A review by neonpomegranate
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I hated this book and I feel manipulated in to finishing it just so I could know I was right to guess what happened from the beginning. I should have DNFed it and read a summary of it. It was slow and obvious, with a meaningless manic pixie dream girl as the main character, plus an all knowing blind character who speaks in riddles (maybe manic pixie dream girl isn’t quite right since she’s not there for someone else’s growth because literally no one grows or changes or learns anything). Yuck. This was the worst use of the idea of magic - constantly called on as a concept, never true, just a lazy, bad writing cover over the obvious things that had happened from the beginning.
Spoiler oh what the brother died and existed and it wasn’t magic; Azure was recognized by name the moment she got to any place where people had known her; obviously someone who says not to ask any questions is lying; the title of the book gives away the entire plot. I just cannot understand how this was a book when the plot was obvious immediately, but nothing besides the plot existed - no interesting character development, no interesting world building, nothing. Literally every moment of this book was obvious. The reader is told the entire plot through fairytales immediately at the beginning. I cannot understand who could possibly have been surprised by these supposed plot twists.
This book was so bad it made me angry and put me in a bad mood. 

This book also has a disgusting, unnecessary sexual assault in it that didn’t need to exist. 

Basically I’m shocked this book wasn’t written by a man. Proof women can write books just as awful, vapid, misogynist, ableist in a subhuman/superhuman all knowing way, with an unnecessary sexual assault, and where no actual women ever learn or grow or do anything. 
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