wordswritinstarlight 's review for:

They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran
4.5
adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

When I read She Is A Haunting last year (?), I remember telling my wife about it “this book is fine but what I actually want to read is this author’s NEXT book, because it’s going to be a banger” and I was correct about that.  This book is a great YA ocean horror adventure with a cast of bittersweet family dynamics (found and otherwise).  Yes I do want to hear about how algae wants to eat me, say more about that.  My only critique is that I think this book could actually stand to be longer—the lead-up feels disproportionately long compared to the active horror elements in the back half and climax, and I think a little more time with the horror woven into that front half would have done a lot to crank up the tension more.

Recommended for young horror readers or for people who are looking for horror with a YA vibe.