A review by myprettypages
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

adventurous dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“If you are a figment of my imagination, some wild dream, I hope I never wake” 

 

This was written so eloquently, I fell in love with the poetic style and perception over love, hope and devotion. The way love and sacrificed was described, it was like reading an old tale from the romantic era, with the emotional and powerful nature of nature and the frequent returns to the past. This focused on the individual and spirituality, celebration of isolation and melancholy and the idealisation of Indigo, the main character. "It was the first time I understood that beauty has its own power. Beauty transformed." 

 

I loved how Chokshi was able to incorporate different genres and themes seamlessly blending the magical realism with gothic thriller and a mystery waiting to be solved. With the use of embedded narrative, mythology and European folklore was used intertwined with the main storyline to guide and hint to the truth as the past and present starts to reveal themselves. Throughout there is a fascination “with the world we cannot see, the creatures that might have lived within them but now only exist as fairy tales” as the power that Indigo has is learnt almost immediately. 

 

This was like reading a fairytale, the poetic descriptions over the two who “share a sky, if not a soul” was fascinating to read. Throughout the novel there are hints Indigo is was a “phantasm… proof of the impossible and thus a talisman against the absence that had haunted [his] adult life.” I loved the way love evolved and the meaning of it transformed. I also really liked how love and devotion was explored and dissected as a "matter of will. What would you do to be happy? To be loved?” As well as the power of beauty and its transformation and the “illusion fitted over a woman’s shape.” The impersonation of the house was another fantastic element that I enjoyed, used to reveal and create memories, distorting the mind but ultimately helping to solve the mystery. 

 

Towards the end we start to see the spell slip and unravel the truth of how Indigo and Azure “share the same soul, but not the same pain”. Throughout the novel, I was gripped and shocked with the new details and revelations, I was not expecting that final twist. The novel itself “can’t seem to decide whether to condemn, covet, or celebrate” the two hues of blue: Indigo and Azure. I loved the duality between the two whose “half souls blurring to one.” This was incredible and something that I’ll be thinking about for a while. I highly recommend this, this has become my favourite read of the year so far. This will perfect for those you enjoy romanticism and gripping gothic mysteries. 

 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.