Member Reviews
Amazon Review
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after—and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.
But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple is forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom soon finds himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor's extravagant rooms and musty halls, there lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo's dearest childhood friend, who disappeared without a trace.
As the house slowly reveals his wife's secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage...or their lives.
My Review - A fabulous gothic fairytale from Roshani Chokshi.
This novel is not for the faint of heart! It is full of Death, Abuse, Blood/Gore and many more dark themes. BUT the novel is also mysterious and full of intrigue. The world building and plot were great and I just wanted to keep knowing more about them and the secrets of their past. I liked the way the novel jumped through time and the different perspectives it showed us. The Audiobook has a brilliant narrator for the bridegroom, he reminds me a little of Dream from The Sandman Series on Netflix (His voice is literally dreamy). If you like gothic fairytales/mysteries this is the book for you.
Really impressed and 4 stars from me.
I requested this eARC solely on the commendation of Alix E. Harrow’s Goodreads review, but reading ‘The Last Tale of the Flower Bride’, I can’t reconcile that endorsement of it with my experience of reading the text.
As a librarian, I’ve seen Roshani Chokshi’s junior fiction on the shelves for a number of years, and this debut adult novel reads like writing-for-children, or writing for angsty teens. Perhaps not ‘angsty’, but certainly young people of the romantically afflicted and tortured soul variety.
Other Goodreads reviewers have articulated their aversion to the ‘overwrought’ writing style Chokshi has adopted for her first adult novel, its ‘dragging’, ‘obvious’ and ‘boring’ plot, and the fact that the characters’ voices are indistinguishable from one another. I am disappointed that I must add myself to their number.
This is not the book that the blurb/synopsis describes, and the comparisons that have been made to ‘Mexican Gothic’ and ‘The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue’ are quite off-mark. When held up against Silvia Moreno-Garcia or V.E. Schwab, 'The Last Tale of the Flower Bride’ is immature and bombastic.
I returned to this novel each time with reluctance; the romance written by Chokshi is airless, mawkish, and inauthentic. I began to find the characters’ interplay sickening. The author’s decision to write through a male character’s perspective baffled me.
I don’t know who will find this writing appealing. Almost every sentence reads like the author selected a word, looked it up in a thesaurus and subsequently included each of the most purple and florid synonyms that she found there. The result is a squidgy, cringe-inducing, overblown kind of wedding-cake read. And further to this, the ornate prose is mostly meaningless. There is very little substance or depth beneath the embellishment. If readers are looking for maudlin, laboured magniloquence, regretfully, they need look no further than ‘The Last Tale of the Flower Bride’.
My thanks are due to Hodder&Stoughton at Hachette UK for an advanced copy.
A huge thank you to Netgalley Hodder & Stoughton for giving me the chance to read The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi in exchange for an honest review.
A luxurious decadadent Read. I couldn't put it down. The writing is beautiful and I was hooked from the get go. The first I have read from this author, it won't be the last
A huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for giving me the chance to read The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi in exchange for an honest review.
To begin with, this was the first book I read by Roshani Chokshi but it definetely won't be the last. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride was a huge surprise for me, in terms that I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. Even from the first couple of chapters I knew this book was going to be a five star read for me.
Even from the very beginning, Chokshi has the reader hooked on the mysterious aura that trails after Indigo and the more you read the more you start to question and can't help but wonder "how the bridegroom isn't asking these questions ?" and when -due a few chapters in -he starts digging around Indigo's past, things finally begin to unravel. The visit at the House of Dreams sets the plot in motion and the vow the bridegroom made -do not look,do not ask, do not pry -is put into question,leaving the reader with the feeling of a bad premonition about what could possibly happen as the story goes on. The dual pov and timeline alternating between the bridgroom in the present and Azure in the past makes the reader get even more immersed in the story and begin to puzzle about what has happened to Azure and if Indigo had any part in her disappearance.
The vibes of magic, mystery, old fairy tales and the haunting atmosphere set the tone for a beautifully written gothic story, that has you reading and never realising how you got so far into the story.
If that's something you want for in a book, I'd definetely say this one's for you.
This is going to be a very bare bones review I'm afraid, it's hard to write about it as I think it needs to be experienced. I don't often pick up books that I find so atmospheric and all encompassing but this one did it.
I started this book on a whim, not planning on picking it up until next month but once I started it I couldn't put it down. It was dark, descriptive and mysterious. There are two POVs - the Bridegroom and Azure - and both of them talk you through their relationships with another character, Indigo.
Indigo is a bit of an enigma, she's an overindulged child (and then a teenager and an adult) who makes choices knowing there will be a lack of consequences for her actions. She is manipulative and impulsive but also calculative. As a character study she is quite fascinating but also, we don't get any chapters from her POV so we only have the other characters perspectives to go off.
While the story is gothic and dark it is underpinned with fantasy elements. The characters obsessions with fairytales and the children's belief they can travel to the otherworld adds that extra layer of intrigue to the narrative. I would absolutely love to discuss this in depth with other readers, I think there would be a lot of elements I didn't pick up on and I also think there are multiple ways to read and engage with it.
Please give it a read and come find me!
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a standalone heartfelt and stunning story by Roshani Chokshi. The whimsical and lyrical prose was what really sold me on this deep and emotional tale of love, acceptance and childhood. Told in multiple POV and timelines, I thoroughly loved this intricately woven story that will keep you turning pages. I just had to know how it all came together that I couldn't stop or put this one down. The story will leave you guessing and gasping. I'm 100% sold on this author based entirely on the strength of this book.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an opportunity to read an ARC of this exceptional book.
If I had to pick just one word to describe this book it would be lush. It's a richly imagined gothic dream/nightmare of secrets and romance. Just like all good fairy tales there are dark elements hiding in plain sight and mysteries to uncover.
Set primarily in a crumbling mansion we meet a bride with secrets she cannot reveal, a curious bridegroom who as a professor of fairy tales really ought to know better, and an ailing guardian who reveals more than she should. This is a marriage with fundamental trust issues. As the married couple dance around each other, I feared not only whether their marriage would survive, but indeed whether they would kill each other.
Peel back the gorgeous descriptions and echos of the BlueBeard story, and this is also a story about children who try to escape to the land of the fae as a means to protect their mind against the neglect and potential abuse they suffer in the real world. It's beautiful and sad and mysterious and a remarkable piece of story telling.
My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.
4⭐️
This book was so beautifully written, like wow. It’s full of secrets, lies, betrayal, stories of survival, mixed with magical fairy tale elements.
I did find it confusing at first as it took a few chapters to warm to the rhythm of the storytelling, but the more I read, the more in love I fell with the whole thing.
I absolutely love Roshani Chokshi’s writing and cannot recommend this book enough!
*thank you to net galley and Hodder & Stoughton for an arc!*
This book was a roller coaster. Not plot wise, it’s pretty slow and muted but in my feelings about it. I was intrigued by the concept when I first read the premise. Nothing absolutely groundbreaking and new but interesting and I was in the mood for a mystery. When I started it the first thing that surprised me was the setting. From the blurb it sounded like something historical right? Well, it’s not. I don’t remember exact dates, but I would say it’s set in maybe the 90s or early 2000s (Does that count as historical yet?)? It’s not a bad thing I was just surprised. The next thing I noticed was that I was just not vibing with the writing style, it is definitely very stylized (That either works for <ou or it doesn’t depends on the person). For the first few chapters I worried I would have to dnf it. But then I just…couldn’t stop reading. It really sucked me into the story. You really want to know what happened to Azure, so by the time you reach the middle part of the book you are to invested to stop even though it really started to drag at this point, the book feels way longer than it is. Azures chapters I liked better style wise than the Bridegroom’s, they are just less vague and foggy. The overall plot feels a little like I have read it a hundred times before, the story of this alluring rich woman with secrets and cruelty in her heart didn’t feel that fresh to me. If you ask me theres also to many fairytale references in this. Or to be exact references to to many different fairytales so the whole thing just feels a little confused. I also don’t know why I was expecting this to be a Bluebeard retelling, maybe because of the multiple blue names and the new spouse that is not allowed to ask questions. The ending is both exactly what you expect but also surprising because the book really doesn’t give you that many hints. One more point I have is that I can’t really connect the girl from the chapters in the past with the cold woman we see in the present. I know there’s a lot of time in between but the disconnect just didn’t make sense to me.
And still, after all these critique points, I finished this book in one night. It really doesn’t want to let you go so 3,75/5 feels right.
This is definitely a dark and gothic story. The author really pulls you into the book with their fantastic writing. I can't wait to read more from them.
This has all the hallmarks of a gothic horror. An unnamed spouse narrator, a house as a character, an absent person from the past that no one will talk about, and a hint of supernatural.
The narration is split between two characters, and one is simply known as the Bridegroom. He is the one with the task of initiating the mystery. Indigo forbids him from prying into her past, but he just can’t help himself, and you can’t really blame him considering how mysterious it all is.
The second narrator is Azure, so we get to learn about her without anyone in the present day unearthing secrets. The book is almost timeless, there’s a mention of a Nokia phone, its description dating the period to the late 90s. Perhaps a decision to leave social media out of it but highlighting it’s not set too far in the past.
Indigo and Azure believe in faeries, or at least like to pretend to believe. The house is alive to them, having the ability to grant wishes, but throughout the story there is doubt whether any of this is real or is it just make-believe. The Bridegroom’s reliability has already been called into question; when he was a boy, his brother disappeared into a wardrobe never to be spoken of again. He now doubts whether or not he even had a brother. So when he experiences strange things, it would be easy to put them down to being spooked by a creepy old house.
Indigo is a rich orphan, her fantasies indulged in and behaviours uncurbed by her aunt, her supposed guardian until she becomes of age. She never has anyone to tell her to live in the real world, although Azure tries in her own way. Azure barely lives at home, where her mother married a man who looks at Azure with lust, touches her inappropriately. Her mother is jealous of the attention, it’s not a healthy environment for any of them.
It's also an ode to fairytales in all their dark and beautiful forms. A part of the husband believes his brother found a different world in the wardrobe, that he might too. The dark parts of their lives reflect some plots of tales where girls are mistreated, promised happily forever afters, but at what cost? The flower bride is a tale woven around Indigo’s desire to keep part of herself hidden, that the secret will unravel her if known. I did guess Indigo’s secret but the joy is in the journey there.
Beautifully written and tense atmosphere, it’s a slow burn which is fitting for the genre, and a departure in style from Roshani’s YA fantasy.
I was ready to fall madly and deeply in love with this book. Myths, fairy tales, and a soft homage parallel to Psyche and Eros had my heart filled with literary anticipation.
And that’s what makes it so hard to write this review. I was so bewitched by Chokshi’s gorgeously lyrical writing that it left me going, “What in the world even happened in this story that didn’t actually have magic in it?”
About 30% into the story, the plot still wasn’t clear, and I found myself reading a bit more quickly to try to make more sense of what was going on because whiffs of toxic relationships were starting to get pretty strong for a book being marketed as (albeit darkly) romantic. There are also some rather heavy themes (e.g., pedophilia, abuse, gaslighting, etc) beyond the lovely prose that readers might want to know before diving in.
Everything was so atmospheric that it leaves its reader foggy in this modern timeline set in our world. Was this intentional for the author to blur the story’s edges with the girls’ Otherworld? Why was there not much depth to the main male character without a name, but known to be extremely sensual, beautiful, and well-educated?
“The Tale of the Flower Bride” reminded me of Daphne du Maurier and Brothers Grimm in a lot of ways. I always love a good “House as a character” trope as it especially lends to the gothic ambiance of the book. This story definitely has that, and an ending with a twist.
So if you’re looking for perfectly woven together words to get lost in, this will be a novel to remember. The author’s writing is magical prose befitting of a fairy tale even if it isn’t truly one. But if you’re looking for anything else, you might be left meandering for a signpost.
// Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review! //
A beautiful gothic novel centred around fairytales, myths, secrets and magic. The vibes throughout this book are immaculate and you really feel the gothic dark gloomy mystery of it all. It slowly approaches a dramatic Finale but in a way that keeps you reading every page for more detail.
If you like gothic fantasy, you will love this. It's so poetically written, it flows well
There's a fine line between hope and horror, which will this story take - read and find out!
Roshani Chokshi can write NOTHING that I won't love! This gothic fantasy, filled with betrayal, broken love, unfulfilled promises and magic was EVERYTHING I expect from an adult book and more.
The writing style is unique, flower-y and beautiful. It guides you through the story. It is gripping, enchanting and so very dark. It is easy to get lost in the characters and the flow of events, immersive storytelling - which reminds you a bit of how fairy tales are told. The characters are to die for! I loved everyone, especially Indigo! This story is so much deeper than just reliving old fairytales, it deals with burried trauma that lingers still, in your adulthood.
If you like books with haunting beauty, fairy-tale like elements, darkness to it, I am sure you are gonna love this one!
I am really grateful for @NetGalley, @HodderBooks and @HodderPublicity for an ARC of this book - I am in your dept forever!! I loved loved this book!
Absolutely adored this book.. the characters and storyline were spot on and exactly my cup of tea!
So we’ll written and gorgeous cover!
Will highly recommend
Easiest 5 stars I’ve given this year
AMAZING
SPECTACULAR
Everyone needs to read this book.
I’m not even surprised anymore considering no matter what this woman writes she delivers in the best perfect way
I could not put this down for one sec cause I needed to know and to finish it
And THE SETTING
The only reason why I am giving this book 2 and not 1 star is because the writing was stunning. Other than that, it was definitely not a book for me, and not what I was expecting. I can see why other early readers are loving this, but it felt like tortutre to me, to be honest.
My main issues with the book lie with the characters and the plot, or lack thereof. I did not care for a single one of the characters, they didn’t feel flashed out enough, and maybe that was the whole point, making them feel a bit fairytalesque, but it just wasn’t what I enjoy in books. There were two different points of view, but the voice felt always the same, I could not tell them apart and they just felt very repetitive, even if they were set in two different timelines and different things were happening. It just felt very dragging, I wanna say.
Also, the plot was supremely basic. I have no idea if the twist at the end was supposed to be shocking, because I could have told you what had happened the moment a certain storyline was introduced. It was so extremely obvious to me, I think it will be for everyone. If you’ve read the book, please do let me know if you found the reveal surprising, I need to know.
Moreover, please don’t be tricked by the blurb. This is not a “darkly romantic page-turner”; all the relationships in the book felt extremely toxic to me, and I wouldn’t ever call them romantic. I know dark romance is a thing — which I don’t understand, honestly — but in this case there was no romance, and there were just toxic dynamics. And I am not saying this to judge the author, because she actually does a great job at making you feel that they are toxic and not right, I am just saying not to trust blurbs and synopsis for this one.
As I said, the writing style is the only redeeming factor about this book. It’s very different from both books I’ve read by Chokshi — The Gilded Wolves and Aru Shah and the End of Time — but you can still tell it’s the same author. I really liked the dream-like quality of the craft, it felt really fitting with the book and the inspiration behind it. People have been comparing this book to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, but in my opinion it was more like The Starless Sea, writing wise, especially given that both these titles deal with stories and the power of storytelling itself. Which is why I though I was gonna love Flower Bride.
Unfortunately, this was a huge disappointment to me, but I would still recommend it to people who really like that no plot just vibes thing and like toxic relationships, stories and magical realism. Now that I think about it, the reason why I think I ended up not liking this book is because it really read like a magical realism novel, and I have been known not to vibe with them. I literally just occurred to me while writing this. So, if you are a fan of Isabel Allende and The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina, maybe this is the book for you!
LOVE LOVE LOVE.
I didn't know what to expect from this read but I was not disappointed. The twists and turns of this book are great. The characterisations were fantastic. I preferred the present day storyline personally, but both were great.
I do think the book dragged towards the end, but the payoff was worth it. An abnormally normal book.
Thanks: Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I’m not sure what I expected from The Last Tale of the Flower Bride and I don’t really know what to make of it. I read it right after Sara Maitland’s great Gossip from the Forest, which looks at how fairytales inhabit forests, so I was more attuned than I would have been to the references here in the stories shared between the lovers.
In a world in which almost everyone has a preposterous name, Roshani Chokshi gives us some great descriptions of love; Azure says she thought Lyric had ‘translated my every cell to flame’ (I’ve been there, love. It rarely ends well). There are elegant turns of phrase (teeth the ‘milky colour of petrified memory’) or idea (‘marriage asks for that crust of time you were selfishly saving for yourself’) and some jarring images and repetition. Referring to the Otherworld, the language is poetic bordering on the nonsensical.
I liked the portrayal of the House as a living being, accepting or rejecting visitors. But alongside the magic and supernatural, the world of the book is believable. I found myself drawn up short when it occurred to me that there would be an ending. And I wasn’t expecting an almighty twist at the end, the kind that made me want to go back to the beginning to see if I could spot it coming.
An extraordinary mystical fairytale to completely lose yourself in. I don’t usually read this type of novel, but found it enjoyable and very different. Indigo is cunning and wicked at times and lives in a remarkable, magical home. She wants to cross into the underworld, but not everything goes according to plan - there’s a strange marriage with a real sting in the tale. Azure hopes her friendship with Indigo is strong enough for her to go with her to this other world.