Scan barcode
not_asha01's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Classism, Alcohol, Death, Blood, Animal death, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, and Child abuse
mbmayo's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Bullying
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, and Physical abuse
anni_swanilda's review against another edition
- 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
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
metaphorsandmisc's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Blood, Animal death, Pedophilia, and Child abuse
ryuutchi's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Otherwise, a generally entertaining mystical twist on what might have otherwise been an obvious thriller plot.
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Child abuse
Minor: Blood, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
kat42's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual harassment
Minor: Blood and Sexual content
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
How long can you last if your partner in marriage has a past they refuse to share with you?
If they turn cold or unhappy at initial probing so you’d immediately stop in fear that the beautiful fantasy of love shatters. If they know more about you than you do about them and it feels as though you’ll never know all of them as they will you.
How long can you last?
For one man, it lasted until the past came haunting his wife again and that’s where The Last Tale of the Flower Bride truly begins.
Written with gorgeous prose filled with lush imagery, this book is its own dark fairytale that centres around the powerful acts of believing and lying, creating a world where reality is seamlessly interwoven with fantasy. It starts with the bridegroom whose name we never find out, falling for Indigo, a wealthy heiress who greatly feels as though she’s a creature from the Otherworld. They strike a deal where in exchange for her heart, he cannot pry into her past. Thus, they marry and everything’s dandy until Indigo has no choice but to bring them both back to the House of Dreams, introducing the series of cracks that later, shatter their happy fantasy. Consequently, as these cracks appear, the bridegroom can no longer resist and begins to search between the veils of the world for the truth.
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a mesmerizing experience. The gothic atmosphere, the precariousness of the balance between reality and fantasy, the many lies and the parallels between the story’s world and the myths and folklores we know today — the more I read, the more in love I am with the book. It’s a brilliant ode that emphasises how the scariest monsters will always be humans.
Nevertheless, all the aforementioned also worked against the book’s favour because despite them (plus the beautiful prose), there wasn’t a balance to the emotions from both perspectives. The bridegroom’s POV felt more and more detached as he dug further in search of the truth while Azure’s POV came more and more alive. Eventually, the emotions from Azure’s POV overtook the bridegroom’s, leaving his side hollower than before. Although I suspect that this was done on purpose since we never learn his name and the title of the book itself says the story isn’t about him, I can’t help but wish there was a little more depth to his side of the story.
If you adore myths and folklore, gothic horror, magical realism and lush imagery, this book is for you.
Thank you so much Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review!
Moderate: Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Bullying, Mental illness, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, and Murder
maeverose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.75
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.”
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Child death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Blood, Bullying, Body horror, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Rape, and Self harm
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.midnightrose_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is a very well written story, full of metaphors and descriptive prose. I’m not a magical realism fan, but this was a solid book. I do think that it’s being slightly mis-marketed, though. People going into it thinking it’s a fantasy book, and not a magical realism book are sure to be disappointed.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Child death, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual content and Blood
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, and Death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Pedophilia, and Blood