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meshell's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a beautiful twisty fairy tale within a fairy tale - the story pulled me in, every sentence, intentional, melodic, and woven together with meticulous prose, I felt a sense of perpetual tension, that feeling of not too much, but just enough, throughout the novel, and I was not disappointed with where we ended up. When I stopped reading, it was like I remembered to breathe again.
It is unsettling, romantic, haunting and fascinating. I will be thinking about this novel again and again.
The novel is told from two perspectives, Azure and The Bride-Groom, and they jump comfortably between the past and the present - telling a story filled with grief, neglect, unreliable memories, the struggles of finding ones identity in adolescence, and the magical worlds children create to escape terrible realities. I found most of the characters complicated and mostly loveable.
All that said, this story needs a bunch of content warnings.
Grateful to both Netgalley and the Publisher to have had the opportunity to read it a bit early and share my thoughts.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism
tilda_002's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I was given an audiobook ARC from net galley and Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for an honest review.
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This book is a wonderfully written, atmospheric tale of the way which magic and reality intertwine. It is told through dual points of view and has a twist I did not see coming.
Azure and indigo are closer than anything but this book explores the nuance of how friendship can be both toxic and all-encompassing.
Indigo is a rich and wealthy girl who is the heir to the Maxwell-Casteńada family fortune and due to have her parents dying she lives with her aunt in the house of dreams where the majority of the story takes place. This a house that has a portal to the other world a place where Indigo and Azure wish to remain but as the girls grow up what brought them together might be the reason they start to falter.
What’s the point of view is years later in to go and have a husband known only is the bridegroom. Indigo and the bridegroom has entered into an arrangement of their marriage so that he will never look into her past. He agrees, yet when a couple of forced to attend to the deathbed of Tate (Indigo’s aunt) The bridegroom question is why his wife made him swear to that promise.
Can he hold to this promise and not pry? Where did Azure disappear to and can the House Of Dreams help to uncover the mystery of his brother who his parents claim never existed.
A wonderfully whimsical piece of literature I recommend it my only qualm is that I found the Bridegroom’s voice in the audiobook frustrating.
——————
This book is a wonderfully written, atmospheric tale of the way which magic and reality intertwine. It is told through dual points of view and has a twist I did not see coming.
Azure and indigo are closer than anything but this book explores the nuance of how friendship can be both toxic and all-encompassing.
Indigo is a rich and wealthy girl who is the heir to the Maxwell-Casteńada family fortune and due to have her parents dying she lives with her aunt in the house of dreams where the majority of the story takes place. This a house that has a portal to the other world a place where Indigo and Azure wish to remain but as the girls grow up what brought them together might be the reason they start to falter.
What’s the point of view is years later in to go and have a husband known only is the bridegroom. Indigo and the bridegroom has entered into an arrangement of their marriage so that he will never look into her past. He agrees, yet when a couple of forced to attend to the deathbed of Tate (Indigo’s aunt) The bridegroom question is why his wife made him swear to that promise.
Can he hold to this promise and not pry? Where did Azure disappear to and can the House Of Dreams help to uncover the mystery of his brother who his parents claim never existed.
A wonderfully whimsical piece of literature I recommend it my only qualm is that I found the Bridegroom’s voice in the audiobook frustrating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child death, Death, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism