Book Title: Violet Made of Thorns (Violet Made of Thorns #1)
Author: Gina Chen
Genre: Fantasy
Target Audience: Young Adult
Publication date: July 26th 2022
Format: Kindle
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.
Author
Gina Chen spent most of her life thinking she hated writing until she churned out a few hundred thousand words of fanfiction and decided that maybe she was a writer. Her stories lean toward the fantastic, 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. She has a particular fondness for fairy tales, demon tales, romantic comedies, and quiz shows. Currently, she resides in Southern California, where the sunshine is as plentiful as its tea shops.
What I Thought
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this as reading the synopsis I was getting Cinderella vibes but this was so much more. Violet is a seer who once upon a time saved the Crown Prince’s life and nothing has been the same for her since as she now has to navigate the royal court.
Cyrus has been the object of a prophecy and is unwilling to find his true love to see the prophecy through and this is where all the fun begins.
Violet and Cyrus’s characters are really charming as individuals but put them together and it’s like a storm in a teacup which I believe kept the story more interesting. Throw a couple of spanners in the works and you have a book that I simply couldn’t put down. I enjoyed every minute of reading this and it was nice to have Violet not be a damsel in distress but willing to accept help when she needs this.
I think this is a must-read for anyone who enjoys fantasy.
Star Rating
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