*I was sent an ARC of Where Shadows Bloom in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to HarperCollins and Catherine Bakewell for my copy of the book*
Synopsis:
Ofelia has lived her life dreaming of entering Le Château Enchanté—the mysterious court of the gods-blessed King Léo, where the shadow monsters that roam Ofelia’s home never trespass.
Lope has lived her life as a knight, defending Ofelia and her home from Shadows even as she dreams of escaping with Ofelia by her side.
When the Shadows venture too close, Lope and Ofelia are thrust into a journey that will lead them to the heart of the darkness haunting their home: the dazzling and deceptive Château Enchanté itself.
Review:
The very first thing I need to say about Where Shadows Bloom is how gorgeous the cover is. Catherine Bakewell’s covers never disappoint. Sadly, I don’t know who the artist is, but hats off to them. This is easily my favourite cover of the year so far.
The biggest negative I have to say about Where Shadows Bloom is how long it took me to get invested in the story. The first half of this book is extremely slow. I can appreciate the world building as this fairytale-esque world is interesting, but it took a lot longer to read this book than I expected.
The only comment I have that could be viewed as negative is how convenient the ending is. I liked the twist on your typical happily ever after, but I imagine some people will not be happy with it. I wouldn’t say it’s a ‘deus ex machina’ ending, but the resolution does come about fairly easily and the main problem of the story is fixed quickly. Personally, I liked the lower stakes, but if you’re looking for an action packed book, Where Shadows Bloom isn’t for you.
I’m a big fan of fantasy books set at court and Where Shadows Bloom was definitely an interesting one. I do, however, feel like this world was a little underdeveloped. From the get-go you get an uneasy feeling surrounding Le Château Enchanté, but this isn’t explored enough for my liking. There were definitely creepy and mysterious vibes, especially when Ofelia finds out surprising information about her mother, but these could have been drawn out more. A ‘gods-blessed’ immortal king, who you can instantly tell something is up with, was a great story line though.
Ofelia had a naivety to her that added to the overall whimsy of Where Shadows Bloom. She was very quick to trust, which often landed her in trouble, but her development is done pretty well. She starts out the book thinking only of herself but grows to the point of not thinking twice before sacrificing herself. I wouldn’t call her a perfect character, not in the slightest, but her self absorbed nature becomes more forgiving when you realise how coddled she’s been her whole life.
Lope on the other hand was great throughout the entire book. I loved that her chapters started with a short poem and her narrative was just better written. She manages to find beauty in the worst of situations but that doesn’t stop her from being realistic. Having her thoughts grounded in realism was the perfect balance to Ofelia’s chapters that were mostly filled with life at court.
I wanted to love the romance but it felt half baked. Ofelia and Lope spend a lot of this book apart so you don’t really have reason to root for them. From the very first chapters you learn that they both have feelings for each other. I don’t think this helped. Flashbacks to any day they spent together in the last five years would have done the romance a world of favours. Don’t get me wrong, I did like them together – I will always champion sapphic books.
Overall, I did enjoy Where Shadows Bloom but nowhere near as much as I thought I would. I actually think the plot would have benefitted from a sequel book so the conflict, resolution and romance didn’t feel so rushed.
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