Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen

36 reviews

takarakei's review against another edition

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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.

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.25


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laurenevlyn's review

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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


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bzliz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Violet is a Seer who maybe tells a few lies here and there at the behest of her king. She grew up at the palace alongside the twin Prince Cyrus and Princess Camilla after she saved the prince’s life as a result of one of her visions. The two grew quite antagonistic of each other, always fighting and never backing down, so if you like some enemies to lovers (but also still kind of enemies) vibes you’ll probably enjoy this. Things take a turn as a prophecy seems to be coming true about the Prince and Violet is tasked with convincing the aristocracy that everything is fine and going according to plan, even though her dreams are being invaded by an evil witch planting ideas of killing the prince in her mind. 

The author avoids some pitfalls of having a character able to see the future not seeing certain events by disallowing Violet from seeing her own future and most of her sight into others requires hand to hand contact. I also appreciate that the protagonists are not necessarily good people constantly having twists and turns and obstacles thrown in their path- these people kind of suck. They scheme and lie and are selfish to their cores. It really seems like a world where no one can trust anyone but they’re going to have to learn how. 

Things are not at all resolved by the end so I assume there will be a sequel and I will be keeping an eye out for it. 

Although I’ve tagged a warning for sexual content, most of that is intense making out and anything beyond that is pretty brief and very much not explicit. 

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mareshempire's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This was okay, I feel like it needed more fleshing out and more editing. I think the romance was too quick and also their moments were fleeting. The ending was a bit random? The world building was lacking and the magic system needed more fleshing out too. The MC was all talk, no action. I wish she was more active in her story. It felt like she was just waiting for things to happen to her but then had snarky things to say back when she didn’t even do anything to fight against what was happening. Anyways, I still think it was fun and had just enough to keep me reading. Not sure if I’ll read the next book, though.

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katievallin's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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kirstenf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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


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emilysreadingbooks's review against another edition

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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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aquilleanmenace's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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


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justkarlah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.75

This book gripped me by the throat only a couple of chapters in, and it didn't let go until I was done reading it.

I like Violet. She's a flawed FMC, selfish and greedy in a way that feels relatable at first, but quickly changes as you keep reading. I like that Violet is more of an anti-heroine, sometimes not caring enough (to the point where you question her actions), and the prince seems like the opposite, caring too much but not being able to do anything about it. It's a nice change of pace, to read about an FMC that makes you question whether you should root for her or not.

There's an enemies to lovers plotline, but it's a very rough, bumpy, rollercoaster ride. Honestly, it fits perfectly. 

It has a great blend of magic, prophecies, and betrayal.

And that ending. Wow. I cannot wait for the sequel!

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