Description:
In the village of Rixton, the vicar's daughter--plagued by visions of strange monsters and blamed for the sudden deaths of several village girls--realizes the monsters she sees in the woods are actually lost souls seeking her help and decides to travel into the hellish purgatory where they reside in hopes of bringing her late mother back to life, only to uncover horrifying family secrets along the way.
Brief description:
Teagan Olivia King grew up in Michigan's wild Upper Peninsula but traded in the stormy shores of Lake Superior for the wind-beaten sandbars of Lake Huron. She holds a degree in Creative Writing from Northern Michigan University and is the author of several works of short horror fiction. She lives in an old farmhouse with her beloved, a rescue pup named Remus, a black cat named Chester, who may or may not harbor the soul of some long-dead deity, and probably some ghosts. She is the author of several works of adult horror and dark fantasy.
Review Quotes:
"King...delivers an atmospheric gothic fantasy steeped in religious dread, grief, and ghostly unrest, anchored by a striking premise and an intensely lyrical voice... King's greatest strength lies in scene-setting, with lush, poetic prose and unsettling imagery combining to create a vividly oppressive world." --Publishers Weekly
"Beautifully grotesque, hauntingly romantic, and as twisty as a woodland path--I loved every minute of Bitterbloom." --Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf
"An eerie narrative bound skillfully together by luscious, biting prose, Bitterbloom wears the trappings of gothic romance like a crimson lace cloak--familiar yet enticing, with plenty of secrets lurking in the dark." --Maggie Rapier, USA Today bestselling author of Soulgazer
"Brimming with emotion and told in fairytale prose, Bitterbloom perfectly captures the ache of female rage, and the lengths we will go to in order to escape disempowerment." --Lyndall Clipstone, critically acclaimed author of Tenderly, I am Devoured
"Ethereal and gothic, Bitterbloom drips haunting imagery from every page. A beautiful exploration of the blood-soaked sins of religion, the power of women allowed to be their own, and the difference between never dying and truly living. I couldn't put it down!" --Alexandra Kennington, author of Blood Beneath the Snow
"Dark, visceral, and ultimately redemptive, Bitterbloom is a mesmerizing journey. Readers will find themselves both lost and found in this riveting tale of reckoning." --Autumn Krause, critically acclaimed author of Grave Flowers
"King's prose rings with the haunting timbre of a Reaper's bell and charts the necessary pains and joys of being alive. Decadently rotten and tightly plotted, Bitterbloom is for anyone who yearns for a side of horror with their fantasy romance." --Allison Saft, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic
"Bitterbloom is a beautiful, macabre thing. A sharp-edged, dark fairytale of a book that will lure readers in and then haunt them." --Amanda Linsmeier, author of A Dance With Death
"A wickedly sharp and sumptuous tale, Bitterbloom rings with heartache, delicious prose, and spine-chilling twists and turns. The gruesome world that King has created will grip you by the throat and keep you turning pages late into the night." --Ruth McKell, author of Honey in Her Veins