I didn´t hate it but I didn't love it, it was a good beginning, promising even, but it came out a bit flat.

The main characters are a bit generic, trying to appease to different tastes and just end up being bland. The girl is not a morally gray personality, just a bit mean. The prince is supposed to be a womaniser but a good boy at the same time, which doesn't fit really well. It's supposed to be a friend to enemies to lovers, but we only see the enemies to lovers’ part, and the friends is only told, never demonstrated with previous scenes.

There’s no much worldbuilding, where does the magic come from, and sight for that matter? Why is the Feywood rotting, or even exists? The country politics and society also fall a bit short. But it is a short book, and I think that it is supposed to be a series so it might get developed latter on.

It wasn't a terrible book but it was forgettable, Violet was an entertaining character, but the rest of was just uninteresting. The story wasn't solid, it had plot holes and the plot-twists were unnatural, didn't fit with the plot.
About the romance, I always need some romance, but this one felt forgettable and I didn't feel the spark.

This is one of the books that made me admit that perhaps I am just a little too old to really click with YA anymore. As such, I'll try to keep this review focused on the objective side of things: this is a very fun and slick YA fantasy that takes some of the classic tropes (brooding prince, untouchable magical girl) and combines them into a story that is bound to thrill those who like their reading a little dark and edgy. It didn't touch on the court politics as much as I was hoping, but the enemies-to-lovers romance is simply more of the focus than the world-building or intrigue, and those who love that trope should be well-served. Four stars for quality, with the caveat that it wasn't for me personally.

My review:

Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen is a fantasy story, with Violet, a prophetess who is willing to lie for what she wants.

I do enjoy court intrigue, and I liked this take with morally neutral characters.

It's an entertaining story, with politics, romance and intrigue!

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Hodder & Stoughton.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

It was impossible to not enjoy this book with the enemies to lovers trope, fairy tale inspiration, and morally grey characters. Add in politics and magic, it makes for a greatly entertaining read. The main character is easy to support with how intriguing and adamant is. Plot twists surprised. There was sadly something a little missing, but still, a book worth picking up.

"i don't cook, i don't clean but let me tell you how i got this ring" vibes fr.

listen to me right now. i support women's rights and actively cheer on their wrongs.

i love me a good feral, morally grey fmc that can barely do her job but is truly breaking the glass ceiling. sis was like "yeah you might die, but i need to get my bag" and honestly? good for her.

not a single person was gonna have my girl's back in this crusty, dusty kingdom so she did what she had to do and i applaud her for it.

this book also hit the enemies-to-lovers trope center of my brain bullseye. people sometimes forget that a huge part of enemies-to-lovers means they're probably really likely to kill each other as much as they are to throw each other against a wall and get it on. these two were definitely doing both of that. the last 50-75 pages had me fighting for my life.

as for cyrus - i hate the name. however, he gets points for always keeping me confused about his motivations and keeping violet fighting for HER life in more than the literal way.

everything else i had trouble enjoying. the pacing of the book felt a bit off sometimes and the world-building was unfortunately non-existent for me. i wanted to know more about the kingdom, political system and how the seer/witch powers even worked. the entire story felt narrowed down to Violet's tower, one room in the castle and a couple streets between those two locations. that felt like an overall disservice to the story.

overall, i'd give this a 3.5-3.75 stars for pure enemies-to-lovers and i'm still really curious about the follow-up book.

This was such a great amalgamation of all of my fave fairytales!

I was intrigued by the premise of this book from the very beginning and it didn’t disappoint.

Violet is a really morally grey character but I couldn’t help myself from rooting for her with every fibre of my being.

Romance was excellent, storyline was immensely entertaining. Loved it!

I had a very hard time reading this book, because of the extremely slow pace. I would have liked more politics and a more developed worldbuiling.
I did not particularyly enjoy the romance, as I could not connect with the caracters but I am sure that other readers will like it !
Nevertheless, the writing is very pretty and I liked the ending.

This was a brilliant fantasy with a well written plot and developed characters. A great storyline that you can just get lost in

Loved the very morally grey character, but most of all, loved the romcom aspect of this book. It was funny and frankly ridiculous in parts (the prince being chased by a swarm of débutantes) but that's what set it apart from other YA books in this genre in my opinion. I laughed many times, and overall had a great time. Pupils would like this I think.

I so sad that I couldn't get into Violet Made of Thorns. Definitely a me problem and I will revisit again in the future.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the early access!

Violet is living half a lie, half a truth.

Her prophecy for the prince had unforeseen consequences, and now the whole kingdom is in danger.

It was a book that was easy and fun to read, one that kept you hooked for a while.

It was entertaining, and not the typical setting and characters.

I cannot wait to get my beautiful Fairyloot copy!

Morally grey characters make for such interesting reading, and Violet, who works for the king as a Seer and cleverly words her prophecies to twist the truth, definitely fits the bill.

As a girl, Violet saved the prince who was meant to die, but 'there's always a price for defying destiny'. A false prophesy about prince Cyrus meeting his love at an upcoming ball awakens a dreaded curse about the prince's future bride. Now Violet and Cyrus must work together to fight against fate, and to try and save both their lives and the kingdom.

This novel is a fairy tale full of plot twists, with two main characters who both skirt the line between hero and villain, and deliver a delicious enemies to lovers dynamic in the process. Violet Made of Thorns is a 2022 debut you shouldn't miss. It's the first book in a duology - and I for one will be keeping an eye out for the sequel!

Thank you so much for letting me read this book. I very much enjoyed the back and forth of the two MCs. Their bickering and banter is so much fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Violet Made of Thorns was unputdownable! I was addicted to the story and these characters. The first chapter pulled me straight into the story and I never wanted to leave.

‘We could ruin each other, and we would not hesitate to do so.’

Violet is a seer and saved Cyrus, the prince, when they were younger. He brought her into his home and she became the kingdom’s seer. She is respected by the king but this has caused a rift in Violet and Cyrus’ relationship and they can barely tolerate each other. The king uses Violet to embellish the futures she sees, or make them up entirely. He does this to control the outcomes of his kingdom. This manipulation is a major reason as to why Cyrus can seemingly no longer stand Violet. This allows for plenty of tense moments between these two characters, which I ate up!

‘It isn’t a mark against your success, Violet. But the higher you fly, the more fatal the fall.’

This story has an enemies-to-lovers romance, which is one of my favourite tropes. I would say Violet and Cyrus spend more time in this book being enemies than they do being lovers. I really enjoyed their character development over the course of the book and seeing them give in to their desires. I loved Violet, although infuriating at times, she makes every decision with her head, constant;y ignoring her heart.

‘My curse, my ruin, my Violet – my heart is yours. It was always yours. Take it.’

I loved the world building and the magic system, involving fairies and the sighted. I love books set in court and involving royals. Violet Made of Thorns was no different. I really enjoyed the political intrigues with the threat of war looming if Prince Cyrus doesn’t find a wife as was prophesied by the last seer. There was a bit of every fairytale in this book, so if you’re a lover of fairytales (like me!) then this is definitely for you!

There were a few twists I didn’t see coming with this book and wish I could go right back to the beginning and read again. I loved this debut and cannot wait for the sequel!

Although I didn’t love this book, I did really enjoy it. At first it was a bit slow and I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, but towards the middle I started to enjoy it more, and I really liked the ending. I think this is book one in a series, and I’m definitely going to read book two when it’s out! It’s an interesting storyline and very well written. It was hard to predict and surprised me at times. The characters were likeable and interesting to read about, and I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen to them. Although it hasn’t been left on a cliffhanger, I have been left wanting to know what happens next! I’ll definitely look out for future books by this author, and can’t wait to find out what happens in book two.

What a great debut! This was a dark fairytale fantasy story. Running along the lines that have been tried and tested before with Princes, Fairy's, curses and Witches but with a good twist in the tale to separate it from other fairytale books. I really liked Violets character. She's a seer that came to the Palace from following a vision of the Prince which starts the ball rolling in the prophecy. I really liked how the story panned out and I was not prepared for what happened near the end. I have to say I wasn't too convinced with the romance side of the story. I didn't quite believe it but hoping it will develop more in the next book. I'm excited to read book 2 I need to know what's going to happen next. A really good debut and definitely worth a read

Ich habe die Geschichte sehr genossen. Von Anfang bis Ende war es interessant. Ich liebte den Charakter des Prinzen und den der anderen Charaktere. Doch Violet ist mir bis zum Schluss ein Rätsel. Irgendwie konnte ich mit ihr nicht warm werden und dachte nicht nur einmal:Blöde Kuh! Viele ihrer Handlungen sind für mich nicht erschlossen. Ich liebte die vielen Märchenelemente in der Geschichte. Auch das Ende war für mich gut gewählt.

Enemies to lovers, far fairytale and morally grey characters. Violet made of Thorns has all the ingredients for a captivating YA fantasy, yet somehow it still left me wanting more.

Violet herself is an intriguing character. She's come from nothing, no money or power, to rise within the political ranks due to her ability to 'see'. She's a lair, a trickster who's selfish desire to see herself on top comes at the cost of everyone else. I love that she only looks out for herself, it makes her feel like a very different kind of heroine. Or anti heroine.

However aside from Violet I found most of the other characters very bland and obvious. The world building also could have done with some work, with more explanation of what the ability to 'see' really is and I wasn't entirely drawn in by the enemies to lovers trope. Yes there's sexual tension and bickering but this very quickly turns into love. There's not enough build up, and very little reasoning behind the sudden change. The plot is also pretty average as, far, as YA fantasy goes.

Intriguing characters, but I wanted more from this in terms of plot development and world building to make it feel a bit more different to every other YA fantasy out there.

As a YA fantasy, Violet Made of Thorns follows some of the general tropes of this genre. We have a kingdom in a world straight from a fairytale (with real fairies, as well) which is threatened by an unknown force and your broody love interest.

But the heroine Gina Chen is not your usual kind girl with great morals who suddenly becomes a hero. Violet, as the Seer of the king - and more often than not the one who twists prophecies to go along with what the king wants - is almost unlikable with her self-centered behaviour. Risen to power by saving Prince Cyrus when they were children, she does everything to defend her position, knowing very well that Cyrus will get rid of her the moment he is allowed to rule.

And although she hates the politics and the court, Violet is just as well a part of it and a weapon the king wields how he pleases, even to intervene with his sons choices. Cyrus of course distrusts Violet greatly, knowing she will throw anyone into the fire in order to survive.

The way the two of them grow together in front of the dangers the kingdom is facing is both fun and painful to read. They snarl and argue and betray each other almost the whole time, which is something you don't see very often in these stories anymore.

Combined with a very fast paced and smooth writing style, Chen gives us a great fairytale with twists and turns, with light moments and a lot of darkness, while she even adresses the growth of the human domain by destroying nature.

Violet Made of Thorns was an incredibly nice surprise and I cannot wait to read more about this world and the characters in the second book.