Unfortunately this book was not my cup of tea and I’ll not be reviewing. I don’t want to give a negative review simply because it wasn’t my type of book. The writing was very good.

(2.5) here’s the deal, hated this book, but also liked this book. idk how to explain it but let’s try!

Our unnamed narrator is a historian. He meets Indigo on the hunt for an ancient grimoire. He is immediately enchanted by her and they marry. Her only condition is that he never pries into her past. Indigo’s aunt has been sick for years and is soon going to die. So Indigo and our narrator (called ‘The Bridegroom’) in his chapters, return to her childhood home, The House of Dreams. The House of Dreams seems to be a magical place. It is here that the bridegroom learns of Indigo’s childhood friend and lover(?) of sorts, another girl similar to her in appearance known as Azure.

Azure and Indigo have a toxic relationship in which they believe in the magical existence of “the Otherworld” and that the two girls are one half of the same soul and will eventually become transformed back into Fae and will return to the Otherworld. Indigo is a psycho crazy person!! Azure lives with her mother and her mothers bf, a creepy man who clearly abuses her mother and wants to sleep with Azure. Indigo lures Azure in with a form of love so manipulative and restrictive, that Azure loves her no matter how much Indigo continually ruins her life. According to Indigo in the present, Azure disappeared right after graduation. When the Bridegroom arrives at the house he breaks the one condition: he begins snooping in attempt to discover what truly happened to Azure.

The story switches between the past (narrated by Azure) and the present (the bridegroom) as we unravel the mystery of Indigo and Azure.

Here’s the good:
- i love a thriller and i LOVE a gothic novel
- a lot of the atmospheric gothic details are strongly supported by the House of Dreams, acting as it’s own entity and character
- last few chapters were very fun and thrilling in the way a thriller promises
- I LOVED the story’s use of folklore and fairy tale and it was so so fun for this story (however poorly executed)

Here’s the bad:
- PURPLE PROSE THAT FEELS SO PAINFUL!!! oh my god i love imagery but this was… this was another level of bad. there were a series of bridegroom chapters that all felt like they started the same. W NO FUCKING PLOT JUST LIKE PASSAGES OF METAPHOR AND EPITHETS ABOUT FAIRYTALES THAT WERE LIKE SUCH A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM. you have these immersive chapters of Indigo and Azure and you see the story unfolding as Azures eyes are opened to the toxicity of their relationship, and then you jump to:
“One must never look with eyes alone.”
“Fairy tales often make demands of silence”
“Enchantments rely on rules of etiquette”
“Every fairy tale has blood flecked on its muzzle.”
“This is why fairy tales are dangerous…”
- at first you are lured in by the beauty of the writing… and then you realize that every single one of these chapters is repetitive, bridegroom goes on some long ramble about fairy tales and some deeper metaphor and then all that to basically say “and that is why i should’ve seen it coming…” and it adds nothing to the story

okay basically i liked about half the chapters of this story but even then a lot of the Azure chapters seemed to drag on too long. idk what this book claims to be but it’s too slow to be a thriller and it’s not really a fantasy?? idk if this is roshani chokshi’s normal style of writing but it wasn’t working for me. maybe this book is perfect for someone else but not me… CRAZY THING IS I FINISHED THIS BOOK LIKE huh oh that was fun (even tho the twist was very predictable).

i think i just like a thriller so the execution was poor but the overall arc and plot of events was still a fun thriller plot on the macroscale. anyway. i wanted to give this 1 star but +1 for the parts i liked and +0.5 for the good writing even tho it was too much.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a gothic novel that blurs the lines between fantasy, magical realism, and horror. It is a story of obsession and trauma, and how love can turn into something cruel and vicious. Similar to her previous novels, Roshani Chokshi’s prose is beautiful and carries the reader into the world that is woven into every page of this book. This novel is slower paced which may be a surprise for readers of her Gilded Wolves series that was fast-paced. As the title of this novel suggest, it reads more like a fairytale and even incorporates a variety of tales into the premise of the novel. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is for readers who enjoy modern fairy tales and tales with more gothic and dark elements.

As a forever fantasy lover, I have recently dipped my toes into reading more mysteries and thrillers. This book is the perfect blend of the two genres. The writing is lush and evocative, while the author takes you by the hand and guides you on a mystery with twists and turns you won't see coming.

This one took me a little longer to finish, but I think that was mostly because I wanted to live in this story and its words. Delightfully gothic in all the best ways — haunting, sumptuous writing, with dual narratives that were equally captivating. I was just as interested in the possibility of what could happen with the bridegroom and his wife at the end of the story by the time it all ended. I get the impression that Chokshi has written something a little unexpected for her previous work with this one, but I was pretty solidly enraptured no matter how long it took for me to page my way through it. Try to go into this one with as little advance knowledge as possible.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This copy was kindly given to me by the publisher and netgalley for honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book was interesting to say the least. I will not be giving it a star review because I don't think it would be fair to the book nor author. I saw the plot twist coming and wasn't truly in the mood for this book but made myself try to read so I won't go into this review lying- I mostly skim read this book.

It was lyrical, dark and poetic but I just didn't vibe with it (which I think had more to do with me than the book itself). I will say that Roshani Chokshi has a true talent when it comes to building these magical backdrops to her stories that bloom and read like lore- a very cool talent in my opinion. I will pick this book up in the future and give it the attention is deserves but it might be a while (anyone else a mood reader?)

I am a huge fan of Roshani Chokshi's works, and this one is no different.

Chokshi is a master at creating atmosphere and at imagery. I felt as if I was living in this story, a ghost privy to all the happenings of this magical world. This story is dark and masterfully executed.

I was excited to get this one but sadly it was not for me. I loved the Star Touched Queen series but it seems that everything after that has fallen short. This fairytale just fell short of what I was looking for and mostly just felt flat for me.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is such a beautifully written fantasy. The world-building is outstanding. The story is well written with an enchanting storyline and well-developed characters that engage from start to finish. The world is atmospheric and feels real with vivid descriptions and rich imagery. I cannot get enough. Highly recommended. Be sure to check out The Last Tale of the Flower Bride today.

This was one of those books that I was thinking about after I finished reading it! After reading Chokshi's The Gilded Wolves trilogy, I knew I had to read more. I was so excited when I heard about this one and knew I had to read it. I enjoyed reading the plot, but to me that did not feel like the focus of the book. The characters themselves were so intriguing, with the Bridegroom and Azure being the narrators in the two timelines. Indigo, the center of both timelines, was such an interestingly developed character who reminds mysterious throughout the book.

What made this book a five star read for me was the gothic vibes and beautiful writing. I read/listened to this book a rainy day and it was literally the perfect reading experience. I felt that this book combines fantasy with a little bit of horror. This book feels magical as Chokshi incorporates fairytales and mythology seamlessly in the story and that made for a very atmospheric read. I truly loved the writing in this book, it was lush and poetic and had me turning the pages throughout. The whole book felt very dreamlike while I was reading and I don't think I've read a book like this before that I've loved this much. I kept thinking about this book after I finished reading and I can definitely see myself revisiting this book some day.

I would recommend this book solely based on the vibes and the writing style. The characters are intriguing and I loved this story. It's full of magic and a gothic atmosphere. It was definitely an easy five star read!

A gothic tale of obsessive relationships where the family house has a mind of its own and someone isn't who they say they are? Yes please. I'm ready for another from Chokshi!

The writing was beautiful and dreamlike. This story focus on the intertwining of two teenage girls as they come of age and grow into themselves. But something is not right between them. The book has fantastical elements mixed with realism and is dream like.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC!

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is absolutely wonderful.

I'm a huge fan of Roshani's The Gilded Wolves, her fast-paced YA historical fantasy, but it's in this gothic fairy tale that Roshani's purple prose really found its place and shone. Unlike what many seem to think when they get this book, it's not a romance, nor a fantasy. If I could classify it, I'd say it takes inspiration in magical realism, where the lines between real and not real are blurred.

We follow, at first, the bridegroom, who tells us how he met this astonishing woman called Indigo and married her; then, as they both have to return to her childhood home to say goodbye to her sick aunt, we are introduced to another narrator, Azure, Indigo's childhood friend, who will reflect on their friendship since they first met at 10 years old, until their paths diverged in their teenage years. Metaphors, hyperboles, descriptions of magic that you can't take at face value; both POVs are told in first person, so we see the world the way the characters do, and when they believe there's magic, we have to believe it as well. The synopsis tells you it's about a marriage, but you won't see the normal slow burn of a romance – you'll see a marriage trying to survive each individuals' secrets as they unravel. It's also very slow, because, with so many secrets, readers and characters need time to digest what they're learning about themselves and each other. More than just this marriage, you'll see Indigo's deep relationship with her friend Azure, where the lines are also blurred. Like Indigo said, "I loved her in a way that almost made me wish never to love again until I met you". It's not healthy; it's obsessive and toxic and terrifying to read about. But it's what made Indigo the person she is, and, just like the unnamed bridegroom, we are drawn to her story like a moth to a flame.

The main theme of this novel is trauma, and obsession, and how it marks people's lives, and about getting to know the most important person in the world to you in gruesome detail and having to decide if you'll turn your back to them or not. It's beautiful, and sad, and different than anything I've read before, and I loved it.

A delightfully creepy, fairy tale infused story of "soul-twins," a magical house, and what happens when you don't follow fairy tale rules.

I'm not sure what kept me from this book for roughly a month and a half - I kept being drawn to the synopsis and cover but as a mood reader I never felt like I was 'ready' for this book. The truth is, I would never be ready for this book. It is weird, twisted, fantastical, and almost verges on psychotic but the way the story is laid out just feels masterful and I was hanging on every single word. I have never read from Roshani Chokshi before, I've heard her writing is pretty good, but let me tell you that her writing is phenomenal. This is written in such a way that is simultaneously flowery, atmospheric, dark, full of metaphor, and yet straight to the point. I found myself stopping along the way, when a single sentence just brought my life to a halt, and that lasted through the entire story. This is the kind of story that holds on and I cannot wait for my brain to live with it for a while yet I also desperately want to reread it this very moment. I might have to pick up the audiobook as a reread soon but something about letting my eyes devour the words that Roshani Chokshi dusted the pages with felt remarkable. Dare I say that this will be my favorite book of 2023? It will be in the top 5 at the very least.

There were a lot of intriguing elements about this book that made me want to read it, but in the end it fell a bit flat for me. The bones of an interesting story were in there somewhere, but I felt like the story got lost amid overwritten prose. Chokshi clearly has a lot of knowledge about fairy tales and folklore, but that wasn't enough to bring this story to life in a satisfying way. That being said, I did really enjoy the gothic elements of the story, especially the twists and turns at the end.

Even though I wasn't a fan of this book, I'd still recommend it to readers who enjoy modern fairy tales with gothic elements.

Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the eARC of this book!

The prose in this book was beautiful but I thought that plot was lacking. The two main characters were a little too similar to each other for my preference. I wish there had been more clarity to the plot. It seemed like the author was relying on vibes alone.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of the last tale of the flower bride. this was fantastic i read it and listened to it and ordered copies for my book shop. the magic in every day life and two friends. switching between the one friend and her husband in current day while the two friends was the past. their lives in a big house and they cared for each other always.

I would like to start this review by saying that I had no idea what I was going into when I started this book. My brain essentially said "ooo pretty cover" and I was sold.
And following that, I'm not 100% certain how I feel about this book. I mostly enjoyed it but also found myself confused multiple times throughout the story. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to read books like this, but the writing was beautiful. Lovely imagery and the setting was very atmospheric. There were so many fairy tale and folklore references made, many of which I didn't know. But I enjoyed them! I love a good fairy tale.

Honestly the house made me think very much of Encanto? Just like. Not for kids.

I do think that going into this book knowing very little about it helped my reading experience. This is not a story you'll want spoiled! I didn't know where the heck it was going until I got there.

Despite my confusion, I enjoyed The Last Tale of the Flower Bride. The story was slow paced but in an enjoyable way. Sitting down and reading it in small segments was the ideal way for me to read it. This isn't a book I would recommend speed reading.
I would recommend this book to people who enjoy a slower paced read, with elements of magic.

4 stars

Whew. This is definitely a book hangover book. I'm going to be thinking about this one for awhile, and checking Goodreads for the answer to a certain question. It is lush and darkly magical and will be a matter of personal opinion whether you find the writing style and prose to be intoxicating or purple (or both).
Thank you very much to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC!