I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

The Last Tale of the Flower bride is full of delicious imagery and beautiful words, strung together eloquently, allowing the reader to envision the worlds of Indigo and Azure and the Bridegroom. While I enjoyed the journey the author takes us on immensely, the plot itself was a bit predictable to me. The Fairy Tale references reminded me of a course in college I once took, entertaining but overdone for my taste.

Thank you to William Morrow for this advanced readers copy. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

I don't have a ton of experience with gothic literature but I've read a few of Chokshi's other books. I've really enjoyed her way of weaving a detailed fantasy story in the past and this feels very similar to the way i feel about her other titles. I really enjoyed the journey and get sucked into the story telling. Her books might not be for everyone, but I like them and continue to recommend them.

I didnt realize I forgot to post my review here, but this was one of the best books I read in 2022. Roshani Chokshi’s writing just keeps getting better and more haunting with every book.

Absolutely loved this. Haunting and gothic, full of mystery and unease and just a dash of the near supernatural. This is a great title to curl up by a fireplace on a winter evening and lose yourself in.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

This author is. a writer. Not everyone published is these days but Roshani Chokshi writes beautiful atmospheric tales that linger in my mind for many weeks after completing the story.

Roshani Chokshi had a way to tell story that is just enchanting. The prose in The Last Tale of the Flower Bride was delightful and filled with myth and riddles. I loved the plot twist in the end, and the way that the book concluded felt like a balm to my soul. I would read anything she writes.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #WilliamMorrow for letting me read this book.For those that like a gothic and mystical atmosphere, this is definitely one to pick up. The atmosphere and details in this novel were perfection.

This just didn't work for me as well as some of Chokshi's previous works. Many great elements were there, from the mysterious backstory and the generally creepy home, but it didn't pull together quite well enough for me.

Haunting and slightly creepy, but undoubtedly mysterious and engaging. I kept thinking that the plot would develop into something more, something truly magical. I was disappointed when it didn't.

This book is nothing like what you will expect, and anything you read about it will spoil it for you. I gave it to my 15yr old niece to read and told her not to look the book up just to read it. She did and loved it. This is one of those moments that being a cover girl like me works. I almost always go into books blind and this is definitely my recommendation for this book. Don't read reviews, don't read the dust jacket - just go read the story. Thank me later.

I'm disappointed to say that I didn't enjoy The Last Tale of the Flower Bride until the final 15-20%, and even then, it never redeemed itself from a dreary, bland start and characters that I found it impossible to care about.

We start off with the bridegroom's POV as we learn how he and Indigo came to marry, and it is a painfully instantaneous romance that holds no chemistry or depth whatsoever. Instead of character development, the narrative was comprised primarily of one fairytale reference after another, and I felt like I was being beaten over the head with blunt metaphors. As someone who typically loves purple prose, this was a rare experience in which the writing veered far past whimsical and into the territory of downright pretentiousness for me.

After a bit, the story begins to alternate between the bridegroom and Azure, his wife's childhood friend, and while the plot developing within her segments was far more interesting, I struggled with the fact that the writing did not differ in any way whatsoever between their inner monologues.

On top of the previous issues mentioned, I feel obligated to mention how predictable the twist was; I literally guessed it within the first 10% of the book, even down to the outline of how it played out in the end. I typically don't knock off stars for predictability because I know I'm the type of reader who guesses twists often, and that doesn't always act as a negative against the writing; still, in this case, it only added to my boredom. I would have set this book aside early on, if not for the fact that I became determined to see if I had guessed correctly.

It genuinely hurts me to write this review because The Last Tale of the Flower Bride held so much potential and I think, in another writer's hands, it could have been a perfect read for me, but the writing is what held this story back in every possible way. I can fully understand how this book has been popular with so many readers in the brief time since it was released, and I expect it will find a great deal more fans from here on, but unfortunately, I'm not one of them.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.

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.