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marley's review against another edition
4.0
3.5*
The Darkest Bloom is a layered fantasy build on several interesting and original concepts. The role of scent as such a dominant sense was interesting, and how Aramtesh was build around as well, but at times it felt like it was lacking the complexity that other parts of it had.
As the first book of a duology set in a secondary fantasy world, the world building is fairly solid. The path that the two main characters follow to achieve their quest of saving the Crown Prince Nisai lends itself well to exploring the different parts of Aramtesh. I would have appreciated a map here, because I admit that it was a little difficult to visualise the country as a whole, but each province that they visited didn't just feel like a cookie cutter copy of the first one that we were shown. I also liked the idea of the Council made up of the Emperor's wives, one from each province, I hope that this gets built on because I think it's an interesting concept.
Some of the language felt a little bit try-hard, terms like starwheel turns and moons. This may just be a personal issue, but I feel like this kind of takes me away from the world because I'm trying to figure out what things mean, and as something unusual used as a replacement for something common place it was a little jarring, but it wasn't necessarily a massive distraction by the end of the book.
The story is told from the point of view of two characters, Ash and Raquel. They both have different backgrounds and different motives, but end up coming together to fulfil the same goal: find a cure for Prince Nisai, who was poisoned. What I liked about Ash was how vague his background was, and how he knew so little about himself. I thought that this added to the tension of the story, as well as the worldbuilding in a way. It took me a while to warm up to Rakel, because the way she thinks is so different to me, but I found her motivations solid and I liked her resourcefulness and daring.
My favourite character was Nisai, which was slightly disappointing considering the whole plot revolves around him being in a coma, but he was smart and caring, which I can definitely get on board with, and I'm hoping to see more of him in the next book. An honourable mention to Esarik, for being a character who surprised me several times.
The plot itself felt slightly rushed, because they moved on quite fast, and figured everything out quite fast as well, but it would have been a very hefty novel if the plot were more detailed so I can understand why it was so condensed. I liked the quest-like nature of it, classic as it is in this particular genre, and I thought the way that the scent dominance of Aramtesh was blended in with the quest.
The Darkest Bloom slots itself quite nicely into YA secondary fantasy as a genre, in terms of the building blocks it uses, but while it did feel slightly cliché at times as a matter of personal preference, namely in terms of the relationships, it brought some interesting world building to the table and is overall still a solid debut and addition to the genre. I've already acquired the second book, and am interested to see where it goes.
The Darkest Bloom is a layered fantasy build on several interesting and original concepts. The role of scent as such a dominant sense was interesting, and how Aramtesh was build around as well, but at times it felt like it was lacking the complexity that other parts of it had.
As the first book of a duology set in a secondary fantasy world, the world building is fairly solid. The path that the two main characters follow to achieve their quest of saving the Crown Prince Nisai lends itself well to exploring the different parts of Aramtesh. I would have appreciated a map here, because I admit that it was a little difficult to visualise the country as a whole, but each province that they visited didn't just feel like a cookie cutter copy of the first one that we were shown. I also liked the idea of the Council made up of the Emperor's wives, one from each province, I hope that this gets built on because I think it's an interesting concept.
Some of the language felt a little bit try-hard, terms like starwheel turns and moons. This may just be a personal issue, but I feel like this kind of takes me away from the world because I'm trying to figure out what things mean, and as something unusual used as a replacement for something common place it was a little jarring, but it wasn't necessarily a massive distraction by the end of the book.
The story is told from the point of view of two characters, Ash and Raquel. They both have different backgrounds and different motives, but end up coming together to fulfil the same goal: find a cure for Prince Nisai, who was poisoned. What I liked about Ash was how vague his background was, and how he knew so little about himself. I thought that this added to the tension of the story, as well as the worldbuilding in a way. It took me a while to warm up to Rakel, because the way she thinks is so different to me, but I found her motivations solid and I liked her resourcefulness and daring.
My favourite character was Nisai, which was slightly disappointing considering the whole plot revolves around him being in a coma, but he was smart and caring, which I can definitely get on board with, and I'm hoping to see more of him in the next book. An honourable mention to Esarik, for being a character who surprised me several times.
The plot itself felt slightly rushed, because they moved on quite fast, and figured everything out quite fast as well, but it would have been a very hefty novel if the plot were more detailed so I can understand why it was so condensed. I liked the quest-like nature of it, classic as it is in this particular genre, and I thought the way that the scent dominance of Aramtesh was blended in with the quest.
The Darkest Bloom slots itself quite nicely into YA secondary fantasy as a genre, in terms of the building blocks it uses, but while it did feel slightly cliché at times as a matter of personal preference, namely in terms of the relationships, it brought some interesting world building to the table and is overall still a solid debut and addition to the genre. I've already acquired the second book, and am interested to see where it goes.
bluelou7's review
3.5
i liked the characters, they were intriguing somehow. the worldbuliding was complicated and i still don’t really understand it, but i’m going to read the next book. i think a map would have been helpful
kacie_marria's review against another edition
4.0
I honestly have no clue what to rate The Darkest Bloom. I don't really know what to think of it! To be honest, the only reason I picked this book because it was narrated by Steve West. But it was surprisingly good! I loved the writing and the characters. The story itself was slightly confusing...I'm not sure how to put it, but it seems almost too unfamiliar? I don't know. So I guess I'll rate it four stars for the fabulous narrators and writing!
andyn5's review against another edition
5.0
Refreshing, captivating, engaging plot with highly addictive characters. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
weirdoella's review against another edition
4.0
{4.5/5}
Très très bonne lecture ! Il manque un rien pour le coup de cœur.
La plume de l'autrice est magnifique, elle nous fait tourner en rond et en bourrique avec tous ces suspens et ses cliffhanger !
Les personnages sont attachants et très bien écrit, j'ai adoré suivre Ash et Rakel ! Le double POV est super bien écrit et je n'aurais pas pu faire sans pour une histoire aussi complexe !
J'ai hâte de me plonger dans le deuxième tome de cette duologie !
Très très bonne lecture ! Il manque un rien pour le coup de cœur.
La plume de l'autrice est magnifique, elle nous fait tourner en rond et en bourrique avec tous ces suspens et ses cliffhanger !
Les personnages sont attachants et très bien écrit, j'ai adoré suivre Ash et Rakel ! Le double POV est super bien écrit et je n'aurais pas pu faire sans pour une histoire aussi complexe !
J'ai hâte de me plonger dans le deuxième tome de cette duologie !
thindbooks's review against another edition
4.0
*This book was given to me by the publisher to give an honest review.*
3.5 ⭐️
This book had a unique story that you have never heard before. I was really amazed of how the author thought of writing something that I never read before. A story about a girl who has a gift for frangrace that searched for an antidote for the prince is an amazing story. This book was fast and had strong developed characters. I loved the slow building romance between Rakel and Ash because usually books have a fast romance/relationship for characters like love at first sight. But these characters got to know each other more and developed their feelings throughout the whole book. Another thing about characters is that I didn’t feel connected to them but I liked their characteristics. I don’t know if it makes sense but I thats how I felt. Some of the reasons why I didn’t really like this book was because it was super fast that you didn’t get to read about the place/conflict as much and the next thing you know, it ended. The plot was well structured but the author didn’t stay on the topic for much time and sped it up a little. Also I wasn’t much interested in the book until after 50-75 pages later. The ending was really good and I liked how it ended. I think this is a must read book because it’s a story about having a gift for fragrance which I never read about and it’s different so you want to get the feel of it.
3.5 ⭐️
This book had a unique story that you have never heard before. I was really amazed of how the author thought of writing something that I never read before. A story about a girl who has a gift for frangrace that searched for an antidote for the prince is an amazing story. This book was fast and had strong developed characters. I loved the slow building romance between Rakel and Ash because usually books have a fast romance/relationship for characters like love at first sight. But these characters got to know each other more and developed their feelings throughout the whole book. Another thing about characters is that I didn’t feel connected to them but I liked their characteristics. I don’t know if it makes sense but I thats how I felt. Some of the reasons why I didn’t really like this book was because it was super fast that you didn’t get to read about the place/conflict as much and the next thing you know, it ended. The plot was well structured but the author didn’t stay on the topic for much time and sped it up a little. Also I wasn’t much interested in the book until after 50-75 pages later. The ending was really good and I liked how it ended. I think this is a must read book because it’s a story about having a gift for fragrance which I never read about and it’s different so you want to get the feel of it.
booksandlemonsquash's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this - I loved the whole concept and the unique world building.
The main storyline doesn’t really kick off for a good hundred pages plus, but I love the build up too - it didn’t really feel like buildup, and I would happily have read a book just about Rakel making awesome scent oils haha.
But the quest for the cure and how it all comes together is really lovely, as is the relationship between Rakel and Ash - it felt slow enough to be reasonable.
And there’s so much intrigue for the future and set up for book two! This one actually wraps up reasonably well (for all that there’s a cliffhanger it’s more relevant to what will come than tying up what has happened, which is excellent) but I’m definitely dying to know what all the hints have meant. I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment :)
The main storyline doesn’t really kick off for a good hundred pages plus, but I love the build up too - it didn’t really feel like buildup, and I would happily have read a book just about Rakel making awesome scent oils haha.
But the quest for the cure and how it all comes together is really lovely, as is the relationship between Rakel and Ash - it felt slow enough to be reasonable.
And there’s so much intrigue for the future and set up for book two! This one actually wraps up reasonably well (for all that there’s a cliffhanger it’s more relevant to what will come than tying up what has happened, which is excellent) but I’m definitely dying to know what all the hints have meant. I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment :)