WHAT WAS THAT?!!
Mesmerising lyrical writing, this book revolves around the dynamic of a married couple under one condition: the bridegroom shouldn't pry into his wife past at all cost.
Until a condition brought them together into the House of Dreams. The wife's childhood house. This is where the secrets unfolded telling about two girls found their way into adulthood, from believing into fairies and otherworld, and acted upon those beliefs.

"I thought you love us. Or maybe I just don't understand your love."

Giving a gothic dark vibe, the story was told in riddles. We were to see beyond what was written. It tackled the issue about a broken home, domestic abuse, pedo step father, and a obsessive psychopath kinda best friend.
This was a very dark coming of age stories. When RC said it's about how the marriage comprises the monsters in the past, I felt that.

"We're two blues, the heat seam of dusk and dawn. We share a sky, if not a soul, and yet we are cut out the same shape."

"Only grief can make time change its tempo like that, expand seconds to centuries, with only our eyes marking the distance crossed."


I love how the author weaved the philosophical ideas of teens turned into adulthood. What shaped them and what those years means.

The characters' trait was so intriguing. The condition that they have to put through shaped what they are. The TOXICITY was heavy.

However, I can't shake the feeling of relief when I finished. I love how the story ended.

(I just really wish the stepfather rott in hell somewhere)

If you're into atmospheric dark romance, gothic mysterious vibe with alluring writing, tales about love and finding oneself, coming of age (teens and married), and the subtle line between fairy tale and reality, give this book a go💖

"All marriage possess their own tongue. It is a lexicon discovered in that space between clipped sentences. Its poetry can be heard in the rustle of blankets as you shift to curl around the other in silent apology."

Listen, I tried and did my best to read this before publication, but I could barely get through it.

At first, I was excited and happy. The writing was lyrical, it read like pure magic. Characters sounded interesting and mysterious and I was hooked. And then, a few chapters in and I already lost interest.

The story drags, so much. Nothing happens for the longest time. I was confused on the different povs because the voices weren’t unique enough.
Maybe it’s because I was forced to read through the pov of the bleakest, most generic male character I’ve ever seen, or maybe it’s because, again, nothing happens, that I found myself putting the book down after a few pages.
The middle is so… uneventful. Indigo is mean. Azure is naive and innocent. And I can’t even remember the male main character name, but he does nothing so it’s fine either way. We get it.

I have so many issues with the story. I don’t understand what the Otherworld is. Who lives in it? What’s real? What’s a lie? How does the magic work in this universe? Hell, I barely even understood the family dynamics. I got none of that.

The true action is at the end and that’s what redeemed the book a bit. I got interested enough to finish the book without putting it down.

I’m usually someone who’s easily enchanted by lyrical writing and can forgive a lot if the prose is pretty, but even that couldn’t hide the flaws.
I expected so much more and I’m so disappointed.

I really enjoyed this book until the end which seemed to go on forever and ever, it was really dragged out, the rest of the book was enjoyable.

The writing was like e if. Wrapped up in a warm blanket but I was over 50% through before I got a feel for what on earth I was reading.

This book is told through two points of view in two different time periods. First we have the unnamed bridegroom, Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada’s husband, who she’s made promise not to pry into any aspect of her past. When Indigo’s elderly aunt’s health begins to fail the couple travels to Indigo’s childhood home, and the bridegroom finds that keeping his promise is a lot more difficult than he’d anticipated. The other point of view is Azure, an old friend of Indigo’s, who takes the reader through their childhood and teen years together. She is entirely absent from the present day, and it’s the mystery surrounding her that the bridegroom starts to unravel.

A succinct description of this book would be that it’s a dark fairytale. Chokshi’s writing experience lies in fantasy and this couldn’t be clearer in her writing style, which suits the story being told perfectly. Azure and Indigo both adore mythology, magic, and fairytales. A key aspect of their story, and a big part of their relationship with one another, is their desire to keep the magic even as they grow up. For a lot of the book it’s unclear even to the reader if the magic they’re talking about is real or not, which I suspect is very intentional. By the end there are still one or two things that happened to the bridegroom which were never fully explained away, leaving the possibility open that the girls may not have been entirely wrong. It’s up to the reader.

This book is also a skilled depiction of a toxic and codependent friendship. The relationship between Indigo and Azure isn’t remotely healthy, and at various points could even be described as emotionally abusive. There were times where it looked like Azure might finally break away from Indigo’s expectations and control, but Indigo managed to pull her back in every single time. It’s true to the sad reality of many abusive relationships that even if someone realises that what’s going on isn’t normal or acceptable, it’s still so hard for them to leave.

I was less invested in the bridegroom’s chapters. He stumbled around the edge of the mystery of Azure, building tension with each discovery and each hint towards the reason why nobody’s seen Azure in years, but the real meat of the story was always in Azure’s chapters and not his.

I didn’t love the final resolution. I can see what Chokshi was going for, but there are a few details about it that don’t ring true for me. With a few tweaks it could’ve been great! As it is I came away feeling dissatisfied, which is a shame.

In all I had a good enough time reading this book and I don’t regret picking it up! If you’re looking for a book about fairytales, and characters who’ll do whatever it takes to keep living in one, then I encourage you to give this one a try.

I liked Chokshi's stories.

This book is quite good. the characterization is good. The plot is good. But not my cup of tea. But I finished it because it is Chokshi. Chokshi never fails to write great stories and characters. Her storytelling is rich and vibrant like in this book.

Looking forward for her next books!

Wow! The Last Tale of the Flower Bride was everything I had hoped it would be from looking at the cover and more. It is dark, romantic, erotic without the need for graphic sex, and it oozes with gothic atmosphere. There were times that I found it chilling, but I was captivated by Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada and found her impossible to walk away from.

With the nameless narrator known only as The Bridegroom, I was reminded of the second Mrs de Winter from Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca – his devotion to Indigo, and with the mysterious House of Dreams being as much a character in its own right as Manderley only adding to this feeling.

Roshani Chokshi has a wonderfully poetic writing style, and her words weave a spell around the reader, cutting them off from the rest of the world. I was drawn so deeply into this book that when I emerged from its pages, I felt somewhat dazed.

With hints of fairies and secrets surrounding the disappearance of more than one character, I was desperate to uncover each of the intertwined stories, but fearful of what would be revealed. Roshani’s use of the darkness hidden within fairy tales to explore the toxicity that can come from all-encompassing relationships, both platonic and romantic, make this a truly gripping read.

I have tried to find a way to describe this book for a couple of weeks now, and the best I can come up with is that it is quiet, a book of murmured secrets, stories told in a whisper. It is simply exquisite.

I received an eARC from NetGalley and this is my honest review.

This was a solid 3-star read.
It was ok.

The whole book is written as a collection of storytelling snippets of mysteries, old fairy tales, magical kingdoms, and legends. All of that was intertwined with the character's story and life, bringing the veil of mystery even closer to the reader. The writing style did well for the descriptive parts of the story and the richness of the character's life filled with imagination and with that an escape from reality. This is where the mystery factor is brought in.

Now, this was such a good idea and I loved how the story started. It was mysterious, sensual, and promising from the start, I was really into it but then the flatness happened.
The main characters' relationship was non-existent. For me, they could easily be two strangers meeting in the street and hooking up for a day or two. All of their years together and I still had no clue what was holding them together. Their love for storytelling? No... that would be more likely for a secret society, but for marriage...just didn't feel it. <spoiler> The manipulation is so strong in this story, and it is the main reason for things happening, but it does get annoying in some parts reading about it since there is no readers connection to the characters </spoiler>

There was a lot of telling in the story and not much showing, which grew a bit tiresome within the book's second half. Not to mention that the plot was so predictable, you could figure it out quite early in the book. The problem with that happening was, I believe, that the story was told from the dual POV and there were only a few other characters in the story and the hints were so strongly presented...so not a lot of room for guessing. Given that I expected the plot twist, it didn't have the wow impact that the story was meant to have. I guess you need the mystery for that and we get the mystery in the final chapters.

I love Roshani Chokshi, her books, her writing style, this is no exception I loved this so much. The more I read the more I lost myself in the story, the narrative, the questions I kept asking myself as I read, it really is a wonderful gothic tale

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I wanted to love it so much but unfortunately I just couldn’t keep my interest in it and DNFed at 40%. It started off really promising, I loved the writing style and how rooted in myths and fairytales it was. However, the more I read the more I found myself losing interest in the story and I couldn’t really connect with the characters. I also found it hard to differentiate between the two narrative characters as there voices sounded so similar.

How long can you last if your partner in marriage has a past they refuse to share with you?
If they turn cold or unhappy at initial probing so you’d immediately stop in fear that the beautiful fantasy of love shatters. If they know more about you than you do about them and it feels as though you’ll never know all of them as they will you.
How long can you last?

For one man, it lasted until the past came haunting his wife again and that’s where The Last Tale of the Flower Bride truly begins.

Written with gorgeous prose filled with lush imagery, this book is its own dark fairytale that centres around the powerful acts of believing and lying, creating a world where reality is seamlessly interwoven with fantasy. It starts with the bridegroom whose name we never find out, falling for Indigo, a wealthy heiress who greatly feels as though she’s a creature from the Otherworld. They strike a deal where in exchange for her heart, he cannot pry into her past. Thus, they marry and everything’s dandy until Indigo has no choice but to bring them both back to the House of Dreams, introducing the series of cracks that later, shatter their happy fantasy. Consequently, as these cracks appear, the bridegroom can no longer resist and begins to search between the veils of the world for the truth.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a mesmerizing experience. The gothic atmosphere, the precariousness of the balance between reality and fantasy, the many lies and the parallels between the story’s world and the myths and folklores we know today — the more I read, the more in love I am with the book. It’s a brilliant ode that emphasises how the scariest monsters will always be humans.

Nevertheless, all the aforementioned also worked against the book’s favour because despite them (plus the beautiful prose), there wasn’t a balance to the emotions from both perspectives. The bridegroom’s POV felt more and more detached as he dug further in search of the truth while Azure’s POV came more and more alive. Eventually, the emotions from Azure’s POV overtook the bridegroom’s, leaving his side hollower than before. Although I suspect that this was done on purpose since we never learn his name and the title of the book itself says the story isn’t about him, I can’t help but wish there was a little more depth to his side of the story.

If you adore myths and folklore, gothic horror, magical realism and lush imagery, this book is for you.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 out of 5 stars

When the narrator arranges a meeting with the owner of the old grimoire, he does not expect to meet his future wife. Indigo Maxwell-Castenada is breathtakingly beautiful and shares his attraction, but requests him not to pry into her past. Soon, Indigo's aunt's life is endangered, and they must travel to the mysterious House of Dreams. In Indigo’s childhood house, the Bridegroom finds it hard to resist his curiosity, especially since the place is full of memories of Indigo’s childhood friend, Azure, who disappeared in mysterious circumstances...

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is an addictive gothic read. Filled with tales, lies, secrets and half-truths, it is perfect for those who love unusual stories. The main character is a scholar fascinated by myths, fairytales and folklore, and many stories are blended into the plot of this original novel. None of them is more captivating and dangerous than that of Indigo and Azure.

While reading this book, I could not stop wondering about the narrative. Who or what is Indigo? Is she even human or some mythical being? Is this just another fairytale? What happened to Azure? Are the stories told in her name true? And what about the narrator? The mysterious Bridegroom we know so little about? What is his name? Many secrets are hunting the pages of this wonderfully imaginative gothic tale, and not all of them are revealed. I had a great time putting together the clues we receive throughout the novel.

A haunting, eerie and lyrical story about fairytale, obsession, passion and secrets. This book explores the way people gorge on fairy tales and myth to fill the void left behind by the less idyllic real world; it questions the lengths to which people would go to defend the illusions they artfully craft for themselves to hide from quotidian life, the way two people believe they are living within the same story only to find out the limits of their worlds have morphed and grown farther apart from one another, and whether they might be brought back together (or whether such an act would even be worth pursuing).
I think the marketing of this book did it a disservice by focusing mostly on the marriage aspect, as I found the story outside of that theme to be just as, if not more, fascinating, but wish I had known of it beforehand to adjust expectations accordingly.
The absolute and undeniable highlight of this book was the flowery writing. If you, like Oscar Wilde, are a strong believer in aestheticism, this is the book for you.
I feel the need to point out, however, that this is the kind of book that really makes the reader work for any kind of concrete grip on the story that wishes to flow undisturbed rather than be pinned down (by which I mean, mostly, this is little plot, many vibes, and requires a suspension of disbelief to be able to go along with the characters in this marriage).

Finished this story about stories & I loved it. Not only because it has intriguing characters, a mysterious tone, and a beautiful writing, but also because it gives you an unforgettable reading experience like a sentimental and serene sky surprised by silent storms. Full review will be posted on the blog on March 05, 2023 and will be updated on here too.

2.5

Whoever said that this is a Romance book got it wrong.

It's dark, dreamy, atmospheric. It nailed the "Creepy Old House" vibes to the T.

It's a story about obsession and self interest and greed and destruction.

I appreciate the author for featuring complicated, morally grey characters with twisted emotions, so well.

If I was rating this book just on the basis of the vibes, I would give it a 5/5.

Unfortunately there were other aspects that took away my enjoyment of this book.

It's slow paced. There's a dreamy, meandering quality to the narration. I personally do not enjoy this in books. But if you like it, then you will have an amazing time.

This book has dual pov, and at many times, the switch between the two is choppy.

For all the intrigue and the plot build up, the main mystery aspect in this was very predictable.

And while I objectively appreciate the development and depth given to the characters in this book, they were very unlikable.

It's definitely not the book, but my preferences, that is making me give this a low rating.
But if you enjoy the things that I mentioned above, then you will like this book.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi Narrated by Steve West; Sura Siu, was a beautifully written gothic book with a beautiful cover to go with it. I found this audiobook an enjoyable listen from start to finish. It was haunting, which I loved the spooky atmosphere of this book especially with great characters. This book was full of secrets that had me intrigued to find out what happened to them. Just Beautiful!

The narrator was Perfect for this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Hodder & Stoughton Audio, for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Uh hello? This was amazing!!

The author's writing style is gorgeous and whimsical, which makes for an engaging and addictive read. The themes are well-developed and clear, leaving readers feeling wanting more!

I went into this book expecting something very different from what I got but honestly that is most likely on me as I am not sure I remember reading the blurb... maybe? but I also like to go into books relatively fresh so it has likely been some months since I first read the blurb.

This book is told over two timelines. In the present timeline (it is never stated when this is taken place but given the mention of fax machines I feel as though it is maybe the 90s?) we follow a man known only as "The Bridegroom" as he meets the enigmatic Indigo and falls in love with her and they get married on the understanding that the Bridegroom never investigates Indigo's past. In the past timeline, we are following Azure as she meets Indigo as a child and they fall quickly into a toxic and co-dependent friendship where both friends are mutually obsessed with one another. Whilst there is a sense of whimsy in both timelines and there is a house which may or may not be sentient, the fantasy of this book is very light and I would describe it as more whimsy; as I was reading this book, I was reminded a lot of Pan's Labyrinth where the fantastical is used as a narrative device but also as a way for a child to process the more traumatic and painful aspects of her life.

I enjoyed both timelines and enjoyed a lot of the ways that themes were reflected in both stories to the point that we would see events mirrored between the past and the present.

I very quickly realised what the twist of this book was going to be but I really enjoyed the way that the story worked to build tension as I felt as though we were drawing closer to that reveal. I did think that the Bridegroom's chapters were less tight and I think I would have enjoyed them more if I felt much of a connection to him but he was overall just an unlikeable character.

Please be aware that, beyond the toxicity of all of the relationships within this book, there are some incredibly heavy topics dealt with in this book and caution should be taken if you are potentially triggered as these subjects are simultaneously dealt with head-on but also trivialised by some of the characters (this is done in such a way to reflect the flaws of the character trivialising, not to minimise the issues).

It wasn't until really the close of this book that I was sold but once I was, this was a book that I knew that I would enjoy returning to time and time again and would definitely recommend.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder Publisher for this advanced copy.

Roshani Chokshi back again with a perfect gothic romance with horror spices. I couldn't complain anything. This book was perfect : beautifully written, gripping storytelling, and a fascinating plot.

My first book by Roshani Chokshi which definitely delivered. Love the fantasy world, the characters, the plot. Everything was just *chef's kiss*