Roshani Chokshi has a soft spot in my heart for her books and especially, her writing style. So, when I heard that she was writing her first adult novel and I immediately decided to pre-order it and of course, I just HAD to review it.
So, while this is a very late review, here it is:
Once upon a time, Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada found me.
Opening lines of the novel.
Once upon a time, a man who studied and believed in myths and fairy tales married a woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. She was an heiress of a successful hotel chain and she had a dark and mysterious past.
Their marriage was filled with love, gifts and stories and for a while, they truly believed that they would live happily ever after. However, Indigo made her bridegroom promise her something that could tear them apart - she will love him as long as he never looks into her past.
For a while, though he was curious, her bridegroom was content with that promise. Until Indigo's estranged and dying aunt beckons them back to Indigo's childhood home, the House of Dreams.
Pre-order art prints.
The House reacts and rewards those who walk into its threshold. Tasked by Indigo's dying aunt, the bridegroom needs to bring Azure back. Azure was Indigo's childhood best friend who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared after their high school graduation.
Quickly, the bridegroom discovers his wife secrets and he needs to decide whether he wants to continue living in his fantasy, or if he will accept reality. Even more so, he needs to worry about whether his marriage will last.
First of all, the writing style is absolutely gorgeous! I've always loved Roshani Chokshi's writing style; there's something haunting yet romantic about her writing and in The Last Take of the Flower Bride, the writing adds to the gothic atmosphere. The world-building and setting are so majestic yet, thanks to the writing style, we still get a sense of dread and mystery with some romance and nostalgia sprinkled in. Ultimately, the writing style really enhanced the world-building and the writing style is brilliant!
However, while the writing style was lovely, I thought the plot wasn't as compelling as Roshani Chokshi's The Gilded Wolves Trilogy. I think most of the appeal of this novel comes from the writing style. The plot and storyline were interesting in the first 1/3 of the novel. We're introduced to the characters, the plot and the mystery. But, in the middle 2/3 of the novel I was a little bit bored, the novel felt a bit dragged out and while the chapters were building up to the final second of the novel, a lot of it didn't feel as magical as the first section. I still liked the plot and the ending was great! It was really just the middle section of the novel which was not my favourite.
The characters are all intriguing. Since this is a mystery novel and since I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't read the novel, I won't talk about the characters too much because that might spoil the ending.
Starting with the Bridegroom, he is married to Indigo and he is not named at all in the novel. As readers, we just know him as the Bridegroom. I think not naming our main character is interesting and the author has talked about her reasoning behind not giving him a name so if you're curious about this aspect of the novel, then I recommend searching up a few author interviews. Back to the Bridegroom, he is an academic who researches myths (a lot of myths and folklore are actually included in the novel as well). He is tasked with finding out what happened to Azure and discovering more about Indigo's past. He's not a realist, he enjoys living in his fantasies and a lot of his personal journey is about whether he can look past his fantasies and his expectations of the world and whether he can finally see the world for what it is.
We also have Indigo and Azure. These two characters are purposefully mysterious and they are also extremely strange. Think Wednesday Addams level strange and unique but with a stronger sense of horror added into the mix. Indigo is a rich heiress obsessed with stories and Azure is her childhood best friend who disappeared after graduation. As I said, if I talk too much about the characters I might accidentally spoil the ending so, that's all I'll say about Indigo and Azure.
Overall, the writing style and the Bridegroom's character are easily my favourite aspects of this novel. While the plot wasn't as interesting, I think this was still a great mystery and I really did enjoy most of the novel hence the 4-star rating.
That is all for my review! Thank you for reading, let me know what you think of this novel if you've read it before (give spoiler warnings please) and of course, I hope you all have a lovely day.
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