A few months ago, one of my followers asked Rachel and I a question: "Which one of you is more spooky and which one is more flowers?" It was a great question and we came to the realization that we are both... both!

Rachel is more spooky on the outside, flowers on the inside. I am more flowers on the outside, spooky on the inside. Here are a few reference photos to prove it.

And this is very much reflected in my book choices for this post today. All 3 of these books are great options for your Summerween TBR and the literary embodiment of spooky flowers.

Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson

I read this a couple of months ago on audiobook c/o Libro.fm and it was everything I hoped it would be. It is a sapphic horror novella with a morbidly, beautiful cover and a fun, albeit, slightly predictable plot. A newly divorced woman meets another woman at a farmer’s market, has a blip of bi panic and a relationship ensues… but it is a horror novel so that can’t last, right? This is the perfect quick read for these last days of Summerween!

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

Another great read for Summerween - and another great example of spooky flowers -this dark, gothic fantasy is quite possibly one of my new favorite books of all time. Boy meets and becomes enamored with girl. Girl agrees to marriage just so long as boy agrees that he won’t go poking into her past. Then, one of her relatives is sick and they travel to her childhood home to care of her and the house itself seems to be unveiling her secrets to him. This has a lush, ominous setting and a twisty, gripping plot told in dual timelines with an ending I did not see coming. I loved every second of it, the audiobook is great too!

The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero

Spooky flowers, 3 for 3. This is a novel in verse with an immersive setting and story that just swallows you up. A young girl spending the summer in Prague meets a ghost boy in an abandoned Jewish cemetery that she is set on restoring. He shows her a magical reality with something sinister lurking within. This combines lyrical prose and Jewish myth and folklore in a truly beautiful package. Great for any time of year but especially Summerween!