Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen

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

by Gina Chen

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A darkly enchanting fantasy about a lying witch, a cursed prince, and a sinister prophecy that ignites their doomed destinies—perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince.

“Everything you want from an enemies-to-lovers fantasy starring morally gray characters.”—BuzzFeed


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.

Reviewed by Ailyn Henbane on

5 of 5 stars

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This is the sort of story you expect to go predictably. You expect the fairytale version of love, told in a disenchanted way.

That's not what's delivered in the pages of Violet Made of Thorns. It's a fairytale, but the choices made, the hands of fate, the manipulations enacted turn everything you know about fairytales on its head. It only took me so long to finish reading the book because I've been attempting to prioritize ARCs over pleasure reading. When I sat down today to eat breakfast, i picked up the book and I put it down after lunch, when I'd finished reading it.

These characters stay true to themselves, even if that's not always positive. It makes them all more relatable and jump off the page into your imagination. I look forward to what else we'll see set in this universe.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 12 August, 2022: Finished reading
  • 12 August, 2022: Reviewed