Where Darkness Blooms

January 2, 2023
This seething, surreal horror novel follows four teenage girls—Bo, Delilah, Jude, and Whitney—who struggle to navigate the supernatural events that befall their small Kansas town. Two years after their mothers all disappeared under mysterious circumstances, forcing the four girls to move together into a house at the edge of town, hot-tempered Bo demands that the girls finally host a memorial in their mothers’ memories. When a brutal windstorm strikes during the memorial, the resultant disaster uncovers questions regarding their town’s long history of missing women, and the circumstances behind their disappearances. Bo’s frantic search for answers, Delilah’s attempts to hold everything and everyone together, and sisters Whitney and Jude’s individual romantic struggles add further complications to their slowly imploding lives. The girls’ pursuit of the truth forces them to confront past traumas and reckon with secrets they’ve been keeping from one another. Occasional dips into stock high school relational angst sometimes slow momentum, but the roiling, ever-present tension underneath it all invests readers in the group’s plight. Sharp and rich prose by Hannah (Of Scars and Stardust) blends Faulknerian descriptions with visceral bluntness that artfully marries itself to the story’s eerie atmosphere. Ages 12–up. Agent: Victoria Marini, Irene Goodman Literary.

February 1, 2023
Grades 9-12 In the bloodthirsty, sunflower-filled town of Bishop, women and girls are disappearing. Delilah, Jude, Whitney, and Bo are lifelong friends, and when their mothers vanish, ominous incidents (collapsing buildings, destroyed memorials) suggest one of them is next. This YA fantasy mystery jumps between the perspectives of each of the four girls amid the eerie atmosphere that author Hannah creates. Delilah, the responsible "mother" of the group, feels inexplicable pain at her boyfriend's touch. Whitney is grieving the death of her girlfriend, Eleanor. Jude has a secret that could threaten the girls' friendship, and Bo's surly attitude conceals a traumatic event linked to the boys in the town. The mystery of the missing women unravels gradually and in a satisfying way. Although the prose occasionally veers into clich�, readers will enjoy the strong and complex relationships between the girls and the family that they make for themselves. The fantasy setting offers readers safe exploration of the topic of missing and murdered women and the violence of patriarchy. A worthwhile read for lovers of mystery and female friendship.

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August 11, 2023

Gr 9 Up-Hannah's novel is a creepy, compelling supernatural tale examining power and the patriarchy. In a small town surrounded by sentient sunflowers, where women go missing or turn up dead regularly, four teens-whose mothers had gone missing two years before-can no longer ignore the strange circumstances around the disappearances or the other oddities in town. As they investigate, their secrets, along with the secrets of the town curse, begin to unravel. Told in the alternating views of Delilah, twins Whitney and Jude, and Bo, the novel is supernatural and visceral, keeping readers enthralled as they, too, try to piece together the mystery alongside the characters. The pacing is mildly inconsistent, but the story is eerie and captivating enough to distract from a handful of plot holes. Despite their obvious differences, the four main characters have similar voices, and readers may struggle to distinguish between them. Contains LGBTQIA+ representation. The start of book includes content warnings for implied then revealed rape, implied sex, mentions of underage drinking, and violence/death. VERDICT Overall an enjoyable read, and a solid text to examine fight-the-patriarchy ideology. A good addition where The Handmaid's Tale is popular or deemed too advanced.-Kara Jonson

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