While this wasn't everything I was hoping for, I did have a fantastic time and was quickly swept away by this book.

In a tale of love, secrets, and the blurred lines between reality and fantasy, a man enamored with fairy tales marries the enigmatic Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada, exchanging gifts and promises of eternal happiness. However, when they are compelled to return to Indigo's childhood home, the House of Dreams, secrets begin to unravel. As the bridegroom delves into his wife's past, haunted by the memory of Azure, Indigo's vanished childhood friend, he must confront a choice between uncovering the truth and preserving their marriage, even as the line between reality and fantasy blurs, threatening their very existence.

This book blew me away with its beautiful writing, rich mythology, and enchanting blend of magic and folklore. The dual POVs and flashbacks added depth to the story, and the twist at the end left me reeling. While I occasionally found myself questioning what was real, I realized that ambiguity added to the book's allure. It's gorgeously spooky yet romantic, perfect for fans of dark, gothic fairy tales. Roshani Chokshi's masterful storytelling and complex characters made this a captivating read, and I'm eager to explore more of her work.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC!

AMAZING!!! A FIRM FAVOURITE!!! Roshani Chokshi really didn't disappoint with this one!!

4.5 Stars
The writing is where this book shines. It has a lyrical fairytale quality that feels delectable to read.
The story is told through two narrators: the bridegroom and his wives childhood friend Azure. The story is whimsical and hard to grasp as you don't know if what they are experiencing are real or imaginary. I still don't know if magic is real but I think that is part of the allure of the book.
The main theme of the book is female friendships and how all encompassing they can feel as a teenager.
I highly recommend this book for people who like beautiful writing and 'no plot just vibes' books.

Preliminary 5-star review. Will post a full review and adjust the rating accordingly after I finish the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

really enjoyed! Great story which was made even better by the narration! I’ve recommended this book to a number of people now and have specifically told them to try the audiobook. Overall a great read / listen and ideal for fantasy lovers!

This was a great audio book with a really good narrator. It was spooky and had a good atmosphere. Would love to read more from this author

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a modern gothic retelling of the Bluebeard fairy tale, which weaves storytelling and personal mythology into a vivid and compelling tale. I was absolutely hooked by this book from the start.

Featuring the classic almost-sapphic codependent female friendship of childhood, and the seductive, playful, dangerous adult relationship of the Groom and Bride, this book had me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how the narrative threads wove together. I absolutely adore meta storytelling, and seeing the characters conceptualise their own stories through fairy tales was an absolutely fascinating and vital part of the story. I could not put this book down!

The narrators are brilliant in their performances, simultaneously compelling and engrossing, with incredible acting skills in their pacing and voice work. I need everyone to read this book ASAP!

great. a win for the flowery writing category! as expected from roshani chokshi. loved this from her. it was just a beautiful work of art and i enjoyed it a lot.

- thanks to netgalley & the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this one but unfortunately, I DNF'd it. The writing style just wasn't for me (flowery and lyrical prose doesn't work for me at all) and I therefore DNF'd it. I have heard fantastic things about it though so if the writing works for you, I've no doubt it'll be an enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publishers for gifting me with this book.

I absolutely loved this beautifully written story, which is a kind of modern gothic fairytale about toxic relationships and coming-of-age. One thing that I found strange about the novel was that it never felt anchored in a particular place and time, which helped to give it that sense of being fairytale or folklore, the sort of story that could happen anywhere and anytime, because they are based on universal human experiences and fears. I was almost surprised when one of the characters was learning to drive since it almost felt anachronistic, although it obviously wasn't! The idea of magic in the book is so vague and intangible that the reader is left wondering how much of it is true and how much just childish imagination. It's the sort of book I want my friends to read immediately so I can discuss it with them, there seems to be so much within it to unpack.

The audio narration was great, particularly the male narrator whose voice was so easy to listen to and fitted the narrative style perfectly.

A deliciously gothic, haunting and mystical read! I absolutely loved this and the life that Roshani Chokshi breathed into this gothic world. From the lyrical writing to the characters, I was constantly hooked! I did, however, unfortunately guess the ending and the big reveal which did alter my rating a little, though not by much.

I really wanted to love this, the dark folk/fairy tale vibe drew me to it, and I initially really enjoyed the sensual prose, but then it became clear that that was all this was.

The blurb is slightly misleading: "a marriage unraveled by dark secrets" <spoiler> The marriage doesn't unravel </spoiler>, "the danger of believing in fairy tales" it's not the belief in fairytales that's dangerous: it's obsession and abuse, the fairy tales might be a gloss for that, but that's what this book is, fairy tales as a shimmering glamour over bullying, abuse, and ultimately <spoiler> murder </spoiler>. A "darkly romantic page-turner about love and lies", erm, I didn't find much love in the relationships described here, and there's definitely no romance, the two main characters are both described as stunningly good-looking, and the Husband doesn't seem to be attracted to any of his wife's qualities except that she is exotic and mysterious (and by mysterious, read sexy but aloof, abusive, distant, and secretive).

Holly Black described it as 'gorgeous and ornate' and I think that sums it up well. I really appreciated the flowery prose to go with the Flower Bride, and the interweaving and exploration of fairy tales and the shadowy realm from which they came, but after a while the similes and metaphors got repetitive 'like a widow stripped of her jewels' came just a few pages before 'like a bride without her jewels' (not exact quotes, but I forgot to bookmark them). Also, this is essentially a fairy tale in a novel's clothing; the characters have no depth, the bride 'Indigo' is beautiful and secretive, and that's it, a female Bluebeard; the Husband is the infatuated, naive, curious character who is tempted to open doors to Bluebeard's dark secrets, but with no personality; and nothing really happens plot-wise. Once you get tired of the same use of the fairy tale comparisons, it's just a retelling of Indigo's not terribly interesting, and definitely not likeable, past and how that comes to a predictable reveal, where the husband finally learns the truth that had been hinted extremely strongly throughout the book.

Basically, like a fairy tale, the characters are types, not people, they don't grow, they have no complexity. The plot is very simple, primarily a mix between Bluebeard and <spoiler>the Goose Girl</spoiler>, but extended over several hundred pages with description, conversations that go nowhere, and foreboding. Note, when I read the title and the reference to the 'Flower Bride' I did think it would have more to do with Blodeuwedd from Welsh folklore, I think that tale is mentioned, but it is not the focus or the running theme.

If you like vibes with little substance, this has vibes in spades, and I really enjoyed the atmospheric, poetic nature of this. For me personally, I would have like a little more behind the glamour to keep me interested and to want to listen to this again.

A note on the audiobook - I enjoyed the Husband's narration, being in the first person, I think he carried the story well and gave an impression of an infatuated, lost, kind of lonely character chasing after the shadow of a wife. Azure I enjoyed less, I wished that, if the narrators had needed to give Indigo an accent, they could have agreed on which one, so that was confusing at first, and irritating later. I wanted to skip a lot of Azure's narration, it sounded strangely automated, I don't know if that was the editing, but there wasn't much variation of tone, and 'he said' 'she said' especially, sounded really strange and automated to me, so that they stood out from what the characters were actually saying. For me, it needed to be at least 1.5x speed to listen to it.

Roshani chokshi is an incredible storyteller and writer and i cannot wait to read the rest of her books!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for a copy of this audiobook.

I really liked the writing style it was beautifully written. I unfortunately struggled with the plot and what was happening at times as it got hard to figure out which world was which but overall still a decent read!

I really wanted to love this book and I'm sad that in the end, I didn't. I thought the writing was beautiful, but at times became too flowery for me. I thought the atmosphere was consistently creepy throughout, which I really appreciated. I thought the relationship between Indigo and Azure was a really well done examination of toxic friendship and obsession, but that there was an element of over-the-top motivation that didn't quite work for me. I felt that the narrative was a bit disjointed in parts and that the pacing was off at times, but I really enjoyed the final third of the novel. Overall, this was a book that was nearly great, but for me, just missed the mark.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I haven’t been in the mood to read much fantasy or dark fantasy books recently, but everything I’d heard about this book really intrigued me. Without giving too much away, this story explores themes of horror, obsession, toxic friendships, marriage, loss, truth, and secrets with fairytale overtones. The book's slow build-up of foreboding and intertwining fairytales make it a hypnotic and beautiful read. It is a bit tricky to get into at the start, but eventually the story fully hooked me in. And I really enjoyed the dual narration!

“Our illusions weave roses around us, and when we try to escape, we are met with thorns.” #TheLastTaleofTheFlowerBride #RoshaniChokshi

Genre: #Mythology #Retelling #Fantasy #Romance #YA

Books: 1/1

Publisher: @ Hodder / Thank you for Advanced reader copy.

I have read #TheGildedWolves book by the author and was not impressed; that book was not my cup of tea. But this book caught my attention with this new release, and I decided to give the author another chance.

I would like to highlight the fact that it seems that this book has been inspired by mythologies and folk tales from across the world, and it makes this book so colorful.

There is pretty much everything I like about fantasy books, there is friendship, love and a big chunk of mystery, that for me did not seem obvious and I stayed curious through the whole book.

This is a story about two friends, who are outcasts in some way and are trying to go into the fairy world, but to do so, they must follow certain procedures and get rid of the mundane tasks and life.

Character names are as special as themselves – Azur and Indigo, an interesting play of words that I’ve realized while writing this. The author has thought though a lot of small details that have created this unique, gothic atmosphere.

There are two main storylines that we follow, one from Azur and one from Indigo’s husband's side. They both are interesting to follow as they intertwine the events. One is a story from the past and another is from the present.

There is also this magical house – The house of dreams, that in a way reminded me of the house from #MexicanGothic (I loved that book), with the life and mystery of its own.

This is probably my first book of the year that I would highly recommend for reading.

Audio was recorded perfectly, and it made it even more mythical.

When I say I want a gothic novel this is what I want. This dark, atmospheric story that absolutely captivates every one who dares enter its pages. You can’t stop yourself from reading it. I’m quite certain in saying that you will cancel your plans to continue reading this book because I probably would’ve.

I read the audiobook and it was a fantastic experience. It definitely added to how much I enjoyed reading this as I’m not so sure I would have had the same level of enjoyment had I read it as a book. The two narrators were very well chosen and they enhanced my reading so much that I don’t think they could’ve chosen better narrators if they tried. They also added to the experience of the audio and how much I enjoyed it. Even if you don’t listen to a lot of audiobooks I think this one would be an amazing start.

But also I would love a physical copy to be able to annotate as I went along. There were so many amazing quotes that I heard and wanted to highlight, I wanted to see them written down on a page. Yes, I suppose that’s why people buy physical copies as well 😅. Really, I think what I want the most is for when you open the book the audio starts playing for each page – yes, like those singing birthday cards 😂.

I actually like codependent characters in books. I don’t have an actual reason or reasons, but I like them. Maybe it’s the way they interact with each other. That while they do love each other, it’s a type of harmful love, even if they don’t see it; or the harm is a gradual one. Or maybe it’s just that I like to see the characters hurting each other because it’s close to angst and I love angst? (which, yes… is not a good take, I know that😅). Either way, this codependency in this book was well-written; Chokshi did such an amazing job at it – if she decides to write another book featuring a codependent relationship, I’m all for it!

if you’re not a fan of codependent relationships or if you have issues with it then I don’t recommend you read the book. As much as I want just about everyone to read this book it’s important to remember that not everyone is able to read what everyone else is reading (because of the content in the book).

I found Indigo to be such an interesting character. Everything is about Indigo – she chose the games they would play, the outfits they would wear, everything was about what she wanted to do. I don’t think that Azure ever got to suggest something but even if she did I think it would be a case of “is this you or Indigo’s influence?”.

The thing about Indigo – like many other manipulative people – is that she makes you feel so special, includes you in private moments so that you think you’re very special to her. You only start seeing her issues or the fact that you matter less in the relationship when you’re about ready to leave or when you’ve had enough of it all. You’re left thinking (or at least I did) how much does Indigo love Azure? And of that love, how much of it is real and how much is that possessive type of love?

Now I absolutely loved the characters. Indigo and Azure were for sure the main characters and then there was the unnamed man who married Indigo and narrates his own chapters in the present while Azure narrates hers showing her relationship with Indigo and everything they did together.

We’re never told the name of Indigo’s husband. His chapters are First Person POV and they’re just named The Bridegroom. I liked that because it added to the fairytale feeling of the story. I also loved how fascinated he was with fairytales and how that fascination was actually more of an obsession. And also probably the reason why he and Indigo were drawn to each other. Indigo is definitely basically a walking, talking fairytale, and he’s only too happy to be caught up in her. I think she was also drawn to him because he loved to recite fairy tales – and she was all too happy to let him do so.

Azure was quite an interesting character because she both wanted to do everything with Indigo, go anywhere with her; and also strikeout and create her own name. Her desire to walk both paths, be both people, had the same amount of desire for them – she never really wanted one dream over another until later on in the book. I like characters who know what they want but also characters who are afraid to express their feelings, follow their dreams for whatever reason. Most of the times – like 90 or so percent – there comes a time where they do blurt out their feelings, shout out their dreams to the world. Those scenes are always quite emotional because they’re finally getting to say what they want to say, they’re putting themselves first.

As I’ve experienced before with The Gilded Wolves, Chokshi once against proves herself with impeccable writing and a captivating plot. Chokshi’s characters are always multi-layered and you want to know more about them from the start. I’ve never found myself to be bored while reading her books and I don’t expect to with her other books that I haven’t read yet.

Brilliant as always. Chokshi knows how to write a great story, always engaging and magical!

If you haven't read any of her books please pick one up, you will be doing yourself a favor.

This was the spooky gothic book that I expected when I requested this one. I really wanted to read this one as it sounded amazing. It did not disappoint. The narration was on point as well and I was just so drawn in. Told from two different times, this beautiful story is full of folklore (some you may recognise) and a lot that I did not, which was amazing. Definitely a recommend if you adore gothic stories and of course, if you love Chokshi's style.