Head’s up: I received a free advanced reader copy of this book directly from the author. Many thanks to Azalea Crowley!

Rating: 🤩

I don’t always like horror, but wow do I fucking love it when Azalea Crowley writes it. They just so perfectly nail the creepy, cozy, aesthetic kind of horror where I really feel immersed in the story (but I know it’s not gonna contribute to my chronic nightmares), and yeah: Wicked Flavors was no exception. It was so fun.

Quick synopsis

Retail worker by day and hobby dollmaker by night, Gwendolyn’s only real joy in life is the time she spends transforming ordinary store bought dolls into unique creations. So when the chance to work on the doll of her dreams arrives, she can’t pass it up, right? Even if the man selling it, Ambrosius, is… off… somehow? Even when he asks for a kiss as payment? Even when things start getting a lot horrific?

Ok, back to the review

In a villain romance (which you could kind of say this is), oftentimes the villain is made better by falling in love. In Wicked Flavors, Ambrosius makes Gwen worse instead.

(Which, honestly? I want to read more of. Maybe it’s the current political landscape in the US, but nothing would thrill me more right now than to read more femmes behaving badly for the sake of it.)

Perhaps this says more about my moral compass than anything, but Gwen is never really… bad. Like yes, she [redacted for spoilers] her neighbor and also there’s the whole thing at the end where she [redacted for spoilers], but imo those things are pretty well justified when they happen.

The more interesting change in her—to me anyway—is that she stops masking and starts expressing herself. She starts to say what she means instead of what she feels likes she’s supposed to say. She starts to wear what she wants instead of what keeps her hidden. She starts to take her own wants and desires more seriously and begins living instead of getting by. And honestly, for this chronically ill and disabled recovering people pleaser ghoulie, it was kind of inspirational. A real thing I said out loud during a specific scene that felt especially cathartic (but I won’t name for spoiler-y reasons is) was, “I want to be made worse, too.”

Having finishing the book more than a week ago, I will say it’s mostly Gwen that’s sitting with me still. Ambrosius is a great character, but I was left with questions at the end regarding his hip (I think it was his hip) injury (which was mentioned several times but were never given the origin?? maybe I missed it), as well as his and the pawn shop’s origins. While some is explained, not all of it is, and I feel like I was missing context and lore.

That said, Wicked Flavors was delightfully unsettling, gross at times, and also so vivid. It’s one of my favorite books I’ve read thus far in 2025, and I look forward to seeing what Crowley gives us next.