Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

20 reviews

klsreads's review against another edition

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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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ohemgee_97's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • 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


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angelmoo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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beccam22's review against another edition

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5.0

This book is not what I was expecting by the pitch I’ve always been told. The marriage is not hinging on stories told by the wife and what he learns from her stories, she doesn’t tell her own story until the last chapter so why use that in marketing?

This book is about female friendship, the indescribable love of childhood friendship and the darker side of knowing someone so truly that you know every way to hurt them the most.  

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sarah_bookshelf's review

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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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karapillar's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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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liv_easton's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

Going into this book, I was definitely excited to read Chokshi's prose again, since it's really been too long. While it was beautiful as expected, I do think it got a bit overwhelming towards the middle of the book, which was also about the time I began to suspect the ending of the story—perhaps that's why I suddenly felt a lag. I went back and forth between preferring the Bridegroom's chapters and Azure's chapters, but tended to prefer Azure's more, and I think it was because the Bridegroom felt like less of a character to me and more of a narrator. The story was clearly about Indigo and Azure, to the point that he literally doesn't even have a name. I don't mind that focusing of the story, but it did mean that I didn't really care about his fate, which I think would've driven his chapters more. The last criticism I have is the prologue. I know it was meant to add tension to the book and make the reader immediately wary of Indigo, but I think it just gave too much away and as a result, sacrificed about 79% of my suspense as I read.

Onto the good things! 

For a book about magic, illusions, and belief, Chokshi has perfect writing. Her characters are successful storytellers because she works so deftly, and she really does make an enchanting world throughout the novel. I also wouldn't just call this purple prose, because I think she maneuvers the reader through the story so well—to choose the ending she did and have me satisfied with our main characters is no easy feat, but it really did have the fairy tale *and all ends as it was meant to* feeling about it. I think she could've gone for a more horror-focused character arc if she wanted, but if there's one thing to take away from this it's that Chokshi loves fairy tales, and I think she told the tale she wanted to beautifully. In conclusion: I recommend if you're in the mood for a dreamy, mildly horrific, over-written story. 

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wrensreadingroom's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0


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booksbutmakeitgay's review against another edition

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4.5


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scarlett_f's review against another edition

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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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