Goodreads Monday (8/30/21) – The Darkest Bloom

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme created by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do to participate is pick a book from your Goodreads TBR, and explain why you want to read it.

I think it might’ve been Amie Kaufman who put this one on my radar – I feel like she mentioned it in both her podcast (which is an amazing resource for all you writers/aspiring writers out there) and on her Instagram story. The premise, even though the synopsis is a tad sparse, immediately hooked me – I haven’t seen any sort of fantasy world where scent is power…interesting.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GOODREADS MONDAY (8/30/21) – THE DARKEST BLOOM by P.M. Freestone

Blurb from Goodreads:

In the empire of Aramtesh, scent has power.

When disaster strikes and the crown prince lies poisoned, long suppressed rivalries threaten to blow the empire apart. It’s up to a poor village girl with a talent for fragrances and the prince’s loyal bodyguard to find an antidote.

To succeed, the pair must uncover secrets – cryptic, ancient tales as well as buried truths from their own pasts – in an adventure that will ignite your senses.

So why do I want to read this?

There’s a lot within the synopsis that looks like garden-variety YA fantasy – court intrigue surrounding a murder, an ordinary girl of lower status being the Chosen One™️ and solving the mystery, et cetera. But for once, I’m willing to put all that aside. Why? I’m intrigued by the concept of a world where scent is power. There are so many fascinating possibilities with that – perfume? Flowers? Magic scents? Seems inventive to me, I’m down.

Plus, can we talk about how pretty that rose gold/dark blue color scheme is on the cover? Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.

Other than that, it’s Amie Kaufman. I trust her judgment. She didn’t let me down with the recommendation of All These Monsters, so I’ll take her word for The Darkest Bloom too.

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week’s Goodreads Monday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!