Book Review; They Bloom at Night by Trang Thranh Tran

Recently, I read the horror novel They Bloom at Night by Trang Thranh Tran and today I'll post my review of the book.

Description from Goodreads

The author of the New York Times bestselling horror phenomenon She Is a Haunting is back with a novel about the monsters that swim beneath us . . . and live within us.

Ever since a hurricane devastated the small town of Mercy, Louisiana, a red algae bloom has taken over. Mutated wildlife lurks in the water that rises by the day, but Mercy has always been a place where monsters walk in plain sight. Especially at its heart: the Cove, where Noon's life was upended long before the storm at a party her older boyfriend insisted on.

Now, Noon is stuck navigating the submerged town with her mom, who believes their family have been reincarnated as sea creatures. Alone with the pain of what happened that night at the cove, Noon buries the truth: she is not the right shape.

When Mercy's predatory leader demands Noon and her mum capture the creature drowning residents, she reluctantly finds an ally in his deadly hunter of a daughter and friends old and new. As the next storm approaches, Noon must confront the past and decide if it's time to answer the monster itching at her skin.

My Thoughts on the Book

I really enjoyed reading They Bloom at Night with the combination of Vietnamese myths and folklore, LGBT+ representation, and eco/ocean/botanical/body horror. There was also something about the author's writing style I really appreciated, in addition to the well-written and complex characters. There's some vidid imagery at times while reading this book, which is nice.

They Bloom at Night is more of a YA book, but it can be very much enjoyable for us adults too.