Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

7 reviews

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, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

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

tired_cicada's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-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

5.0

This book was absolutely INSANE and I loved every second of it! Finished in one sitting.

Gothic horror at its finest, with twists and turns that had me at the edge of my seat! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

dropshift5568's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

prairieraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Words cannot do justice to  how breathtakingly atmospheric and beautiful this was! The prose and world-building was gorgeously lush— in a dark fairytale-esque, House of Hollow meets Mexican Gothic way that had me utterly hooked from start to finish! 

It’s told through a unique, dual POV narrative that spans two timelines and was really intrigued by the decision to not give a name to our first (and only male) protagonist who is referred to as The Bridegroom—and even then only in the chapter headings. To me, it felt like it was harkening back to the early gothic/ horror genre, where unnamed characters added an aura of mystery and unease to the plot, which I really enjoyed. 

It also worked perfectly with the hauntingly lyrical prose and descriptions that weaved a sinister sensualness into very scene.  I know not everyone is a fan of this type of prose, but Roshani Chokshi’s darker, intricate and ethereal overtones felt like an homage to traditional fairytales (which have always been seen as rather macabre to modern audiences)  adding a fabulously unnerving sense of foreboding that kept the plot moving. 

The plot twists were also fantastic! I was really wasn’t expecting any of the reveals that occur and really enjoyed trying to piece together the breadcrumb-like clues to unravel Indigo’s mysterious back story. 

Overall, a beautifully crafted and decadently suspenseful gothic novel full of twists, turns and unreliable narrators that made this a truly unputdownable read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death

scarlett_f's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

With a flower bride comes flowery language.

ddnreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

WHAT WAS THAT?!! 
Mesmerising lyrical writing, this book revolves around the dynamic of a married couple under one condition: the bridegroom shouldn't pry into his wife past at all cost.
Until a condition brought them together into the House of Dreams. The wife's childhood house. This is where the secrets unfolded telling about two girls found their way into adulthood, from believing into fairies and otherworld, and acted upon those beliefs. 

"I thought you love us. Or maybe I just don't understand your love."

Giving a gothic dark vibe, the story was told in riddles. We were to see beyond what was written. It tackled the issue about a broken home, domestic abuse, pedo step father, and a obsessive psychopath kinda best friend. 

This was a very dark coming of age stories. When RC said it's about how the marriage comprises the monsters in the past, I felt that.

"We're two blues, the heat seam of dusk and dawn. We share a sky, if not a soul, and yet we are cut out the same shape."

"Only grief can make time change its tempo like that, expand seconds to centuries, with only our eyes marking the distance crossed."

I love how the author weaved the philosophical ideas of teens turned into adulthood. What shaped them and what those years means.

The characters' trait was so intriguing. The condition that they have to put through shaped what they are. The TOXICITY was heavy.

However, I can't shake the feeling of relief when I finished. I love how the story ended. 

(I just really wish the stepfather rott in hell somewhere)

If you're into atmospheric dark romance, gothic mysterious vibe with alluring writing, tales about love and finding oneself, coming of age (teens and married), and the subtle line between fairy tale and reality, give this book a go💖

"All marriage possess their own tongue. It is a lexicon discovered in that space between clipped sentences. Its poetry can be heard in the rustle of blankets as you shift to curl around the other in silent apology."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Grief