Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it.
But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom—all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus.
Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom—or doom them all.
- Title: Violet Made of Thorns
- Author: Gina Chen
- Publisher: Delacorte
- Publication Date: July 26th 2022
- Genre: Fantasy
- Source: Digital ARC Provided via Netgalley/Turn the Pages Tour
- Targeted Age Range: Young Adult
- Content Warnings: self-harm in a ritual/magical context, body horror
- Rating: ★★★
Violet Made of Thorns was easily one of my most anticipated releases of 2022. If the stunning cover hadn’t already drawn me in, the premise of a prickly heroine who sees other people’s fate learning to take control of her own would’ve. Gina Chen’s debut, Violet Made of Thorns follows Violet Lune, who is regarded as the kingdom’s only seer — and also a liar. Enter Prince Cyrus, who she once rescued, who gave her a home, and who she’s almost always at odds with. He’s next in line for the throne, and cursed with the kingdom’s ruin. To save them all, Violet tells yet another false prophecy — Prince Cyrus will find his betrothed before the journey’s over, and break the curse. But when one false prophecy leads to another, Violet and Cyrus find themselves caught between their feelings, following their destinies, and taking matters into their own hands.
As our main character, I loved how unapologetic Violet was. She’s witty and well — prickly. Since this book is written in her POV, I could see readers either falling completely in love with Violet, or absolutely hating her. I don’t think there’s much room for an in between. I will say that it took a while for her to grow on me, but once she did, I found myself really liking her. She’s unapologetic for her actions and her motivations, and I really enjoyed that about her.
As someone who hasn’t read The Cruel Prince or Serpent & Dove, I wasn’t disappointed by the comparison titles, although I’ve heard a couple people express their disappointment by inaccurate comparison titles. That being said, given what I do know about The Cruel Prince, I expected the romance and sexual tension to play more of a role than it did. The ‘enemies’ bit of ‘enemies to lovers’ was well done, although the ‘lovers’ bit was a little lacking for me. While I did care about Cyrus and Violet, I didn’t find myself overly invested in their dynamic and found myself wishing for more information about their backstory. There were a couple moments and quotes between the two of them that I loved, but it also felt a little superficial, or more tell than show. I’m hoping that, since this is the first book in a series, there’ll be more moments between Cyrus and Violet.
It’s incredibly evident that Violet Made of Thorns draws on many fairy tale influences, although sometimes it felt like a little too many. I struggled a bit with the worldbuilding, and just didn’t really know how all the different fairytale aspects went hand in hand for the most part. I think that upon a reread, things will make more sense to me. Violet Made of Thorns also promised a lot of court politics, and I found it to be a little lacking in that development. While there was some court politics, it just wasn’t as much as I’d been expecting.
Overall, I was a little disappointed by Violet Made of Thorns, but still found it an enjoyable read. I’m really excited for the sequel, and to see how the loose ends are tied up!
Up for grabs, Turn the Pages Tour has ONE (1) finished copy of Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen. This giveaway will be available from July 24th to August 7th at 11:59 PM CST. Open to US residents only. No giveaway accounts allowed. To enter, click the link below!
GIVEAWAY LINK: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1e4a114d72/?
Links for Violet Made of Thorns: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Gina Chen tells stories about fantastic worlds featuring heroines, antiheroines, and the kind of cleverness that brings trouble in its wake. A self-taught artist with a degree in computer science, she generates creative nonsense in all forms of media and always has a project stewing. Violet Made of Thorns is her debut fantasy novel. For more info, visit actualgina.com and follow @actualgina on Twitter and Instagram.
