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horizonous's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Usually I'm not the biggest fan of flowery writing, but somehow it worked really well for me in this book. It creates this eerie, lush and dreamy, yet poisonous atmosphere, and I couldn't get enough of it. The descriptions of the House of Dreams were especially immaculate. I just really like it, when a setting comes to live as if it were its own character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Animal death
Moderate: Blood, Death, Infidelity, and Self harm
Minor: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, and Child abuse
anni_swanilda's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Death, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Self harm, Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent
mikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content, Infidelity, and Pedophilia
pookiee's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-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
1.25
this is not a romance as advertised. there is no romance to be found. the relationship is literally founded on the principle of not getting too close. walls break down at the very end, at which point we still don’t know the characters—the narrator/bridegroom is the most nondescript character I’ve ever read and Indigo is so detached—so why care?
The plot follows a man trying to the uncover secrets of his very closed-off wife’s past and his own, interspersed with flashbacks of his wife’s codependent/toxic friendship when she was a teenager. but it feels more like a vehicle for the super purple prose and barrage of fairy tale references.
I was excited for this one bc it was hyped, looked gothic, and the author is my ethnicity. pretty disappointed. ;-;
The plot follows a man trying to the uncover secrets of his very closed-off wife’s past and his own, interspersed with flashbacks of his wife’s codependent/toxic friendship when she was a teenager. but it feels more like a vehicle for the super purple prose and barrage of fairy tale references.
I was excited for this one bc it was hyped, looked gothic, and the author is my ethnicity. pretty disappointed. ;-;
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Death
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Animal death
modernmatilda's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Was the twist worth it? Mostly. Was it a little slow and repetitive? A little. But was it still a solid ride? Yes.
More Mexican Gothic, less House of Hollow. Probably predictable for other readers, but I like being caught up in the ride. Had GORGEOUS lyrical writing and some lines I underlined in pen.
More Mexican Gothic, less House of Hollow. Probably predictable for other readers, but I like being caught up in the ride. Had GORGEOUS lyrical writing and some lines I underlined in pen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Rape, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Child death, Infidelity, and Child abuse
onthesamepage's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Here's the most important thing to know if you're picking up this book: it's not a fantasy. It's not a romance. It is gothic literary fiction inspired by fairytales. Going in expecting anything else will lead to disappointment.
Why it's not a romance
To me, a romance book means that there is a focus on building a romantic relationship between (at least) two individuals that spans the entire story. That is not the case here. Our main character, known only as the bridegroom, falls for and marries a woman named Indigo within the first few chapters, and they've been married for a few years by the time we get to the actual story, which is unraveling the mysteries surrounding Indigo.
Why it's not a fantasy
To really explain why this doesn't count as fantasy, I have to talk about some things that could be considered spoilers. They won't reveal the plot, but will make certain things about the world clear that you wouldn't otherwise know for sure until the end, so I'll put it behind a cut.There is a lot of focus on fairytales throughout the story. When we meet Azure and see her with Indigo, we're seeing everything from Azure's point of view, and she believes in magic. There is an Otherworld that looks and feels special, the House of Dreams has feelings and shows her things, and Indigo firmly believes that they don't belong to this world and will be spirited away once they reach a certain age. There are also other off-hand mentions, like two types of whiskey, one that will fill your belly for the rest of your days but make you only able to speak the truth, and one that will leave you hungrier than before, but a polished liar. By the end of the book, it became very clear to me that there isn't actually any magic, and that almost everything can be attributed to a) childhood/teenage fancies, or b) introducing fairytale elements to their lives. The only thing that isn't clarified outright is whether the house is actually semi-sentient, but my conclusion by the last page was that it's very debatable that this is true, considering how unreliable our narrators are. This means that every single thing that would make this a fantasy book, is actually just people's imaginations. Hence, not a fantasy.
That's not to say I don't think the book is worth reading. I actually really liked the way fairytales were such a central theme throughout. It's more of a character study than a book with much of a plot, but it was interesting to see how the Indigo we see in Azure's chapters became the Indigo of the present. The pacing was very slow, however, and this has to do with the dual timelines. It bogged everything down, and every time I felt like we were getting somewhere in the present, we'd be back in the past for a significant chunk, which made the bridegroom's story lose its urgency. I also found parts of it to be overwritten—I had to reread a lot of paragraphs, sometimes more than once, because my mind kept wandering from the words.
Here's the most important thing to know if you're picking up this book: it's not a fantasy. It's not a romance. It is gothic literary fiction inspired by fairytales. Going in expecting anything else will lead to disappointment.
Why it's not a romance
To me, a romance book means that there is a focus on building a romantic relationship between (at least) two individuals that spans the entire story. That is not the case here. Our main character, known only as the bridegroom, falls for and marries a woman named Indigo within the first few chapters, and they've been married for a few years by the time we get to the actual story, which is unraveling the mysteries surrounding Indigo.
Why it's not a fantasy
To really explain why this doesn't count as fantasy, I have to talk about some things that could be considered spoilers. They won't reveal the plot, but will make certain things about the world clear that you wouldn't otherwise know for sure until the end, so I'll put it behind a cut.
That's not to say I don't think the book is worth reading. I actually really liked the way fairytales were such a central theme throughout. It's more of a character study than a book with much of a plot, but it was interesting to see how the Indigo we see in Azure's chapters became the Indigo of the present. The pacing was very slow, however, and this has to do with the dual timelines. It bogged everything down, and every time I felt like we were getting somewhere in the present, we'd be back in the past for a significant chunk, which made the bridegroom's story lose its urgency. I also found parts of it to be overwritten—I had to reread a lot of paragraphs, sometimes more than once, because my mind kept wandering from the words.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, and Self harm
Moderate: Suicide and Pedophilia
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual harassment
heartbrekker's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My first audiobook ARC was destined to be five stars when its Roshani's adult debut!
If it wasn't already obvious—I adore Roshani Chokshi, so this should come as a surprise to no one that I loved this hauntingly gothic tale of childhood friendship, marriage, and faeries. I actually don't think anywhere in the synopsis does it mention faeries, but they actually indirectly play a vital role to the entirety of this story, which was a pleasant surprise. The book market is oversaturated in faerie content currently, but Roshani brought the creeps and magic of true fae to the forefront of this story. I'm not going to go too much in detail because I think this story is told best by following along yourself. A lot can be considered spoilers so the less I talk about this book, the better.
Anyway, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride follows two dual perspectives. The first a man merely known as Bridegroom who marries Indigo and follows her back to her childhood home when her estranged aunt's health is near its end. The other POV does not appear for the first few chapters, but it was a pleasant surprise that I think a lot of reader's will find interesting. But back to Bridegroom—he starts to realize something is amiss as soon as he steps into the House of Dreams (Indigo's childhood home). The house seems almost... sentient, and Indigo refuses to acknowledge even a single detail of her past. It's all very peculiar and discomforting, so Bridegroom begins to investigate.
I found the unraveling of Indigo's secrets to be highly entertaining. She initially reminded me of Evelyn Hugo from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo because of her larger than life aura, so it was great to learn about her from another character rather than her own POV. Obviously, that decision makes her wildly more mysterious. Her marriage to Bridegroom was interesting too because in the beginning, Bridegroom is certainly the one not in control when it comes to their relationship, but as the story unravels, Indigo does too. She becomes less composed and "seemingly" perfect. The House of Dreams unsettles her, and Bridegroom senses it too. To be honest, this story was a journey into whether this marriage would become stronger or obliterated. Readers will enjoy trying to guess what the endgame will be for these two.
The writing is extremely telling rather than showing (think writing like Erin Morgenstern), so if you don't like that then maybe don't pick this up quite yet. All gothic literature is very lyrical and detailed, so it didn't bother me one bit getting to listen to Roshani's laments of love. Her writing burns the brightest in this standalone; she was meant to write gothic literature. The fact that I read this in a day alone shows how entrancing it was, couldn't stop listening for a second.
Now I'm definitely going to come back to this review with spoilers. I want to scream about the other POV to the rooftops! I'm very excited to see people's reactions to this story, and I really hope Roshani decides to write more within this genre in the future. I'll be the first to read them!
Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If it wasn't already obvious—I adore Roshani Chokshi, so this should come as a surprise to no one that I loved this hauntingly gothic tale of childhood friendship, marriage, and faeries. I actually don't think anywhere in the synopsis does it mention faeries, but they actually indirectly play a vital role to the entirety of this story, which was a pleasant surprise. The book market is oversaturated in faerie content currently, but Roshani brought the creeps and magic of true fae to the forefront of this story. I'm not going to go too much in detail because I think this story is told best by following along yourself. A lot can be considered spoilers so the less I talk about this book, the better.
Anyway, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride follows two dual perspectives. The first a man merely known as Bridegroom who marries Indigo and follows her back to her childhood home when her estranged aunt's health is near its end. The other POV does not appear for the first few chapters, but it was a pleasant surprise that I think a lot of reader's will find interesting. But back to Bridegroom—he starts to realize something is amiss as soon as he steps into the House of Dreams (Indigo's childhood home). The house seems almost... sentient, and Indigo refuses to acknowledge even a single detail of her past. It's all very peculiar and discomforting, so Bridegroom begins to investigate.
I found the unraveling of Indigo's secrets to be highly entertaining. She initially reminded me of Evelyn Hugo from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo because of her larger than life aura, so it was great to learn about her from another character rather than her own POV. Obviously, that decision makes her wildly more mysterious. Her marriage to Bridegroom was interesting too because in the beginning, Bridegroom is certainly the one not in control when it comes to their relationship, but as the story unravels, Indigo does too. She becomes less composed and "seemingly" perfect. The House of Dreams unsettles her, and Bridegroom senses it too. To be honest, this story was a journey into whether this marriage would become stronger or obliterated. Readers will enjoy trying to guess what the endgame will be for these two.
The writing is extremely telling rather than showing (think writing like Erin Morgenstern), so if you don't like that then maybe don't pick this up quite yet. All gothic literature is very lyrical and detailed, so it didn't bother me one bit getting to listen to Roshani's laments of love. Her writing burns the brightest in this standalone; she was meant to write gothic literature. The fact that I read this in a day alone shows how entrancing it was, couldn't stop listening for a second.
Now I'm definitely going to come back to this review with spoilers. I want to scream about the other POV to the rooftops! I'm very excited to see people's reactions to this story, and I really hope Roshani decides to write more within this genre in the future. I'll be the first to read them!
Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Murder, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Animal death, Toxic friendship, and Drug abuse
Minor: Bullying and Child death
More details on the pedophilia: constant fear of unwanted touching/ discomfort towards a particular man throughout youth that leads to unwanted touching by said man to the child at 17 years old—could be more than unwanted touching but unclear due to end of the scene
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