Strange and beautiful, this book is like a long, lyric poem. I found it compulsively readable - like a gothic fairytale mashed together with DuMaurier’s Rebecca.

Roshani Chokshi's new gothic mystery cleverly explores the dark side of fairytale obsession. It whisks you away to a make-believe world where decadent houses whisper secrets, young, sharp-edged girls rule ethereal kingdoms and all is as beautiful as a dream, so long as you never look past the facade.

I enjoyed the examination of a marriage built on gilded falsehoods and the swapping of stories. Curiosity, power and vulnerability shape the dynamic between the lovers throughout the tale, with the bride sharing little of her idolised self, and her bridegroom showing what it is to be obsessed, overwhelmed and oblivious.

I was also fascinated by the friendship between Indigo and Azure, and how dependency, grief and fear craft a bond so deep it becomes vast and dangerous. Themes woven throughout the carefully-crafted narrative include identity, grief, mythology, superstition, coming of age and the urge to escape from situations – even worlds – that are not enough to contain your longings.

If you aren't put off by the grim and dark, and enjoy piecing together a many-layered mystery with an enigmatic character at its heart, I encourage you to pick this up.

I was excited to read this book and from the opening pages it is so easy to lose yourself in the fabulous lush descriptions. It is like sinking into a world of opulence, surrounded by soft silk and fur, being caressed by everything that seeks to give the reader a sensuous experience. This is the land of fairy tales, glittering, gilded and sparkling with a gothic darkness that hovers just outside the door.

It is an opulent story so very well told; it fascinates and compels. An adult fairy tale that draws you inside its glittering web and shields from the harm and hurt that lies just outside the gate.

Indigo and Azureare joined from the beginning. Twin souls who are inseparable, they need each other to thrive and as long as they stay within the confines of the mysterious House of Dreams, they will be safe. But as with all fairy tales, someone always wants more and there lies the beginnings of the worm that lies in the heart of the dark apple that is ordinary life outside the gilded cage that is the House of Dreams and The Otherworld.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride has exquisite writing and is full of lyricism. The world building is excellent. With echoes of Bluebeard’s Castle and the darkest of Grimm’s tales this story istold in two voices. From the Bridegroom, we learn the tale of Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. She is a compelling woman, rich and mysterious, who draws the Bridegroom close to her and enchants him. Theirs is a marriage of real closeness and she loves the tales he tells her. Her only stipulation is that he not pry into her past which she keeps closely guarded, preferring not to speak of it at all.

But when Indigo learns that her aunt is dying, the pair return to her childhood home referred to as The House of Dreams and that’s where the Bridegroom learns more about his wife’s childhood and of the girl who was her closest friend, Azure – and yet for such an intense, inseparable friendship, this name has never crossed his wife’s lips.

The reader then hears from Azure and her story is interleaved with that of the Bridegroom.

Now the story becomes more invested in the real world as we learn some very ugly truths around Azure’s childhood and the way in which Indigo treats some of her classmates. There are some distressing themes here and more than a hint of toxicity and coercive control in their friendships.

But, and this is where I struggled somewhat, none of these characters has any dimension or depth to them. They are forever doomed to be flat cut outs and this for me is where the book does not succeed.

Verdict: I still loved reading The Last Tale of the Flower Bride and enjoyed the wonderful language, the atmosphere and the fabulous luxe descriptive passages, but I needed to care about these characters and I just couldn’t. That’s the way with fairy tales and it’s no different here.

Things I loved about this book
The beautiful cover
The writing style
The idea of fairytales
The mysterious but magical house of dreams
Sad to say though the storyline didn't really grab my attention, I found myself skim reading to get to the end but I already had a feeling it was going to go where it did.
I'm sure it will be a success and popular with fans of gothic, fantasy novels
2.5 rounded up

I went in blind, and this book was not what I expected. I really enjoyed it, but it didn't keep me on the edge of my seat which is a must for me when it comes to books like these. All in all I can definitely recommend this one.

Unfortunately, this book was a DNF for me.

I had high expectations going into this book as I know Roshani Chokshi is a beloved author of the Gilded Wolves trilogy.

The first few chapters were so good! They were very engaging, mystifying and rich! Roshani Chokshi has a way with words, her writing is absolutely beautiful and the world building was spectacular. BUT……..there was no plot that I could follow? I might be completely wrong but I just couldn’t see it.

To me it felt like I was reading a lot of pretty words but none of them made a lot of sense.

I really thought I would love this book, the blurb is right up my street. Dark romance, gothic fairytale, sumptuous writing- all perfectly attuned to my reading matter of choice. However, it fell a bit flat for me, I’ve thought about it for quite a while and although I loved the writing, the characters didn’t come to life for me which left me detached from the story.

That lack of engagement on my part wasn’t helped by too much harsh reality seeping into what I expected to be essentially a fantasy novel. If I pick up a different sort of novel and child abuse, abusive relationships and grief are intrinsic to the plot I sign up to that and embrace it. But it’s not what I expected here and the blurb certainly didn’t prepare me for this.

So, I really enjoyed the premise and the writing but other parts of the story didn’t work for me. Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was definitely seduced by the cover of The Last Tale of The Flower Bride. The promise of a gothic novel with fairytales sealed the deal.

The author clearly knows their fairy lore and I enjoyed the inclusion of myth scattered throughout. However after finishing the book I feel conflicted about it.

It started off so well when our nameless Bridegroom meets the mysterious Indigo. The book is described as darkly romantic and it is for the first few chapters and then it isn't anymore. The story is told by The Bridegroom in the present and Azure who is Indigo's childhood friend in the past. I felt the story focused heavily on the past and we heard very little from The Bridegroom.

The writing is spellbinding, and although I appreciate the beautiful prose it started to weigh the story down with overly flowery text. I found this affected the pacing and the plot suffered for this.

I still think this book is worth a read as I did enjoy the fairytale elements of the story.

Thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

I honestly am not sure how to feel. There were parts I enjoyed and some I just really found strange and confusing and that just didn’t change throughout the book. I contemplated multiple times whether to just stop reading and leave it but I did want to know what happened in the end.

It is a good gothic mystery tale and I did enjoy that you had to read and unravel what really happened and who Indigo was. And - spoilers - I HATED Indigo. Just how manipulative she was and the things she did to Azure, the person she was meant to love and that was meant to be half of her soul? No. You don’t do the things she did to someone you care about.

I didn’t massively connect with the Bridegroom and was more focused on Azure & Indigo growing up. I still can’t tell what is going on with the Otherworld and honestly the last 100 pages were just a drag. Not one I would reread or recommend tbh.

Here's the most important thing to know if you're picking up this book: it's not a fantasy. It's not a romance. It is gothic literary fiction inspired by fairytales. Going in expecting anything else will lead to disappointment.

Why it's not a romance
To me, a romance book means that there is a focus on building a romantic relationship between (at least) two individuals that spans the entire story. That is not the case here. Our main character, known only as the bridegroom, falls for and marries a woman named Indigo within the first few chapters, and they've been married for a few years by the time we get to the actual story, which is unraveling the mysteries surrounding Indigo.

Why it's not a fantasy
To really explain why this doesn't count as fantasy, I have to talk about some things that could be considered spoilers. They won't reveal the plot, but will make certain things about the world clear that you wouldn't otherwise know for sure until the end. I won't include it here, but if you're interested, you can find my full review on Storygraph and Goodreads.

That's not to say I don't think the book is worth reading. I actually really liked the way fairytales were such a central theme throughout. It's more of a character study than a book with much of a plot, but it was interesting to see how the Indigo we see in Azure's chapters became the Indigo of the present. The pacing was very slow, however, and this has to do with the dual timelines. It bogged everything down, and every time I felt like we were getting somewhere in the present, we'd be back in the past for a significant chunk, which made the bridegroom's story lose its urgency. I also found parts of it to be overwritten—I had to reread a lot of paragraphs, sometimes more than once, because my mind kept wandering from the words.

This book is dark, haunting and gothic whilst leaning on fairy tales and mythology.

The writing itself is beautiful and at times poetic. Having said that, it is a highly descriptive book which may not appeal to all readers.

Overall, I did enjoy the novel, it perhaps didn’t grab me as I had hoped and the language used does make it a very slow burn. Eventually all the secrets of the characters get revealed, which to an extent I did see coming.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me - DNF at Chapter 9.

The blurb - which I found misleading - portrays a novel that I thought I would love, yet, when reading it, I did not feel the excitement I expected.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is beautifully written, with a poetic, enchanting approach. However, while captivating, the lyrical prose was so constant that it made the novel feel heavy, combined with the toxic - their behaviours towards each other are bizarre at best, if not heavily damaging - characters of the bridegroom and Indigo did not hold my interest.

The two were highly unlikeable, with no character development and, at 70 pages in, I knew nothing about them and grew restless, particularly by the bridegroom, whose perspective was tedious, mainly used as a tool to drive the story, rather than being a fundamental part of the narrative.

Another issue I had was the question of why Indigo married the bridegroom. There is no connection between the two, which in turn caused me to not care about their relationship. As a novel marketed partially as a love story, where is the love story? And the intrigue between the protagonists?

Later, there is a reprieve from the bridegroom's perspective in the form of another narrator named Azura, who for a moment felt like a breath of fresh air, which soon fell flat - the two viewpoints did not feel distinguishable enough.

As for the plot, having stopped reading nine chapters in, there wasn't much, and as for the rest of the novel, I can't say if it improves, although I hope so!

Overall, this novel wasn't for me. If the writing wasn't as stunning as it was, I would have given it a 2-star rating.

Lastly, I would like to say a huge thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read and review this book! All opinions are my own!

The premise for this book made it sound like something right up my street; gothic, dark and brimming with secrets.
Unfortunately this isn't for me. The overly-poetic prose might appeal to some people but personally I found it detracted far too much from what little plot there was and my mind constantly wandered. I think the characters are meant to be enigmatic, but I found them all quite dull and incredibly unrealistic.
I found this a chore to get through and it was only the mystery aspect that kept me going.
I can see a lot of people enjoyed this, but it really wasn't for me.

I hadn't read anything by Roshani Chokshi before, but after hearing a lot of praise for her YA novels over on Book Twitter, I decided to start with her adult debut, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride. The beautiful cover and the plot instantly caught my attention while browsing NetGalley, so it was a pretty automatic request. And I'm so glad I did, as this rich, dark and unique tale was SO good.

I'm honestly in love with Chokshi's writing. It is flowery and almost poetic without ever feeling pretentious or heavily constructed. The prose flows really smoothly while at the same time perfectly painting the picture and building the atmosphere. It's clear when reading that the book has a strong foundation in the Western literary canon, effortlessly weaving together the storytelling traditions of old and gothic romance elements with mystery and a dash of magical realism to create a classic tale for modern readers. I loved seeing how expertly the author played with old tropes and storytelling conventions to build an engaging plot and deeply flawed, difficult characters. I particularly liked the choice to reverse traditionally held roles, with Indigo being the centre of the story and the keeper of dangerous secrets, while her husband The Bridegroom remains the unnamed narrator seeking to uncover her mysteries. It was a refreshing take on classic fairytale characters (think Bluebeard) in their original, dark versions. There are also multiple references to these stories throughout, which added a layer of depth to the story.

The story is told in dual POV and in alternating timelines: in one, we follow The Bridegroom in the present as he starts being curious about his wife's past and decides to look for answers as they visit her childhood home; in the other, we follow Azure, Indigo's best friend from childhood who mysteriously disappeared, to watch the two girls grow up in the House of Dreams. Both storylines were great, each adding something to the story until the whole picture became clear. Hints were dropped throughout and the foreshadowing was very well crafted, but I still didn't put all the pieces together until the end. The Bridegroom was somewhat less full as a character compared to the female ones, but it felt like a deliberate choice (much like keeping him nameless) and worked well within the story. We still get to see and understand rather a lot about him and his past, although Indigo and Azure remained far more interesting to me. Listening to the audiobook, Steve West was a marvellous narrator, really helping to bring those gothic vibes through, which massively improved my experience of the Bridegroom's chapters.

Now the female characters are where this book truly shines. They were richly drawn, complex and flawed in a way that is hard to come across (or at least, I haven't really recently - if you have any recommendations, please tell me in the comments!). The relationship between Indigo and Azure was fascinating, even if deeply toxic, and it was easy to understand their attraction to the faerie world and what they call the Otherworld. Their coming-of-age story is rich with subtext and really shows what it means to be a teenage girl on the verge of adulthood in a complicated, and sometimes very dark, world. Feelings take centre stage in this book, the ones that are expressed and the ones kept hidden, love and obsession intertwining until it is hard to recognise where one ends and the other begins.

I could talk about this book for a lot longer, but I won't to avoid spoiling it all. Safe to say that, even in February, this is already a strong contender for best read of the year. Now I'll have to catch up on all of Chokshi's other works!

In some ways this was avery beautiful story, in others it was very dark. I was never quite sure which way it would go next, but it hooked me into the end, It wasn't a book I could read quickly. Some well defined characters and a story line which opened my eyes.

Thanks to Netgalley, Hodder and Roshani Chokshi for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this - the story gave me Mexican Gothic vibes a little, which was a book I also really enjoyed. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride was deeply rich and vibrant it its' storytelling and I just couldn't wait to find out more as I read.

“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.

3⭐️
I like the cover.
It’s described as a gothic infused story, it’s kind of told in the style of a fairytale. It’s a very different style of book for me. There are lots of references to fables. The prose feels other worldly, flowery and descriptive.

The bridegroom is unnamed, Indigo is a beautiful temptress. It’s described as a tale of a marriage unravelled by dark secrets. However much of the story concentrates on Indigo and Azure as young girls and their relationship.

On the plus side it’s very original however I found it too slow, it dragged, so struggled to hold my interest. I didn’t really manage to engage with any of the main characters.
The un named bridegroom, it seems odd being referred to as such after 3 years of marriage.
Overall this didn’t hit the mark for me.

My review for The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a tough one to write. Firstly because I couldn't tell you whether or not I enjoyed it and secondly my thoughts and feelings toward it are so conflicting I'd have to think about it for days.

So here is a summary of my conflicting thoughts;

- Roshani's writing style is beautifully crafted and easy to read.
- I enjoyed the concept of the two timelines and the reveal of the character's secrets.
- Sometimes the plot was unclear and I felt unsure about why I was reading it, however, then it would draw me in and I would find some interest in it.
- I felt the characters were well developed, however, I didn't think the relationship between the male and female characters was developed enough.

Overall if you love a thriller with secrets this book is probably for you, however, I'm still quite unsure as to whether it was for me.

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

If you’ve read any of Roshani’s work before then you know that her writing is woven with its own unique magic, and this is a story that feels like it has been pulled from a dusty tome of forgotten fairy tales itself. Though if you come looking for something on the fantasy side you’ll be in for a surprise as this is very much a gothic thriller. An alluring tale centring on promises and secrets kept between people who love to go looking behind locked doors, it will reel you in more and more with each page.

Alternating between dual points of view and over dual timelines we follow The Bridegroom, lover of stories and myths who can’t resist following the breadcrumbs leading him to the secrets of his wife Indigo’s past and Azure, Indigo’s best friend narrating an account of their childhood growing up in the House of Dreams.

Roshani’s prose perfectly captures the ambience of the setting and all the wonder and mystery twisted around these absorbing characters. I was definitely more drawn to the coming of age side of the story but both storylines work in harmony to meticulously reveal the shadowy truths surrounding the enigma that is Indigo’s past in a similar fashion to a classic fairy tale. And the snippets of classical stories and folklore included within the narrative enhanced this even more.

Equally enchanting and horrifying the exploration of obsession and power, love and manipulation is done so well and the closing reveal is one of those that even if you see it coming it’ll still blow you away.

As ever I cannot wait for whatever Roshani writes next!
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars