What's it about (in a nutshell):
Violet Made of Thorns is a fairytale retelling with unusual twists that are sharp, vicious, and simply unforgettable.

Initial Expectations (before beginning the book):
I love a beautiful cover, and this book has one of the most beautiful among them. Rich covers such as this make me think that the story is an epic or high fantasy. The blurb tells of an exciting tale filled with sarcasm and wit, not to mention morally gray characters and a not-so-charming Prince. It sounds like this story will take the Disney version of fairytales and stand it on end with a new edgier version.

Actual Reading Experience:
What I loved most about this story was the fairytale quality with a twist. It was just what I expected from reading the blurb and more. It has many fairytale components like a prophecy, a prince, a witch, a magical wood, and a kingdom that needs saving. What the author does with these components is much different than I have grown to expect from the many, many Disney fairytale-inspired movies I have watched over the years. Is there a happily ever after, at least? I don't know, as this is the first book in a planned duology, but I'm betting that the ending will be just as shocking as the rest of the story.

The first thing I noticed when I began reading Violet Made of Thorns is the informal conversational tone of the story told in Violet's snarky, self-deprecating voice. This was a shock at first because my initial expectation was of high fantasy, and this is not how they are told – it's the opposite. Once I got used to it, however, I enjoyed it except for some niggles over profanity. I have an issue with profanity being used in epic fantasy stories because it's base, stands out, and is often used for no logical reason. It isn't a fairytale or high fantasy language, but that part fits with everything else the story does.

I especially enjoyed loads of unexpected twists and turns. There are so many surprises to be unveiled in this world and story, and I just love a good twist and a shocking turn. These revelations worked to keep the pace extremely fast, and if you have read any of my past reviews, then you know I love nothing better than a fast pace – the quicker the better.

There is a shockingly steamy enemies-to-lovers romance in Violet Made of Thorns which is entirely in keeping with Violet's character. I can't imagine she would be involved in anything but enemies-to-lovers romance since she is far from the warm and fuzzy type. It's a bit of a stretch, but it isn't. I bought it, and for my reading experience, that's what's important. The sex scenes made me blush, but I'm the person who fast-forwards through those scenes when streaming shows and movies, so no surprise there.

Characters:
Violet is the main character and the narrator. Her sarcastic wit held me enraptured, as did her terrible decisions and insightful observations. I found her magic very intriguing and will love to see that explored more in the next book.

Cyrus is the not-so-charming prince. Well, that's not totally true. He's only not charming to Violet because everyone else happily bends to his will after he throws a smile their way. He is a very complex character that I enjoyed getting to know, and I can't wait to see where his story goes.

The side characters are all unique and quirky, and I loved how different each is and what that added to the story as it unfolded.

To Read or Not to Read:
If you love seeing fairytales turned on their end and enjoy sarcasm and wit, Violet Made of Thorns will utterly delight you and take you on a fast-paced adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an eARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Violet is a Seer, one who can see the threads of a person’s past and future, and while her prophecies and predictions are mostly true, she is also beholden to the wishes and machinations of the king. When a fabricated foretelling involving the prince - with whom she has always clashed - starts to take a darker turn, she must figure out how to fight destiny, fate and her own prickly heart.

One of the reasons why I really enjoyed this debut novel is because all of the characters are very morally ambiguous. FMC Violet is very much an antiheroine - she recognizes her own selfishness and callous attitude and behavior and doesn’t apologize for it. She has a really interesting character arc in this story, and I’m very curious to see how she further develops as the series continues. MMC Cyrus presents himself as Prince Charming but also has a more cunning side that reveals itself at opportune moments. If you enjoy a good loathe to love romance (think The Cruel Prince without the mean-spirited bullying), then you will definitely like how the relationship plays out in this story.

Other elements I liked: Cinderella-inspired vibes, prophecies and curses, potential for even more Seer magic, and surprising twists and turns. I think there is more room for growth in subsequent novels, especially for establishing context and history, but overall the romance and the political conflicts have a satisfying beginning in Violet Made of Thorns.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Fantasy
Age Level: Upper Young Adult/New Adult (this is one that I feel crosses the line to make it no suitable for 12-18yo readers)
Content: mild language, one vague open-door scene

Violet is probably my favorite character out of all of the books I've read in the last year or two. She's obstinate, morally gray, and refuses to let anyone stop her from achieving what she wants. So often older fantasy novels have quiet female characters who remain in their place and only do what they're told; they fall in love with who is expected and everything is perfect. Violet is exactly the opposite, and she's so opinionated about everything in her life and refuses to back down.

I also really loved how this has the feel of a traditional fairytale, but then you've got Violet in the background going, "nope, I'm not doing that." The beasts, fairies and overgrown Fairywood are all bits and pieces that feel like stories I've read before, but Violet's point of view of it gives it all a new spin. You've got a bit of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella, but it's all put together is such a great way that it doesn't take away from the main storyline at all.

The novel was incredible and Violet felt so real, she could have been sitting next to me on the sofa. Goodreads says this is book one, so here's to hoping for book two!

After Violet changed the future by saving Prince Cyrus from death as a child, she was plucked off the streets of the capital and installed as the new Seer for the kingdom. Trained to be the kind of Seer the king wants and needs - and not necessarily and honest one - what began as friendship between Cyrus and Violet has twisted into animosity, and when the king asks her to twist a prophecy to suit his machinations, terrible things begin to happen in the kingdom. However, the tension between them hides something more and as Violet and Cyrus start working together to try to save the kingdom and their futures, they find themselves drawn to one another, but this may mean the end of everything and Violet doesn't know where her loyalties actually lie.

Morally grey protagonists can be extremely challenging to like, especially when they don't really seem to have many redeeming qualities and unfortunately the majority of the characters in this book are morally grey. Perhaps this makes them more realistic but it also makes it harder to read since they keep making poor choices and doing things that make them unlikable. The hints of history and magical explanations are interesting but incomplete - hopefully this will be fleshed out in the upcoming sequel - which makes sense for Violet's first-person narrative, considering she is still learning what it means to be a Seer and how her magic and the magic in the world actually works. Young adult fantasy readers will like the new world with its magic and will be more likely to empathize with Violet and her actions, though older readers and those exhausted by the current state of things in our world may find it hard to enjoy this very dark take on a fairy-tale. It will be interesting to see how Chen resolves the story in the sequel - hopefully readers will get more explanation of the magic and a happier ending.

Thank you to Random House Children/Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Violet Made of Thorns early in exchange for an honest review.

I got 15% into this and it was very clear to me that this isn't a book for me. The tone and the third person present tense just doesn't work for me. If I know I'm not the right audience for something so early into reading it, I usually don't post a review publicly because I don't want to hurt the book's chances of finding the right audience elsewhere.

As Seer, Violet holds an important place in the kingdom of Auveny. She has the ability to see threads of the future and the king uses her visions selectively to further his agenda for the kingdom. Violet is loyal to the king because she feels like she owes him, but is constantly at odds with the Prince. With the looming threat of a dark prophecy and a Witch creating beasts that are running the countryside, Violet and the Prince must figure out their relationship before the kingdom ends in ruin.

This story has several elements of classic fairytales woven in to it… beasts, lost slippers, a ball to find a bride. Unfortunately this one just didn’t wow me. The magical elements seemed underdeveloped in favor of the relationship between the Prince and Violet. In general I really liked Violet as a character, she seemed smart and spunky in most situations. But when she got around the prince all that went out the window and all she could do was insult him; this got old. And the witch plot seemed a little thrown in with no backstory. Overall it wasn’t horrible, just not a wow book.

3 stars

I was blown away by the main character, violet. She takes no prisoners and makes no apologies. I loved how ballsy she was and how matter of fact she dealt with all of the political intrigue around her. violet is also funny without trying to be but, that’s necessary to hide a lonely heart. Violet was plucked from the streets because of her “sight” living in the palace has taught her to be tough. Cyrus has always known he would be prince. They’ve hated each other from the get but the future of the kingdom depends on them. As a debut, I was hooked by the premise and originality of the story. Loosely based on a fairy tale, it spins, cruel love interests, morally grey characters and a plot rife with Trojan horses. For fans of deadly education, cruel prince.

I fell in love with Violet on page one and it was a joyride from there until the end of this book!

Things I loved:
- Violet’s internal monologue. She was such a strong morally grey character.
- The world building! I got a great sense of the world without having it feeling like an info dump.
- The side characters and banter!
- The ending!

I cannot wait to own my own copy of this book!

Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court 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 Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it.

But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom—all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus.

The tension that was supposed to exist ( regarding the romance) before they kissed simply did not exist for me and I found the entire relationship between Violet and Cyrus to be unbelievable. I'm usually a reader who likes enemies-to-lovers, but I don't think that aspect played a role here at all. The fairytale-ness and the intrigue alone are what kept me reading. The setting is atmospheric and the world building lovely - I did find myself needing to know what was going to happen next.

This is probably more of a 3.5 but I'll round up :)

I had so much fun with this book!

It's a solid YA fantasy entry, with interesting politics and world-building and a main character whose flaws and issues I really appreciated. (Also, morally grey Asian MC? Sign me uppppp) The author did a great job weaving well-known fairytales in to the story without making it feel predictable; the most obvious references were Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. The chemistry between Cyrus and Violet is believable and fun to read about, and I very much enjoyed that they didn't suddenly start to get along, even once their attraction started to grow. Sometimes it feels like two characters starting to like each other kills all the tension, but that didn't happen here. I do think it would have been nice to get some more development of the side characters; most of them were pretty flat in my opinion.

There were a lot of parallels to The Cruel Prince: political maneuvering, a morally grey MC, enemies/rivals-to-lovers romance. I don't think those are all quite as well done as The Cruel Prince, but to be fair, it would be nigh-impossible to outdo that series.

In short, if you're into YA or NA fantasy and enjoy some good moral greyness, give this a try!

This perfectly balanced story is both ruthless and sweet. I'm a huge fan of fairytale retellings & this hit that sweet spot of feeling familiar while also being unlike anything I've ever read. It's so good. Violet is everything I've ever wanted in a witchy MC. This book needs to be on every shelf.

Violet Made of Thorns was easily one of my most anticipated releases of 2022. If the stunning cover hadn’t already drawn me in, the premise of a prickly heroine who sees other people’s fate learning to take control of her own would’ve. Gina Chen’s debut, Violet Made of Thorns follows Violet Lune, who is regarded as the kingdom’s only seer — and also a liar. Enter Prince Cyrus, who she once rescued, who gave her a home, and who she’s almost always at odds with. He’s next in line for the throne, and cursed with the kingdom’s ruin. To save them all, Violet tells yet another false prophecy — Prince Cyrus will find his betrothed before the journey’s over, and break the curse. But when one false prophecy leads to another, Violet and Cyrus find themselves caught between their feelings, following their destinies, and taking matters into their own hands.

As our main character, I loved how unapologetic Violet was. She’s witty and well — prickly. Since this book is written in her POV, I could see readers either falling completely in love with Violet, or absolutely hating her. I don’t think there’s much room for an in between. I will say that it took a while for her to grow on me, but once she did, I found myself really liking her. She’s unapologetic for her actions and her motivations, and I really enjoyed that about her.

As someone who hasn’t read The Cruel Prince or Serpent & Dove, I wasn’t disappointed by the comparison titles, although I’ve heard a couple people express their disappointment by inaccurate comparison titles. That being said, given what I do know about The Cruel Prince, I expected the romance and sexual tension to play more of a role than it did. The ‘enemies’ bit of ‘enemies to lovers’ was well done, although the ‘lovers’ bit was a little lacking for me. While I did care about Cyrus and Violet, I didn’t find myself overly invested in their dynamic and found myself wishing for more information about their backstory. There were a couple moments and quotes between the two of them that I loved, but it also felt a little superficial, or more tell than show. I’m hoping that, since this is the first book in a series, that there’ll be more moments between Cyrus and Violet.

It’s incredibly evident that Violet Made of Thorns draws on many fairy tale influences, although sometimes it felt like a little too many. I struggled a bit with the worldbuilding, and just didn’t really know how all the different fantasy aspects went hand in hand for the most part. I think that upon a reread, things will make more sense to me. Violet Made of Thorns also promised a lot of court politics, and I found it to be a little lacking in that development. While there was some court politics, it just wasn’t as much as I’d been expecting.

Overall, I was a little disappointed by Violet Made of Thorns, but still found it an enjoyable read. I’m really excited for the sequel, and to see how the loose ends are tied up!

{Thank you @netgalley for an arc of my newest favorite book 💜}

5 FREAKING STARS!!!!

The fact I read this book while on my month long work trip in Costa Rica should tell you how amazing it is!!!

Gina Chen has managed to write a modern day fairytale with a parallel to Grimm’s that is nothing short of genius. She has a gift for descriptive imagery and language, I spent so much of this book stopping to highlight her quotes.

Violet and Cyrus are what all other enemies-to-lovers ships wish they could be. Things go from heated to angsty at whiplash speed and there’s a scene in here that is an upgrade of knife to the throat, just saying 👀👀👀 (bonus points to them for being forbidden love as well). The Witch + Prince Charming = soulmated true love

And lastly Violet is the (iced over) heart of this story. I think everyone will relate to her internal commentary in one form or another.

All that’s to say GO CHECK OUT THIS INCREDIBLE DEBUT JULY 26th!!!

What an amazing debut! Gina Chen's writing style immediately draws you and hooks you with Violet's story. Violet is a seer in the court of the king who provides some false prophecies concerning the king's son Cyrus and his future marriage. She accidentally opens a curse that will determine the kingdom's future based on who Cyrus chooses as a bride. This story has so many fairytales woven throughout that makes this story so fun! There is plenty of banter, sarcasm, gossip, and adversity between these two. Wonderful debut novel!

Another really fun young adult fantasy series kick-off!

Violet is the seer for the king, and has been getting some off prophecies about the future of the kingdom. The king's son, Cyrus, is set to take over the throne soon, and Violet recently made some *fake* prophecies at the king's behest that Cyrus would find a wife soon, thereby setting the kingdom on a good path. But Cyrus doesn't find someone to marry, and instead seems to be a thorn (no pun intended) in Violet's side.

This definitely gave me Cruel Prince vibes! I won't call this enemies to lovers, because that's still TBD, but there's plenty of confused yearning, betrayals, prophecies and magic, and literally no one can be trusted. So of course, it's very entertaining. Love when everyone is a morally grey character!

Thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the e-ARC!

Holy Moly! Was that a great book or not? I am pretty stingy with 5 star ratings at times, but this is one of those special books that hooked me from the first sentence. I loved loved loved Violet as a main character! She's sassy, morally grey, irreverent, and everything I love in a fantasy antiheroine. Not quite a good guy, but not quite a villain, her character arc and development was phenomenal. She's a hot mess of a person and I couldn't help but be invested in her story. I loved the antagonists to lovers dynamic between Violet and Cyrus. As prince and hated seer, as enemies, as lovers, they were just perfect, and I loved their banter and their push and pull as characters. I loved the fairytale-esque feel of VMOT that has vibes from Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast and much more. The magic and the world0building was wholly unique and the plot engaging in a way that few good books can manage. I give Chen chops for her writing. She has narrative style is just perfect, vibrant and clever. And to think this was a debut! I really need to stop being surprised about that. VIOLET MADE OF THORNS is a book I couldn't put down and literally devoured, one about the choices we make between self-preservation, love and what is right, and it was definitely my favorite read so far this month!

Violet makes her place in court by cleverly worded prophecies, but Prince Cyrus will strip her of her role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer. The king asks her to prophecy his love story, and Violet awakens a curse that could potentially damn or save the kingdom, depending on his choice of bride. She can survive the cutthroat court, but even she can't change her fate. Violet must choose her path that could save herself and the kingdom, or destroy them all.

Most heroines are sweet in some way, but Violet is glad to be prickly, rude and sarcastic. As an orphan with a bit of precognition in her dreams, she had to fight to stay alive and eat prior to rescuing the Crown Prince as a child. The Crown Prince himself is charming but not dumb; he realizes that Violet is beholden to the King for her lifestyle, and therefore assumes everything is a lie, even when it isn't. He must maneuver through Court and their expectations, because they (and his father) want a measure of control and power. Cyrus isn't necessarily different from his father, who dreams of unifying the entire continent under his country's rule, and to eliminate the fairy woods in the continent center.

I love the hints of multiple fairy tales in this story, the court gossip and the whispered fragments of Prophecy in Violet's dreams. The individual nobles clamoring for favor aren't necessarily memorable, but as a whole they're a fascinating glimpse into the culture of the kingdom, the divide between Fates and fairies, and whether people have the ability to change their fate. Even as Violet and Cyrus are drawn to each other, they can't help hurting each other, too. As a survivor, Violet needs to feel in control of her own fate; while the King doesn't really give her that control, he gives her the illusion of it and she feels beholden to him for her current status. Cyrus can't trust the King-approved lies she spills, and can't offer her a truly different way of life except for exile, which he threatens out of anger. The external dangers mount, some of which conforms to the fragments of visions that Violet had seen. She's out of her depth when it comes to magic or the wider political machinations, right until the very end.

Fantasy stories are a good outlet, letting us see the heart of characters in new worlds and situations. We might not know what we would do if we had Violet's life, but we can live vicariously through her and see how to make the most of it. She's clever, strong-willed where it counts, and still has the ability to love and care for others. As prickly and anti-social as she can be, I still find her likeable and incredibly fascinating to read about.

Violet is a Seer in the palace of Auveny - she can gaze into her patrons' pasts and futures simply by touching their hands. Violet is exceptionally clever, and her King makes use of this by tailoring Violet's divinations, or at least what she reveals, for the masses. The King asks Violet to "prophesy" Prince-Charming Cyrus's true and fated love, and Violet awakens a curse that could destroy the kingdom based on Cyrus's future bride.

There's magic, witches, fairies, curses, beasts, enemies-to-lovers, a weird amount of dead roses, a queer princess, and much more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I have never read anything like it, which I always appreciate in a fantasy novel. I loved Violet and her "imma control my own destiny, thank you very much" vibes. I also loved the Violet-and-Cyrus dynamic. Also loved literally everything about Camilla. She is my queen. The characters were a big hit for me in this one.

Fate vs. free will is a tried and true theme/trope, but Chen did a great job handling the ambiguity of prophesy and the double-meanings that the Fates can sometimes sneak into characters' destinies. The characters were handling their own destinies, but like....were they??? Were they really??? I loved asking myself that question at the end because teeeechnically the prophesies remained true.

I'm really looking forward to promoting this one on my Booksta later this month for its book tour. This was definitely a hit for me.

Also where is Dante? I need him back please. Thank you.

Probably more of a 3.5 but I’m rounding up.

This book was a purely vain addition to my tbr because have you seen the covers..??? Both the UK and US editions are stunning and there was no way I was gonna be able to resist reading it. And I was pretty happy when I got the arc. Now let’s see how I feel about it.

The writing is definitely easy to get hooked on and I found the beginning with prophecies proclaiming upcoming doom and the main character trying to figure out what to do to prevent it very compelling to read. The world is also fascinating with Seers, faeries, faerie wood, witches, beasts and more - but I felt like none of the elements were too fleshed out. We only got the information that was strictly necessary to move the story forward and nothing more, which was slightly dissatisfying, but I hope we’ll get more in the sequel. It’s got a very fairytale feel to it though, and I was totally for those vibes. The plot also is a weird mix of romance and working towards avoiding the prophecy and while I did enjoy both aspects of the story, I think maybe the integration of the two could have been executed better. The pacing is pretty fast though, which is why this turned out to be another book I finished in a day. The other aspect I did like was how the author wove in themes like colonialism and expansionism, the false justification for wars, how common people are manipulated into supporting such bloodshed - and the author does all this quite well, seamlessly as part of the story, without feeling like additional commentary.

Most of my love for this book is because of Violet. She is an orphan girl who managed to get to her position as the King’s Seer by being loyal to him, lying and manipulating when necessary, basically doing everything required so that she can survive. She is clever, icy, prickly and knows exactly what she is doing and doesn’t regret it for the most part (or atleast doesn’t give herself the chance to feel any regrets). She knows how to play the game at court and values the position she has earned, and to hell with anyone who thinks she is being cowardly or selfish.

Cyrus on the other hand may be the Prince Charming but it took me a bit to like him and I still can’t say I was entirely convinced. He is definitely righteous, wants peace and would like to avoid as much bloodshed and wars with the neighboring kingdoms as possible, but can also be narrow minded and a bit rigid in his beliefs and expectations.

Theirs is supposed to be a hate to love relationship and it shows. We get the antagonistic banter between them, the sexual tension, the hateful making out and more - but I guess it all felt a bit hurried to me. I can’t seem to decide if it was because of the fast paced plot, or if there was a possibility to have more of their interactions on page so that I could be convinced of their bond. I think I definitely saw his feelings coming through, but Violet’s feelings were more difficult to pin down which is funny considering she is the only pov we get. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the romance, but I guess I just would have liked more of it.

The side characters are not too many but are a mix of interesting and not too significant. Cyrus’s twin Camilla is definitely the most fun of the lot who is a privileged princess who enjoys her role to the fullest, but can also fight if push comes to shove. Dante is all of their close friend and he seemed to be someone I could have really liked if only he had been present more. The King is probably the looming presence across the book and I liked how the author used his character as a foil to discuss her themes in detail. I can’t decide if he was a good ruler for his kingdom or not but I definitely am not a fan, though I have to say he is written very realistically. And then there’s the antagonist whom I won’t spoil but we definitely deserved to know more about them, because I didn’t get a sense of why they were the villain.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book but maybe not wholly satisfactory. I guess I just had too many expectations. But I love that the author created a no nonsense, prickly heroine and I can only hope we’ll get more of her being herself in the sequel. I am also looking forward to discovering more of the world. However, I feel like the author did a good job wrapping up the story in a way it feels complete, just in case it is useful information for anyone thinking about picking this up.

If you love fairytales that twist the familiar and lovable tropes and all the classic tales with unapologetic morally gray characters and love/hate romance, look no further.

What I enjoyed:
- The romance: I loved the banter, the palpable chemistry and the fact that MC and LI had their own ambitions and interests that were independent of one another often conflicting. Their relationship was intense, complicated and utterly delicious.
- I liked the snarky, biting tone of this book. The MC wasn’t the standard lovable hero, but more of a relatable anti-hero who was refreshingly honest and lovably unlikeable.
- The seer lore and origin. It’s a fascinating aspect of world building briefly teased that I’m looking forward to exploring in the next book.

Do note:
- the pacing left a little to be desired. There were some repetitious aspects of the story that made it drag and the ending felt rushed though I liked the fairy tale like conclusion. Based on the fact that some issues are unresolved I’m hoping there will be a sequel.


Thank you to Random House Children, Delacorte Press, and Netgalley who provided a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own.