Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hanna
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Where Darkness Blooms in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Trigger Warning: mention and referral to sexual assault/rape.
The Gist
I started reading Where Darkness Blooms at the beginning of my vacation and then wasn’t able to read anymore until I was on the plane back home. So, there was a good week and a half during which the book stayed unopened.
I don’t like taking big breaks while reading a book. It takes me out of the story and makes it difficult for me to form a consistent opinion, since I almost feel stressed when I don’t read and then relieved when I do.
But, is that feeling of relief just because I’m finally reading at all? Or because I’m reading this specific book?
I’m not sure. I do know that my opinion of this story changed at around the halfway point.
Let me explain.
The Details
Firstly, the reader is sort of thrown into the story when all the actions starts. There is no real set up or explanation of what’s going on or how things became this way.
It’s this typical attitude of storytelling where the reader just has to figure things out along the way. Okay, sure.
There is one problem, though. If the story drags like molasses, nothing much can be figured out.
There are four major characters, all of them pretty much sound the same. There isn’t really any clear distinction in their personalities that would set them apart. So, regardless of what chapter one reads and from what character’s perspective this chapter is supposed to be, it’s all the same.
Almost every scene is told from all four characters’ perspectives as well, so there isn’t a whole lot of progression in the story. At the same time, it skips over parts that should deserve more attention.
The plot is very intriguing. I mean, there is a town, with creepy sunflowers, women keep going missing or dying and no-one will admit to what’s really going on. There are shifty secondary characters that I just love to hate and want to see get their comeuppance. It just all takes way too long and I lost interest.
I’m really not sure about the writing. Some parts are written quite well and others feel like the author tried too hard.
For example, there is no need for all these metaphors and similes to describe something. It really threw me out of the story every time the author had to include phrases like “the realisation settled like glitter in a snow globe”.
I dare you not to think of a snow globe right now.
Other parts were only vaguely described, like this weird town they all live in. It felt very obscure and made it difficult for me to imagine certain scenes.
The Verdict
Overall, this could have been so eerie and creepy, but it got lost along the way. I’m a little disappointed and feel let down.
Where Darkness Blooms has such a great premise and I am so ready for moody, Fall stories.
I guess I have to keep looking. It’s a no from me.
