The Last Tale of the Flower Bride

Definitely a 4.5 and I'm excitedly rounding it up.

I've had a very interesting relationship with Roshani's books. I DNFd both her first two YA books because I just couldn't get through the writing. Then I discovered the Aru Shah quintet and that is definitely one of my favorite all time favorite series, which has given me a lot of joy. The Gilded Wolves trilogy on the other hand felt both enticing and frustrating at the same time, so I was ultimately not very satisfied with it. So I was skeptical going into this book but I had also read many good things about it across the blogosphere, and I wanted to experience it for myself. And I'm so glad I did.

I'm not particularly a fan of purple prose and tbh Roshani is kind of a master at it, which has probably been one of my issues with her books in the past. But maybe I was in a better mood this time or I was better prepared to handle it, because her ornate and flowery writing style works perfectly for this story. This book is about fairytales - real or imaginary - the magical world we wish to inhabit and escape our real life; it's about finding a love that borders that line between magical and maniacal and reveling in it; it's a story of stories, the author intricately weaving the nuggets of so many fairytale inspirations into her characters and their conversations. If I'm being flowery myself, it's coz I'm unsure how to describe this book except that it demands surrender to its words and magic, and I was a willing participant.

We never get the name of one of our POV characters, only referred to as the Bridegroom. He has this hunger for something unknowable, and desire to discover magic, so finds himself easily captivated by the mysterious Indigo, whose only condition is that he never pry into her personal affairs. Their marriage is like a bed of roses - petals and thorns and everything in between - sucking him deeper unwittingly into her past and secrets.

The other POV is in the past where we get to spend time with Azure, as she becomes friends with Indigo and how this deep friendship takes unimaginable turns. Their bond was absolutely marvelous to read about - in both its profound love and magic, as well as the toxicity which is not always visible. As we get to know Azure and Indigo from their childhood and adolescence more, the Bridegroom also delves into the past, trying to find the traces of the missing Azure. And we get the final revelation, it was both a stunning reveal as well as easily predictable, if only we were paying attention. Which itself is not easy to do in this book because it keeps luring us in with beautiful lines upon beautiful lines, waiting to be highlighted.

I listened to the audiobook of this one, just captivatingly narrated by Steve West and Sura Siu. I was also alternating a bit with the ebook coz I wanted to note down atleast some of the lovely prose. And I can only say at the end that I hope everyone will give this a try. If you love fairytales, if you love stories of love which go into unexpectedly dark places, if you love books with beautiful writing that will allure you and not let you go - then this is the perfect read for you.

After really bouncing off the author's debut (YA), I am so happy that this one hit the mark. Eerie, mysterious, atmospheric - it was everything I had hoped it would be, and this was the perfect time to read it. If you're looking for something a bit spooky with fairy tale vibes, this is it!

Tot nu toe was mijn enige ervaring met auteur Roshani Choksi een boek dat ik uiteindelijk besloot niet uit te lezen (The Gilded Wolves). Het volstaat te zeggen dat ik een beetje aarzelend aan dit boek begon. Ik geloof echter in het geven van tweede kansen, dus ik probeerde zo onbevooroordeeld mogelijk te lezen.
Vooral met zo'n uitgangspunt, dat wel helemaal op mijn lijf staat geschreven: een gothic sprookjesachtig verhaal met een dreigend mysterie in zijn kern. Dus ik was van bij het begin helemaal geïntrigeerd.

“She looked like the nostalgia that settles in your ribs at the end of a story you have never read, yet nevertheless know.”

De schrijfstijl was ongetwijfeld erg mooi.
Poëtisch, weelderig en kronkelig, ongrijpbaar en mysterieus, waarbij het een etherische sluier weefde over een even raadselachtig en, eerlijk gezegd, nogal bizar verhaal. Soms werden mij de bombastische zinnen, die altijd iets meer wilden zijn dan wat je op het eerste gezicht dacht, een beetje te veel, maar over het algemeen heb ik echt genoten van hun bijna hypnotiserende kwaliteit.

“I thought of Melusine bathing in the dark, anchored to her wild body in the hopes that her husband might let her have this one privacy, might even break the spell.”

Doorheen het boek werden veel verwijzingen naar sprookjes en mythologie gemaakt, wat op mij ook een grote aantrekkingskracht uitoefende. Vooral de verwijzing naar Melusine was voor mij een zeldzame nostalgische trip. Ik werd bijna getransporteerd naar de eerste keer dat ik dit verhaal in een oud sprookjesboek las en hoe het me toen ook wist te betoveren.

“If you combed through enough fairy tales, untangled their roots, and shook out their branches, you would find that they are infested with oaths”

Maar ik had ook al snel in het snotje dat ondanks de blurb van het boek, het mysterie niet de belangrijkste aantrekking zou mogen zijn om dit boek op te pakken, gezien het eigenlijk al van bijna in het begin vrij voor de hand ligt wat het mysterie is. Dit had me moeten teleurstellen, maar hier hield ik wel van de ingewikkelde, met doornen-beladen reis naar de bevestiging van mijn vermoedens.
Belangrijk om te vermelden is dat terwijl ik dit schrijf er reeds een maand verstreken is sinds ik het boek uitlas en ik nu nog steeds de aangrijpend mooie atmosfeer van dit boek kan oproepen. Ook al zegt mijn hoofd dat dit verhaal eigenlijk maar flauw was, toch voel ik het nog door mijn aderen stromen.

“At first, it sat in our marriage like a blue- lipped ghost, hardly noticeable until a trick of the light drew it into focus.”

Dus ook al was het mysterie niet zo mysterieus, de manier waarop het werd verteld was zo verbluffend mooi dat het me steeds opnieuw lokte om verder zijn diepere, minder voor de hand liggende geheimen te ontrafelen. Wat uiteindelijk werd onthuld was een verhaal over familietrauma's, obsessieve en destructieve liefde en een geestdriftig geloof in het escapisme van sprookjes.
In sommige opzichten deed het me denken aan “You Let Me In” van Camilla Bruce, met zijn magische wel-nietes spelletje. Ook had ik flashbacks naar de oude film met Kate Winslet “Beautiful Creatures”

“Every fairy tale has blood flecked on its muzzle.”

Hoewel ik rationeel kan toegeven dat ik het verhaal toch wel traag vond en soms zelfs op het randje van saai, de schrijfstijl en de belofte van magie hielden me gebiologeerd tot het einde. Achteraf gezien ben ik ook behoorlijk onder de indruk en ontroerd door de manier waarop een aantal zeer uitdagende thema's in dit fantastische verhaal zijn verweven.
Absoluut geen boek voor iedereen en helaas een beetje bedrieglijk in zijn marketing, maar ondanks mijn aarzelingen denk ik dat ik best wel van dit boek heb genoten.

I liked it so much ! weird shit happened, a complex sapphic relationship and a eerie setting
all I'm fond of

I'd rate this a 1.5, rounding up to 2. The writing felt far too flowery (pardon the pun), tiresomely so at many points, and it had that melodramatic air that it feels like only the YA-est of YA can only achieve (ok or maybe “New Adult”) with all its angst and emotional manipulation. I did like the very end though.

A cautionary tale of what happens when believing in the power of fairy tales becomes all consuming. 

It's hard to describe this book, other than be prepared for a very sumputious, atmospheric, and dark experience. There's a lot of flowery language and lush scenes that are meant to invoke your senses. It portrays reality in a magical breathtaking way, but slowly the cracks of something obsessive and sinister appears. 

A word of caution - one of the characters is a toxic, possessive, and dangerous person. The power this person holds over other is romanticized to fit the story. So just be warned if that triggers you.

I LOVED this book and gobbled up the audio. It is a fantastic modern gothic and I don't want to say much else, except if you want to read go in with no expectations of what it should be because you might be disappointed. The writing is lush and story engrossing IMO. I wanted more from some character perspectives, but I loved the journey to the conclusion and I had chills throughout.

“2.5 stars”

Roshani Chokshi's The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a gothic fantasy with dark romance. The story follows an unnamed man “the Bridegroom” and his wife, Indigo, as they return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams. Their marriage is threatened when the husband starts to uncover Indigo's secrets.

The book has its lush, fairy tale-inspired writing and its vivid depiction of toxic friendship. However, the beautifully written language often overshadows the plot, slowing the pace and making it difficult to engage fully with the story. While the atmospheric setting and intriguing premise initially captivate, they lack follow-through, with the House of Dreams serving more as a backdrop than an active element.

I think this is the best book I've read this year! From the lyrical writing, to the dark fairytale aspects, to the haunting atmospheric tones, to the mystery I thought I'd figured out until it twists unexpectedly at the end. The whole package was an exquisite reading experience! I both wanted to rush through it and savour it at the same time. It feels unsettling through most of it. What is real, what is imagination, what actually happened, and what are the true motivations of the characters? You want to know, yet you suspect it won't be happily ever after, or even very pretty. A fantastic autumn read with dark undertones and a creepiness that gives you an uneasy feeling that deepens the further in you go. I'm not into full on horror, but I love dark and sometimes even disturbing stories that read like original unfiltered fairytales and this book certainly takes its cues from those tales. It weaves a dark spell that you can't look away from even though you know the reveal will be haunting and Roshani Chokshi doesn't disappoint, delivering an ending worthy of the build up. Highly, highly recommended!

DNF 26%

I went into this not really knowing much about it but was not really impressed.Like the twist at the end I figured out a quarter of the way through the book and the big reveal left me with questions of like “okay but why?

I didn’t really care for the characters they felt kinda flat to me and boring/ annoying~ especially the husband. And I would have liked more from the world building of the other realm. There definitely was a good chunk of the book that I was like … does this other realm exist or are they kinda crazy and not gonna lie I think I would have liked it more if it was that way.

I can see how people would like this but it just didn’t hit for me.

This book was very atmospheric and I loved that. I disliked many of the characters and I think that was the way it was supposed to be, so that was successful. I didn't love the dual perspective though. I think I need to read this again before I decide what I really think.

Wow! RTC soon ✨