I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Seventeen year-old Lark Goode wants only one thing: to escape her small town of Cutwater and the history of her family name. It’s a history that began during the Dutch tulip mania of 1636, when Lark’s ancestor stole the last remaining tulip bulbs and fled to America. But when the tulips bloomed on American soil, madness sprouted from their snowy white petals.

The madness was love.

Now, generations later, the Goodes remain cursed—the unnatural flowers outside their home causing locals to fall helplessly in love with anyone carrying Goode blood in their veins. While her brother embraces the strange power, Lark wants nothing more than to be free from it.

But when she meets a boy who seems unaffected by the family curse, Lark finds herself falling headlong into a feeling she’s spent her whole life trying to avoid. Yet, all curses and magic come with a price, and the town of Cutwater soon sinks into a dangerous sickness tied to Lark and the ill-fated tulips.

To save the town, Lark will need to sacrifice everything—even true love—to break the spell. Because in the Goode family, love has a way of destroying everything.

Short and Sweet Review

Lark Goode lives in the small town of Cutwater with her twin brother Archer. Most people choose to ignore the Goodes but when the tulips in their garden bloom people can’t resist them. It all happened in 1636 when an ancestor stole the last of the Dutch tulips and brought them to America and in the soil here it caused madness. The tulips make people fall in love with the Goodes. Archer embraces it but Lark wants nothing to do with it. It’s time for the tulips to start blooming and Lark is prepared to deal with all the madness that comes with it but what’s she’s not expecting is to find a boy who isn’t affected and a thief who takes the tulips from the garden so now everyone in town is going mad. Lark know’s its her job to save the town but along the way she learns a few family secrets that may have been better hidden.

I’ve read all of Ernshaw’s young adult books and this one may be my new favorite. Cutwater is a small town and our story revolves around the Goodes specifically Lark. The Goodes have a Garden of tulips in their yard and when they grow it makes it hard for the townspeople to not fall in love with them, the townspeople don’t know why its happening but for a period of time they just want either Lark or Archer’s attention. Lark is over this and once she graduates she wants to leave town, but before the end of the school year with the tulips in full bloom she meets Oak who doesn’t seem to be under the influence of the tulips and Lark is intrigued. Lark ends up pushing back her departure date as she spends more time with Oak and tries to figure out if he could actually like her and why the tulips don’t affect him. Not only is Lark navigating her feelings for Oak but the theft of the tulips. When someone steals the tulips from the garden and people in town get their hands on them it’s like they’re no longer only infatuated with the Goodes but with other people. Lark and Archer know this is dangerous and the influence the tulips are having on other people makes it seem like an addiction. I loved the plot but I also enjoyed seeing the deep sibling bond that Lark and Archer have. Lark and Archer are basically orphans, their dad works in another town and their mom left them so they really only have each other, so it was kind of sad when Lark was dead set on leaving the town. I did like how everything ended, I just felt like the story wrapped up nicely.

Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely. If you ever read any of Ernshaw’s other books you would enjoy this one, it has the same small town feel of the others and something strange going on. I think the pacing is a bit slow but the writing will keep you clinging on to every word. Lark was a good character and I enjoyed following her journey from start to finish. Check this book out, it’s a quick read and it’ll keep you hooked.