They Bloom at Night

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Pub Date 13 Mar 2025 | Archive Date Not set

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Description

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.

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...


Advance Praise

"A literary tour-de-force that should go down in history as a masterclass in atmospheric and terrifying writing." Kosoko Jackson, USATODAY bestselling author of THE FOREST DEMANDS ITS DUE

"A briny, rotting ode to the things we must become to survive and the things we yearn to become when the surviving is over. In elegant, atmospheric prose, Trang Thanh Tran peels back layers of salty skin and sea foam to expose the truth: even when we are wrong, even when we are monstrous, we are whole." Courtney Gould, award-winning author of THE DEAD AND THE DARK

"Gorgeous, gruesome, and fiercely cathartic, They Bloom at Night is body horror with a beating heart." Rebecca Mahoney, author of THE VALLEY AND THE FLOOD and THE MEMORY EATER

"A literary tour-de-force that should go down in history as a masterclass in atmospheric and terrifying writing." Kosoko Jackson, USATODAY bestselling author of THE FOREST DEMANDS ITS DUE

"A briny...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781526674838
PRICE £8.99 (GBP)
PAGES 352

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Average rating from 7 members


Featured Reviews

In They Bloom at Night, a red algae bloom engulfs the town of Mercy, Louisiana, following a devastating hurricane. The once-familiar waters are now home to mutated wildlife, creating an eerie atmosphere where the line between the ordinary and the monstrous blurs. At the centre of this unsettling landscape is The Cove, a place where Noon’s life took a tragic turn long before the storm, during a party thrown by her older boyfriend.

Now, as she navigates the increasingly submerged town with her mother, who believes their deceased family members have reincarnated as sea creatures, Noon grapples with her haunting memories. The trauma of that fateful night at The Cove weighs heavily on her, as she buries the truth about her identity, feeling that she is “not in the right shape.”

When Mercy's predatory leader coerces Noon and her mother into capturing a creature threatening the town’s residents, Noon reluctantly teams up with his dangerous daughter and a mix of old and new friends. As another storm looms on the horizon, she must confront her past and decide whether to embrace the monstrous feelings stirring within her.

The novel offers a thought-provoking exploration of destruction and the fragments of life that are worth fighting for. It captures the gut-wrenching horror of both raw emotion and external terrors, all while weaving together themes of climate change, identity, and the complexities of being a lesbian teenager. They Bloom at Night is a haunting and beautifully written tale that challenges readers to contemplate the nature of monstrosity and the good that can arise from chaos.

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a haunting queer ocean horror infused with Vietnamese folklore and finding your place in the world. a hurricane devistates a small town, causing rising sea waters, mutated wildlife and a red algae bloom. when people start to disappear, Nhung is tasked with finding the sea monster responsible. it's eerie and atmospheric and filled with terror from the environment and those who live there. it weaves together climate change, class, gender, queerness, and found family and though this book isn't out for 5 more months, I can't wait for the authors next tale.


thanks to netgalley for an arc of this book which will be published in March 2025

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