THE BEAUTIFUL MADDENING

A garden of cursed tulips has haunted a Dutch American family for generations.

High school senior Lark Goode anxiously awaits graduation, when she can receive her diploma and leave her childhood home, a rickety house built in a swamp above Forsaken Creek, where she lives alone with her twin brother, Archer. Their mom left the family, and their dad lives and works on a fishing boat. The residents of Cutwater know—and fear—the legend of the Goode family, whose backyard garden blooms with cursed tulips each spring. The flowers make Archer and Lark irresistible and cause others to fall in love with them. But when the magical tulip blossoms are stolen, and hysteria sweeps across the student body of Cutwater High, Lark begins to rely on Oak, a mysterious boy with amber skin, “river-dark” hair, and green eyes who comes from a nearby town and seems unaffected by her family’s curse. While navigating peak tulip season and planning her escape from a community that avoids her in order to avoid falling into a deep, cursed love, auburn-haired Lark unearths old family secrets. This angsty romance is laced with imagery that evokes dark academia and vivid natural elements. The stream-of-consciousness narration drifts into lengthy repetition at times. Nonetheless, the subtle fantasy elements intertwined with complex character relationships make for an entertaining read.

A richly described coming-of-age romance with plotline that sometimes lags.