Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

44 reviews

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment and Classism

Minor: Incest

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

There is implication that Azure's mom's partner has or wants to get sexual with Azure but few explicit details are given. It is mostly subtextual so those who get it get it and those who don't will probably just find the character super creepy.

salie's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

heidi_grey's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.75

This is a beautifully written book, rich in fairytale and folk tale anecdotes. I found the imagery used fantastic and even though I really disliked the characters, I couldn’t put this down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

booksbutmakeitgay's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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.

itsalina's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

amberghinii's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Dementia, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

saliwali's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Minor: Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

blackcatkai's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

CW: toxic friendships/relationships, ableism, emotional as well as physical abuse (against children and adults), gaslighting, death, violence, alcoholism, disordered eating, body/fat shaming, classism, sexual assault of a minor (mainly implied/mentioned: not overly graphic throughout majority of story), abandonment, trauma/mental illness, body horror

this was so beautifully written and really did feel like a faerie tale. it is very much a slower gothic read so definitely set expectations accordingly. its a story that deals with a few very heavy topics so heed any content warnings beforehand, as well. i really enjoyed the way chokshi interwove two main stories together with a common thread tying them together. you feel a lot for azure if no one else and really root for her against all odds. the bridegroom is a very interesting perspective to read from, especially as his sections are more in the now while azures are in the past until they both crash together in the end.

now some people will probably see the twist coming before you actually get to the reveal, but i dont think that necessarily takes away from the story as a whole. IS there magic? is it all just a ruse? ultimately its left a bit open-ended for the reader to decide and i really liked where it went in the end, it really got quite the roller coaster of emotions out of me. will definitely read more of chokshi's adult work going forward, shes a master!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism