Thumbs up for The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi. Fantasy.
A nameless scholar of fairytales is seduced by a mysterious woman named Indigo, who may not be human. And she may have killed her best friend, Azure? Those “maybes” are the drivers of this book, which is a gothic mystery at heart. A bit slow to start, but around page 50 we start getting alternating chapters from Azure’s point of view—back in her childhood, as she falls into an obsessive friendship with the mesmerizing Indigo. After that I found it smooth sailing. This is a book to read if you like lush, dreamlike prose. Which I do, so I enjoyed it; there were a few pages I reread just for the pleasure of the words. Would I have stayed with this book if it was 600 pages? No, but at 289 pages of fairly large type, it was a perfectly-sized portion of bittersweet chocolate mousse. Not a keeper for me, but I’m glad I read it.
You see, nothing good can come from being loved by old gods. Their love of mortals turns them neglectful and petty. When they move on, they lay waste in their path—cicada wings and bear paw prints, sacs of spider silk, echoes and anemone, the limbs of lovers now rendered to stars.
If you enjoyed this post, please share it!