Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Last Tale of the Flower Bride

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

37 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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seforaflorian's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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praaliine'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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

this was so beautifully written and it really crept up on me. it really gets into the weirdness of teenage girlhood and it would have still been so good if that’s all the story explored, but then it goes further to explore marriage, relationships that border obsession, and this dangerous thing that is the want to be loved and desired.

you’d think that this premise wouldn’t mesh well with a gothic yet whimsical tone, and in the style of a bizarre fever dream. but oh, how it does! it really lured me in with the premise and the lush, atmospheric prose and the story itself had me locked in till the end.

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kirstinlwx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

… that - this singular truth that I am not alone - expands the universe in a way that faith never has.

I tried to read this a while ago and couldn’t get started with it. This time, I was loathe to put it down.
Filled with purple prose, fairy- and folktale references, and a beautifully fleshed-out cast of characters, this book was the most lush escape I could have asked for.

I got an inkling about the blue-tones plot reveal about halfway through, and only became more certain once we got to the last scenes in the Otherworld, but even with being able to see the destination, that path was delightfully twisty.

I debated bringing this down below 5 stars, just to recognize some questions/potential plot holes, and my feeling of wanting more with certain characters in this book… but I think those feelings are by design, and just make me want to start from the beginning again immediately.

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