The Last Tale of the Flower Bride audiobook

↠ 5 stars They had a seemingly happy marriage: he, a scholar of fantastical stories, and she, Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada, a wealthy heiress with a mysterious past. Despite their differences, the couple found solace with one another, and soon, a bargain was struck in exchange for love – that the scholar could have her heart, provided he never inquire into her past. For a time, there was harmony, but when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is on her deathbed, the couple return to the place where her story began, the House of Dreams. Within the manors walls, winding staircases, and dusty rooms, lie plenty of secrets far too seductive for the bridegroom to resist. As the house reveals the past of another girl, Azure, Indigo’s childhood friend long gone, he is willing to search between both reality and fantasy to learn the truth about his bride's past, even at the expense of their binding promise.The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a luscious gothic feast, interlaced with fairytales, myth, and the treacherous secrets of a marriage. Wandering the halls of the crumbling House of Dreams, Chokshi spins her tale, interweaving fairy tales into the central narrative amidst broken promises and childhood dreams. Testament to everything I love about the gothic, this novel delivers a startling atmosphere, set around a crumbling manor and its ability to suspend the past. Chokshi absolutely dazzles, with poetic prose and the kind of fairytale spinning only she could bring to fruition. Everything inside me yearned to read this exquisite gothic debut from the moment it was announced, to step inside the House of Dreams and deconstruct the secrets hidden within its winding halls. The experience reading this was all the more mesmerizing, as I fell into Chokshi’s labyrinth of mystery, led deeper between the past of the house by Azure’s perspective, and the present day, with the bridegroom's suspicions. There was quite the unsettling back and forth with these two, aided by the different tones employed – the shift from Azure’s childhood wonder, to the unfortunate realization that happened on both sides. I still can't wrap my head around how beautifully written this novel is. Lush, dreamy writing is certainly in Roshani’s wheelhouse, and this is my favorite of hers thus far. This book twisted my expectations up in knots until right at the very end and each betrayal and exposed truth scored a little deeper. Infused with a kernel of romance, Roshani Chokshi breathes life into this resplendent and tragic gothic story. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is everything I could possibly wish for in a gothic novel, and the way it slowly approaches the final act will leave you breathless in its downfall.Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest reviewTrigger warnings: blood, death, violence, murder

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalleyfirst and foremost, i will for sure say i think this is a book that you would benefit from going in to without knowing anything (trigger and content warnings below if you do need/want) - so maybe even pass on reading this next paragraph all together until you have finished. also, i believe the synopsis is vague and mysterious for a reason, and i opened these pages expecting roshani to weave me an adult dark fairytale - which she totally did - but this book is so much more than that. “Who were we when not cleaved to each other?” 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. This book was very hard to read at times, and roshani is an expert at blending dark whimsy and dark reality together flawlessly. i could not put this book down, because i needed to know more and more answers each time one was unlocked! but also while i was having that intense feeling of seeing scenes play out while you are watching with your hands kind of covering your eyes. you don't want to know, but you need to know. plus roshani’s writing is such a tier above everything, this story is filled with very intense and juxtaposing feelings. ahhh, i feel like i have already said too much - but i love all roshani’s stories and i am always so proud of her and her voice - i hope the world loves this story and all the well crafted and very important layers.oh and lastly, some early reviews are saying this is a bluebeard retelling, but i am not familiar with that story, i am sorry! but she also pulls from so many other stories and myths (this really is also a love letter to dark and cruel and beloved tales), one being another brothers grimm story that i was somewhat familiar with, and it really added another dark and scary layer that really helped emphasize the scariest monsters of all time will always be humans. tw/cw: loss of a loved one, extreme nightmares, a lot of blood depiction + drawing blood, gore, abuse, domestic abuse, child abuse, child neglect, child abandonment, gaslighting, animal deaths, human deaths, murder, mention of child death, kind of brief mentions of dieting/eating a very specific way, bullying, cheating, codependency, suicidal ideation and thoughts, drugging, pedophilia (very weird things being said, the child being scared/constant state of fear at home, creepy and unsettling vibes every scene with intention for more, and then at 17 years old unwanted touching/brushing past + maybe more/set up to be more… this is a hard trigger warning, but it is a constant thing in the book that is very hard to read so please use caution) Youtube | Instagram | Twitter | Blog | Spotify | Twitch

You never forget the moment when beauty turns to horror. I can't believe a book like this exists and I was lucky enough to cross paths with it. The Last Tale of The Flower Bride is a deliciously gothic fairytale that seems full of magic, but it's filled with secrets and damaged people, instead. Think Crimson Peak mixed with Encanto and add to it a toxic friendship and a beautiful writing.This is my first time reading Chokshi (I tried reading The Gilded Wolves a couple years ago but couldn't get into it - might revise that, actually), and I was enchanted by her talent. Her writing is pure poetry wrapped up in a coat made of broken dreams and shattered promises; Every line is so impactful, so whimsical I found myself reading passages more than once because I felt like they were uprooted directly from the part of my soul that holds all those lyrical thoughts I can never put into words. I fell head over heels in love with the armospheric way people, places and situations are described, and I loved how the story is peppered with dark and folkloric tales, some old and known, some new and bone-chilling. I really can't say much about the plot, because, honestly, this is a story you'll want to savor slowly, by yourself, while rain is pouring outside and your heart is open to strangeness.What I can say, though, is that this is not a book for everyone; it's confusing, at times, spooky without being scary, with a purple prose that only works in books like this one and that not all readers appreciate.In case you decide it's a novel you'll want in your collection, you've got to be ready to believe everything you read but also treat it with a grain of salt. But trust me, you won't regret it and will enjoy every minute you'll spend in its company.many thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the lovely Roshani Chokshi for the ARC and the opportunity._________edit december 2022: i can't stop thinking about this book. it made me fall THAT hard._________february 2023: Late as always, but HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY TO THIS GOTHIC BEAUTY!

haunting, sumptuous, poetic, rich, vicious, upsetting, strangely but profoundly romantic, fairy tale in the old bad sense, gothic in the new subversive sense. absolutely loved it.

8.43 on CAWPILE.Wow. Just wow.

My favorite Roshani Chokshi book yet. Absolutely delicious prose and a magical, addictive tale.

The Harper Collins Union strike has finally ended!Okay, I LOVED this book! So much more than I ever expected to. However, I suspect it won't be what some readers are expecting, especially if they know Chokshi from her YA novels. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is quite a dark sort of fairy tale for adults, and much darker than I would have expected. Similarities to her YA books include lush, descriptive prose and a love of of mythology. Otherwise this gothic novel is much grittier, more disturbing, and draws characters who are morally grey at best. It is a gender-bent Bluebeard retelling, but it is also drawing on many other dark fairytales. All as a way of talking about abuse, grooming, trauma, enmeshed relationships, and cycles of violence. It was exactly my sort of dark, gothic story with a whole lot of feelings. We get two character perspectives and two timelines. A man who loves fairytales and is married to a beautiful but mysterious woman named Indigo who asks him not to pry into her past. But when they return to the estate of her childhood- a place where once upon a time Indigo and Azul were the closest of friends- he must decide if he's willing to risk his marriage in search of the truth.Years past, Azure meets Indigo as a young girl and is drawn into her darkly magical world as an escape from her family life. But as they get older, she is pulled between Indigo's world and the world outside. I won't say much more, but there are definitely queer undertones to the friendship between the two girls and in many ways the entire book is darkly seductive. It's a stunning adult debut that seamlessly weaves mythology and fairytales into this tense gothic story of love and obsession. I look forward to more like this from Chokshi! Content warnings include violence, gore, self-harm, murder, bullying, disordered eating, suicidal ideation, grooming, domestic violence...

Finished this story about stories & I loved it. Not only because it has intriguing characters, a mysterious tone, and a beautiful writing, but also because it gives you an unforgettable reading experience like a sentimental and serene sky surprised by silent storms. rtc.earlier anticipation and excitement: roshani chokshi's adult debut is a fairy-tale-laden gothic novel OKAY STOP, give this to me now.

I read this book in April 2021, more than a year before it was even announced to the public.Believe me when I say that not a single day has gone by without me thinking about it. At one point, I thought I was going to burst if I couldn't tell the world how much I loved everything about this - the lush prose, gothic setting, fascinating character relationships, and most importantly, the subtle and layered way Chokshi incorporates classic fairy tales into the story.It's a stunning adult debut from an author who was clearly born to write complex, sexy, dark novels, filled with folkloric and literary references. If you love morally gray female characters, haunted mansions, toxic friendships, and meta-literary novels, you'll want to pre-order this as soon as you can.Detailed review to come closer to publication.

Fairy tales aren't true but happily ever afters seems delivered to those who circle around Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. Her wealth guarantees her status and she shares every part of her gilded world with those she loves. The only rule is never to ask questions and to remove yourself from the reality that exists beyond Indigo's glittering person. She will become the sun you orbit around and blind you from envisioning anything other than her figure as your future.Such exquisite prose featured on every single one of these pages that I could give this nothing less than five stars, despite this being quite different to the story that I had anticipated reading. It was far more abstract in design, with truth, lies, fantasy, and reality all mingling as one with the reader left as the one to untangle them all. In this way, the murky beauty that adorns the front cover is the perfect depiction of what also lays inside its pages.The chronology was split between past and present, with two narrators, and both built up Indigo's character, her history, and her desires. Even at the book's close I never felt I learned enough about her person, nor about those who were garnered access to it. And for all the beauty, ugliness, happiness, and tragedy that lay within these pages, I also can't properly describe all that occurred between them all either.I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Roshani Chokshi, and the publisher, Hodder & Stoughton, for this opportunity.

A dark, elegant tribute to love and fairy tales.From the beginning, the writing was flowery and over the top, and yet I loved it. I'm not normally one for words that take the long way round to say what they mean but there was something here that suggested every word had been chosen with great care and it added so much to the whimsy of the story.This is a tale that transports; one could argue it's a contemporary tale but the mere possibility of magic was enough for me to think of this as a fantasy novel. The atmosphere is charged and all kinds of creatures watch from behind the pages, waiting.The blurb doesn't give us much: a recently married couple, and she with secrets to hide. Him promising not to look, yet we all know the way things forbidden tend to sink their claws into our minds.I was completely captivated.I love fairy tales, myths and legends and this is such a beautiful hybrid of all these things. Our Bridegroom studies the tales, then suddenly finds himself swept up in one. Our Bride is mysterious and magical, and we spend so much of the novel wondering what secrets will be revealed and what will be the consequence. Beyond the writing there is still a mystery here that needs solving, so even if the language puts you off the intrigue should keep you. A lack of wonder - or appreciation for fantasy and an untethered imagination - may see this a little overdone for you, but for my part I loved disappearing into this magical world of maybes.This was a really enjoyable, deeply satisfying reading experience, which is a rarity for me. I'm often reading as fast as possible to suck the story from the pages (still its own kind of fun), but here I really enjoyed lingering over the phrasing and the beautiful, whimsical images they invoked.Highly recommend if you're after a magical tale that takes you to the Otherworld and dares you to discover its secrets.

Happy Publication Day "Curses are made to be broken. They aren't so static as one might think."Once upon a time, there was a man who believe in fairy tales and fell in love with a mysterious woman named Indigo who find him, she said, “If you pry, you’ll destroy our marriage.” But she lied!"the secret to everlasting love was fear. Fear tethered love in place. Without the terror that came from imagining a life without your beloved, there was no urgency in loving them."By the end of their third year of marriage, Tati, Indigo's aunt, was dying and they leave for her childhood home, the House of Dreams, an enchanted house, full of old, creepy and scary secrets. And now is a time for the bridegroom to shiver at his wife's secrets, uncertain of knowing the woman he married, as someone who had his own secrets, he begins to think that all maybe is unreal, imagination!"In the end, a fairy tale is nothing more than a sense of hope."House of Dreams want the bridegroom to find his wife's secrets and see a shadow, a girl from the past, Azure, Indigo's best friend, they played fairy tale in this house and were Inseparable. Azure disappeared years ago! What should he do, pry and destroy his marriage or run?!"Once, I had let someone I loved go into the dark without me. I did not know if I could survive that again."A mind-blowing and astonishing story, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a hunting and toxic tale with a dark atmosphere about poison's love, betrayal, loss and buried secrets that reveal and destroy! I push hard my teeth when was reading this amazing book and couldn't stop myself. Shocking and Tempting as hell!My huge thanks to Hodder & Stoughton Audio via NetGalley for giving me the chance of listening to The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi, beautiful and emotionally Narrated by Steve West (I already search for his other books!) and Sura Siu, I have given my honest review.Pub Date: 16 Feb 2023

Brilliant. Freaking brilliant.The Last Tale of the Flower Bride was a masterpiece, and Roshani is a Goddess. Thank you Fairyloot for making your January book one that I was anticipating, because as soon as this showed up I devoured it whole. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride was an eerie tale of toxic relationships, love, and magic, all interwoven to create perfection. I won’t hear anything else, sorry.The characters in this story will stick with me forever like a nightmare. Indigo was so delicately crafted, her mannerisms, the way she spoke, her questionable and most of the time…terrible choices all make for such a frighteningly intriguing protagonist, she would do anything to maintain her lifestyle and what she desired. Azure was another masterfully written character. She was the antithesis to Indigo while also being so very similar to her. Their dynamic was so deliberately executed, full of tension and love and unspoken words. I loved it. Azure’s story with her family, with Indigo and with the House of Dreams was my lifeblood for the last two days. I fucking loved it. The bridgegroom who never got a name intrigues me still, even as the story came to a close I had so many questions about him. I loved his devotion to the mysterious and to the toxic. He knew what he was and he didn’t apologize for it. He was curious and relentless, and I loved reading from his perspective. The plot twist we get was just icing on the cake to be honest. It’s something that I didn’t quite catch but I also guessed for a second before I said “no I think I’m wrong” because Roshani is just THAT good and keeping us on our toes. I could go on for hours, but essentially what I mean to say is…read this book. Let it devour you whole and fill you with nightmares of the Flower Bride.

“All Marriages possess their own tongue. It is a lexicon discovered in that space between clipped sentences. Its poetry can be heard in the rustle of blankets as you shift to curl around the other in silent apology. In this way, I spoke to my wife. I let the slow drag of my thumb along her jaw say what I could not.”The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is the debut adult novel by Roshani Chokshi and is my first foray into her work, to say that I was impressed would be an understatement, I was utterly blown away. This is a tale of horror and beauty, of broken promises and cracked dreams, of loss and loneliness, it is an addictive tale which vividly captures the dangers of fantasy and reality.Our story begins with a fairytale romance as our first protagonist, known only as Bridegroom, meets and falls head over heels in love with a mysterious heiress—Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. Their attraction is impulsive, heady, and in no time at all the Bridegroom and Indigo marry, and promise to live happily ever after…on one condition. Our Bridegroom must never look into Indigo’s past, he must never delve into her secrets. For a spell, the Bridegroom is content to spend his days devoted to wife and delighted to be in her presence. They expand and build upon the Casteñada hotel empire together, visiting countries all over the world, spending nights in castles sharing wine, food and telling fairy tales of old. Yet when Indigo receives a call informing her that her estranged aunt is dying, the pair must travel to Indigo’s childhood home, the House of Dreams. Within the walls of this house is where our Bridegroom wavers, where the temptation to pry into Indigo’s life becomes too great, for the House knows her secrets and the House wants to reveal. You see Indigo was not the only one who inhabited the House of Dreams, another presence was also felt, that of Azure, Indigo’s childhood friend who mysteriously vanished. As the narrative unfolds our Bridegroom becomes entangled in a web of fantasy and reality, where either one could destroy him.In essence The Last Tale of the Flower Bride centres on obsession and complex relationships where dependency, possessiveness and insecurities dwell within each character. When Indigo and our Bridegroom first meet their chemistry is instant, intoxicating, full of passion and lust. We spend many chapters watching their marriage flourish over the years, and it is as beautiful as it is deeply intense, but as the whirlwind dies-down we see a sourness creep in, a darkness. It begins to show that Indigo has a very controlling air about her, forever watchful of her bridegroom, an incessant need to know where he is and what he’s been doing. The Bridegroom is passive, treading carefully around his wife, fearful to upset their serenity, though in secret he searches to uncover Indigo’s past, but he also searches to uncover the truth of his own, for over the years the memory of his brother has haunted him, a brother who he was told never existed. I loved the way Chokshi built up the unsettling atmosphere throughout the beginning, the way she weaves romance with subtle dominance, and the foreboding sense that all was about to unravel. I also found it interesting that our Bridegroom’s name is hidden, almost as though his identity is insignificant, as though his name held no power, but then this is also not his story alone, it is more the story of Indigo and Azure. As the chapters then alternate between the present timeline with the bridegroom, and Azure’s POV which centres on her and Indigo’s childhood, we switch to a coming of age narrative, which I have to say is one of my absolute favourites. Azure’s life prior to meeting Indigo was one of poverty, broken parental relationships and a step-father with lingering eyes. Resentment, loneliness and fear builds, and it is easy to see why Azure becomes so enchanted by Indigo and the House of Dreams. The House becomes a place of luxury, safety and comfort to Azure, it speaks to her in a language of sounds and feelings. Indigo and Azure’s days together are filled with silk dresses and tea, spells and sacrifices, of believing in faeries and magic and the ethereal. They are whimsical, endearing and their story was filled with such a comforting sense of nostalgia as Chokshi perfectly captures the moment where children believe in magic and possibilities with their very soul. These two young girls became inseparable. Where did Azure begin and Indigo end?“The magic was nothing so tangible as a crystal glass or an uttered incantation. It lay in how the House decanted the light, the aristocratic lines of the shadows cast on the floor. The magic was the spark in her brown eyes, rendering them an animal shade of amber. The magic was this: the supple sorcery of Indigo's words, such that your own hand became a blade you eagerly welcomed.”In the grounds of The House of Dreams, Azure and Indigo share a place they call the Otherworld, a place they believed would take them away from the mundane and transport them into the magical. Yet as both girls grow older, Indigo clings to this idea like a lifeline, whilst Azure begins to notice the world outside. Throughout the book Chokshi illustrates that Indigo has a manipulative side to her, on appearances everyone is drawn in by her beauty, her aurora, yet as more of herself is revealed the more we see a darkness within, a certain kind of cruelty, which progressively heightens. Chokshi superbly executes the transition from innocence of childhood to something more sinister. I also loved the way Chokshi freckled the narrative with fairytales throughout, some of which were familiar to me and some new, but they were effectively used to punctuate the narrative that was unfolding, often foretelling the upcoming dangers. Princesses, maidens, old crones, and monsters, the motif of starlings and apple blossoms, ‘once upon a time’ and ‘happily ever afters’ were all present in this novel, but they were wrapped up in disguises and deceit. Chokshi plays with the concept of fairytales in the most darkly delicious ways, representing their beauty, their whimsy, their ideals and even their gruesome horror. I could not help but see comparisons to Alix E Harrow’s works, and damn did I love that. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride reads like a spellbinding gothic fairytale, enveloped in dreamy poetic prose and enigmatic characters. This is a book you’ll want to devour and savour, a book you won’t be able to put down until the final act leaves you in awe.“We are two blues, the neat seam of dusk and dawn. We share a sky, if not a soul, and yet we are cut of the same shades.”ARC provided by Kate at Hodder and Stoughton Books. Thank you for the copy! All quotes used are taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is due to be released 16th February 2023 but you can pre-order your copy now!

4.5 stars. Sumptuous in its prose and darkly gorgeous in its storytelling, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a gothic fairy tale in its most decadent and ornately crafted form.

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! Thank you to William Morrow Books for providing a review copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.