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city_girl_writer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
I loved this gothic fairytale. The middle was kinda slow for me, but otherwise an amazing read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment
carriepond's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Told through the voices of two narrators, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is an adult fairytale about a man who meets a mysterious woman and feels compelled to unearth her secrets. At the beginning of the novel, the first narrator (called only "The Bridegroom") has spent his life researching myths and fairytales in a quest to solve the riddle of his brother's disappearance. He meets and falls hard for Indigo Maxwell-Casteña, a rich heiress with a mysterious past. When Indigo receives news that her aunt, her last living family member, is dying, she asks her husband to return to her childhood home with her on one condition: don't go digging around in her past. Soon after arriving at the House of Dreams, the Bridegroom learns that Indigo's childhood best friend, Azure, disappeared unexpectedly and mysteriously. As the Bridegroom begins delving into Indigo's secrets, his passages begin alternating with Azure's narration, filling in gaps from the friends' past.
I was super stoked to read this novel, pre-ordering it as soon as I saw it described as a cross between "the lush, haunting atmosphere of Mexican Gothic" and "the dreamy enchantment of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue." Things I liked: although the beginning of the book felt overwritten, as the story progressed and settled into the narrative, I found the writing to be pretty beautiful. I also really liked how Chokshi was able to weave so many fairytales into the narrative, which played a core role in the relationships between both Indigo and Azure and Indigo and the Bridegroom. I found both of those relationships, which mirror one another more and more as the novel progresses in their co-dependency and dysfunction, to be interesting and compelling. The novel plays a lot with the tension between the characters' desire for freedom, selfhood, and independence with the consuming way that they relate to one another. I also really liked the end, though I predicted the main twist at about 40% of the way through. Despite all the things that I really enjoyed about the novel, it never quite grabbed me in the way that I thought it would, and I felt a little detached for most of the novel.
Although The Last Tale of the Flower Bride ended up failing to meet my admittedly high expectations, it was still a pretty good read with many things to appreciate. I would definitely recommend it to people who like atmospheric writing and gothic fairytale vibes, but maybe check it out from the library or grab a used copy.
I was super stoked to read this novel, pre-ordering it as soon as I saw it described as a cross between "the lush, haunting atmosphere of Mexican Gothic" and "the dreamy enchantment of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue." Things I liked: although the beginning of the book felt overwritten, as the story progressed and settled into the narrative, I found the writing to be pretty beautiful. I also really liked how Chokshi was able to weave so many fairytales into the narrative, which played a core role in the relationships between both Indigo and Azure and Indigo and the Bridegroom. I found both of those relationships, which mirror one another more and more as the novel progresses in their co-dependency and dysfunction, to be interesting and compelling. The novel plays a lot with the tension between the characters' desire for freedom, selfhood, and independence with the consuming way that they relate to one another. I also really liked the end, though I predicted the main twist at about 40% of the way through. Despite all the things that I really enjoyed about the novel, it never quite grabbed me in the way that I thought it would, and I felt a little detached for most of the novel.
Although The Last Tale of the Flower Bride ended up failing to meet my admittedly high expectations, it was still a pretty good read with many things to appreciate. I would definitely recommend it to people who like atmospheric writing and gothic fairytale vibes, but maybe check it out from the library or grab a used copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Child abuse
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Words cannot do justice to how breathtakingly atmospheric and beautiful this was! The prose and world-building was gorgeously lush— in a dark fairytale-esque, House of Hollow meets Mexican Gothic way that had me utterly hooked from start to finish!
It’s told through a unique, dual POV narrative that spans two timelines and was really intrigued by the decision to not give a name to our first (and only male) protagonist who is referred to as The Bridegroom—and even then only in the chapter headings. To me, it felt like it was harkening back to the early gothic/ horror genre, where unnamed characters added an aura of mystery and unease to the plot, which I really enjoyed.
It also worked perfectly with the hauntingly lyrical prose and descriptions that weaved a sinister sensualness into very scene. I know not everyone is a fan of this type of prose, but Roshani Chokshi’s darker, intricate and ethereal overtones felt like an homage to traditional fairytales (which have always been seen as rather macabre to modern audiences) adding a fabulously unnerving sense of foreboding that kept the plot moving.
The plot twists were also fantastic! I was really wasn’t expecting any of the reveals that occur and really enjoyed trying to piece together the breadcrumb-like clues to unravel Indigo’s mysterious back story.
Overall, a beautifully crafted and decadently suspenseful gothic novel full of twists, turns and unreliable narrators that made this a truly unputdownable read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death
howlinglibraries's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
You said: "If you pry, you'll destroy our marriage." But oh, my love, you lied.
I'm disappointed to say that I didn't enjoy The Last Tale of the Flower Bride until the final 15-20%, and even then, it never redeemed itself from a dreary, bland start and characters that I found it impossible to care about.
We start off with the bridegroom's POV as we learn how he and Indigo came to marry, and it is a painfully instantaneous romance that holds no chemistry or depth whatsoever. Instead of character development, the narrative was comprised primarily of one fairytale reference after another, and I felt like I was being beaten over the head with blunt metaphors. As someone who typically loves purple prose, this was a rare experience in which the writing veered far past whimsical and into the territory of downright pretentiousness for me.
After a bit, the story begins to alternate between the bridegroom and Azure, his wife's childhood friend, and while the plot developing within her segments was far more interesting, I struggled with the fact that the writing did not differ in any way whatsoever between their inner monologues.
On top of the previous issues mentioned, I feel obligated to mention how predictable the twist was; I literally guessed it within the first 10% of the book, even down to the outline of how it played out in the end. I typically don't knock off stars for predictability because I know I'm the type of reader who guesses twists often, and that doesn't always act as a negative against the writing; still, in this case, it only added to my boredom. I would have set this book aside early on, if not for the fact that I became determined to see if I had guessed correctly.
It genuinely hurts me to write this review because The Last Tale of the Flower Bride held so much potential and I think, in another writer's hands, it could have been a perfect read for me, but the writing is what held this story back in every possible way. I can fully understand how this book has been popular with so many readers in the brief time since it was released, and I expect it will find a great deal more fans from here on, but unfortunately, I'm not one of them.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: Indigo, Azure, and Tati are BIPOC (no specific mentions of their ethnicities, one brief mention of Azure being uncertain of her ethnicity)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Gore and Terminal illness
ohennui's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
scarlett_f's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol
With a flower bride comes flowery language.ckreads28's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is one of the most gorgeous reads, I've read this year so far. Roshani always takes me traveling with each book. She had me with the book right away when it was in Paris. This was definitely more haunting and adult than her other reads, but dang!
If you love The Starless Sea and Addie Larue with the mythology and storytelling you will adore this. This had so much storytelling, mythology, magical realism, with being tangled in love, all interwoven into one story. Seeing the tales and truths woven in different ways.
This tapestry is so gorgeous with the mystery it has you wrapped in to question whose truth is real which world is real. THe narrators of the audiobook made it even more hypnotic. Definitely need my own copy asap and will be looking into the myths that were told that I wasn't familiar with before reading.
If you love The Starless Sea and Addie Larue with the mythology and storytelling you will adore this. This had so much storytelling, mythology, magical realism, with being tangled in love, all interwoven into one story. Seeing the tales and truths woven in different ways.
This tapestry is so gorgeous with the mystery it has you wrapped in to question whose truth is real which world is real. THe narrators of the audiobook made it even more hypnotic. Definitely need my own copy asap and will be looking into the myths that were told that I wasn't familiar with before reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault
jbird_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual content
lit_with_lauren's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse and Pedophilia
lunahale's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
what a wacky, mysterious, and utterly enjoyable book. i did not see the plot twist coming (even though. in hindsight, i should’ve) and i’m going to be puzzling out the message of this book for a while
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death