An evocative gothic read exploring an all consuming female friendship, with a core of folklore and magic. An unnamed man is beguiled by the beautiful Indigo agreeing to never ask about her past in return for her hand in marriage. However, a visit to Indigo's ancestral home threatens to unravel their perfect existence as spirits begin to enact their magic forcing the dark truth to be revealed.

Chokshi has curated a mystical narrative that brims with exotic detail and an ever present sense of menace that arrives at a shocking denouement.

I devoured this book.

I loved the dual narration from the Bridegroom and Azure’s perspectives.

It’s been a while since I’ve disliked a character as much as Indigo. She was the definition of a toxic relationship.

The way the story unfolded was magnificent and the ending had me gasping.

I would love to read more of the authors work.

I really enjoy this book, but I think this may actually be one of the rare moments where I loved the narrator's voice telling me the story than actually listening to the words being spoken, I had to stop and go back so many times throughout the book because I'd just drift away listening to Steve West's voice.

I can't wait for my hardback to arrive so I can do a proper re-read for this one and actually be able to pay more attention as I feel like I've missed a lot from not being able to focus on anything other than Steve's voice - lol!

“I lost a secret.”

This is a book whose review must be kept short, for to dissect it would be to give too much away. It is a strange kind of story where the lines between predator and prey are too blurred, hidden away in shadows that have faces if you look closely enough.

This felt like if the worlds in Every Heart a Doorway turned malignant and all-consuming, like if Addie LaRue merged with Perrault’s Bluebeard and hid away inside a haunted gothic mansion. At times, it is hauntingly beautiful; at others, it is beautifully grotesque.

The audiobook is very well done. Steve West is a favourite narrator of mine, and his voice brought a spectacular depth to the Bridegroom. Sura Siu’s narration rounded out the story wonderfully. This is one of the easiest 5-stars I’ve had the privilege of giving. It feels like a book to go back and reread to pick up on small details you glanced over the first time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for kindly providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. The narrator really brought this story to life

The dual POVs and timeline worked really well the characters were well thought out and the vibes ! Oh the vibes were there.

I finished this is a day. The audio drew me in that I think the physical wouldn’t have.

Writing was amazing. The prose and the way it flowed. The creepy house ?! I do wish I could see more about the house.

While gothic this tale wasn’t scary. I did love how it ended between the two characters, as other books similar end differently and I was pleased to see a change.

overall I bloody loved it

Thank you to NetGalley for the free audio in exchange for an honest review.

I just finished this book perhaps ten minutes ago and I've already messaged several friends about how they NEED to read this book. It is so stunningly crafted that I want everyone* to read it so I can gush over the gorgeous prose and uniquely gothic voice for hours more.

This audio is beautifully narrated and it only breathes even more life into the already powerful prose. I almost always listen to audios on 3x speed, but I slowed this one down a smidge just so I could truly appreciate the masterful way in which Chokshi showcased her craft.

This book made me feel like a bad writer in the best possible way and I will undoubtedly be rereading it many a time over the coming years. A very easy new favourite.

* - please check TWs as this book does handle some rather dark themes.

This tale seems to be so rich and surreal, and deliciously dark… but I just couldn’t get into the audiobook, unfortunately. The narrators aurally please. I had to put it down at 40% as I found myself losing concentration on it a lot, unfortunately.

I listened to the audiobook and it was great, the dual narrators worked really well together and they both did an excellent job.

The atmosphere throughout this book was so rich and haunting, it really drew you into the world. I also enjoyed the toxic friendship between Asher and Indigo and watching that develop through the book. I did guess the twist at the end, but that didn’t dampen my enjoyment.

I do think the blurb of the book is misleading though, it is marketed as a husband and wife delving into their secrets, when I would actually say it’s more of a story of toxic friendships and growing up.

Overall I really enjoyed it, perfect for fans of got his stories with a haunting atmosphere and I would really recommend the audiobook!

Absolutely loved the audio of this book! Can't wait to listen to it again. I was immediately drawn into the storyline and I couldn't get enough of it!

Rebecca meets The Gift, in this first adult fantasy novel by Roshani Chokshi. The story starts with a loved up couple, infused in mystery and romance. Unsuspected to the reader, it does not however take you down a road you'd expect the story to go. Little hints about the bride's past, make the tone of the book, dark and delicisiously intriguing as to figure out the puzzle that is slowly unfolding.

Told my the POV of the bridegroom in present day and the POV of the bride's best friend in the past, the narrator lets you collect pieces of the story that make them make sense, one piece at a time. My only stance is that sometimes, I would have liked to also hear from the bride herself, as her character is the most interesting element in the story.

Personally, albeit I enjoyed the narration immensly, the story still read more like an upper YA fanatsy and not sure why it's being marketted as an adult.

But overall, Chokshi is an excellent storyteller, whose imagination to bring a story onto the page manages to keep you entertained from the first to its last page.

Kind thanks to the publisher for approving me for an audio netgally of this book.

I went into this book expecting something quite different from what I got ... and I am not mad about it!

This story is told to us through two POVs. Our MC, 'the bridegroom' is married to his mysterious wife Indigo. They have a very unique relationship which starts to slowly crack when her aunt takes ill and they have to travel to the 'House of Dreams'. We hear about her friendship with a girl called Asher as the second POV, and it's a story like one I haven't read before. The language used brings us to a gothic and fairytale-esque atmosphere while simultaneously there is an eery and almost paranormal feeling to the story which brings the story along beautifully.

I will be honest - I was SO royally confused for the first 25% of this book. Flat out - there were tims I thought this would end up being a 3 star based solely on my inability to understand what was happening despite the lovely use of language. Everything felt almost like the narrator (at the time only 1 POV) was speaking in code. But the payoff of this *absolutely* works out; the way it is written makes complete sense and is an artistic choice I genuinely think is justified.

The two narrators did an amazing job, I loved the audiobook version and they helped bring it to life. I think the physical/e-book version would also be good, but I do think the atmosphere ... books like this are better heard than read!

Saying much more than this will spoil a story I genuinely think is better to go into blindly so I will say the confusion you will experience is worth it, things make sense in retrospect, and I absolutely loved the twists and turns we went on!

<i>I was provided with a complimentary copy of this audiobook by Hodder & Stoughton Audio through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily</i>

A scholar of folklore marries a woman steeped in mystery and magic.

I was drawn in by the concept of this book: the bold promise of the groom vowing never to pry into his bride’s past but when they are forced to return to her childhood home, the ‘House of Dreams’, the shadow of a girl lurks behind the manor’s extravagance and dusky halls.

I was really invested in the story for the most part. The duo timeline and POV between a male and female perspective was insightful for learning more about the characters. The narration was flawless on the audiobook. However, by three quarters of the way through, a couple of issues that had been niggling away at me became too much to ignore.

I struggled with the world building. I kept wondering if the Otherworld was just in the girls’ heads, it never seemed tangible or like I could trust what they were experiencing. Others will appreciate that edge for an ethereal atmosphere and judging by the raving reviews, that atmosphere definitely worked for many, but sadly it just never clicked for me. I started to lose interest in it. The bride and groom shared a love of stories and had a physical connection but that seemed to be it, I couldn’t see any depth to it.

I did enjoy this, it’s just, I was prepared to love it but some things just didn’t click with me. The descriptions of magic and fairytales were beautiful, the storyline kept me guessing, it was altogether a good story.

Thank you to @netgalley
for the opportunity to read and review this audiobook.

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 really wanted to like this book and when it also arrived in my fairyloot box I was incredibly happy I already had the audiobook, however the story just didn't do it for me. I didn't find the characters relatable and the dual timelines didn't seem to add anything to the story. I personally think the story would of held more weight if it was just the young timeline, following the girls entry into the otherworld. I think so much more could also of been done with the description of the house of dream, multiple reference are made to the house and how it likes certain people but what the house does and actually looks like is left out. The sideline story of Jupiter and her mother doesn't seem to have any point to it. I expected a lot more from this book overall and am gutted it didn't deliver. If I hadn't of received this book as an e-arc I don't think I would of finished it.

A beautifully written and enchanting book from Roshani Chokshi. This is my first book I've read from this author, and based on this book I will be reading others from her soon. I loved that there were both male and female narrators for this audiobook version. They relayed the vibe of the story extremely well. I loved it!

The story was good an intriguing but it wasn't outstanding. The audiobook, though, that narration was flawless and it definitely helped in pulling me into the story. I'm so happy I went the audiobook route with this one.

Content wise, I really enjoyed it for the most part, especially the first half of it. I was 100% sucked in by the atmosphere and very intrigued by the concept, which seemed different and fresh. I especially liked how fairy tales were intertwined here and there, while also tackling difficult topics like abuse, grief and how we (and especially children) can be forced to create our own made up worlds in order to cope with the unfairness of the world and escape to some magical place we feel safe, loved and free.

However, somewhere along the last half or quarter of the book, it lost the magic for me. It's not that I disliked the ending, I actually think it was very fitting (though I did see the plot twist coming from the very beginning), but the story just lost it's grip on me.

I just want to say that i was looking forward to this, and the description is what drew me in, along with the cover. But overall this book wasn't for me. If it wasn't for the fact i was listening to this, i would have DNF'd if i was reading this, but its also possibly the reasons for me not enjoying this was because i listened to it (especially the toxic parts)

The writing was descriptive, but at the same time was a little confusing to follow due to the descriptions. It was also slow paced which im personally not a fan off, so on that note it definitely wasn't a for me book.

I also found the description of the book didn't actually match the story, it was more about Indigo and Azuras relationship, and the bridegroom is sort of an after thought, as the relationship just feels forced. but also due to how the characters are written, i ended up not caring about any of them, and just seems the bridegroom was just a filler character, when description suggests hes a main character.

There needs to be more about the trigger warnings, especially due to how toxic various characters are, yes it is a mix of myth, folklore but this book is pretty much mixing it all into one story, even then mean girls/Bunny scenario was significantly more toxic in this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the audiobook for an honest review. Sadly this wasn't a book for me.

If you asked me to recommend you a book perfect for Halloween I would say this one. Gosh the more I think about it the more I realize it is really really well done. The story is super peculiar and it is immersed in this sort of magical realism that always fascinates me.

A man meets a woman that seems to have been extracted directly from a fairytale, and he is an expert of fairytales and she loves listening to his stories. But their marriage has been founded of one rule: he can’t ask about her past.

Of course, in fairytales a rule is there because it must be broken and so when he starts digging up he understands he doesn’t know his wife at all.

Aside from the plot twist, which is great, the story keeps you in a sort of state of anxiety that you can’t shake even when you reach the end.

Moreover it touches a very important point about love: the fact that many people have never experienced what true love is and so they think that some kinds of sick and obsessive love are the normality. It shows very clearly how you may realize a relationship is very dangerous and not at all healthy, but in some ways it’s also the only thing you have and so you grasp it for dear life.

Also the narration is great and it really conveys the anxiety like a good thriller should do, even if I have the sensation I would have enjoyed and savored it more if I had read it.

A huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton Audio for giving me the oppurtunity to listen The Last Tale of the Flower Bride as an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book that I just had to request the audiobook because I loved it and even though I thought it impossible the audiobook made me love this book even more.
The audiobook is narrated by Steve West, who has a magnificently smooth voice that fits the narration of the bridegroom so beautifully I simply cannot describe it any better than "he was meant to narrate this book". When I read the book I imagined the bridegroom to have a soft spoken voice, a somehow timid nature that Steve West got just right from the get go, it was surreal. It was more than a great narration, and it was perhaps the reason that this book has set the bar for the rest of my 2023 reads really high.
In regards to Sura Siu, I can say she did a perfect job portraying Azure. She definetely adds depth to Azure's character as far as narration goes, giving the character the breath-of-life she deserves.She gave Azure the perfect timbre for every occasion and I appreciated this little feat more than anything.

I have not had much "experience" with audiobooks, but this one really blew me away. I would totally recommend this to someone who either wants to get acquainted with audiobooks -since the narration is simply impecable- or even to someone who listens to them on the regular, because they will simply appreciate both the book and story as well as the narration.

In case you wonder what I thought about the book and what I enjoyed most about it, there is a detailed review on my profile.

😐🤔😟this is me right now. i genuinely don’t know how to rate this book. i know i did enjoy it a lot. but is it a 5⭐️? or a 4⭐️? i know it’s not a 3⭐️ or less that’s for sure. maybe i will rate it at one point maybe i won’t. however there’s a high probability that i will buy it to reread it one day. it’s the kind of book that would be great to reread. i also know i will pick up other books by this author because DAMN they can write. the atmosphere, the characters, everything was chef’s kiss, italian hand gesture emoji, you get it. if you like ninth house and the picture of dorian gray, you’ll probably enjoy this book as well. and yes, i liked it, despite what you may think reading this.