Hello, fellow bookworms! Welcome, or Welcome back! My name is Amanda, and this is where I share spoiler-free book reviews and other bookish things. Thanks for visiting. Let’s get Smitten for Fiction. This is a review of Mira Grant’s new book, Overgrowth. Join the conversation and share your thoughts!

About The Book 📚

Title: Overgrowth

Author: Mira Grant

Publication Date: May 6, 2025

Publisher: Tor Nightfire

Genre: Horror, Science Fiction

Pages: 480

Setting: July 13, 2031 – August; Washington, Maine, Arizona

Click Here to see Content Warnings:

Three Words That Describe This Book: aliens, plants, horror

Blurb: “Annihilation meets Day of the Triffids in this full-on body horror/alien invasion apocalypse.“

“This is just a story. It can’t hurt you anymore.”

“Since she was three years old, Anastasia Miller has been telling anyone who would listen that she’s an alien disguised as a human being, and that the armada that left her on Earth is coming for her. Since she was three years old, no one has been willing to listen.

Now, with an alien signal from the stars being broadcast around the world, humanity is finally starting to realize that it’s already been warned, and it may be too late. The invasion is coming, Stasia’s biological family is on the way to bring her home, and very few family reunions are willing to cross the gulf of space for just one misplaced child.”

My Review

› While perusing Netgalley to check out the 2025 releases, the cover for Overgrowth caught my eye. The thorny plant, reaching through space towards Earth, gave me the horror vibe I sought. However, I love this version of the cover even more (it reminds me of the cover for And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott):

Mira Grant also writes under the name Seanan McGuire, and her Wayward Children series is one of my fantasy series.

https://www.miragrant.com/

https://www.seananmcguire.com/

In a recent interview, Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire said Overgrowth is her 100th published book in under 15 years! She also tells the story of when she was lost in the woods for two days at three years old. She began telling everyone that she had been switched with an alien species. Little Shop of Horrors is her all-time favourite movie.

› Have you heard of Fermi’s Paradox? This paradox questions if aliens exist, then where are they? Is life scarce, or is something else happening? Maybe they’ve been here and covered it up. Perhaps travelling through space is too difficult. Is a more advanced alien population observing us? Maybe they are afraid to reveal themselves in fear of being attacked by us or others. In Overgrowth, you will learn where Anatasia came from and what these aliens want.

As the book tells us: This is just a story…it can’t hurt you…

› A comet died above Earth, raining seeds down all over the planet. Some of them sprout. Some die. Some grow into strange flowers that sit and wait.

Overgrowth takes place in Seattle, 2031. The main character is Anastasia, who works in tech along with her roommates, Mandy and Lucas. Anastasia claims to be “the vanguard of an invading species of alien plant people”. She’s said this since she wandered into the forest as a young girl and was eaten by a flower. The flower grew a new girl who looks the same, but is no longer human. She wants to fit in but has always felt like an outsider. Her boyfriend Graham is trans and can relate to this feeling of “otherness”. She knows she’s an alien, but has no way to prove it. The friends she’s made have come to accept this about her – some believe her, some just go along with it.

“Maybe I’d been lucky enough to fall in love with one of the only people in the world who understood what it was to tell the truth about your identity, over and over again, until you found the few people who could believe in you.”

A scientist discovers a signal from space. Anastasia is sure it’s her home planet people sending a message and travels to Maine to hear it first-hand. This is where she meets Toni, who claims to have been studying the alien plant people for a long time. Anastasia meets other characters, such as Tahlia, who has a Newfoundland accent! (I’m from Newfoundland & Labrador)

Why were these plant aliens sent to Earth? Why is the armada coming? Do they come in peace?

› The characters jump off the page, and I enjoyed the diverse cast. Grant does an excellent job of describing the setting and making the reader feel emotion. The world-building is awesome, and I love the visual writing style. The alien world-building feels believable and immersive. There is some repetition, and it’s a slow pace, however, the last 25% was a wild ride. I laughed, I teared up, and the pages turned.

Overgrowth is a thought-provoking story. Grant highlights many important topics such as stereotyping, trans rights, sexism, and neurodivergence. The following quote about 17% is a real thing:

“as long as less than seventeen percent of the members of a group were female, the men wouldn’t be bothered by them”

Overall, I had a good time reading Overgrowth.

APPEAL FACTORS
Storyline: character-driven, issue-oriented, open-ended, unconventional, tragic
Pace: slow
Tone: bittersweet, dramatic, suspenseful, thought-provoking, edgy, mysterious, bleak, gruesome, violent
Humour: dark humour, offbeat, sarcastic
Writing Style: banter-filled, conversational
Character: awkward, complex, flawed, likeable, strong female, well-developed, diverse
LGBTQIA+ Representation: gay, queer, transgender
Racial Representation: Multiracial

Read Alikes:
The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
Future’s Edge by Gareth Powell
Nightflyers by George R. R. Martin
Bloodmoon by Heather Graham
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

› In the past, I have given a rating out of ten and converted that to a star rating, but I’m no longer giving a star rating here on my blog. I will continue to do that on Goodreads and The Story Graph.

› Final Thoughts
• Overgrowth is a horrific, tense, and emotional sci-fi novel about identity, found-family, and acceptance. I recommend this to readers who like plant-horror and science fiction.

 Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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