Scan barcode
thebooklovingpanda's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As the saying goes: every future is earned and no destiny is without blood.
[All quotes are from the ARC, subject to change in the final version]
I enjoyed this one so much, it was utterly bingeable, unexpectedly funny, and I had plenty of fun discussions with my buddy read partner. Most importantly, I didn't ever have that (unfortunately increasingly common) feeling of slight disappointment that tends to accompany reading new releases these days. (The hype power of social media is a beast a half!)
My reading experience here definitely benefitted from having my expectations tempered. 'Violet Made of Thorns' was all over my social media before its release and sounded AMAZING, but a few lukewarm reviews made me go into this with less emotional pre-investment. As you can tell from the last paragraph, this resulted in a Great Time™.
Kings and curses, girls and gods - these are makings of tales. All I did was bleed and ask.
'Violet Made of Thorns' is very atmospheric, heightened by some lovely prose (many a highlight!), and perfect to read in autumn/spooky season. With strange visions, unsettling prophecies and witchiness afoot, the nods to fairy tale elements only elevated the darkly magical and dangerously beautiful (or beautifully dangerous?) vibes. Atmosphere: check...however the setting could have been boosted by the map depicting Auveny' neighbouring countries, rather than just the capital city.
I've always hated how people speak of destiny as if they had no part in it. How they stow their guilt in the stars instead of their hearts, blaming the Fates for their decisions.
The titular Violet is very engaging (as a main character ought to be!), Cyrus was...fine (lol), and some of the side characters stood out as well. Dante (Cyrus and Violet's mutual friend) and Camilla (Cyrus' sister) were particularly striking - Camilla needs more development yet still won me over almost immediately. There is also another who would be a spoiler to name... (Annoyingly, at the time of writing this review, I've actually forgotten who this is, because past me apparently thought that the spoiler warning applied to me too and didn't bother writing down this mystery character's name in my notes...) I hope to see them in Book 2!!
We know right off the bat that this is going to have an enemies-to-lovers plotline, yet I was both surprised and not by the trajectory of the romance. I had a theory that I was really hoping for...but the series isn't over yet! (I am furious at my past self for not writing down this theory in my notes, because by now I've forgotten.) I will say that I did get confused by how Cyrus and another character seemed to be falling and then that thread was just suddenly dropped. (Teenage hormones?)
"Sometimes you hate someone so much, you fall in love."
And maybe if I start a hot enough fire, it'll start shitting ice cubes. "You've had too much to drink, Lady Ziza."
The plot was full of surprises and I loved that while my veteran YA Fantasy experience could predict general points, they didn't unfold the way I expected. I was also impressed with how seamlessly the messages about imperialism and propaganda (that are unfortunately still all too relevant today) were woven into this fantasy world. That said, the story did annoyingly leave some apparently key things unexplained, like the significance of fairies and fayflowers. There also seemed to be this throwaway but essential thing about fairies and hope? I'm hoping these get expanded on in Book 2.
My immediate thought after closing the book was that I NEED Book 2. NOW. What an absolute rollercoaster of a finale...so much was happening that I kept turning the page thinking, 'Surely now it'll be the end/epilogue?'. I loved the fairytale-esque closer - very in keeping with the 'spin' propaganda theme - and I'm really looking forward to the sequel!
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an eARC for an honest review.
--------------------------
Initial thoughts:
I can't wait for Book 2. Wow. So much was happening at the end that I kept turning the page thinking, 'Surely now it'll be the end/Epilogue'... I'm glad my expectations were tempered before I went into this, because I ended up enjoying it a lot without feeling let down by inflated hype. Full RTC!
I can't wait for Book 2. Wow. So much was happening at the end that I kept turning the page thinking, 'Surely now it'll be the end/Epilogue'... I'm glad my expectations were tempered before I went into this, because I ended up enjoying it a lot without feeling let down by inflated hype. Full RTC!
Buddy read with Vivian!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Cursing, Violence, and Physical abuse
Minor: Racism
takarakei's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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
3.25
This started out really great, was definitely intrigued from the start. We follow Violet the Seer to the Kingdom of Auveny, whom often bends the truth when looking into people's futures. She divines a prophecy about the Prince that foretells disaster: either she must die or the Prince must. There was some good twists of fairytales loosely threaded into here (bits of Cinderella and Beauty& the Beast). I enjoyed Violet as a main character, she's very sassy, not at all concerned with court politics and realistic about life. She is at odds with the Prince and finds him to be rather silly, and they do have some good antagonistic banter. However, things dragged a bit midway and did not quite keep my attention. I think this was due to the other characters besides Violet being a bit plain. I have a feeling things could've been edited down into one slightly longer standalone, rather than a forthcoming duology.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: War and Racism
the self-harm is like 'cut your hand to provide blood for a spell'laurenevlyn's review
dark
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Self harm, Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism, War, Terminal illness, and Sexual content
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
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
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
mandkips's review
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content and Self harm
Minor: Murder, Emotional abuse, and Racism
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.
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
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Infidelity, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Confinement
emilia_thereader's review
dark
tense
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Racism
Minor: War
hannianne17's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Started this for the book club.
Stayed for the angst and the brooding angry prince.
Fell in love with the sarcastic, self-serving, and iconically hilarious antiheroine.
Representation: Asian main character, lesbian princess, brown bisexual scholar, and the male love interest is red-headed.
Trigger Warnings: self-harm for magic rituals (cuts hand), themes of racism (towards the main character and her friend from the royals), cursing, and gore/violence.
This book literally pulled me out of a reading slump. I appreciated it so much. I love books that have antiheroines. I think I might relate to them a little too much.
I think most of all, I fell in love with the way Violet had to fight for herself and her ability to be vulnerable. Fear of vulnerability and shame are really hard emotions to write well and this author nailed it. Violet was constantly at war with herself about what she wanted and what she equated with survival so she could feel safe.
You watch as she struggles to be enough to emotionally support herself, but she's still whole all on her own. And I think that is a very important and hard distinction to write. I've seen far too many authors write characters that try to balance their hyper-independence by making them completely mold themselves to the male love interest. At the end of the book, Violet was still herself. She was still secure in who she is.
Violet also challenges the idea that we must do what's "right" instead of what's right for ourselves. We've been taught to never bat an eye about a king that makes selfish decisions based on his greed. I think it's time the seers, witches, scholars, and fairies of the world have the ability to do the same without judgement in order to protect themselves from the destruction created by the greedy kings of the world.
There's also the exploration of privilege. Violet acknowledges how Cyrus doesn't have to worry about his reputation or his place in the court. Cyrus pushes her to stand up to his father, but he's completely tone deaf about how that will impact Violet's career. She's doing what she feels she must to protect herself physically and to protect her reputation.
But the quote that got me?
"If the fates control our future, I don't understand to what end...The fates judge us. If we are generous, honest, not too chatty, placable, forgiving, they might twist our threads so we find love and earn our heart's weight in gold...But I don't believe in anything that supposes it knows me better than I know myself."
I'm going to say it again... "I don't believe in anything that supposes it knows me better than I know myself."
The religious trauma inside me was leaping for joy.
I've always been a character development reader. This ticks all of my boxes. All of the characters have arcs and display growth. Some more drastic than others.
AND THE CLIFF HANGER?! OMG I was screaming.
I can't wait to read the next one.
Stayed for the angst and the brooding angry prince.
Fell in love with the sarcastic, self-serving, and iconically hilarious antiheroine.
Representation: Asian main character, lesbian princess, brown bisexual scholar, and the male love interest is red-headed.
Trigger Warnings: self-harm for magic rituals (cuts hand), themes of racism (towards the main character and her friend from the royals), cursing, and gore/violence.
This book literally pulled me out of a reading slump. I appreciated it so much. I love books that have antiheroines. I think I might relate to them a little too much.
I think most of all, I fell in love with the way Violet had to fight for herself and her ability to be vulnerable. Fear of vulnerability and shame are really hard emotions to write well and this author nailed it. Violet was constantly at war with herself about what she wanted and what she equated with survival so she could feel safe.
You watch as she struggles to be enough to emotionally support herself, but she's still whole all on her own. And I think that is a very important and hard distinction to write. I've seen far too many authors write characters that try to balance their hyper-independence by making them completely mold themselves to the male love interest. At the end of the book, Violet was still herself. She was still secure in who she is.
Violet also challenges the idea that we must do what's "right" instead of what's right for ourselves. We've been taught to never bat an eye about a king that makes selfish decisions based on his greed. I think it's time the seers, witches, scholars, and fairies of the world have the ability to do the same without judgement in order to protect themselves from the destruction created by the greedy kings of the world.
There's also the exploration of privilege. Violet acknowledges how Cyrus doesn't have to worry about his reputation or his place in the court. Cyrus pushes her to stand up to his father, but he's completely tone deaf about how that will impact Violet's career. She's doing what she feels she must to protect herself physically and to protect her reputation.
But the quote that got me?
"If the fates control our future, I don't understand to what end...The fates judge us. If we are generous, honest, not too chatty, placable, forgiving, they might twist our threads so we find love and earn our heart's weight in gold...But I don't believe in anything that supposes it knows me better than I know myself."
I'm going to say it again... "I don't believe in anything that supposes it knows me better than I know myself."
The religious trauma inside me was leaping for joy.
I've always been a character development reader. This ticks all of my boxes. All of the characters have arcs and display growth. Some more drastic than others.
AND THE CLIFF HANGER?! OMG I was screaming.
I can't wait to read the next one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Racism, Violence, and Gore