A magical world, but unfortunately with a very fast moving storyline

"Violet Made of Thorns" is the first novel by Gina Chen and tells the story of Prince Cyrus and the seer Violet.

A kingdom under threat. A cursed forest. And only the marriage of Prince Cyrus with the right bride can still save the kingdom.

The seer Violet has been working in the royal palace since her childhood. This job was her reward for saving young Cyrus. Decades later, Violet is the court seer and the king's puppet. She is a cunning young woman who learned early in life how to survive. I like Violet a lot. She's not a pushover and she's pretty smart. But I like her best when she's with Cyrus.

Cyrus is like a white knight who wants to save his kingdom from the great threat of monsters. However, he is not oblivious to the intrigues and manipulations at court. He is very good at hiding his abilities and thoughts from others, only Violet manages to push all the buttons with him.

I love the banter between the two and the air literally burns between them! Nevertheless, the love story between Cyrus and Violet could me unfortunately little convincing. It lacked a lot of depth, which is a shame, because it could have been a real enemies-to-lover story if the story had given them time to develop.

Violet Made of Thorns exudes absolute fairy tale vibes! I found the magical world very fascinating, you have to deal with all sorts of fantastical creatures.

I give Violet Made of Thorns 3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

I absolutely loved this book! The premise immediately hooked my interest and it was filled with twisty characters and such intense plot! And the cover is so beautiful.

Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the court as Seer with her cleverly phrased - and not always true - divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not-charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip her of her title once he's crowned.

After the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus's love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse about the prince's future bride. Her wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can't protect her against fate - nor the doomed attraction growing between her and the prince . . .

Such a good book, I am in love

This was an okay read for me, I liked the context in the early third but as it rolled out, I did lose some interest.

I liked:
-prophecy gift of the FMC
-her irreverant relationship with the prince
-the hate-love

I disliked:
-the hate-love (I know, I was conflicted)
-lack of loyalty from the FMC
-some of the banter switched me off.

I love when there is a strong female character in a book and Gina Chen delivered with Violet. The world building and the connection between the characters especially Violet and Cyrus. I loved that the plot kept the story going and there was no time to wonder what was going to happen next.

Definitely looking forward to the next book.

I’m honestly surprised how much I liked this book. There is a mixture of fairytales woven into this story and it honestly makes it that much more enjoyable.

You have a Prince and a Seer who are at odds. They are enemies who are at odds and it’s putting the country at risk.

We have a dark Witch who is wanting to make the prophecy about the prince come true and in doing so manipulates the rest of the characters.

Honestly this was such an enjoyable read. The main character Violet - you don’t know if she’s the villain or the hero and I would say she is deliciously morally grey. She wants to save her own skin, she’s selfish but you can see why she is. She’s at the mercy of the king due to being a seer - she has to see the future of others and in doing so she has to be polite - and let me tell you she does not like that. She ambitious and will do anything to stay on top.

There is a lot that goes on in this book but it’s so well written you didn’t feel lost in it. I love the added fairytale twist throughout which is a mixture I feel of Beauty and the Beast - there are beasts and roses play a big part and thorns and Maleficent - so sleeping beauty vibes with the thorns and the dark witch.

The secondary characters - Dante and Camilla and another level to the book. And I can see there characters coming more to the forefront in book two. This was quite dark at times and I’m here for it.

Im excited for book two as I’m intrigued to see what happens next!

I didn´t hate it but I didn't love it, it was a good beginning, promising even, but it came out a bit flat.

The main characters are a bit generic, trying to appease to different tastes and just end up being bland. The girl is not a morally gray personality, just a bit mean. The prince is supposed to be a womaniser but a good boy at the same time, which doesn't fit really well. It's supposed to be a friend to enemies to lovers, but we only see the enemies to lovers’ part, and the friends is only told, never demonstrated with previous scenes.

There’s no much worldbuilding, where does the magic come from, and sight for that matter? Why is the Feywood rotting, or even exists? The country politics and society also fall a bit short. But it is a short book, and I think that it is supposed to be a series so it might get developed latter on.

It wasn't a terrible book but it was forgettable, Violet was an entertaining character, but the rest of was just uninteresting. The story wasn't solid, it had plot holes and the plot-twists were unnatural, didn't fit with the plot.
About the romance, I always need some romance, but this one felt forgettable and I didn't feel the spark.

This is one of the books that made me admit that perhaps I am just a little too old to really click with YA anymore. As such, I'll try to keep this review focused on the objective side of things: this is a very fun and slick YA fantasy that takes some of the classic tropes (brooding prince, untouchable magical girl) and combines them into a story that is bound to thrill those who like their reading a little dark and edgy. It didn't touch on the court politics as much as I was hoping, but the enemies-to-lovers romance is simply more of the focus than the world-building or intrigue, and those who love that trope should be well-served. Four stars for quality, with the caveat that it wasn't for me personally.

My review:

Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen is a fantasy story, with Violet, a prophetess who is willing to lie for what she wants.

I do enjoy court intrigue, and I liked this take with morally neutral characters.

It's an entertaining story, with politics, romance and intrigue!

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Hodder & Stoughton.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

It was impossible to not enjoy this book with the enemies to lovers trope, fairy tale inspiration, and morally grey characters. Add in politics and magic, it makes for a greatly entertaining read. The main character is easy to support with how intriguing and adamant is. Plot twists surprised. There was sadly something a little missing, but still, a book worth picking up.

"i don't cook, i don't clean but let me tell you how i got this ring" vibes fr.

listen to me right now. i support women's rights and actively cheer on their wrongs.

i love me a good feral, morally grey fmc that can barely do her job but is truly breaking the glass ceiling. sis was like "yeah you might die, but i need to get my bag" and honestly? good for her.

not a single person was gonna have my girl's back in this crusty, dusty kingdom so she did what she had to do and i applaud her for it.

this book also hit the enemies-to-lovers trope center of my brain bullseye. people sometimes forget that a huge part of enemies-to-lovers means they're probably really likely to kill each other as much as they are to throw each other against a wall and get it on. these two were definitely doing both of that. the last 50-75 pages had me fighting for my life.

as for cyrus - i hate the name. however, he gets points for always keeping me confused about his motivations and keeping violet fighting for HER life in more than the literal way.

everything else i had trouble enjoying. the pacing of the book felt a bit off sometimes and the world-building was unfortunately non-existent for me. i wanted to know more about the kingdom, political system and how the seer/witch powers even worked. the entire story felt narrowed down to Violet's tower, one room in the castle and a couple streets between those two locations. that felt like an overall disservice to the story.

overall, i'd give this a 3.5-3.75 stars for pure enemies-to-lovers and i'm still really curious about the follow-up book.

This was such a great amalgamation of all of my fave fairytales!

I was intrigued by the premise of this book from the very beginning and it didn’t disappoint.

Violet is a really morally grey character but I couldn’t help myself from rooting for her with every fibre of my being.

Romance was excellent, storyline was immensely entertaining. Loved it!

I had a very hard time reading this book, because of the extremely slow pace. I would have liked more politics and a more developed worldbuiling.
I did not particularyly enjoy the romance, as I could not connect with the caracters but I am sure that other readers will like it !
Nevertheless, the writing is very pretty and I liked the ending.

This was a brilliant fantasy with a well written plot and developed characters. A great storyline that you can just get lost in

Loved the very morally grey character, but most of all, loved the romcom aspect of this book. It was funny and frankly ridiculous in parts (the prince being chased by a swarm of débutantes) but that's what set it apart from other YA books in this genre in my opinion. I laughed many times, and overall had a great time. Pupils would like this I think.

I so sad that I couldn't get into Violet Made of Thorns. Definitely a me problem and I will revisit again in the future.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the early access!

Violet is living half a lie, half a truth.

Her prophecy for the prince had unforeseen consequences, and now the whole kingdom is in danger.

It was a book that was easy and fun to read, one that kept you hooked for a while.

It was entertaining, and not the typical setting and characters.

I cannot wait to get my beautiful Fairyloot copy!

Morally grey characters make for such interesting reading, and Violet, who works for the king as a Seer and cleverly words her prophecies to twist the truth, definitely fits the bill.

As a girl, Violet saved the prince who was meant to die, but 'there's always a price for defying destiny'. A false prophesy about prince Cyrus meeting his love at an upcoming ball awakens a dreaded curse about the prince's future bride. Now Violet and Cyrus must work together to fight against fate, and to try and save both their lives and the kingdom.

This novel is a fairy tale full of plot twists, with two main characters who both skirt the line between hero and villain, and deliver a delicious enemies to lovers dynamic in the process. Violet Made of Thorns is a 2022 debut you shouldn't miss. It's the first book in a duology - and I for one will be keeping an eye out for the sequel!

Thank you so much for letting me read this book. I very much enjoyed the back and forth of the two MCs. Their bickering and banter is so much fun.