May 3

May 3 The Last Tale of the Flower Bride

Author: Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: William Morrow
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

A sumptuous, gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cursed to end in tragedy, and the danger of believing in fairy tales—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 heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after—and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.

But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple is forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom will soon find himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor’s extravagant rooms and musty halls, there 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.

Combining the lush, haunting atmosphere of Mexican Gothic with the dreamy enchantment of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a spellbinding and darkly romantic page-turner about love and lies, secrets and betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

TL;DR Review

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a lush, delicious, completely enchanting (and short!) gothic fairytale with an ending I can’t believe I didn’t see coming. What more could you ask for?

For you if: You’re looking for the perfect book to gobble up in one sitting.

Full Review

I haven’t read all of Roshani Chokshi’s books, but I did have fun reading the Gilded Wolves trilogy, so when I heard she’d written a standalone, adult, gothic fairy tale fantasy novel, I was ON BOARD. And my friends, this book is such a good time. I absolutely recommend.

The book has two narrators: an unnamed “bridegroom” married to a mysterious, possibly magical woman named Indigo (present day), and Indigo’s mysteriously absent childhood best friend Azure (flashback). Indigo married her bridegroom on the condition that he’s never ask questions about her past, but when she has to bring him to the (also possibly magical) house she grew up in, the threads begin to unravel. And then ending? Absolutely A+. Can’t believe I didn’t see it coming (and isn’t that the best kind)?

This is a standalone and not very long, but it’s super immersive and atmospheric, which makes it the perfect book to get lost in and finish in one sitting. The prose is absolutely delicious, lush, and enchanting. The kind of darkly romantic book where you aren’t sure who to trust and what’s real. As Alix Harrow put it, “fairy tale in the old bad sense, gothic in the new subversive sense.” I think I wish it had been a bit more fleshed out for this to become a true favorite, but I definitely loved it nonetheless.