes of the books is the fraught relationship between parents and their children. Noon states “…the people who hurt us most, who forced us here, have been those responsible for our care.” Saffy’s parents forced her to choose between being her authentic self or living with them and pretending to be a boy. Similarly, Wilder runs away from home because his parents want him to be something he’s not. Because boys are more highly valued then girls, an effeminate boy is a disappointment, and Wilder simply couldn’t continue to fit his parent’s idea of what a man should be. Noon is also a victim of the toxic masculinity, and is treated as having less value than her brother Jaylen. Even after her brother and father go missing, presumed dead, her mother continues to place a higher importance on them than her living daughter.

I appreciate that, while all the parents had problems, the Asian parents at least seemed to love their children, and were doing their best while burdened with generational trauma and a traditionally sexist culture. Tran is able to challenge the sexism in Vietnamese culture while also making clear that sexism and bad parenting isn’t exclusive to Asians. Wilder has a tense relationship with his parents who are uncomfortable with his bisexuality, and even pressure him to be more manly. But at least they don’t disown him like Saffy’s parents do. There’s at least some hope Wilder will one day be able to reconcile with his mom and dad. Jimmy, on the other hand, is completely irredeemable, not just as person but as a parent. Noon says “Like so many parents Jimmy thinks his daughter is only fit for his hopes. But when we inherit those, we also inherit the mistakes. We are the ones to live with the consequences. Every generation before had a semblance of a chance, but we have the end of the world.” He sees Covey only as an extension of himself, just another tool on his belt. Tien at least tries to be a good mother to Noon, trying to protect her, singing her to sleep at night, and performing Cao gio (coining) to relieve her headaches.

I also liked all the random facts about ocean animals strewn throughout the book. Noon is a huge nerd and I’m here for it. Through her we learn that the red algae bloom is not toxic to marine life like the red tide (which can be worsened by hurricanes), but it does seem to cause mutations. We also learn how algae have mutualistic symbiotic relationships with several species, like Coralline algae, a red alga which plays an important role in the ecosystems or coral reefs. A similar type of algae lives in Cassiopea jellyfish, which gives the jellies their color and helps them get food.
Queer and trans readers will especially appreciate They Bloom at Night. I suspect Noon may be non-binary, but hasn’t cracked her egg yet as many of the things she says and feels about being in a “girl’s body,” like “Monsterhood is a girl’s body you don’t belong in” and not knowing what it means to be a girl felt familiar to me as a non-binary AFAB person. She feels more comfortable in a “monstrous” body than one that belongs to a girl. The “body horror” is less horror than it is freedom. Tran is also non-binary and uses they/she pronouns so I wonder if they had similar feelings as a young person. There’s a decent amount of trans and queer representation in the book, with Saffy being transgender, Wilder bisexual, Covey a lesbian, and the lead scientist researching the algae bloom, Dr. Delgado, is non-binary. There may also be some neurodiversity among the group as one of the teens quips that they’re “Team Neurotic Kids with Very Specific Interests.”