There better be a second book! I cannot live without finding out what happens next (I know that sounds dramatic but I feel nothing else I say will give the book the justice it deserves!). Absolutely gripping from start to beginning.

Violet Made of Thorns had a premise that immediately intrigued me, leading me to request it as an e-arc because I'm impatient and was very excited to read it. A story about destiny, prophecy and fairy tales, with the promise of an enemies-to-lovers type story and a morally grey protagonist, this sounded right up my avenue of interests . . .

Sadly, while I enjoyed some of these elements, the book overall was a large miss for me. I've been stewing over this review for days, trying to figure out how to write what didn't work for me, and I've just been getting increasingly more and more frustrated. Because this book had promise within it's pages, not just in the blurb. I was enjoying the friendships (or lack thereof in the instance of the Prince and Violet) and the mystery that was surrounding the curse, but the writing fell short on executing all these storylines.

I get what this book did - but at the same time I still don't quite get what happened? And that's a frustrating contradiction. I know but I don't know. I know that was the reveal, and I know that was the reveal, and that she tried to convince us of this but none of it made sense. And I think that is largely down to the author not being able to decide where she wanted this story of these characters to go. It never felt committed. It felt inconsistent, choppy. In trying to make Violet morally grey, she just made her a confusing mess. I understood Violet's intentions and her motivations for the most part - the ending was mainly the issue. So much happened at once that it was chaotic.

As for the romance, I was half-sold on it. I feel like it was a little bit rushed, thus not as well developed as it could've been.

The ending was the biggest let down. There was just no depth. Things just kept happening, reveals revealed, deaths, and characters would switch up within the page. It was all just ????

So yes, I am really let down this book. I, for the most part, did like Violet as a character. Especially when it touched upon her ambition, motivation, distrust/trust and conflicted loyalties. It was interesting to see Violet try and learn more about herself (even if it was letdown in the end).

And I can't quite tell whether this was meant to be a standalone or if this is the first in a duology/trilogy or something??

My overall rating falls somewhere between 2.5 and 3 stars - I liked some of the worldbuilding and the early part of the book, but from the early middle and last bit I was very disappointed.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for sending me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

VIOLET MADE OF THORNS
Author: Gina Chen
Score:⭐⭐⭐.5
English Level: B2
Recommended age: +15

"Love is a fickle thing traded by fools, but lust is exactly that- no promises. It´s a hungry as any starving creature but honest in what it wants."

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the UK version of the book.
First of all, this book caught my attention thanks to this beautiful cover and its synopsis that grabs you from the moment you read it.
This book tells us the story of Violet, a girl who is orphaned since she was little and who is psychic and can see the past and future. One day Violet sees a vision of a child who was going to die, she saves him and what she did not know is that this child is the heir to the crown of the kingdom and thanks to that she goes to live in the palace as the apprentice seer and due to very rare circumstances the real seer dies and leaves a last prophecy that said that the prince was going to die and that the kingdom would be covered with roses and thorns.
I don´t lie to you, that synopsis caught me apart from the fact that it is a clear retelling of Beauty and the Beast but very different and with some references to Cinderella and I love that they do retellings of these stories and what better than in a fantasy one.
I really liked where the story is set but I would have liked it to go deeper since the story takes place in the palace and there are few times that the characters come out, which in my opinion made me bored seeing the same places.
I loved that the protagonist was a clairvoyant since I had not read a story with a protagonist with this power but I did despair that even if she sees the future or the past by touching people she did not do much and only kept what she saw for her most of the time and another thing that annoys me is that Violet describes herself as independent and powerful and she is but she gets carried away by the king and does everything he says as his puppet and has no voice no vote.

Now I will tell you about our male character that although I liked him a little more than Violet I feel that he did not contribute much to the story either and he only spent time bothering and provoking Violet and there were more scenes of those two +18 although you do not explain but I feel that no This relationship developed well and I didn't like it at all.

I didn't like the relationship between Violet and Cyrus (the prince), as I mentioned before. There was only one scene that I said was nice, but from there it went downhill and it bothers me a lot because it had great potential to be a great enemys to lovers.

What I liked the most was the character of Cyrus's sister, Camilla, and she was very charismatic and full of power, who doesn't care what others think and goes for what she wants.

And we can talk about the villain of this seriously lousy book, he came out in the last 15-20% of the book and I feel like he didn't contribute anything either and it was just a filler.

I recommend this book if you are starting to read fantasy because the world is not very difficult to understand and although it lacked some things for me to love it, I have to admit that although it is slow at first, then you cannot put it down and I liked that .

VIOLET MADE OF THORNS
Autor: Gina Chen
Puntuación: ⭐⭐⭐.5
Nivel de inglés: B2
Edad recomendada: +15

"Love is a fickle thing traded by fools, but lust is exactly that- no promises. It´s a hungry as any starving creature but honest in what it wants."

Primero que nada este libro captó mi atención gracias a esta hermosa portada y por su sinopsis que te atrapa desde que la lees.
Este libro nos cuenta la historia de Violet una chica que se queda huérfana desde pequeña y que es psíquica y puede ver el pasado y futuro. Un día Violet ve una visión de un niño que iba a morir, ella lo salva y lo que no sabia es que ese niño es el heredero a la corona del reino y gracias a eso ella se va a vivir al palacio siendo la aprendiz de vidente y por circunstancias muy raras la vidente real muere y deja una ultima profecía que decía que el príncipe iba a morir y que el reino se cubriría de rosas y espinas.
Nos les miento esa sinopsis me atrapó aparte de que es un claro retelling de la Bella y la Bestia pero muy diferente y con algunas referencias a la Cenicienta y amo que hagan retellings de estas historias y que mejor que en uno de fantasía.
Me gustó mucho en el que esta ambientado la historia pero me hubiera gustado que se profundizara más ya que la historia trascurre en el palacio y son pocas las veces que los personajes salen lo cual en mi opinión se me hizo aburrido ver los mismos lugares.
Ame que la protagonista fuera una vidente ya que no había leído una historia con una protagonista con este poder pero si me desespero que aunque si ve el futuro o el pasado con tocar a las personas no hacia gran cosa y solo se quedaba con lo que veía para ella la mayoría de las veces y otra cosa que me enojo es que Violet se describe a si misma como independiente y poderosa y lo es pero se deja llevar por el rey y hace todo lo que el diga como su marioneta y no tiene ni voz ni voto.

Ahora les hablaré de nuestro personaje masculino que aunque me gustó un poco más que Violet siento que tampoco aporto mucho a la historia y solo se la pasaba molestando y provocando a Violet y había más escenas de esos dos +18 aunque no explicitas pero siento que no se desarrollo bien esta relación y no me gustó para nada.

La relación como ya mencione entre Violet y Cyrus ( el príncipe ) no me gustó solo hubo una escena que si dije que bonito pero de ahí se fue para abajo y me molesta mucho porque tenia un gran potencial para ser un gran enemies to lovers.
Lo que más me gustó fue el personaje de la hermana de Cyrus que es Camilla y ella si se me hizo muy carismática y llena de poder que no le importa lo que piensen los demás y va por lo que ella quiere.

Y podemos hablar del villano de este libro enserio malísimo, salió en el ultimo 15-20% del libro y siento que tampoco aporto nada y solo fue un relleno.

Les recomiendo este libro si están empezando a leer fantasía ya que el mundo no es muy difícil de entender y aunque si le faltaron algunas cosas para que me encantara, tengo que admitir que aunque al principio es lento después no lo puedes soltar y eso me gusto.

Inspired from several fairytales, this was a very enjoyable enemies to lovers fantasy romance book. I definitely think that the romance remains the main focus in this book and the fantasy elements were not its strong suit as they weren't fleshed out well enough. We have a vague sense of the world and the magic in it but there's definitely a lot more here which I hope will be further explored in the next book.

I really like the main character, Voilet - she is unapologetic about her ambitions and will go at any lengths to achieve her goals. It was refreshing to read a character who might be the villian in her own story. Voilet's dynamic with the Prince Cyrus was in equal parts entertaining and annoying. They both have different ideals and goals. Both are stubborn to a certain degree which made the push and pull between them quite palpable. However, I also felt that sometimes their relationship went into circles with them having the same arguments/conversations without making any progress in their relationship status.

The comparison to The Cruel Prince is completely unwarranted as the court politics is not nearly enough vicious or brutal. There's a fair amount of secrets and betrayals but it was also a bit predictable at times. Overall, this book was just good times for me and I will hopefully be picking up the sequel as well.

There were parts of this book that I absolutely loved, and others that I wasn’t very keen on. Let's start with the positives. I really liked the writing style, it’s very lush and describing which really helped paint a vivid image of the world in my mind while reading. One great example of this is the grand ball, which just sounded absolutely magical, like something straight out of a fairytale.

Now moving on to the characters Violet is the perfect morally gray main character, and I really enjoyed following her journey balancing on the blade’s edge of her desires and her fears. Her story is that of a dark and twisted fairytale, where there’s a difference between bad witches. She has a lot of bad ideas, but she also has a good heart deep down. So I can’t help but root for her success. I also enjoyed most of the supporting characters, with Dante being my favourite of them.

One character that wasn’t my favourite was the golden prince Cyrus. I just couldn’t come to care about him at all until about two-thirds in, which isn’t good when the story relies heavily on the will they/won’t they relationship between him and Violet. Their rivalry felt a bit.. forced. Also the hate-love relationship between them felt like it jumped all over the place, making it hard to keep up with it. To me Violet had more chemistry with Dante than Cyrus throughout most of the book.

Another thing I didn’t like was the turn the story took towards the end. I won’t go too much into it, and accidentally spoil the story. But there was a lot that happened in a very short span of time, some of which just felt like it came out of nowhere. So I’m not the biggest fan of the ending, although I did find the book enjoyable overall. The positives outweigh the negatives.

Violet Made of Thorns, Gina Chen

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Sci Fi & Fantasy | Teens & YA

Well, what a read. What was fun was Violet and Cyrus are both real antiheroes, no nice do whats right for others here, but lots of do whats right for Violet or Cyrus regardless of consequences. Or is it? There are times when for both of them their first thoughts are selfish, but somehow the final action is tempered on some way.
What makes them that way, is it just that Violet had to struggle so hard and so is determined to make her position secure? Cyrus, is it just the curse/prophecy that makes him so closed or would be be that way anyway?

Its such a fun read, full of fabulous dramas, backbiting, plots and entanglements and running through the delicious love/hate relationship between Violet and Cyrus. You can just feel the simmering lust each time they meet. Some great secondary characters too, Cyrus sister, his friend Dante, the king and his machinations.
Its a story full of twists, turns and surprises, witches, magic, prophecies, fates and gods, and characters that are happy to twist events to suit themselves. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next part.
It does give some form of ending, not leave the reader on a cliffhanger – I hate, hate those with a real passion so thanks Gina for this semi ending that ties up a few things and opens up for the next book.

Stars: Four, a really fun read, not quite up to Cruel Prince but close.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

This is a time I wish I could have half stars for ratings as this for me was much closer to a 3.5 rating than a 3. I overall really enjoyed this book. But there was a patch where everything slowed right down which is why I just couldn't give it a 4 star rating.

This book follows Violet, a Seer for a kingdom seemingly on the cusp of either rebellion, war or prophetic disaster. Violet isn't always likeable, but in a good way. She is flawed and often petty but you can't help but understand why she is the way she is.

Then there is Prince Cyrus who is as fickle as fickle can be. I would have liked a bit more depth to him through the story but there was change in this right at the end and hopefully any subsequent books will build on this.

There was plenty of enemies to lovers angst along the way and actually much more of the enemies element than I was expecting. These characters aren't always nice to each other and I appreciated this.

The magic system was interesting. The world building pretty good for a first book. There has been plenty left to explain in a sequel and I look forward to seeing where the story goes from here.

Comment

Violet is the seer of her kingdom. She has risen to this position after being a street rat, and she won't stop at nothing to keep her status, even if it means mixing lies with her prophecies. Cyrus is the prince of the kingdom, whose bride was prophesied years ago to be the saviour or the destroyer of the kingdom. The whole population has been following Cyrus' journey to fall in love, but once again he came back from his last journey without a bride. Violet and Cyrus can't stand each other, but the feelings of disdain actually cover something deeper than neither of them is willing to admit. But when a witch sets her sights to Cyrus, and a conspiracy starts breeding in the court, Violet and Cyrus need to work together and admit that they can be each other saviours or destroyers.

This book kept me on the edge from page one. Violet is cynical and knows that she needs to get her hands dirty in order to survive. Cyrus is more sentimental and idealistic, but he knows what he wants although he won't admit it. Their banter was phenomenal and I was so happy that the relationship between the two turned out as I had imagined. I'm curious to see how their story continues.

I received an ARC through NetGalley, but I'm leaving a voluntary and honest review.

This book has to be my favourite release of 2022 so far. It checks all of my requirements for an amazing YA fantasy book: a well-fleshed out and likeable heroine, a tight but interesting plot, a well-developed fantasy world with its entire system mapped to perfection, and of course, an enemies-to-lovers relationship so good that they're literally enemies while they're also falling in love, and even when they're in love they're still enemies, like, hello?????

Although the publisher comparing Violet Made of Thorns to The Cruel Prince gave me overly high expectations going into the book (I have been waiting to get the ARC from NetGalley for ages and had been looking to its publication for the entire year), I was still enthralled by the world and the plot. I read the whole book in one sitting, and I can't wait for the sequel to come out.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Honestly, I am not really a fan of YA or fantasy genre. But I heard many raving reviews about this book and I requested the ARC and I must say...I am NOT disappointed. I actually did enjoy reading the book. The cover itself is appealing and the front cover itself worth five stars.

Violet is a prophet...and a liar. She is a leading Seer at the courts and the not so charming Prince Cyrus vows to remove her. But then Prince Cyrus's father wanted Violet to falsify the prophecy about Prince Cyrus's marriage, Violet then faces a curse about the bride and then a romance is slowly developing between Prince Cyrus and Violet.

The story is told mainly from Violet's perspective and reading this book made me imagine myself as a reader to be in the fantasy world through Violet's perspective. The author's writing was compelling and she did a good job of making the reader feel like they are part of the story. The slow development of romance between Violet and Cyrus was interesting to read. The ending was what actually drew me to the story and wowed me completely. Thus I actually enjoyed reading this fantasy novel. If this is a series, I couldn't wait to read the next book again!

Worth four stars.

Mnay thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

(3,5⭐️)

A kingdom with a nearly retired King, a cursed Prince, a liar Seer, and a nerving prophecy looming ahead.

"The best part about being Seer isn’t the tower or the amenities or the access to the king. It’s how easily everyone believes what you say."
So that's what Violet do. She lies and lies some more, wording carefully so it'll appease the listener without promising anything. She's a stubborn and prideful main character and I liked her for that.

This book has fairytale-ish vibe, I noticed some Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast references. Some of the part reminds me of King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo too, but the plot in this book was thoroughly original.

But the romance... ughh I hated it😭 I know this book was pitched to be perfect for The Cruel Prince and Serpent and Dove by Sheby Mahurin but I never read both of those series before so my thoughts are only objecting this book. It's weird to see 2 characters who resent and loathe each other most of the time to suddenly have sexual tense. I indicated power abuse too because one of them is superior to the other. And I think this book better be categorized in New Adult instead of YA because theres some semi-graphic scenes. There's some nice love lines too but I didn't care about the couple in the first place. In conclusion, for me, the romance tension was terrible and not exciting. Sorry.

I have to say that despite the romance, I enjoyed this book, it was a real page turner, I finished the last half in one sitting. The magic system was interesting but not confusing, and so the world building. I will definitely read the sequel once it available because I need to know what happens next😭

Thank you so much to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

Better than I expected, though very YA. It doesn't do anything really new for the genre, so I wouldn't recommend it to those who don't already enjoy YA fantasy.

Some pros and cons:
+ Classic fairytale feel
+ I liked the MC and how she didn't care about being polite or pandering to Cyrus
+ The kissing scenes are quite nice
- The main relationship changed a little bit too quickly from hatred to love/lust
- Some decisions of the MC were a bit stupid, like her refusal to tell anyone else anything about what was going on
- Some pacing issues

Overall I enjoyed the book. There were some slow parts but the ending left me very interested, so I will be reading the next one.

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can see why this book is compared to The Cruel Prince as Violet is as ambitious and flawed as Jude, and Cyrus is as secretly cunning and soft as Cardan. If you loved the dynamic between Jude and Cardan, you should enjoy this one too.

That's where to comparison ends, however. I appreciated how the author included divination, curses and court politics. Violet has her own interests at heart. She grew up in the streets and seized the opportunity to save the prince when they were children to gain the royal family's favor. But, because she's been working for the king since then, she must lie and show loyalty in order to keep her comfortable life. All this made her an interesting character.

Violet can be sarcastic, selfish and sometimes loving. I liked her temper and her sense of self-preservation. She can be dominating as well (sexually I mean) which was fun to read. Her relationship with Cyrus was well done: see it has a childhood friends to enemies to reluctant lovers one with all the conflicting emotions and trust issues. I wasn't sure if Cyrus was lying or being sincere at times, and it made the dynamic between them gripping. Some scenes made me laugh (like Cyrus being pursued by a mob of women).

Plotwise, some elements were to be expected but I didn't mind that at all. More politics and depth would have been welcome though.

Overall, it's enjoyable!

I usually make sure I complete an ARC over a couple of days to ensure I don't miss anything. This book, however, forced me to sit down for 2 hours straight and finish it. If you haven't picked it off me yet, I am a huge sucker for forbidden romances and sassy leads. The tension was unmistakeably sizzling and spurting out bubbles of angst, and I was eating it all up! Safe to say, I have grown extremely attached to Dante, mostly because we're quite literally the same person. I also have grown to mimic Violet's sass which is *chef's kiss*. My only critic is that the ending went a little too fast for my liking and I wished most of it was resolved in the next book, so we're left with a wicked cliffhanger. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait to recommend this book to others.

This book is going straight to my favorites. i didn’t expect to love it so much, and now I cannot wait for the sequel. the protagonist, violet, is the main source of my love. she's funny, sarcastic, a cynic and a liar, exactly the kind of protagonist i love in my books. every time she says something i laugh and i find myself agreeing with her reasonings. the story itself is intriguing and mysterious, without being too much complicated for the first book in a new series. i love love love how the author orchestrated the dynamic between violet and the prince, it's something that i somehow missed in books, that kind of unresolved tension between two people who are not afraid of doing the wrong thing to reach their goal. this book is absolutely my kind of book, i'm so thankful for the opportunity to read it.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book and I was curious what to expect. The cover just looks so beautiful and it fits the plot perfectly. I’ve started right away and the book was very easy to read. I couldn’t put the book down and I finished it in a few hours. I really liked the writing style. It was easy to read, very exciting, action-packed and really emotional. I felt so much reading this and loved it from the first page to the last.

The characters were very well developed and I was able to understand the individual actions and behaviors very well. I especially loved Violet’s character. She stands by her actions and doesn’t apologize. I really liked the fact that she fully accepted herself and her sometimes selfish behavior. She never bent over backwards for others. I really liked Cyrus as Violet’s counterpart. The squabbles between the two… This love-hate relationship was just so well written and you could actually feel the crackle while reading.

If you like books with action, lots of sizzling, enemies to lovers and a lot of feeling, you shouldn’t miss this book.

Violet Made of Thorns is first book in a duology that follows Violet, a young seer who serves the king of a great kingdom (I forgot the names of all the places, sorry). Violet is not the most honest and kind person. She has learned very soon from the king himself to align her visions with his ambitions of expansionism. As the crow prince is cursed until he finds a bride, the king asks Violet to announce that Raya, a girl chosen by the king himself, is the future bride of the prince Cyrus. But by doing so, Violet unravels a lot of problems...

I read this novel just after This Vicious Grace and I found it funny that in both there were a character named Dante and a main character who couldn't touch anyone. Granted, Violet doesn't touch anyone's hands because she can read the past and the future of the person, so it's more polite to keep her hands to herself.

I liked the book but it wasn't the best. There were a lot of repetitions, the hate/lust relationship (can't call that love) between Cyrus and Violet was more important than the political schemes and wasn't very well done in my opinion, the worldbuilding lacked explanations and the "plot twists" were too sudden and never again mentionned by the characters. I wasn't dying to keep reading it and now that I have finished it, even though I'm kind of curious as how the story will evolve concerning the curse and the woods, I'm not yet sure that I will read the sequel.

I've read some reviews on Goodreads and NetGalley and was surprised to see that a lot of people said that Violet Made of Thorns is a dark fantasy. I don't know a lot about this genre but I expected it to be...darker? For me, it reads more like a romantasy since the relationship between Violet and Cyrus is so dominant.

Rep: lesbian character, I think some characters are supposed to be POC? I honestly can't remember
TW: death, blood, murder

“Once, a girl saved a prince who was meant to die.”
“They grew up together. Their paths diverged. It was in their nature to loathe each other, for a palace-raised prince and a girl plucked from the streets are two very different creatures”

Firstly, let me thank the publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, and NetGalley, for allowing me access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is truly a fairy tale type story where we follow Violet, a seer, who acted upon what she saw in a vision to save Cyrus, the prince of Auveny and heir to the throne. After being brought to the kingdom, the current Seer soon passes leaving Violet to take her place. Before the seer’s departure, she speaks of a prophecy relating to blood, war & roses, the only way to break the prophecy is for the prince to find and marry his true love.

Obviously not everything goes to plan along the way. We learn of enchanted woods, fates, witches and we meet some interesting people throughout. Not only that, but Violet has visions of her own and she soon has to make decisions on where her loyalties lie and what matters to her most: her life or the kingdom and those around her.

There is plenty of magic, curses and beasts throughout this book which makes is a truly enchanted read.

Characters:
Violet, as mentioned, comes from a poor background with no mention of parents. She’s had to learn quickly how to fend for herself. Violet is a feisty character who doesn’t suffer fools gladly and has a sharp tongue to match.

Cyrus, the prince. He is as charming as he is handsome and, at first, may come across as a little stubborn and naïve despite that fact that he is heir to the throne but things start to become clearer the further into the book you get.

Camilla, the princess and sister to Cyrus. One of my favourite characters and not what you’d expect a princess to be like (other than the way she dresses in the most lovely clothes and is picture perfect) some of her dialogue and comments are brilliant and the pages are a joy when she is within them. She is also the Sapphic representation for this book!!

Dante, Cyrus’ best friend and part-time advisor (unofficially) He seems to be the one who speaks sense. Dante is technically an outsider as he was not born within Auveny, however you will learn his story as you read the book.

General comments:
The curses, masked balls, magic, enchanted forests and fairies REALLY make this book feel like a magical fairy tale. There is a strong tension between Violet and Cyrus right from the start, in more ways than one.

Some of the banter and dialogue between characters is really funny and refreshing. There is good character progression also, you can really feel them changing and growing with one another. There is some betrayals throughout the pages and political views on what I best for the kingdom.

I’d say this book features a few generic YA tropes, including hidden identities, enemies to lovers, slow-burn and forbidden romance but they’re written really well and you just want it to happen, and when it does! *ugh* <3

This book isn’t ‘spicy’ in any way. There are a few kissing scenes and eventually a scene which alludes to sex but it’s not graphic not does it actually mention that it happens, you just know it did.

The last third of this book was my favourite as so much happened and I just HAD to keep reading to find out what was going on. Some of the decisions will infuriate you, but the decisions have purpose and I PROMISE that everything makes sense.

Just to add, I read this on my Kindle, I never ever annotate books, but this one I just HAD to highlight any parts that I loved and wanted to go back and read again.

Summary:
Overall, Gina Chen has written a brilliant debut book and I think a lot of people are going to love this, especially if you’re a YA fantasy lover who is a sucker for a handsome prince and a Sapphic princess.

Overall I’d give this 4.5/5 stars.

This is one of those books that left me with mixed feelings by the time I got to the last page. To start off, the illustrator of the cover and of the world-map (inside the book) has an A++ from my side for the fantastic drawings! After finishing the book, I’m happy to say that the cover reflects accurately the story development and the world-map helps with navigating the action a lot! Up next, another shout-out goes to the author for the wonderful work she did with putting this high-fantasy world together. It’s not everyday that I get to read such great world-building novels. Then, there’s the magic system which is unique in its own way and promises good action. And finally, there are the characters.

At first, I was fascinated by the “Seer” concept and the royal family, but after a few chapters in, I had a 180-degrees change of heart. The way in which they develop and take action just doesn’t seem justified. There are a lot of scenes where the main characters take actions which are either not too well explained or do not make sense, story-wise. It also seem to be a struggle between the type of scenes: one moment there’s a would-be romance scene, then it immediately cuts off to an action scene or just dialogue between characters.

The ending is open, so I’m expecting there to be more character development and presentation of the high-fantasy world in the next book. My hope for the next book is that the characters will “mature” or they will go through some sort of initiation which will trigger a better character development. Fingers crossed for the best!

Special thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads!

#LifeLongLearning #VioletMadeOfThorns #NetGalley

Folk of The Air vibes but more disney! Like think of Style meeting Getaway Car midway and both of them have knives

Violet when she pressed herself to his chest
'There were sirens in the beat of his heart'

Then you should have run

Violet Made of Thorns is for those who want Disney movies with heroines who are way for ruthless, conniving, and desperate. The book features a royal seer who is desperate for job security, so she fake predicts that the crown prince, whom she has the hots for, will find love by a certain midnight, in accordance with her King's wishes. The Prince hates her, she hates the prince, so hate kissing him is a completely normal response as she tries to figure out how to keep him from firing her when he takes the throne.

Also add a fantasy plot about kingdoms, war, sentient forests and evil witches, and voila, you've got Violet Made of Thorns.

A fun romp through Disneyland, Gina Chen's fantasy is perfect for the more pragmatic of readers who love morally grey heroines desperate for power.