Scan barcode
blackcatkai's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
CW: toxic friendships/relationships, ableism, emotional as well as physical abuse (against children and adults), gaslighting, death, violence, alcoholism, disordered eating, body/fat shaming, classism, sexual assault of a minor (mainly implied/mentioned: not overly graphic throughout majority of story), abandonment, trauma/mental illness, body horror
this was so beautifully written and really did feel like a faerie tale. it is very much a slower gothic read so definitely set expectations accordingly. its a story that deals with a few very heavy topics so heed any content warnings beforehand, as well. i really enjoyed the way chokshi interwove two main stories together with a common thread tying them together. you feel a lot for azure if no one else and really root for her against all odds. the bridegroom is a very interesting perspective to read from, especially as his sections are more in the now while azures are in the past until they both crash together in the end.
now some people will probably see the twist coming before you actually get to the reveal, but i dont think that necessarily takes away from the story as a whole. IS there magic? is it all just a ruse? ultimately its left a bit open-ended for the reader to decide and i really liked where it went in the end, it really got quite the roller coaster of emotions out of me. will definitely read more of chokshi's adult work going forward, shes a master!
this was so beautifully written and really did feel like a faerie tale. it is very much a slower gothic read so definitely set expectations accordingly. its a story that deals with a few very heavy topics so heed any content warnings beforehand, as well. i really enjoyed the way chokshi interwove two main stories together with a common thread tying them together. you feel a lot for azure if no one else and really root for her against all odds. the bridegroom is a very interesting perspective to read from, especially as his sections are more in the now while azures are in the past until they both crash together in the end.
now some people will probably see the twist coming before you actually get to the reveal, but i dont think that necessarily takes away from the story as a whole. IS there magic? is it all just a ruse? ultimately its left a bit open-ended for the reader to decide and i really liked where it went in the end, it really got quite the roller coaster of emotions out of me. will definitely read more of chokshi's adult work going forward, shes a master!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Ableism
unicornprincezz__'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault
booksemmahasread's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
not_asha01's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
tsked_off's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Grief and Gaslighting
Minor: Racism and Sexism
mbmayo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Indigo and Azure are inseparable childhood friends, two halves of the same soul. Until the end of childhood, when the pair walks into the Otherworld and only one returns. Years later, Indigo's husband accompanies her to her childhood home, The House of Dreams. The House, a character in its own right, urges him to unearth his wife's secret and discover what happened that fateful night.
The book is told from two perspectives, the bridegroom tells the tale of meeting Indigo, their marriage and the unravelling of her secret. Azure tells the story of their childhood. The bridegroom was a scholar, and his chapters read almost as though Chokshi imagines as all children do that teachers do not exist outside their classrooms. In his relationship, he likens everything to the fairy tales he studies. In his recanting of the relationship he explains how each part matches with a particular trope found in fairy tales. Not even his childhood memories made him more real or human to me.
Azure, on the other hand, told a story I was eager to return to. She and her world and everything at stake for her felt real. I loved that the House loved her, and her struggle between the real world and the Otherworld; between being an individual or sharing a soul.
Lastly, it took me way too long to realize that Indigo was a villain. The bridegroom, Azure, Tati, everyone gave loved her. I thought we, the readers, were meant to as well. But, she bullies and manipulates so many characters you begin to wonder why they can't see it. She would have made an excellent cult leader.
The book is told from two perspectives, the bridegroom tells the tale of meeting Indigo, their marriage and the unravelling of her secret. Azure tells the story of their childhood. The bridegroom was a scholar, and his chapters read almost as though Chokshi imagines as all children do that teachers do not exist outside their classrooms. In his relationship, he likens everything to the fairy tales he studies. In his recanting of the relationship he explains how each part matches with a particular trope found in fairy tales. Not even his childhood memories made him more real or human to me.
Azure, on the other hand, told a story I was eager to return to. She and her world and everything at stake for her felt real. I loved that the House loved her, and her struggle between the real world and the Otherworld; between being an individual or sharing a soul.
Lastly, it took me way too long to realize that Indigo was a villain. The bridegroom, Azure, Tati, everyone gave loved her. I thought we, the readers, were meant to as well. But, she bullies and manipulates so many characters you begin to wonder why they can't see it. She would have made an excellent cult leader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting
tigger89's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a book that I believe is best enjoyed without knowing too much about it. If you're someone who loves fairy tale retellings, you might enjoy this gender-swapped tale featuring a genre-savvy protagonist discovering the woman he'd married might be a monster. In addition, the majority of the story is told via flashbacks to Indigo's childhood and teenage years, narrated by her best friend. I wasn't particularly surprised by any of the twists and turns in this book, but I still enjoyed the journey of discovering how we were going to get to the things I'd seen coming.
Chokshi's lush descriptions are probably the best part of this book. I could picture the House of Dreams and the Otherworld so easily that I almost felt as if I was reading an illustrated edition. My criticism would be that this felt like a novel about Indigo's childhood that occasionally flashed forward to her future husband, which wasn't really what I'd been expecting from the cover copy. What we got was still a great story, don't get me wrong, but I'd expected more focus on the husband using his knowledge of fairy tales to navigate the danger he found himself in, whereas the primary focus was actually on the story of Indigo's origin.
Chokshi's lush descriptions are probably the best part of this book. I could picture the House of Dreams and the Otherworld so easily that I almost felt as if I was reading an illustrated edition. My criticism would be that this felt like a novel about Indigo's childhood that occasionally flashed forward to her future husband, which wasn't really what I'd been expecting from the cover copy. What we got was still a great story, don't get me wrong, but I'd expected more focus on the husband using his knowledge of fairy tales to navigate the danger he found himself in, whereas the primary focus was actually on the story of Indigo's origin.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Alcohol
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: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Rape
maeverose's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.75
So close to being five stars
TL;DR: The writing and gothic atmosphere are a 10/10. Gave me Rebecca vibes. So satisfied with the ending.
I love how gothic and atmospheric this book is. I loved the dreamlike magical realism elements. I almost want to immediately re read this and annotate it. I didn’t even realize until I finished it and I don’t know if it was intentional (since I’ve heard this is a bluebeard retelling) but Bridegroom’s pov felt very reminiscent of Rebecca. With his quick marriage to Indigo and her secret past with Azure, who’s almost supernaturally tied to the house. And him being unnamed throughout the whole book (which I love).
I found zero objective flaws with this book (outside of the unnecessary body shaming of one of the antagonists), but the main thing that makes me hesitant to give it five stars is that at a few points it triggered my anxiety a little bit (it might’ve just been because I had too much caffeine that day honestly lol). I also really don’t like to read about toxic friendships, which is a big part of this book.
But mostly I loved it
“Too often the truth of a memory lives not in the mind but in the heart, in the subtle and sacred organization that makes up one’s identity. But it is a tender place to reach, and I am wounded by touching it.”
TL;DR: The writing and gothic atmosphere are a 10/10. Gave me Rebecca vibes. So satisfied with the ending.
I love how gothic and atmospheric this book is. I loved the dreamlike magical realism elements. I almost want to immediately re read this and annotate it. I didn’t even realize until I finished it and I don’t know if it was intentional (since I’ve heard this is a bluebeard retelling) but Bridegroom’s pov felt very reminiscent of Rebecca. With his quick marriage to Indigo and her secret past with Azure, who’s almost supernaturally tied to the house. And him being unnamed throughout the whole book (which I love).
I found zero objective flaws with this book (outside of the unnecessary body shaming of one of the antagonists), but the main thing that makes me hesitant to give it five stars is that at a few points it triggered my anxiety a little bit (it might’ve just been because I had too much caffeine that day honestly lol). I also really don’t like to read about toxic friendships, which is a big part of this book.
But mostly I loved it
“Too often the truth of a memory lives not in the mind but in the heart, in the subtle and sacred organization that makes up one’s identity. But it is a tender place to reach, and I am wounded by touching it.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing and Fatphobia
Graphic: Animal harm, suffocation, cult behavior Moderate: Delusions/Unreality, step father grooming his step daughter, as for the gore, most of it is kind of metaphorical or in the fairytales, so it’s not super descriptive but it’s brought up a lot so I put it in moderate.shrands's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A bit of a slow starter for me - I really loved the writing style in places, but it could get slightly too flowery in places which made it hard to get into the plot.
It did really pick up though - this gave me Crimson Peak/Hill House vibes with added glamour. It's funny because I think if I had more experience with gothic novels I'd love this even more - but even with my limited experience with the genre I enjoyed it.
It really took an extremely dark turn near the end, which is when it finally started to click to me that all of the magic and escapism is just the main characters' delusions in order to escape their own trauma.
Indigo - abandonment and loneliness, a desire for control over death and family that was taken from her when her parents died.
Azure - escapism from her home life with a mother who devalued her and a predatory stepfather
The Bridegroom - escapism from an abusive home and blocking out the trauma of losing his brother.
Another detail I loved is that we never learn the name of The Bridegroom - as detailed in the book, names have power, and give people ownership over you. Also, the story isn't really about him in the end. It's about Indigo and Azure.
Really great subversion from Chokshi as well, because I suspected they had switched places but then was like 'nah that can't be right, people would notice the difference'
The more I think about the book the more I love it tbh
It did really pick up though - this gave me Crimson Peak/Hill House vibes with added glamour. It's funny because I think if I had more experience with gothic novels I'd love this even more - but even with my limited experience with the genre I enjoyed it.
It really took an extremely dark turn near the end, which is when it finally started to click to me that all of the magic and escapism is just the main characters' delusions in order to escape their own trauma.
Indigo - abandonment and loneliness, a desire for control over death and family that was taken from her when her parents died.
Azure - escapism from her home life with a mother who devalued her and a predatory stepfather
The Bridegroom - escapism from an abusive home and blocking out the trauma of losing his brother.
Another detail I loved is that we never learn the name of The Bridegroom - as detailed in the book, names have power, and give people ownership over you. Also, the story isn't really about him in the end. It's about Indigo and Azure.
Really great subversion from Chokshi as well, because I suspected they had switched places but then was like 'nah that can't be right, people would notice the difference'
The more I think about the book the more I love it tbh
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment