Andrea Hannah

I 100% downloaded this book because of the cover.

If you are thinking of doing this, there are a few things to note.
Mainly, the covers amazing emotion and darkness falls short in the book.

I really wanted to love this book, the premise is a deep emotional one to explore.
The plot had high stakes, and has so much potential to be one of those riveting books that makes you ponder big ideas, and cry hard from the ending. But it just doesn't. Which makes me sad.

That being said, it's not a bad book. It is just muted. If you enjoy strong female characters you're going to enjoy this story. The story brings strong woman from all walks of life together.

I won't say that it's character driven because there is a lot left on the table in that regards. So many motivations that weren't explored, and fall outs left for the reader to assume about. Especially the ending. All the questions were answered, I just wanted more. Especially with the potential trauma, and aftermath, it was just all okay.

I don't regret reading it, I liked it. Just was hoping for more.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.… (mais)

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Where Darkness Blooms.

Wow. This book has a lot to unravel and deal with. Be warned, there's triggers here. The book mentions them in the beginning, so you're prepared.

This isn't my usual genre honestly. But it was interesting. We follow four girls, who live in a town where other women mysteriously disappear and no one questions it. Because their own mothers have disappeared, these girls want answers. But can they handle the truth that they find?

This is a multi POV book and each chapter switches between the four main girls. That wasn't a problem, but the writing sometimes didn't help flush each girl out personally. Sure, I knew which girl was talking, but they sometimes ran together and it seemed off for that character. I also, personally, didn't like Jude and hated her chapters. I really felt more connected with Delilah and prefered her POV over the others.

I don't think there's anything sequel worthy here, so I'd say for a standalone this isn't a bad read as long as you get past thirty percent of the beginning. But its also predictable and easy to figure out how it will end. Three and a half stars, for sure.… (mais)

I would like to thank Flux and NetGalley for granting me a copy of this e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.

Goodreads Blurb:
"After her little sister mysteriously vanishes, seventeen-year-old Claire Graham has a choice to make: stay snug in her little corner of Manhattan with her dropout boyfriend, or go back to Ohio to face the hometown tragedy she's been dying to leave behind.

But the memories of that night still haunt her in the city, and as hard as she tries to forget what her psychiatrist calls her "delusions," Claire can't seem to escape the wolf's eyes or the blood-speckled snow. Delusion or reality, Claire knows she has to hold true to the most important promise she's ever made: to keep Ella safe. She must return to her sleepy hometown in order to find Ella and keep her hallucinations at bay before they strike again. But time is quickly running out, and as Ella's trail grows fainter, the wolves are becoming startlingly real.

Now Claire must deal with her attraction to Grant, the soft-spoken boy from her past that may hold the secret to solving her sister's disappearance, while following the clues that Ella left for only her to find. Through a series of cryptic diary entries, Claire must unlock the keys to Ella's past—and her own—in order to stop another tragedy in the making, while realizing that not all things that are lost are meant to be found."

This book has more twists and turns than a switchback-covered, hairpin-filled road winding through the Italian Alps. The core group of characters are Claire and her younger sister Ella, as well as Rae and her younger brother Grant. All are in their early- to mid-teens at the start of the story. A story that ultimately revolves around local legends, legends Rae took great pleasure in telling to Claire and Ella. Only Rae's versions were filled with outrageous embellishments. Right there is a huge clue that something's not right in the town of Amble. Wolves with a thing for cherry-flavored items, human flesh, and the color periwinkle - who would believe such tall tales?

It seems Claire, and by extension, her younger sister Ella got caught up in the stories. It didn't help that Rae reveled in telling them to the sisters just to watch them squirm. But she unknowingly set something in motion; she had no idea just how deep her tales had sunk their claws into the sisters, or what the ultimate outcome of her teasing would cause.

On her way home from a secret party for Claire's fifteenth birthday Ella is attacked by the wolves. Claire found her in the cornfield and lost it. Due to her unrelenting hysteria, and to give Ella some peace and quiet in which to heal, Claire is sent to NYC to live with her aunt. Two years go by with no visits home. But Claire no longer notices how long it's been because she's too busy worrying about the wolves that have somehow followed her to the City. Then the phone call comes, changing everything. Ella has disappeared. Claire knows the time has come for her to go back home to find the truth. And if she's going to rescue her sister she has to work fast.

Claire is an incredible earnest character, one who is believable even when she's spouting the unbelievable. She wholeheartedly believes it is up to her to rescue Ella, a task she sets to with a will. Along her journey she learns many things, for she is adamant about learning the truth once and for all. The town and home she returns to has both changed dramatically and not at all.

Grant, Rae's younger brother and the boy Claire has had a crush on since she can remember, is now a deputy in training for the Amble police department. But he still cares about Claire, and he's willing to do what he can to help her out. It turns out that he too has a vested interested in discovering the truth. Amble keeps her secrets close, and woe to anyone that crosses the will of the town of Amble. These people never forget and never forgive. A lesson Claire is learning the hard way. But what she learns is not just about herself. During her investigation she discovers many hidden truths: truths about herself, Rae, Grant, Ella, even about her parents.

The complex characterizations make this an exceptionally fascinating read. It is well enough written that as the reader it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. Since the reader usually has much more information than the characters, what Ms. Hannah pulled off is a complicated and challenging literary feat. Even if you begin to suspect a certain truth, each time you think you know for sure something comes along to put you off-balance again. So you keep going forward in your deductions, only to be pushed right back to where you started. All courtesy of a fine steel-like thread of confusion interwoven throughout the entire book.

Although this book is more of a character study than an action tale, there are moments of high action and drama that will more than keep you mentally alert. Trying to keep up with Claire's thoughts is like trying to rake leaves on a windy day, not only is it challenging, but it's also probably pointless. Like the leaves, everything will settle down in the end. But you won't get neat and tidy piles in either situation, because neither the leaves nor Claire work that way. While. It the most uplifting or cheerful book I've ever read, this was well worth the time, and without a doubt a book I shall be recommending widely.… (mais)