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

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

WHAT WAS THAT?!! 
Mesmerising lyrical writing, this book revolves around the dynamic of a married couple under one condition: the bridegroom shouldn't pry into his wife past at all cost.
Until a condition brought them together into the House of Dreams. The wife's childhood house. This is where the secrets unfolded telling about two girls found their way into adulthood, from believing into fairies and otherworld, and acted upon those beliefs. 

"I thought you love us. Or maybe I just don't understand your love."

Giving a gothic dark vibe, the story was told in riddles. We were to see beyond what was written. It tackled the issue about a broken home, domestic abuse, pedo step father, and a obsessive psychopath kinda best friend. 
This was a very dark coming of age stories. When RC said it's about how the marriage comprises the monsters in the past, I felt that.

"We're two blues, the heat seam of dusk and dawn. We share a sky, if not a soul, and yet we are cut out the same shape."

"Only grief can make time change its tempo like that, expand seconds to centuries, with only our eyes marking the distance crossed."


I love how the author weaved the philosophical ideas of teens turned into adulthood. What shaped them and what those years means.

The characters' trait was so intriguing. The condition that they have to put through shaped what they are. The TOXICITY was heavy.

However, I can't shake the feeling of relief when I finished. I love how the story ended. 

(I just really wish the stepfather rott in hell somewhere)

If you're into atmospheric dark romance, gothic mysterious vibe with alluring writing, tales about love and finding oneself, coming of age (teens and married), and the subtle line between fairy tale and reality, give this book a gođź’–

"All marriage 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."
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