For decades, the blossoming of the tulips in the Goode family garden has only brought trouble, compelling the residents of their small town of Cutwater to become irrationally infatuated with all members of the Goodes until the flowers die. Lark Goode is hoping to get through two more weeks until graduation before the flowers bloom, but no such luck--the tulips come, and with them other people's obsession, but this year is different. Lark's classmates have stolen some petals for themselves to covet their effects, and now school dynamics are overhauled as unpredictable passions drastically shift relationships. Meanwhile, Lark meets Oak, a new, green-eyed boy who seems immune to the tulips' power, and as the two form a tentative bond, Lark begins to wonder if she could truly be loved for who she is and not because of some family curse. Lark's repetitive, obsessive narration is both grating and gives away the game far too early, so when readers come to the final twist, it feels more perfunctory than transformative. Her focus on the pain that the curse has caused only her borders on narcissistic, especially when she gives little heed to how the magic has affected her twin, who, though outwardly bubbly and charming, is clearly suffering as well. Still, the thematic exploration at hand (love, obsession, and how tightly the two can be linked) is a perpetually interesting one, and Ernshaw ( The Wicked Deep, BCCB 3/18) has a knack for creating worlds touched by unpredictable magic while still grounded in complexities of realism. KQG.