This is one of those books that you only get the pleasure of reading once every few years. One that just checks all the boxes of everything you love to read. Violet was such a perfect anti heroine. I loved her attitude and her snark. I loved her banter and her twisted sense of decision making. This enemy to lovers saga was so great. One where they just can't stop betraying and distrusting throughout. I do think this book could have been a trilogy and we would have gotten better world building that way. TBH though I am so in love with this boom I don't even care. It is wonderful!

BRILLIANT. Absolutely addicting in every fantastical way. A page turner from the beginning and I’m absolutely a new fan.
This is a hate to love you but I must have you so let’s duel love story that’s not quite a love story kind of story.

Thank you thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this phenomenal book. I cannot wait until release day and the next one!!!

Ah, I love a good antiheroine. I know Violet is not going to be the type of main character that everyone loves or even enjoys but she was perfect for me. Her wit, her confidence, her wonderful horrible lies, and un apologetic nature was just fun to read for me. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it is almost always the characters that make or break a story for me and "Violet Made of Thorns" did not disappoint.

Honestly, my only real complaint (which isn't much of one) is that I would have liked just a tad more world-building thrown in. I could go on and on about Violet and Cyrus but I couldn't really say much about their actual world. I'm hoping we'll find out more with book 2! Which was also a surprise for me as I went in thinking this was a standalone and was surprised (in a good way) to find out we'll be getting more!

Rescuing a prince, was possibly, the worst mistake a Seer like Violet could make or was it?

This act of kindness, destined Violet to become the Seer to King Emilius, the father of Prince Cyrus. She became loyal to the King… and loyal to lying. She was clever and witty. She influences the royal court with her sometimes true divinations. She would make up visions in order to protect the Kingdom. But there was one goal in mind, Cyrus becoming the King. To be King, he needed a Queen. Unfortunately, there was a a prophecy that cursed happiness for them both. Despite meeting his match, Violet was still made to choose… Die or Live and the Prince dies…

Violet’s character felt strong at times and cowardly at others. She was secretly obsessed with the Prince. She didn’t want to believe it. She wanted to remain stoic.

Prince Cyrus felt lazy and less ambitious. Instead of proving his worthiness to take over the Kingdom, he wanted to show his muscles and wink at the ladies. He didn’t like the ladies necessarily, but he loved being liked by them.

I did like the banter between Violet and Cyrus. But their relationship evolving felt distant.

There was shock factor involved in the ending battle of the story. There were parts that I didn’t expect and thought that overall it was a decent fantasy.

The reading experience of this book was fantastic. I thought the writing and the world building was well done. I flew this book very quickly because I couldn’t figure out what was coming. I thoroughly enjoyed the chemistry between the characters and the romance.

Violet is a fantastic character. I feel like there is definitely a need for more characters like her. She is flawed, unapologetic and looking out for her own best interests.

I cannot wait to read more from Gina Chen.

*I voluntarily read and received an eARC of this novel from NetGalley for my honest review. All thoughts and comments are my own.*

**Minor spoilers**

I unfortunately didn’t get far in this work - seriously reading it. I skimmed most of the novel to be able to say I gave it a chance. I honestly would have DNF’d it as I am prone to do with novels I don’t get into.
I love a good anti-heroine, magical plots and thwarted fates but from the beginning interactions with the characters I wasn’t bought in. (Cyrus’ marriage & the owed fate) The relationship between Cyrus and Violet seemed shallow despite them having known each other for years prior. It felt lacking and their dialogue sometimes felt cringe. The writing style overalls felt choppy but was lyrical at times. The occasional information dumping was not to my taste either.

I don't know how I feel about this one... The book is advertised for the cynic, but I honestly felt like it was just The Throne of Glass series meets A Curse So Dark and Broken with a dash of fairy tale magic thrown in.

Violet is interesting, sure, but there's nothing new or groundbreaking about her - she's more one dimensional than anything. There was representation all over the place, which is great. The story is super character driven, which if the character is interesting, works well. But the only thing that Violet seems to be concerned about is how to spin any situation into something that works out for her.

And, to be completely honest, I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with the Curse thing and the Beasts and everything else.

I liked this book, it really is not a bad book at all.
The story follows Violet a seer. All her life she has been working for the king and he has always asked her to lie to the court. The thing is that the prince is cursed and that he has to marry to break the curse. The king has organized an arranged marriage for the price and he should marry this girl because Violet tells him to. After Violet lies to the prince she starts getting all these visions about him and how he has to die for her to be alive etc. Strange monsters start appearing and the kingdom starts to seem to go to ruin.
I loved Violet! She was an amazing main character. With her thoughts and her lies and her insecurities. I liked her a lot.
Cyrus is the prince and he is quite alright (very hot though). I loved him throughout all of the book.
NOW The issue I had with the book: the romance... it just wasn't what I was promised. I was told this was enemies to lovers and it's weird I don't like you to lovers, still interesting.
I will definitely want to read the sequel to this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a requested advanced copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Wow this was fantastic! There's magic, morally grey characters, mysteries, political machinations, plots, and an evil witch. Not to mention this takes enemies to lovers to an entirely new level. I've never read a book where the MCs both hate and love each other in equal measure throughout the entire story. It is frustrating, it is hot, and it is amazing.
There are just so many layers to Violet and the entire story. She's an outsider, she's a pawn, she forges her own plans, she's integral to both the king and Cyrus' plans, she has more magic and power than she realizes, she makes terrible choices and choices that make sense. Cyrus is also willing to do whatever it takes to see his plans through, and when they clash, there are absolute fireworks.
The whole story is so well done. I think this is being labeled as YA, but honestly it's a super mature YA with the themes and everything else on the page. Either way, I highly recommend it.
While there isn't a cliffhanger and the story wraps up pretty well, it does set up for a sequel and I'm excited to see what could be next!

4.5 stars

"Violet Made of Thorns" is different than other young adult fantasy because the main character is not instantly likeable or relatable. Violet keeps the reader off their balance because her choices and reactions are not typically self-sacrificing and selfless. In a way, those qualities make it hard to relate and root for the success of Violet. I found myself not caring if she came out on top of a situation or if something bad happened to her.

It was hard for me to get rooted into the book. I'm not sure if it is because the world building was lacking or if it was because of the disconnect I felt with the main character, Violet. Don't get me wrong, some of Violet's inner monologue I totally agreed with and related to (like her views on love, or her feelings about people), but overall I did not feel a connection with her or her world. I like the side characters: Dante, Camille, and Cyrus. But I did not feel the tension/passion between Violet and Cyrus that there usually is in an enemies-to-lovers trope. I did not see why there was so much hate between the two (it was explained, but I didn't feel like the level of hate matched the reason - it was excessive and dramatized in my opinion). I did not see why Cyrus liked Violet and vice versa. It just felt forced. One of my main gripes was when Violet would call Cyrus "Princey"...she does this a lot and it is just so juvenile and low brain energy. Either get a better "insult" or just say "Prince" sarcastically. The use of "Princey" took me out of the narrative every time.

I wish there was more depth and exploration about the dying faewood and I wish the little faes had more spotlight. Maybe that will happen in the second book. There will be a second book the way the the book ended, but it was not a hard cliffhanger.

Overall, the last 10% of the book kept my attention and glued to the pages, but most of the book I was not invested. I did not feel rooted or connected to the world or characters. I see the potential in this story and the characters, but maybe I was not in the right mindset (I just got done reading a well done high fantasy series before this book). Hopefully the second book will catch my attention more.

This was such an wonderful read! I couldn't put it down.

Crawling her way up from nameless orphan on the gritty streets of the Moon District to the Kings official Seer, Violet is the anti-hero you root for, while your heart breaks for her and the people she is closest to.
Cyrus is the crown prince, but is cursed with a dark prophecy.. The King is not above manipulating any and everyone that stands in the way of his greed.

A Violet made of Thorns is full of raw emotion, allowing you to see both sides of the coin. I absolutely loved it.
Violet is relatable to those who find it hard to.find relatable characters. She's flawed and closed off, who makes pretty terrible decisions a majority of the time, but still stands by those decisions. Violet struggles to find and hold onto things that come easily, like hope, love, trust.

The cover art is spectacular, the female Asian lead, as well as the friends to enemy to Lovers trope is the perfect blend.
This book is said to be likened to The Cruel Prince, but I don't really see it.
Five golden stars for Gina Chen, I cannot wait to read more!

This was a very fascinating fantasy read for me. And, I find myself really loving and enjoying it. The plot line, the pacing and the word building was absolutely perfect. Moreover, the characters were fairly interesting too. Overall, it’s a 4 stars read for me.

If it was possible to rip my heart out for this book, I would do it without hesitation.

I will have to confess that I didn't expect to like this book, but Gina Chen nailed the delivery she promised, and I couldn't be more surprised at how I adored it. Violet Made of Thorns is an enchanting book with a refreshing take on the sub-genre of dark fairytales that mildly reminds me of The Cruel Prince.

VMOT has every trope you could dream of: strong Asian female protagonist, REAL enemies-to-lovers with delightful banter, royal setting, prophecies, and betrayals. The way the author put everything together results in a compelling story with strong twists and turns, and an incredible dynamic between the characters, both platonic and romantic. I would do anything for Violet and Cyrus, and I would sell a kidney to kiss Camilla. That's how much I love the characters.

After Goodreads, this is supposed to be a duology, and honestly, I know all too well the pain of waiting for the sequel of a book that is not yet released. My grabby hands need the sequel, like, yesterday. 4.75/5 - a surprising coup de coeur.

Many thanks to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for this advanced copy. This review contains my opinion only.

This book releases in July, and I know it will be an instant hit. Violet is a Seer for a King Emilie. She was brought to the kingdom after she saved Prince Cyrus’s life when they were just kids. Violet and Cyrus hate each, which stems from jealously on both of their parts.

Then Violet starts having dreams/visions of the terrible things to come, beasts start invading the land, and throw in a cursed prince who has to get married or else he would die.

Definitely put this on your TBR list for the summer.

I'm a big fan of the morally ambiguous dark fairytale antiheroine. It's good. I nom it up with a spoon. I was really excited to read this one and (for the first time in a while with ARCs) I was not disappointed! Violet is a heroine you'll love to hate, and even though I felt like the romance was kind of rushed towards the end, I'm loving the enemies-to-lovers trope with Cyrus. Overall, I'm very much looking forward to the next book!

I thought this book was good. I really enjoyed the way Gina Chen wrote the visions that Violet saw. I also liked the characters in the story. Cyrus and Dante were my favorite (besides Violet). I did start to get a little bored in the middle but the ending was really good. I did not see it coming.

This was a very unique YA fantasy and I am a little torn on my feelings about it.

First lets talked about the things I liked. I loved the way the author blended in tidbits of my favorite fairytales. It made the book feel familiar yet fresh. The morally grey characters were awesome and very well done. The romance was sexy and I really shipped the main couple.

Now lets talk about the things I struggled with. The beginning of the story had a lot of info dumping and it was hard to get through the first 25%. I felt this book had all the elements but it wasn't executed very well at times. There were moments where I was really confused and the pacing was a little off.

Overall I really enjoyed this story and while there were things I wish would have been better I would still highly recommend it to YA fantasy fans.

thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC!

This was an engaging and engrossing read. I was instantly drawn into the story and the main characters. Violet is a compelling lead--she is complicated, rough edged, sharp and prickly. Her flaws are in plain view and she knows she has them and plows forward just the same. It was refreshing to see a heroine who didn't embrace or hide her flaws but who accepted them as part of who she is.

The story is complicated and the world building in very interesting. I think I could have taken on a bit more backstory on the society and magic and fae, and how they intersect.

I found Violet a great protagonist and the love interest, Cyrus, is as complicated! And cursed to boot! He's bright and astute, attractive and alluring, and not beyond using his charm to work his advantage.

Both main characters have their agendas, their goals, their machiavellian pursuits. It's enemies to lovers but you're never quite sure as to where they are on that spectrum as they shift back and forth and confound even each other.

this is part of a planned duology but this arc is good and does not leave you on a cliffhanger. I enjoyed it and look forward to more. It's nice to see complicated main characters who don't require redemption from others or recanting of their more prickly sides.

3.25 stars

Once an orphan living on the streets, Violet finds herself thrust into life as a public figure when she saves the life of Prince Cyrus. As the court Seer, she finds herself constantly navigating the world of politics and socialites, and is raised by the King to prophesy according to what he feels is best for he dominion. She has very different relationships with the prince and princess, and now that they are coming of age, the animosity she feels for the prince is suddenly turning into something more.

Can she use her sight to navigate the trials ahead? Will she be forced to do something she will forever regret just to stay alive?

Not the strongest of character development - they felt really flat for me, even as their relationships were defined. I found it hard to connect to any of them, and didn't like any of the characters. I can see how this may appeal to fans of fantasy novels, but this one isn't as strong as many I've read lately.

Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen
I would like to thank NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the advanced reader copy of this novel. I'll admit I was intrigued by the story right out of the gate - a witch with no true moral compass, a prince too charming to be real, and the Fates (yup, the scissors welding Fates). What could possibly go wrong?

Violet, narrator and Seer, struggles with the moral ambiguities her position as Seer puts her in. Not everyone wants her prophecies to be interpreted the same way. Unfortunately I struggled to be very invested in Violet, or the annoying Prince Cyrus. From the very start I could see the path this story would follow, and sadly nothing new jumped out to hook me as a reader.

While I was challenged by my initial lack of feeling for these characters, I was relieved to find that changing about halfway in. At this point the story picked up its pace and the characters got a little more interesting. And new characters were developed further, adding flavor to the story.

Finally, I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. I felt certain it would be like so many other books in this genre; it was a lovely surprise to discover I had misjudged the ending.