They Bloom at Night

By Author / Illustrator

Trang Thanh Tran

Genre

LBGTQ+

Age range(s)

14+

Publisher

Bloomsbury YA

ISBN

9781526674838

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

13-03-2025

Synopsis

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.

'Trang Thanh Tran has a story for everyone who wants to tear off their skin and craves the strange ache of becoming something new. This book molts and chews itself raw under your fingers. It's perfect' - Andrew Joseph White, New York Times bestselling author of Compound Fracture. 'They Bloom at Night is a stunning exploration of healing from trauma in nature, relationships, and within ourselves. A mesmerizing novel' - Liselle Sambury, author of Delicious Monsters.

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Reviews

Clare

Post-hurricane, the town of Mercy is beset by rising waters and a red algae bloom that suffocates and distorts wildlife. Mutant creatures lurk in the depths as a semblance of life is maintained on the partially submerged land. Noon and her mother are shrimpers, good at their work but up to their eyes in debt and at the mercy of corrupt local government operative and effective harbour master, Jimmy Boudreaux.

Concerned that local disappearances and government interference might disrupt his thriving and not entirely legal business Jimmy has a proposition for mother and daughter. Catch the monster in the depths that is causing the disappearances and he will continue to finance them. Left without a choice, Noon, her mother and Jimmy’s hard-to-predict daughter, Covey, set sail on Wild things - heading for danger, uncertainty and more than their fair share of mutants.

As ever, there is more to these characters than immediately meets the eye. Within the pages of They Bloom at Night are complex family/friendship relationships and a personal battle for Noon with her gender and identity. Covey's missing mother and domineering father overshadow her every move and Noon's mother is haunted by the loss of her husband and son.

The author's Vietnamese culture weaves a thread through the story and provides a counterpoint to the zombie/horror elements of the book. Noon's strength as a character and narrator steadily increases as the story moves along and her relationships with Covey and her mother are explored as the action unfolds.

There is a lot going on in They Bloom at Night and for some there may be too many strands / characters / relationships and some of those elements may not seem fully developed. However, there is plenty of atmosphere and the prose is stylish and suitably unnerving.

This is a book about monsters of all kinds, and will appeal to those who like a dash of emotion with their horror.

272 pages / Reviewed by Clare Wilkins, school librarian