The first book in bestselling author Kenneth Oppel’s explosive new trilogy
It was just rain.
But after the downpour, odd black plants begin to shoot up.
Suddenly—
They. Are. Everywhere.
They take over fields and twine around houses. They bloom and throw off toxic pollen—and feed.
Strangely, three Salt Spring Island teens seem immune. Anaya, Petra and Seth. What’s their connection? What’s their secret? A week ago, they wouldn’t have thought they had one.
But they’d better figure it out fast—the invasion has already begun.
Title: Bloom | Series: The Overthrow #1 | Author: Kenneth Oppel | Publisher: HarperCollins | Pub. Date: 2020-Feb-20 | Pages: 320 | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 5 out of 5 | Source: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for review consideration
Bloom Review
This book done did me all sorts of wrong. I mean, I knew it was a possibility because I’ve read The Nest, and sweet baby Cthulhu that book needs a friggin’ warning symbol on it for “Will mess you up in unexpected ways”. But still. The first full page or so of this book had me all wide-eyed and thinking “Aw, hell, he gonna do it to me again.”
After about thirty minutes of reading, I was on social media telling everyone that if it started raining and black grass started sprouting it was the end and they shoulda listened and… basically I was being a fool, but it was the type of fool I get to being when I’m reading a really good book. Also, maybe I was thoroughly creeped out and blowing off steam. Especially knowing that it was supposed to rain the next day. (Did I mention that I started Bloom late at night? Lemme tell y’all, that was stupid. You never start an Oppel book at night.)
Bloom is fast-paced, full of creepy, and yet also has this strange fantasy-ish element that makes you wonder where in the world the author is going with things. When it was finally explained a little bit, I started giving it the side-eye, but I should have trusted Oppel. By the time I hit the final page I was in full-blown “No, you can’t do this to me. I need book two. Like NOW.”
Overall, I was intrigued, disturbed, thoroughly creeped out, and I loved every minute of it. I think it needs said that Bloom is not an adult book, too. Some people concentrate too much on the naughtier or more graphic elements of horror and forget that you don’t need any of that to tell a kick-butt story that can scare the s*** out of someone.
(That s*** word is seed, by the way. You thought it was something else, didn’t you?)
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Lilyn G is the founder of Sci-Fi & Scary, and leader of the Kali Krew. She does book and film reviews for both genres the site focuses on. Her tastes run towards creature features, hard science fiction, and lots and lots of action. She also has a soft spot for middle-grade fiction that rears its head frequently.
Though no longer involved with Ladies of Horror Fiction due to other responsibilities and a too-full plate, she was one of the original 4 co-founders.
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