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A review by poisonenvy
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I loved this book. I loved this book a lot. And it's not just because Bluebeard is my favourite fairytale and this book gave me all sorts of Bluebeard vibes (though, that's certainly a part of it).
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a book that straddles two words, and as a reader, you're never quite sure how much of the Other World, the Fairy World, the magical world, is real, and how much of it is being used by the characters to escape the terrible circumstances that they're involved in. Is there actually another world, where fairies and magic exist, or are the characters simply trying to cope with their abuse and trauma?
This book follows two narrators: the unnamed Bridegroom (which also loaned this book an air of Rebecca by du Maurier, which I also read with my book club) and Azure, both of whom are tied tightly to the mysterious character of Indigo.
The prose in this is dense and flowery, though it manages to avoid crossing the line into purple, and the prose in this case very greatly serves the narrative; with the dense, metaphorical writing, it's shrouds the whole book in mystery, keeping the reader wondering up until the end the questions I asked above.
This book does deal with themes of emotional abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse between a parent and a child, so keep that in mind before you dive in.
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a book that straddles two words, and as a reader, you're never quite sure how much of the Other World, the Fairy World, the magical world, is real, and how much of it is being used by the characters to escape the terrible circumstances that they're involved in. Is there actually another world, where fairies and magic exist, or are the characters simply trying to cope with their abuse and trauma?
This book follows two narrators: the unnamed Bridegroom (which also loaned this book an air of Rebecca by du Maurier, which I also read with my book club) and Azure, both of whom are tied tightly to the mysterious character of Indigo.
The prose in this is dense and flowery, though it manages to avoid crossing the line into purple, and the prose in this case very greatly serves the narrative; with the dense, metaphorical writing, it's shrouds the whole book in mystery, keeping the reader wondering up until the end the questions I asked above.
This book does deal with themes of emotional abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse between a parent and a child, so keep that in mind before you dive in.