The Last Tale of the Flower Bride

A Novel

By: Roshani Chokshi

Narrated by: Steve West, Sura Siu

"A fairy tale in the oldest and truest sense: a haunting dream full of blood and love, vicious truths and beautiful lies. It swallowed me whole, and I went willingly." — Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House

“Decadence laced with horror . . . A delightfully meta fairy tale . . . Magic emanates from every exquisitely crafted sentence.” — Charlie Jane Anders, Washington Post

In the tradition of sumptuous gothic novels like Starling House and The Bloody Chamber comes a dark fairy tale-infused story about a cursed friendship and a marriage steeped in secrets—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.

Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was an heiress. In exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.

But when the couple returns to Indigo’s childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom will soon find himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor’s extravagant rooms lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo’s dearest childhood friend, who suddenly disappeared. As the house slowly reveals his wife’s secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage . . . or their lives.

Through a tapestry of secrets woven around dangerous shards of truth, Chokshi crafts an atmospheric fever dream of a novel about love and lies, secrets and betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

"Chokshi's tale is as sweet as a piece of fairy fruit, and just as wicked. Every bite is velvet, every swallow is gold, and the taste lingers like a fever dream." — V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

"Gorgeous and ornate, this sensual fairy tale illuminates the corrosive and redemptive power of both love and lies." — Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book of Night

©2023 Roshani Chokshi (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Starts slow but ends with a twist

I thought I wouldn't like this because it started so slow and the Narrators talk soooo slow but after I took a break from the story and bumped the speed up to 1.5 I was truly able to enjoy the story. The magical realism of this novel reminds me of Haruki Murakami's works and how much I loved his novels as well. I recommend this book to those who love magical realism, coming of age stories and can stomach slow starting books.

Dark and magical

I would describe this as kind of a Gothic fairy tale. It's both dark and magical with a bit of mystery tied in. The ending wasn't disappointing either. I loved every bit of this book.

Put me to sleep

Fairly good, well written story but I had to fight to stay awake. This was a Once Upon a Book Club selection and the gifts were interesting and well attuned to the book. I want to read another of her books to see how I really feel about her.

Oh my God a fantastic book!

I listen to this book because it was a book that we were doing in my book club. have chose this on my own but at first I wasn’t sure what to think of it but it was amazing.. the ending blew my mind I recommend this to anyone give me a 10 out of 10.

Performance was decent, story was meh

It was the writing style for me. I just couldn’t get into it. The descriptions were too flowery, too descriptive just for the sake of being flowery and descriptive. I don’t think it helped move the storyline along.

The characters were okay, but I felt a lack of emotional ties to them. I think my favorite character was the house.

The one big twist at the end was unexpected, but it didn’t make up for the struggling journey to get there.

The story has so much potential, but it wasn’t there for me.

The performance of the two voice actors was decent, although I liked Azure’s voice actress best.

Such a let down

This book had all the ingredients to be something truly special but instead it’s a predictable story with unlikable characteristics.

Be prepared to have all your senses engaged.

I can never go wrong with Steve West, but The Bridegroom is a character made for him to read/play.
Dark, sensuous, mysterious.

Dark and exciting!

A dark and suspenseful story! Don’t ask me about my past? You can have me, but don’t ask, don’t look, don’t pry! Sounds creepy! Even if she is beautifully intriguing. I was captivated right up to the end. I really enjoyed how the house was giving him clues throughout the whole story! So good!

Unique, interesting story

The writing was so descriptive and lush. It reminded me of poetry, or of a finely crafted fairy tale. Like biting into a ripe plumb on a warm summer afternoon, and the juice running down your chin - this is the best way I can describe the language used in this book. The story was well-paced and I found it to be very intriguing.
The Bridegroom was voiced by an extremely talented narrator. I enjoyed his voice very much, and he really added to the rich, sensuous cadence of the story.

Wow!

Loved the twists and turns! Kept me on the seat of my chair through the book!