Dark read with some pretty creepy undertones. A nice Gothic setting and a bit of southern flair. Excellent and unique premise, but it just didn't follow through on the execution.

Holly was not my favorite character. She was unfortunately a bit overly naive and made ridiculous decisions that had me forever shaking my head. She could have been written a bit smarter without causing too much damage to the movement of the plot and she would've been a much more solid character to read. Her dumb choices meddled with the logic and pulled me out of the story a few times because it just didn't feel believable.

Maura was a nicely written mysterious character that I wish there had actually been more of. A story written from her perspective could actually be quite intriguing. She is clever and diabolical and just not quite right. I kind of liked her crazy a bit too much. There was a hint of backstory to Maura in the narrative, but I felt like it really didn't get explored enough. I almost would have rather the information was left out than have it dangled there with no real resolution or full understanding.

The setup of the novel is prime creepiness and I loved the botanical flavor. There were some great bits of knowledge peppered into the plot that I found really fun. In fact, I wish there had been more of the historical use of flowers. Overall, I enjoyed the storyline, but it just felt like it didn't go far enough. There was a lot of set up and a lot of development that resulted in a fairly rushed and flat ending, leaving me a bit disappointed.