The Beautiful Maddening

by Shea Ernshaw

First published 2025

Seventeen-year-old Lark Goode lives trapped by her family's supernatural legacy in the small town of Cutwater. Outside her home, cursed tulips bloom with snowy white petals that drive locals into helpless infatuation with anyone who carries Goode blood. The curse began in 1636 when Lark's ancestor fled Holland with stolen tulip bulbs during the Dutch tulip mania. When the flowers bloomed on American soil, they brought madness in the form of uncontrollable love. While her brother welcomes their strange power, Lark dreams only of escape. Then she meets a boy who appears immune to the family curse. For the first time, Lark experiences genuine feeling rather than manufactured attraction. But the cursed tulips soon poison Cutwater with dangerous sickness. To save her town, Lark must choose between her first real love and breaking the spell that has controlled her family for generations.

Genres: romance, fantasy, contemporary, magical-realism

Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, first-love

Setting: Cutwater, Holland

Period: 1636

304 pages · Kindle Edition · Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

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