Violet Made of Thorns (Violet Made of Thorns #1)

Gina Chen

YA Fantasy

A darkly enchanting fantasy debut about a morally gray witch, a cursed prince, and a prophecy that ignites their fate-twisted destinies—perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and Serpent & Dove.

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.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

“To be remembered as someone good, you have to do good. To be remembered as someone great, you have to get elbow-deep in bullsh*t and come out looking spotless.”

4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5) I really enjoyed this one! Violet claws her way from an orphan to a position of authority- an important Seer at court. She has the kings ear and he has her under his control. A balance she delicately maneuvers to her advantage. Sometimes she is truthful, sometimes she is not. Who will know?

Violet is my favorite morally grey character lately! She does what’s best for her and has no guilt. I loved her as the POV and seeing into her thought process. If it benefitted her, she’d do it. If it didn’t she’d word her vision or prophecy so it would. She was terribly flawed but owned up to her decisions and mistakes.

Her position becomes precarious when the king asks her to lie, this time specifically about his son Cyrus who she loves to hate. Now Cyrus, he was a favorite too. Especially his relationship with Violet. I kept wanting to call them enemies to lovers but I think it’s more than that! Somehow, they hated each other while they were lovers! I’m laughing cause it was just fun. It was the perfect spin that made me love this romance and all it’s difficulties. They treated each other more like bickering siblings so when it would take a turn it just made me laugh. It was the true description of a love/hate relationship with so much unpredictability that kept me turning pages.

While I loved the romance and all it’s layers, there was plenty other excitement also. From Violet’s visions, she can see war coming and the many things that happen in this war. Cyrus is supposed to die, beasts are attacking the kingdom, a questionable princess is supposed to save the kingdom and marry Cyrus and so much more. I was entertained throughout and looked forward to reading. The end did not end on a huge cliffhanger (thank you Chen!) but was so well-written that I’m already looking forward to book 2.

And here’s me on my soapbox a bit; The synopsis for the book (see at the top of the page) says it’s for fans of Serpent and Dove and The Cruel Prince. I don’t agree. This book is good enough to stand on it’s own without trying to drag people in who like those two books. And honestly, this isn’t all that similar to them anyway.

General content summary: Well, this one has some very intimate moments. Enough so that I won’t be recommending this to everyone. Which is sad because this really is a fabulous book. Otherwise, the language was kept low, and there were details of blood and violence. F words: 2, language, nightmares, menstruation, a young woman is very promiscuous with other women (talked about multiple times but no details), underage drinking, passionate kisses, beasts attack, blood is used for a form of magic (young woman cutting her hand multiple times), a young woman gets contraceptives, clothes coming off in a passionate moment, detailed intimacy, a father hits his son, blood, stabbings and blood and multiple injuries, many dead bodies, beast attack, slitting a throat and blood. 

Thank you to Random House Children’s Books and NetGalley for the gifted copy!

The book releases July 26, 2022.

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

2 Comments

    • It’s so sad! This really is a good book, it just needs to be labeled NA. I really wish publishers would agree!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*