Reviews tagging 'War'

Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen

26 reviews

raintje's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: War

frantically's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

Ugh, I'm so torn on this book!

First off, the negatives: I couldn't stand Violet most of the time. There's a very fine line between being a "cool" anti-heroine character and being a pick-me girl and most of the time, she was the latter. There was so little build-up to her and Cyrus' relationship and their characterisation sometimes seemed to change at will.

But there was also a lot of stuff I loved! I wish this had been an adult or new adult fantasy because godddd, were those spicy scenes good. Like, came for the fantasy, stayed for the blood kink. In their makeout scenes, Cyrus & Violet had so much chemistry and especially towards the end, it really turned into a dark romance. Obsessed with that! I also enjoyed the magic system and the main villain. 

I wish the next book would be more focused on Cyrus & Violet's relationship and less on the, a bit boring, plot. The writing was so beautiful and especially that last chapter makes me tempted to still read the next one 🤫

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Self harm, Child abuse, and Classism

Minor: War and Death of parent

tak_everlasting's review against another edition

dark

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

1.0

An insult to fairytales, anyone who has ever liked anyone romantically, and, most egregriously, me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Self harm, Sexual content, and Gore

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Violence, War, Colonisation, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Violence, Drug use, and Addiction

thoranareads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Self harm

Moderate: Violence and Physical abuse

Minor: War

kbairbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Holy WOW. Oh my gosh I couldn’t put this down!! This is the BEST fairytale retelling I have EVER read. Wow I am… speechless. Is there a book two in the works? Has Gina Chen written anything else? I’m like… itching for more 😂 I need more. Period.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Gore, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexual content

imds's review

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, War, Chronic illness, Blood, Self harm, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Murder, and Violence

erica_reads_everything's review

adventurous lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

3.25

This book was cute, but not great. An easy read, it would be best for older teenagers. I think my main complaint is that the author put forth a lot of ideas that were wonderful, but didn’t see them all the way through. It felt like it was too fast, and that she could have explored some of the intricacies of the story in more detail.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Self harm, Blood, and Violence

Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, War, Sexual content, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

relin's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Very interesting world building and the romance going from enemies to lovers was a fun ride!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Violence, Animal death, Outing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Racism and Child death

natashaleighton_'s review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

A deliciously addictive and utterly enthralling YA fantasy with one of my absolute favourite tropes—enemies to lovers. It’s about a morally grey seer and witch, a cursed prince and a deadly prophecy that ties the two together. And I have to say—for a book that I was already highly anticipating—I’m utterly shocked by how easily it eclipsed all of my expectations. Gina Chen’s writing style is so refreshing and her morally grey protagonist was absolutely fabulous! 

I loved the cynical, prickly and unapologetically cunning Violet who is willing to do whatever it takes to survive—even if it leaves her at loggerheads with the Crown Prince, Cyrus. And although she’s definitely a flawed character I couldn’t help myself from rooting for her—and hoping that she and Cyrus would just give in to all the that delicious sexual tension, curse be damned. 

It does have similar vibes to The Cruel Prince or Serpent & Dove with a sprinkling of Briar Rose/ Beauty and The Beast elements that I really enjoyed, but it is a completely original story so don’t expect too many similarities.

The pace was surprisingly fast despite how lush the world and character building was and I honestly think it could’ve been longer if only so I didn’t have to leave Gina Chen’s gorgeously crafted world. 

Trust me, if you love your fairytales dark, and dangerously twisted then you’re going to absolutely love this. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Racism, Body horror, Classism, and Sexism

Moderate: War and Violence

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Animal death and War

Minor: Gaslighting, Grief, Self harm, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content