Take a photo of a barcode or cover
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love this so much I will be drawing fanart (a high compliment from me)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Gaslighting
Moderate: Infidelity, Kidnapping
Minor: Blood, Alcohol
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What happened here? I loved Flowerheart; it was one of my top books of the year when I read it. This did not match that level of quality at all.
The writing felt incredibly juvenile. I've read middle grade books that were more subtle and nuanced. It was like the author had no faith in the reader's comprehension skills at all, so everything had to be explained thoroughly and repeatedly. This made the pacing feel painfully slow.
None of the characters, not a single one, felt like an actual person. Ofelia's POV was like reading the perspective of a small child for how gullible and surface level her thoughts were. Lope was slightly better because they weren't quite so naive, but still very one-note. The plot was both predictable and nonsensical at times.
There are a lot of poems scattered around. I can't say if they're good or bad, they didn't really contribute to my reading experience negatively or positively.
I really wanted to like this, and I had been so sure that I would. I'm trying to be generous with my rating because I know this is only Catherine Bakewell's second book. I do hope she continues publishing and perhaps her next book will be more to my taste. The nicest thing I can say about this one is that the cover is beautiful.
The writing felt incredibly juvenile. I've read middle grade books that were more subtle and nuanced. It was like the author had no faith in the reader's comprehension skills at all, so everything had to be explained thoroughly and repeatedly. This made the pacing feel painfully slow.
None of the characters, not a single one, felt like an actual person. Ofelia's POV was like reading the perspective of a small child for how gullible and surface level her thoughts were. Lope was slightly better because they weren't quite so naive, but still very one-note. The plot was both predictable and nonsensical at times.
There are a lot of poems scattered around. I can't say if they're good or bad, they didn't really contribute to my reading experience negatively or positively.
I really wanted to like this, and I had been so sure that I would. I'm trying to be generous with my rating because I know this is only Catherine Bakewell's second book. I do hope she continues publishing and perhaps her next book will be more to my taste. The nicest thing I can say about this one is that the cover is beautiful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I spent a lot of this very engaging read going, "Lope, she doesn't deserve you, baby." Which is at the crux of the story, in the end:
Ofelia and Lope love each other. Lope is a knight, and Ofelia her lady. Through thick and thin they have been together, and as Shadows threaten their land. They are attempting to consider an escape to La Chateau, where the King resides and no Shadows, terrifying creatures that steal breath, can reach.
Well, in the end things go wrong at home, and despite being forbidden to make the journey, they make the journey alone. Ofelia is a novelty to the court, and a country bumpkin at that, and Lope is her stalwart companion until they find out in a cruel twist of fate that that King Leo, blessed by the Gods, had an affair with her mother and that she is his child, not her mother's husband's -- who had died a year previous on the front lines.
Things get complicated from there; court politics, apathy versus struggle, the rich versus the plight of the poor. Classism steeps every page, and Lope sees people like her suffer while Ofelia forgets why they came because she is seduced by the comfort of La Chateau and having a father after all these years.
In the end there are plot twists, dark gods, fairy tale logic galore, and it blends together in a beautiful mélange of this heartfelt sapphic storybook romance where the third act break up actually feels necessary and not contrived, and where sacrifice teaches a God what it is like to love.
The prose is lush and full of emotion. The poetry evocative but simple. Ofelia and Lope are very different people, and they both grow and love in different ways. Even the most dangerous of characters grows and changes -- the only one who stays static is our villain.
Honestly, great read if you want to sink into something that's too dark to be cozy fantasy, but will still provide love, hope and a romantic end to a romantic (in all the meanings of the word) tale.
Ofelia and Lope love each other. Lope is a knight, and Ofelia her lady. Through thick and thin they have been together, and as Shadows threaten their land. They are attempting to consider an escape to La Chateau, where the King resides and no Shadows, terrifying creatures that steal breath, can reach.
Well, in the end things go wrong at home, and despite being forbidden to make the journey, they make the journey alone. Ofelia is a novelty to the court, and a country bumpkin at that, and Lope is her stalwart companion until they find out in a cruel twist of fate that that King Leo, blessed by the Gods, had an affair with her mother and that she is his child, not her mother's husband's -- who had died a year previous on the front lines.
Things get complicated from there; court politics, apathy versus struggle, the rich versus the plight of the poor. Classism steeps every page, and Lope sees people like her suffer while Ofelia forgets why they came because she is seduced by the comfort of La Chateau and having a father after all these years.
In the end there are plot twists, dark gods, fairy tale logic galore, and it blends together in a beautiful mélange of this heartfelt sapphic storybook romance where the third act break up actually feels necessary and not contrived, and where sacrifice teaches a God what it is like to love.
The prose is lush and full of emotion. The poetry evocative but simple. Ofelia and Lope are very different people, and they both grow and love in different ways. Even the most dangerous of characters grows and changes -- the only one who stays static is our villain.
Honestly, great read if you want to sink into something that's too dark to be cozy fantasy, but will still provide love, hope and a romantic end to a romantic (in all the meanings of the word) tale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Classism
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Classism
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Violence, Grief
Minor: Kidnapping, Abandonment
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a beautifully atmospheric coming of age fantasy, with a tender sapphic romance at its heart that readers are bound to find riveting.
The world-building was really magical and lush (with whimsical, regency-esque, Princess Bride meets Bridgerton vibes), and I adored Catherine Bakewell’s prose which was gorgeously poetic and unputdownable. And if you love the romantic chemistry of a tender, slow-burn relationship; that’s steeped in pining, and a quiet (but steadfast) affection that transcends words—then you’re probably gonna enjoy this.
Particularly as we get such a wonderful cast of characters. My fave being Female Knight, Lope, who struggles with her loyalty to, (and unspoken feelings for) the naive Lady Ofelia, who she’s duty bound to protect; and her need to stop the shadow creatures (that have plagued the kingdom for decades and taken the lives of soo many of her friends.) This duality to her motivations and the struggle she endures, really added a complexity and depth to her that I found soo compelling.
I loved the setting too — which takes the opulence of the royal palace, “Le Château Enchanté” and juxtaposes it against the (fear inducing) shadow monsters that stalk beyond the gates (and cause all manner of destruction and chaos.)
However, it was the mystery surrounding the origin of the shadows (and the King’s strange refusal to allow any mention of them), that really piqued my interest. The plot twists and reveals were all really good too, though I did manage to guess quite a lot of them.
Tonally, this felt very much at the younger end of YA fantasy, so tween/teen readers are almost certainly gonna enjoy this one. If you love more mature/darker themed fantasy, however, then you might not enjoy this nearly as much.
But, it does tackle some pretty interesting themes, such as: self discovery and overcoming fears, love (both romantic and platonic), power and privilege, and the highly relevant reality vs. Illusion; that I feel would be the perfect starting place for further discussions (into some very timely topics.)
Overall, this was a magically satisfying read that fans of lyrical, heartwarming storytelling (or the whimsy of Margaret Rogerson’s An Enchantment of Ravens) should definitely consider checking out.
Also, a huge thank you to Harper360YA for the proof.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Grief
Minor: Bullying, Misogyny
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Where Shadows Bloom is a perfectly brilliant blend of light fantasy with a Sapphic love story and darkly enchanting, sinister forces at work. Ofelia, the reader, and Lope, the poet, come from different classes of society and should never fraternize beyond the latter serving the former, but they bond over their shared love of stories and words. In the beginning, Ofelia was hard for me to trust and root for, because she seems so self-centered and oblivious to everything around her. She experiences tremendous character growth through her ordeal, though, and I understand the desire for comfort and safety. Lope works hard to discover who she herself is outside of merely a knight to fight the shadow monsters. The palace promises beauty and solace from the dangerous world, but a life full of parties merely distracts from reality. In the end, Ofelia must learn the meaning of family and what creates the fiber of people. Told in both perspectives, this novel is as much a story about what love embodies as it is about what love never manifests as.
Thank you bounds to Epic Reads & HarperCollins Children's Books for sending me a physical ARC of this book.
Thank you bounds to Epic Reads & HarperCollins Children's Books for sending me a physical ARC of this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
**Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Posted to: NetGalley and The StoryGraph
Posted on: 3 February 2025
4.3 (rounded down to 4) out of 5 stars.
I first read ‘Flowerheart’ by Catherine Bakewell sometime in 2023. I really enjoyed it from the whimsy to the deeper themes embedded inside the story. I loved Bakewell’s work then, but part of me knew that her future works would be better with the prose and the flow. ‘Flowerheart’ was a lovely read, don’t get me wrong, but the writing was mildly lacking. It was simple, if I can say that without sounding rude or offensive. I did enjoy the story, but I knew that Bakewell had more potential to unlock in her writing with more practice.
And ‘Where Shadows Bloom’ is how she delivered it!
I know not where to begin with this review because I literally just recently put it down this morning. I’ve gone to my reader friends’ group chat to rave about this read (I actually took it to them before I’d even finished it, but now that I can fully say that it’s a good read from page one til the end, I returned to them with the update.) I’ve finished my playlist for it and have already pre-ordered it. These are like the key things I do if I really love a book, and I really love ‘Where Shadows Bloom’, but let me get started on the actual review part.
I normally start with things that I didn’t really like in the book/about the book, but everything kind of settled out in the end? Everything made sense, I should say instead. I do think it resolved mildly anti-climatically, if I can be honest. I also think that I say that because I have a bone to pick with HEA books where the ending has potential to be soul-crushingly intense and sad- but I am nothing if not a sad girl at heart. So the thought that books can end on a sad note is just personal preference. The ending here is fine and makes sense, and still managed to make me cry on my commute to work, so it’s still a win all around.
While it’s not something that I hate, so to say, there is something that annoyed me. Do you know when characters do or say something that has you screaming at the book/tv/screen, “No! Why would you do that!?”… There were a few instances here in this book like that. Now, I won’t say that I entirely hate this, however. It was irritating, sure, but it also just fit so well with the characters’ motives that had been written out up to this point. I think staying true to a character’s voice is a very good thing because for one, it means that you have fleshed out a character well enough that they even have a distinct voice to make note of. Secondly, it means that it just added another layer to the story. Where a reader would want something to happen to avoid conflict, the bump in the road just makes arriving at the finish line all the more joyous. So while it was a pretty rough bit to get over, it just made sense (and I fear that I’ve said that enough that the phrase is losing its meaning.)
The book isn’t terribly predictable either?? I also was bouncing in and out of a reading slump though, so take that with a grain of salt. It did have really lovely writing though and that I can vouch for. I’m pretty sure in my review notes, I wrote “Lyrical, lyrical, lyrical, ly-“ quite a few times if that counts for anything. There’s also keyboard smashes, general notes of silent screaming, and the occasional “my hearts!!” If that also can say anything about my general thoughts towards this. It feels like a love letter to the way Studio Ghibli movies make people feel. ‘Where Shadows Bloom’ is a letter to love, to yearning, to whimsy, and to a beautiful ballroom setting (but not enough dancing, I’d say). I genuinely loved it. The pacing felt right with the tale, the prose was absolutely beautiful, the POVs added layers of desire and want that bubbled over to the ending we received. Honestly, there’s not much more to say about this book besides the fact that it was a lush read filled with heart. It feels like Hadestown’s own Orpheus wrote this. I need ten more like- yesterday.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood
Minor: Confinement, Kidnapping
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to Netgalley who provided me with an early copy. All opinions are my own.
Where Shadows Bloom is a high fantasy book inspired from French and Spanish nobility. It has cozy, dreamy prose perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli. Ofelia and her brave knight Lope travel from the countryside to Le Chateau to escape the dangers of the Shadows: monsters that haunt the night and steal the breath and life of those who foolishly venture outside. While Ofelia adjusts to their new life at court, Lope still sees danger around every corner. Can their love overcome the monsters, secrets, gods, and the growing distance between them?
Things I Loved:
-The yearning (with dual POV). Where Shadows Bloom is perfect for readers who want some action but want the focus of the book to be on the main character’s inner monologue. This is a medium-paced book that centers on the yearning on both sides of a sapphic romance.
-The main theme. What makes this book so strong is its exploration of its main theme: what it means to be human. Experiencing love, experiencing grief, one of Ofelia’s tasks is to teach humanity to a lonely god. The evolution of the god’s character was just as compelling as the main characters’ character developments.
- While the flaws of the characters are definitely showcased, there is strong character development, and the ending redeemed my frustration with Ofelia throughout the book (see first bullet point below on my gripe with Ofelia).
Things I Didn’t Love:
-Ofelia’s cheerful outlook started off inspiring and understandable but became annoyingly obtuse as the novel went on.
-As in many fairy tales, there is a god to bargain with and it just felt like they bargained with them too many times.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Alcohol