Courtney has been reading and collecting books almost as long as she's been alive. She holds a B.A. in Theatre and Creative Writing. Courtney has been writing with Book Riot since 2019, and is a Bibliologist with TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations. She's currently brainstorming for her next creative project. You can follow her on Instagram.
Last year, Hurricane Helene ripped through the southeastern United States. Flood waters devastated small, unprepared towns. As hurricane season warms up, there’s always the threat of the next storm, the next bad one. Continuing climate devastation and budget cuts to resources mean that natural disasters could continue to worsen. Climate fiction, or eco fiction, attempts to understand the complex impact of climate change on society and the planet. Today’s recommendation is set in the near future, but could have easily been set in 2024.
They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran
They Bloom at Night centers around Nhung, anglicized as Noon, a teenager who lives with her Vietnamese immigrant mother on a shrimp boat in the flooded town of Mercy, Louisiana.
After the last devastating hurricane, a red algae bloom has begun to take over the swamp waters, slowly seeping into everything. Animals and flora have begun to mutate, people have started disappearing, and Noon is changing. Struggling with her identity and past traumas, the changes in Noon aren’t only due to the algae. Noon’s mother believes her dead son and husband have been reincarnated into the mutated creatures in the swamp. Unable to fully understand each other, Noon and her mother are familiar strangers.
There’s another storm on the way, and it’s going to be bad. Mercy’s predatory leader, Jimmy, demands that Noon and her mother catch one of the monsters for him. Jimmy’s promises of a big reward are tinged with a threat as he sends his daughter Covey along as a monitor. The hunt becomes a race against time as Noon, her mother, and Covey search for the monsters. When Noon’s mother is injured, the teens set out alone in the height of the storm. Survival against the monsters is their only goal.
This book is visceral and raw. The reader sees the algae’s destructive path through Noon’s eyes. Noon must confront the traumas of her past and questions about her identity while navigating the uncertain waters. It’s up to Noon to decide whether to embrace the monster/ change or continue to hide. Combining elements of horror with Vietnamese mythology and Southern Gothic literature, They Bloom at Night is a brilliant coming-of-age story. Noon’s personal journey cannot be separated from the ecological themes because their journey is their environment. Tran manages to infuse intense emotions, heightened tensions, and atmospheric detail in this tightly plotted 272-page book.
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English (US) · 