This gorgeous cover had me very excited for The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi! Unsurprisingly, Chokshi's writing is beautiful, but unfortunately I still found myself bored with this book. I listened to the audiobook and I will say that both narrators were pleasant to listen to though.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride does an excellent job of exploring a toxic friendship. It's easy to see what draws Indigo and Azure together and the chapters from Azure's perspective were my favorites. The "romance" of the book felt very undeveloped and I figured out the twist at the end pretty quickly. Looking into the past of the story was intriguing, but the present of the story left me very underwhelmed. I hope this book finds the readers who will love it, it just wasn't for me!
2.5 stars

I received this book as an audio arc from netgalley. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The pacing was good and the split perspectives from each time line and how they entwined to tell an over arching story was done beautifully. The narrator does a wonderful job though I did think the character’s name was Asher for some time before realizing it was indigo and Azure. I saw how the story was wrapped up coming but am still satisfied with how it ended.

This is such a smartly done fantasy and I loved the way it was written almost like a fairytale. I didn't see the twist coming and went back and listened to it again to look for clues, but it is very cleverly done. This story reminded me of everything I love about a great fantasy novel. I listened to the audiobook and thought it was fantastically narrated by Steve West and Sura Siu.

This was such a weird book and half the time I didn't know why we were being told this it that but it was still a fun read.

I love Roshani Chokshi, but I will be honest, this one was a bit of a head scratcher for me. Pros: gorgeous cover, great narration by Sura Siu and Steve West, and lyrical, sumptuous writing. Cons: I had and unsettled feeling the entire time I read and I mostly felt like I had no clue what was happening. Now, considering it is meant to be a gothic novel that may actually be a huge endorsement! You decide for yourself.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an audio ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

First of all, this cover is beautiful! That may or may not be why I originally requested this book 😀

My favorite aspect of this novel is definitely the writing! It's got a whole dark & twisted fairytale vibe which Chokshi masterfully employs in her storytelling.

Also, there are SO many fairytales that are referenced throughout the story. I really like how they are used as a characterization tool as the plot progresses!

I was honestly not too interested in the overarching romance plotline of the story. I feel like there was no real substance beyond just attraction, fascination, and curiosity between Indigo & her bridegroom and could not understand why either of them wanted to get married to each other in the first place.

However, once Azure's POV began, the story got a lot more interesting for me. I liked reading about Indigo & Azure's friendship and the various adventures that they went on. I'm still shocked at the extent of Indigo's toxicity, and felt really bad for Azure at several points in the story.

All in all, this was a good read. There were a few parts of the story where I couldn't discern reality from fantasy, and I'm still going over the plot in my head to try to make complete sense of this.

This story definitely makes a lasting impression!

this is a beautiful and lush atmospheric story, with a gothic spooky house setting, all centered around the mystery that is the fae and three people who have been searching their whole lives for them. but the heart of this story is about grief, abuse, neglect, and how the world can be so extra unfair to children that they are forced to find and create their own places in magical worlds to feel safe, loved, and be able to escape.
I loved this, it's beautiful and haunting!

This book was really interesting. Had several different fairytale references which were enjoyable. The audiobook narrators were excellent.

This story was magical, enchanting, and a little bit dark and twisted. Indigo and the Bridegroom get married and the one condition of the marriage is to not look into Indigo's past. When they are brought back to Indigo's childhood home, life unravels and the Bridegroom can't help but search for answers. What happened to Indigo's childhood friend Azure? I was transported into this world of mystery and loved every minute of it. This was my first book by Chokshi, but it won't be my last. Thank you, for the review copy. 5 stars.

This turned out slightly different than I thought, but was still a good listen. I think I would have enjoyed reading the book more.

This was a beautiful ethereal book. I felt like there was a dreamy quality to the writing. I really loved this story and this world. The narrators of this audiobook had really amazing voices. It was a top-notch audio.

An intriguing fairytale!! I loved the mystery between Azure and Indigo. It was alluring. I loved the story that was woven. It was full of secrets, lies, magic and was just absolutely beautiful. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for a review

Chokshi does a great job building gothic elements into this story to make THE LAST TALE OF THE FLOWER BRIDE feel like a tale best told in a dimly lit room next to a crackling fire. I would love to explore the House of Dreams further (as long as I don't run into Indigo)! Overall this was a really good read, but I did find the plot to drag slowly at times which pulled me out of the magic of the narrative.

Steve West and Sura Siu do a good job with the audiobook narration.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and HarperAudio in exchange for an honest review.

To offer a summary of this book would ruin the joy of reading it. It’s a book that leaves you questioning, but engaged throughout. It was hauntingly beautiful, so gothic and atmospheric. I enjoyed every second of this book, and can’t recommend it enough.

The first time I read this book, I feel in love with the gothic style, atmospheric writing, the spine tingling unease, and the desire to get to the bottom of Azure’s disappearance from her best friend Indigo’s childhood home…the House of Dreams.

However, it wasn’t until my reread that I truly understood just how incredibly clever this book is. Chokshi has a way with words and truly is a masterful storyteller.

I haven’t actually addressed the plot, but that’s because I really think this is one where you should have little background knowledge to truly get enchanted by this mesmerizing yet haunting tale!

This one was definitely a fun read! The dark and atmospheric tone gave me Silvia Moreno-Garcia vibes which I definitely loved, and the story read like a dark fairytale. I loved the alternating POVs in this book - I think they definitely helped it feel even more suspenseful. I did guess the “twist” of this one which was a bit disappointing, and part of me feels like I’ve read this story before…but I still really enjoyed it. It was definitely worth the read since it was so short and fast-paced, and I enjoyed the vibes even when I wasn’t enjoying the plot.

Past and present come together in this gothic and incredibly atmospheric story of love, lust, secrets, and fairytales.

Roshani Chokshi's first adult novel, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 is dark, twisted and so rich in magic and suspense that will bewitch you and keep you turning the pages.

With beautiful prose and amazing narration (Steve West and Sura Siu), this is a story you won't be able to stop thinking about!

This was absolutely beautiful. The narrator was perfect. The world-building was something I didn't even know I needed to read about. I really enjoyed the characters and the world. I don't know how to put words down right now. I am still processing everything because this story was so unique. The gothic-esque vibes from this were top-notch. This is a fantastic dark romantic page-turner that is full of love, lies, betrayal, and SO much more.

Lyrically written with gothic drama and romance. Great for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic, and Hazel Prior's Ellie and the Harpmaker. Dark fantasy elements of myth and legend start to transform into reality in The Last Tale of the Flower Bride. The book leads you down two paths, with two different points of view that make you question what is real and what is perceived. While certain elements of this story really want to draw me in, and the writing is often times lyrical, it had me feeling a bit bored and drawn by the end. I felt I had waited so long for MORE and it never really came.

I think I would have liked this more if I had read it as opposed to listening ...it was hard to track the dual POVs and different timelines via audio.

I really enjoyed the gothic vibes of this and the sense of mystery / horror that pervaded the novel. The atmosphere / environment building was well done. I was curious / engaged as I tried to put it all together. Ultimately though, the dual POV didn't work for me here in audio. I really wanted to love it and am bummed I didn't!