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displacedcactus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Death of parent
The toxic friendship crosses over to abusive territory, IMHO.moonchild_cos'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Animal death
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Child death, Pedophilia, and Terminal illness
Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, and Sexual content
dropshift5568's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Death, and Abandonment
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, and Violence
salie'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? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Gore, Gaslighting, Death, Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Classism, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Death of parent
scarlett_f's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Minor: Blood, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Animal death, Grief, Gun violence, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, and Stalking
With a flower bride comes flowery language.saliwali's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Grief, Child death, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol, Mental illness, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Medical content
saucy_bookdragon'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
5.0
"They know neither the contours of our hearts nor the cold hands that shaped them."
This is, in fact, Roshani Chokshi's most magical book.
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is an absolutely dreamy, mesmerizing story that starts off enchanting but gets darker as it goes. It swept me in and asked that I savor it, hence I didn't rush finishing it! I'd recommend going into it blind and not reading the rest of my review, though I don't include any major spoilers.
It's beautifully written, filled with lush metaphors and descriptions that often allude to and reference fairytales and mythology. I found myself constantly stopping to write down lines. It's a magical story that demands equally magical writing! Though some may find it confusing, I found the plot to be easy enough to keep up with and was only occasionally confused by some descriptions. The story reads like a contemporary written as if it were a fantasy!
The story is not only beautiful, but also tragic and haunting. Going beyond romance and into obsession. Going back and fourth between two timelines; one with an unnamed bridegroom who knows nothing about his wife's past, and another that tells the story between two girls who are obsessed with each other and 100% in love with each other romantically and this is one of the most homoerotic things I've ever read. Both of these timelines connected by the enigmatic Indigo. It's focused heavily on a small cast and character study, allowing the cast to be fleshed out as we learn more and more about Indigo's backstory.
I'd highly recommend Flower Bride to anyone looking for a gorgeous Gothic story. Especially those who are in love with fantasy, despite the lack of fantastical elements!
TWs: death, blood and gore, pedophilia including sexual touches and advances, grief, abuse both physical and emotional, cutting of palms for ritual purposes, alcohol consumption
Pre-review April 2022
I posted an Instagram story about being excited for this that Roshani Chokshi reposted and in her repost she said "strangely, this is my most magical book... without a drop of magic?" which considering that her previous stories have dealt with gods it's absolutely WILD that this is her most magical one. Can't wait to read it!
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Alcohol and Pedophilia
Minor: Death of parent, Self harm, and Drug use
carissa230's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
In current day Indigo is married and the relationship is coming undone. It turns out that Indigo brought a lot of dark secrets from her past and her husband is just learning who she really is.
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Death of parent
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