Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen

4 reviews

chocolatethief's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, and Gore

emilysreadingbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, War, Drug use, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, and Racism

Minor: Confinement, Genocide, and Fire/Fire injury

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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

4.0

It took me a while to get into this, but I really enjoyed the last third and am eager to see what happens next. The love-hate relationship between the two main characters is well done with plenty of tension. The other characters are also interesting enough. Story of fate and what happens when you fight against it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Body horror

Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Infidelity, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Confinement

quillify_'s review

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-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? No

3.5

 I… I have so many thoughts right now. Man, I was so excited for this one. The comp title was The Cruel Prince, and that is literally one of my favorite books of all time. All the tropes mentioned were right up my alley: anti-heroine, courtly intrigue, enemies to lovers with tons of tension, ruthless politics. I waited for this book for months and I was so eager to read it. Unfortunately, this is above average at best. A one-time read, at best.  The male lead, Cyrus, is kind of a blank caricature. Their “hate” feels childish because it doesn't have a solid basis. No backstabbing. No betrayal. It's only resentment towards an authority figure. For all her talk, Violet comes across as a passive protagonist with mildly interesting magic. Seriously, just gimme a reason to want to make out with the prince! We don't even get a clear description of him. Camilla and Dante were okay and adder some much needer humour. At times, the story felt intriguing, like it was heading the right way. And then we would go back to Violet scheming about nothing and having weird dreams. God, why do I even expect anything from America? Oh also, the romance plot made zero fucking sense. I can understand hate sex and hate attraction. I can understand hooking up. Now what in the actual fuck was that love business at the end!?!?! Just because you say I love you, doesn't mean a reader believes it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual content