Reviews

Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen

juliette_go's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? No

3.0

avispa_nightriver's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

okevamae's review against another edition

4.0

Violet has always had visions of the future. As a destitute street child, she used these visions to save the life of the prince. Now, years later, she is the king’s Seer – and often, a talented liar – who influences the royal court on his behalf. She and Prince Cyrus can’t stand each other, and she knows that as soon as he’s king, she’ll be stripped of her position and banished. The king is pressuring her to “foretell” that Cyrus will soon meet and marry his true love – which is at odds with a vision of the prince’s death and a terrible curse which the old royal seer had before she died. And Violet herself is having terrible, violent dreams that tell of a curse awakened and a dire fate waiting for the prince... and for herself.

I found Violet to be an interesting character – selfish and prickly and yet also sympathetic, as much of her unlikeable behavior comes from an understandable position of self-preservation which has been molded by her early life, as well as the jaded nature that comes with years of being the king’s pawn. The enemies-to-lovers trope isn’t one of my favorites, but I thought it done in an interesting way here. The ending was unexpected and I’ll definitely keep an eye out for the next book!

Representation: POC characters, LGBTQ characters

I received an ARC of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

abhss's review against another edition

2.5

This is ok-ish at best and mediocre at worst. The only thing the book manage to do is entertaining me a bit and thanks to the I-write-like-I-talk writing style. 
Honestly I didn’t understand where the blooming attraction between the two characters was coming from? It felt so rushed and very unbelievable. I never compare stories but honestly this book tried so hard to recreate the Jude/Cardan dynamics. Well l, it failed. 
The world building felt very rudimentary. We have a map at the beginning of the book with places that are not mentioned at all lol. 
The ending was not great, the pacing ok also what with the overuse of italic words to make a point ? That’s lazy and I couldn’t help but notice it and be bothered by it.

darei3ear's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

hafertaler's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

chief_cook_and_librarian's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

ignited_redqueen75's review against another edition

3.0

This was okay, I like the banter between Cyrus and Violet, to be honest that is probably what kept me going because there were a lot of moments where I was ready to dnf it but I did push through which sounds bad but the ending was interesting and I'm happy I didn't dnf it. It is very slow paced and Violet's ignorance can sometimes get frustrated. Overall I give this a 3 star because I'm being kind but it truthfully deserves a 2.5. I wasn't to thrill on it.

If you like not necessarily enemies to lovers but banter between love interests and complex relationship in a story this is for you. I am curious as to where the story goes on book 2 but it's not something I am in a hurry to read.

I don't like giving bad reviews nor do I like not recommending books to others but this just wasn't for me, I am disappointed that goodreads has this as a perfect book for fans of The Cruel Prince, I'm seriously scratching my head like how. I love the Cruel Prince by Holly Black and this just did not give me the same feels. I'm sorry, maybe it will for someone else.

bookedandboujee's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

qkat's review against another edition

4.0

Got this in a Fairyloot box and decided to give it a try since it was one of the Goodreads finalists. At first, I wasn’t impressed. By the time I got about 100 pages in, I was enjoying it. Granted, it is a basic YA fantasy/romance…nothing new or spectacular. It was a lot of fun to read, though. I will probably pick up the sequel when it releases. 4 stars.