Rating: —/10

Synopsis

When a disease runs rampant, turning people into cannibalistic horrors, society comes to a halt. Kate manages to escape the sadistic captivity she has endured and collides with Nick, a Marine haunted by the scars of war.

They join forces to navigate a treacherous landscape, battling the undead and hostile survivors. But what happens when the monsters outside are the least of their worries?

Nick’s shame is crushing, and Kate’s distrust is swallowing her whole. Will they overcome the darkness that threatens to consume them from within? And what will become of a world overrun with creatures that cannot seem to stop…laughing?

Quick Review

Dark Bloom constantly had me wanting to read “just one more chapter,” but it comes with a litany of content warnings and a somewhat awkward omniscient perspective.

Full Review

Dark Bloom is a wildly addicting and fun adventure, filled with zombies, romance, and a pair of wounded people learning to find themselves in the apocalypse. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Joe James, who brought life to the undead setting. However, I would encourage you to keep reading this review—and probably take a peek at some others—because Dark Bloom is rife with violence and sexual violence. The omniscient narration may also be a problem for some readers. I got used to it over time, but it still wasn’t my favorite choice. I suspect it’s going to be a somewhat divisive book.

All that said, I really enjoyed Dark Bloom. The way Macabre writes Nick and Kate’s relationship and the way it evolves—the way it creates a sliver of hope in the apocalypse—was perhaps my favorite part of the book. Without fail, I was always dying to listen to just one more chapter.

A defining part of this story are Nick and Kate’s origins—the lives they led before the zombie apocalypse. I really loved the themes behind each. The end of the world freed Kate from an abusive partner, and gave a depressed Nick some sense of purpose. This was a really interesting choice, and a welcome shift away from the classic stories of people who lost everything and were just managing to get by. Here, while Nick and Kate are still scavenging for food and supplies, this life is in many ways better than their old ones.

Macabre gives us frequent flashbacks to those pre-apocalyptic days, rarely relenting in the details that form Nick and Kate’s difficult pasts. At times, I felt they were a bit too much. The villains in their stories were cartoonishly evil, subjecting people to extreme violence simply for their entertainment. While I’m not strictly opposed to characters like this, I felt as though they were a bit too monotone. More concerning, I think some readers will bounce off of the book because of these flashbacks. If you’re not open to reading a story with violence, sexual violence, rape, thoughts of or depictions of suicide, I would not recommend Dark Bloom.

That said, the book is largely about Nick and Kate overcoming their pasts, learning to trust each other, and see themselves as valued. There is a sweet romance nestled into Dark Bloom, but the other side of it can be quite difficult to read.

The other main issue I had with Dark Bloom was the perspective. It’s written in 3rd person omniscient, which allows Macabre to jump between Nick and Kate’s perspectives very quickly. In the same page, we’re often seeing the same scene from both of their points of view at the same time. It’s a neat way of showing how they perceive the same thing differently—usually due to their respective traumas—but it’s not my preferred type of reading. The first few times this head-hopping happened, I felt out of place and confused, and it took some time to settle into. If you can’t deal with frequent head-hopping, Dark Bloom may not be the right fit for you.

I realise I’ve just spent a lot of time describing all the ways Dark Bloom might not be a great read for you, but I did genuinely enjoy it. I, however, made the mistake of not reading Macabre’s content warnings or any other reviews—I’m trying to help you avoid that. While it worked out alright for me, I know others may not be so accepting of certain choices in this story.

I recommend Dark Bloom, though it’s not without some potential issues. It’s an addicting read, and knowing that Macabre is working on a sequel, I’m curious to see how the story evolves. The ending of this book is a bit abrupt, but opens a lot of doors for the next one that I’m very interested in. However, I can absolutely see why a few of my friends recommended it—and why some others couldn’t finish the book.