Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

43 reviews

gracescanlon's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Domestic abuse, Death, Bullying, Alcohol, Child abuse, Abandonment, Infidelity, Grief, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Sexual content

Minor: Incest and Violence

lou_loo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is an eerie, gothic, dark fairytale.
We follow the story from the point of view of the Bridegroom and Azure.
This story is beautiful yet terrible; it is fascinating and disturbing; scary and haunting. It feels like a fairytale, like a story of magic and fantasy, but it is also a story of abuse, neglect and manipulation. We never know if what we are being told is real or not. We hope it is only magic; if it is not, it's horrifying and scary, showing us how terrible the world can be. If it is not magic, it is gaslighting, abuse and manipulation.
Azure's mother once told her:

"If she kept you around, she would break you into little pieces. You'd never be able to put yourself back together."

Azure found herself stuck somewhere between magic and reality, between the world she wanted to discover and the world Indigo wanted her to stay in.
Roshani Chokshi is an amazing writer, her prose is gorgeous and poetic; she keeps us hanging on a thread for the whole book and each time we think we'll understand the secrets, we find ourselves going deeper and deeper without seeing how it could end. The characters are complex and intriguing, I loved the meaning and role behind each character and how they represented archetypes from fairytales, and the personification of the House of Dreams was the completion of the ambience, it let the eerie vibes be complete and transported us into this mysterious world.
The best way to go into this book is knowing as little as possible, and I'm glad I picked it up ignorant.
This book is a 5/5 star and I'll remember this story for a very long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Blood

Moderate: Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

sappix's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Murder, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Death, Child death, and Drug use

Minor: Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Adult/minor relationship

sarah_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed the process of listening to this book; the descriptions and mythical references are sumptuous and beautiful. However the plot was a bit flat, and I found myself not hugely caring about the reveal at the end. There are characters and backstories it didn't develop very much, and I feel like it's because if it had done, the holes in the plot would have been revealed. Nevertheless, a lovely reading/listening experience - the audiobook narrator's voice is lovely and velvety, the perfect choice for something so inspired by fairytale and myth. It's just not a story that will stay with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

startjpw23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is a dark fantasy. It centers around a woman named Indigo. People are strongly attracted to her. The story is actually told in the first person by the two other main characters in the book. The first is never named. He is called the Bridegroom in the chapters he narrates. Early in the book, he and Indigo are married. The other main character, Azure, is a childhood friend of Indigo's. The Bridegroom's chapters are in the present time. Azure's chapters are set in the past. They detail Indigo's and Azure's friendship during their youth. All three main characters have a love of fairy tales. I was kept off balance by magical occurrences in the story. I often wasn't sure if an occurrence was actually magical, if it was in the imaginations of the characters, or if it was wishful thinking. This book has a lot of dark moments. I have heard that expression that a book is vibes. I think this book is partly vibes. I loved the dark atmosphere the author created. I didn't like 2 of the 3 main characters. But I always wanted to know what happened next. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a dark fantasy that kind of keeps you off balance. And pulls the reader in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Animal death

page_karla's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Blood, Gore, Child death, Body horror, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Incest, Pedophilia, and Toxic relationship

foxwish's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Grief, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Death

lue_moon's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

I love Chokshi's writing. I know her style is not for everyone but I've been hooked since reading The Guilded Wolves series. I really enjoyed this adult debut.

Quote I'll be thinking about for a while:

Maybe it is about finding someone whose heart is like a mirror, whose love can make you stand the sight of yourself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic friendship, Child death, and Animal death

Moderate: Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Sexual harassment

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

sometimes being delulu is NOT the solulu

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Alcohol, Blood, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Bullying, Incest, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Context:
I borrowed The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi from my local library through the Libby app.

 

Review:

As someone who hates fairytales and dislikes romance, I was skeptical about a book billed as a gothic fairytale about a marriage. I became even more skeptical when confronted with the flowery, lush prose that placed me at a distance from the characters and their motivations. I am so glad I kept reading, however, because The Last Tale of the Flower Bride absolutely won me over. 

For me, the heart of this story is the tale of the friendship between Azule and Indigo. Within this story, it becomes clear that Chokshi’s constant references to fairytales and her lush prose serve a purpose, which is to creatively and compellingly paint a portrait of an incredibly codependent female friendship. I am blown away by Chokshi’s originality as she approaches a storyline that could have easily been a trite thriller or melodrama from a place of compassion, empathy, and true artistry. 

 

Given how much I love the chapters exploring Azule and Indigo’s friendship, I am less enthralled with the chapters from the Bridegroom’s perspective. Although they contain moments of beauty and clarity, I think they serve as unnecessary padding. I believe The Last Tale of the Flower Bride would be a more effective and powerful story if these chapters did not exist, and we instead remained immersed in the story’s central plotline. 

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like The Last Tale of the Flower Bride if . . . 

·      You are looking for a unique take on toxic female friendships and codependency

·      You love fairytales and folklore (but even if you don’t, give it a try!)

 

You might not like The Last Tale of the Flower Bride if . . .

·      You can’t stand flowery prose, no matter how it serves the story

·      You go into the book expecting a romance (seriously, I think this book is mismarketed)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Death, and Domestic abuse