Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Violet Made of Thorns was unputdownable! I was addicted to the story and these characters. The first chapter pulled me straight into the story and I never wanted to leave.

‘We could ruin each other, and we would not hesitate to do so.’

Violet is a seer and saved Cyrus, the prince, when they were younger. He brought her into his home and she became the kingdom’s seer. She is respected by the king but this has caused a rift in Violet and Cyrus’ relationship and they can barely tolerate each other. The king uses Violet to embellish the futures she sees, or make them up entirely. He does this to control the outcomes of his kingdom. This manipulation is a major reason as to why Cyrus can seemingly no longer stand Violet. This allows for plenty of tense moments between these two characters, which I ate up!

‘It isn’t a mark against your success, Violet. But the higher you fly, the more fatal the fall.’

This story has an enemies-to-lovers romance, which is one of my favourite tropes. I would say Violet and Cyrus spend more time in this book being enemies than they do being lovers. I really enjoyed their character development over the course of the book and seeing them give in to their desires. I loved Violet, although infuriating at times, she makes every decision with her head, constant;y ignoring her heart.

‘My curse, my ruin, my Violet – my heart is yours. It was always yours. Take it.’

I loved the world building and the magic system, involving fairies and the sighted. I love books set in court and involving royals. Violet Made of Thorns was no different. I really enjoyed the political intrigues with the threat of war looming if Prince Cyrus doesn’t find a wife as was prophesied by the last seer. There was a bit of every fairytale in this book, so if you’re a lover of fairytales (like me!) then this is definitely for you!

There were a few twists I didn’t see coming with this book and wish I could go right back to the beginning and read again. I loved this debut and cannot wait for the sequel!

Although I didn’t love this book, I did really enjoy it. At first it was a bit slow and I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, but towards the middle I started to enjoy it more, and I really liked the ending. I think this is book one in a series, and I’m definitely going to read book two when it’s out! It’s an interesting storyline and very well written. It was hard to predict and surprised me at times. The characters were likeable and interesting to read about, and I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen to them. Although it hasn’t been left on a cliffhanger, I have been left wanting to know what happens next! I’ll definitely look out for future books by this author, and can’t wait to find out what happens in book two.

What a great debut! This was a dark fairytale fantasy story. Running along the lines that have been tried and tested before with Princes, Fairy's, curses and Witches but with a good twist in the tale to separate it from other fairytale books. I really liked Violets character. She's a seer that came to the Palace from following a vision of the Prince which starts the ball rolling in the prophecy. I really liked how the story panned out and I was not prepared for what happened near the end. I have to say I wasn't too convinced with the romance side of the story. I didn't quite believe it but hoping it will develop more in the next book. I'm excited to read book 2 I need to know what's going to happen next. A really good debut and definitely worth a read

Ich habe die Geschichte sehr genossen. Von Anfang bis Ende war es interessant. Ich liebte den Charakter des Prinzen und den der anderen Charaktere. Doch Violet ist mir bis zum Schluss ein Rätsel. Irgendwie konnte ich mit ihr nicht warm werden und dachte nicht nur einmal:Blöde Kuh! Viele ihrer Handlungen sind für mich nicht erschlossen. Ich liebte die vielen Märchenelemente in der Geschichte. Auch das Ende war für mich gut gewählt.

Enemies to lovers, far fairytale and morally grey characters. Violet made of Thorns has all the ingredients for a captivating YA fantasy, yet somehow it still left me wanting more.

Violet herself is an intriguing character. She's come from nothing, no money or power, to rise within the political ranks due to her ability to 'see'. She's a lair, a trickster who's selfish desire to see herself on top comes at the cost of everyone else. I love that she only looks out for herself, it makes her feel like a very different kind of heroine. Or anti heroine.

However aside from Violet I found most of the other characters very bland and obvious. The world building also could have done with some work, with more explanation of what the ability to 'see' really is and I wasn't entirely drawn in by the enemies to lovers trope. Yes there's sexual tension and bickering but this very quickly turns into love. There's not enough build up, and very little reasoning behind the sudden change. The plot is also pretty average as, far, as YA fantasy goes.

Intriguing characters, but I wanted more from this in terms of plot development and world building to make it feel a bit more different to every other YA fantasy out there.

As a YA fantasy, Violet Made of Thorns follows some of the general tropes of this genre. We have a kingdom in a world straight from a fairytale (with real fairies, as well) which is threatened by an unknown force and your broody love interest.

But the heroine Gina Chen is not your usual kind girl with great morals who suddenly becomes a hero. Violet, as the Seer of the king - and more often than not the one who twists prophecies to go along with what the king wants - is almost unlikable with her self-centered behaviour. Risen to power by saving Prince Cyrus when they were children, she does everything to defend her position, knowing very well that Cyrus will get rid of her the moment he is allowed to rule.

And although she hates the politics and the court, Violet is just as well a part of it and a weapon the king wields how he pleases, even to intervene with his sons choices. Cyrus of course distrusts Violet greatly, knowing she will throw anyone into the fire in order to survive.

The way the two of them grow together in front of the dangers the kingdom is facing is both fun and painful to read. They snarl and argue and betray each other almost the whole time, which is something you don't see very often in these stories anymore.

Combined with a very fast paced and smooth writing style, Chen gives us a great fairytale with twists and turns, with light moments and a lot of darkness, while she even adresses the growth of the human domain by destroying nature.

Violet Made of Thorns was an incredibly nice surprise and I cannot wait to read more about this world and the characters in the second book.

3.5 rounded down ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Hodder&Stoughton and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

I’m really keen to read the next book in this series (duology?)

I quite enjoyed the female MC, she looked out for herself and I appreciated that.

The male love interest was a bit on the bland side, but I hope we will see him develop more.

I am also keen to see the world and magic system develop more and become a bit more fully realised.

I rated this book 3.5 stars.

I heard that it had been compared to Serpent & Dove and I’d say that’s a fair comparison - but it’s not quite as good.
Our main character Violet is a Seer who can see peoples past & future. I personally found it difficult to connect with her due to the ‘tough girl with attitude’ persona she had. She came across more annoying than the strong independent woman vibe which I’m assuming it was meant to be.

The romance is what let this book down for me. I’m all for an angsty enemies to lovers but this one wasn’t executed as well as I’d hoped. They’ll be full on hating eachother in one scene, and then the very next scene they’ll be kissing. Then it’s straight back to hating again. It just seems to come out of nowhere & thrown in just to further the plot.

I really loved the politics and magic plot line. It’s not fully fleshed out & almost acts as a subplot to the romance but I could’ve easily read a whole book about the Fairywood and The Horned Beasts. They’re on the cusp of war but you never really get a sense of fear/danger. If we wasn’t reminded of it whenever the king was in a scene you’d easily forget.

The ending really picked up and I devoured the last 50 or so pages. Definitely didn’t see some of those plot twists coming. By the way it’s left I’m looking forward to the next book as I’m hoping it will be more plot focused.

Overall I would recommend this book as long as you’re ok with very angsty romance plot lines.
Thankyou to Goodreads Hodder & Stoughton for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A gripping debut! I love a good enemies to lovers trope, and the slow burn of this romance was tantalising throughout. There were certain instances where I felt the magic system could have been better developed, but overall this book has set up very well for a sequel which I can't wait to read!

Violet Made Of Thorns by Gina Chen appeared delectable, but when it came time for the main course, the server dropped my plate before I could enjoy the meal. The book needed more ruthlessness, more scheming, and more stakes to make the story’s dark prophecy hit where it hurts. Unfortunately for me, it missed every shot it took.

Violet holds a powerful position as the kingdom’s seer. Originally found on the streets, Violet is raised in the palace alongside the prince and princess. Chen may be living out her dreams of being a royal through Violet because even the seer’s humble beginnings could not keep her from acting as if she had a crown of her own. Violet views the king as a father figure, and she quickly learns how to navigate royal politics under his tutelage. This includes twisting words and creating fake prophecies to serve the king’s desires. However, the king is falling ill, and it’s time for Prince Cyrus to take the throne. The only problem is, Cyrus hates Violet and wants nothing more than to rid the kingdom of her visions. As Violet fights to stay relevant, dark magic reveals itself and solidifies the terrifying prophecy haunting Cyrus’s every step. Plagued with visions and mysterious voices, Violet must decide her role in the kingdom’s future either as its savior or its destroyer.

Because Violet and the king are buddies, there is a lot of friction between her and Prince Cyrus. All this sets up an interesting premise, but the book doesn’t play out the story between these three very well. It’s a shame we miss out on the politicking between Violet, the king, and Cyrus because their dynamic could have been more interesting had it been more cutthroat. I would have loved to see Violet using her position more for her own ends. It’s talked about in theory, but we never see her utilize it. She lies and twists words, but Violet never displays those dreadful acts that have kept her in a place of power. Additionally, Violet’s unique role as the all-knowing seer gets lost when she becomes the “I’m special” character, and it deflates the revered position that was so central to the story.

In the same vein of underutilizing her role, Violet constantly talks about how ruthless she is, but her actions never back up her claims. This all-talk and no-show situation is one of my biggest pet peeves, and it plagues the YA genre. Violet is prickly, and she’s far from a people person. She is petty, rude, and blunt, but at her worst, Violet lies for the king and verbally spars with the prince. This is not conniving and dangerous material if you ask me. It’s disappointing when a character spends more time trying to convince me how “bad” they are than actually contributing to the plot. It felt like Violet was talking a big game to receive validation, and it sucked the life out of the story. This isn’t a situation where a character is bad at being bad either. Violet believes she is a lot worse than she actually is, and I tried not to cringe when encountering her false declarations.

I was promised a duo as vicious and manipulative as Cardan and Jude in The Cruel Prince, but what I got instead was an odd couple with misplaced emotions and halfhearted actions. Both Violet and Cyrus’s motivations are hard to pin down. Their whims change constantly, and it’s not done purposefully for mysterious vibes either. They simply cannot decide what the hell they want and it can change by the next paragraph. As a result, the plot is choppy and I was exhausted trying to keep up with them both. Be prepared to experience whiplash in the weird dance happening between these two. I love the push and pull between enemies, but I consider their dance to be one that missed every beat. It was about as eloquent as the chicken dance and nowhere near as fun.

I wanted Violet Made Of Thorns to be something much different than what it turned out to be. I had little investment in the story because the characters were so hard to love. Their tiring escapades dragged the plot down, and Violet’s lack of ruthlessness and lackluster power struggle with Cyrus soiled the story for me. Ultimately, I needed Violet to live up to her infamous reputation but was sadly let down too many times.

I had mixed feelings on this book. At first I really wasn't into it. Then, it had a section I quite enjoyed but then it went downhill again. I think for me I wanted to be given enough information to make some more connections and figure some stuff out myself. Or, for when things all happened at the end to have that sense of inevitability like of course this happened this way - how else would it have unfolded? But, mostly as stuff happened I was just like ok, sure I guess.

I'm not sure that I'd be tempted to continue the series but I did read the whole book in a day so I'll see how it ages in my mind.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Violet is a seer for the king, she was a child when she took the position, taking over from the previous seer who had died after foretelling a ominous future and prince Cyrus' bride is the linchpin to it all, she could help save them ... or help condem them. Since then Cyrus has been on the search for a wife, which has become a little more of an urgent search since the Kings health is failing.

Violet may have told a little white lie that Cyrus would find a bride by the time his journey ended and is feeling a little more frantic when he returns home without one.... Violet thinks he should just pick a woman but Cyrus wants to fall in love with someone....

Violet is morally grey and does what she needs to, to get things done and doesn't care if you like her or not. Which made her all the more endearing to me. I love that we have a ginger main character in Cyrus. Its not something i see too much, but its great! Violet and Cyrus argue like cat and dog, she loves to tease and poke at Cyrus, especially about how they first met!

Violet made of thorns is thrilling, tense and highly addictive. A great read. 5*

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this eARC of Violet Made of Thorns

Violet a Seer, who can read the threads of the Fates in order to see the future and the past. She’s been put in charge of prophesying Prince Cyrus’ fate. Which in itself is a tough one as she hates Prince Cryus and the feeling is mutual.
As we progress forward it becomes apparent we have a typical enemies to lovers trope on our hands.

The world building is so whimsical and blended the fantasy, fairytale with the sense of realism perfectly.
The storyline was dark and steady paced, it felt like it moved along with enough pacing to create the tension needed.
The characters were all fleshed out well enough to keep the story moving, the main characters were more dimensionally carved out than others but I felt that was due to how heavy they impacted the storyline and I wasn't too fussed about side players.

All in all I really enjoyed this novel and though Violet Made of Thorns was a great debut novel.

I read and enjoyed the first 15% of this book but then I recieved a hardback in a book box so will continue with that at a later date.

The start of a new dark fantasy series, a fairytale with a morally grey MC and a complex plot.
There's magic, there's romance, and there's a compelling plot.
I liked the world building and the characters.
I had high expectations for the next book.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Violet Made of Thorns is YA fantasy at it's very finest! 😍

I can not begin to explain what a great time I had reading VMoT! It was so refreshing picking up this read and immediately being sucked into the world Gina Chen has created!

Violet our main character really takes you on a journey 😂 (in the very best way possible!)

If you're looking for a read filled with epic enemies to loves romance, court politics, masquerade balls and beautifully gilded dresses! Not to mention a plot that will keep you at the edge of your seat... Violet is absolutely the book you need to read!

I hope everyone loves this one as much as I did!

Every now and then you read a book where the writing style is fine, the story is fine, the characters are fine and everything is fine, but "it was fine" is all you can say about it. For me Violet Made of Thorns was this type of book. There was nothing wrong with, but it wasn't spectacular either. It was just another YA novel. Nothing excited me and even while reading I never really wanted to know what was going to happen next. It simply didn't grab me and from start to finish I was very uninvested in both the characters and the story.

Okay so it took me a while to finish this but now that I have, I can say this was a good book. This book was dark, enchanting, and woven with beautiful enchanting imagery throughout. The story focuses on Violet, a seer, and Prince Cyrus; whom are doomed by a prophecy. Some elements did confuse me, e.g., the court politics, the witch of nightmares, and the last 20ish% of the book. I did also see someone mention Violet is from Asian heritage, which strangely I do not remember it being alluded to, as the book has a very Western feel to it. Overall, I liked this book, it is your typical YA fairytale retelling fantasy, and I did especially love the love-hate romance with Violet and Cyrus..

Violet Made of Thorns, what an absolute banger. What did I love this book.

Violet is a gifted seer and a liar. She influences people with her twisted prophecies, which aren’t alway true. Cyrus, the prince of Auveny, wants to strip Violet of her role as seer when he get’s crowned king at the end of summer. Violet has to do something about it to be able to keep her place. When the king asks Violet to twist a prophecy about Cyrus a dreaded curse awakens which will either lead to the damnation or salvation of the Kingdom. Violet keeps her secrets about the curse and will have to make choices. Will she safe herself or the prince for whom she starts to have feelings?

I absolutely loved Violets character. She is cunning, cold and has a no-nonsense attitude. Definitely not the perfect character, but that’s what makes her appealing. I’m curious how her character will further expand in the future. I also enjoyed the bickering between Violet and Cyrus. I am looking forward to the last book in this duology. I would definitely recommend this book to the people that like books with an enemy to lovers trope, Beauty and the Beast vibes and romance. I would give this book a 5/5 rating.

I loved this books so very much! Violet was a fascinating main character and loved following her story. The romance between her and Cyrus was so good and I can’t wait to read the sequel to see how their relationship progresses. The magic system was interesting, especially with the Fates and the Gods, and even though she was a seer Violet still believed you could change your destiny and defy the Fates. The writing was easy to follow and captivating. The pacing was good and never felt to slow or too fast.

I cannot wait for the sequel and will be highly anticipating it. I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves fantasy novels, and anyone who loves a main character that isn’t a complete goody two shoes!