Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

19 reviews

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.0

Wow, does Roshani Chokshi know how to write a beautiful sentence. You can really feel the world she crafted, which is no small feat as she jumps between whimsical and brutal realities. I love a coming of age story. I love a dark fairy tale. I love a personified house. I love a weird marriage with secrets. 

As always, check the TW's. There's nothing overly graphic, but plenty of unsettling, nasty things.

1 star docked because while this was stunningly beautiful and filled with fairy tale lore from around the world, the plot was quite slow and sometimes got lost in all the metaphors and similes. Because of that, I think it dragged and it took me a while to get through (though I am silly, silly busy right now). I'm a bit torn saying this, though, because I adored the character development in the backstory and am unsure if this could've been done at a faster pace. I wasn't as interested in the present-day story in the book, though the twists and turns hit some emotional slam-dunks. 

I will absolutely be reading more from Chokshi. Her writing is gorgeous! Highly rec if you like dark fairy tale, slow-burn, coming of age stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, and Grief

tamara_joy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, and Medical content

lizy's review

dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infidelity

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

Deliciously eerie throughout with a wonderful ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

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

Minor: Incest and Violence

callistag1's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent

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

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

cheye13's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

The best thing I can say about this book is that the writing is beautiful. Stepping back, I can see what it was going for, but ultimately, I think it should've been a novella, or even a short story.

A big part of my disappointment is the fault of the synopsis. I had expected a bluebeard-like tale featuring the Bridegroom as a main character, but as is, he could've been removed from the story entirely. In actuality, this is the story of Indigo and Azure growing up together, and the all-encompassing nature of their friendship and the world they create together. It's an interesting story, but simply too long. Every element of the tale is overdrawn to the point that any initial tension dissolves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Dementia, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Dementia, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

a myriad of standard old-style fairytale content warnings, not graphically described, but consistently mentioned: rape, incest, murder, etc. A persistent predatory stepfather and an off-page sexual assault involving blackout drinking.

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

wrensreadingroom's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

uncreativeoops's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment