[REVIEW] VIOLET MADE OF THORNS - GINA CHEN (ENGLISH REVIEW)

 All reviews here are purely personal opinions and do not intend to degrade or glorify the work of others. Everyone has their own reading tastes. Thank you.

source: goodreads

Title: Violet Made of Thorns

Author: Gina Chen

Publication date: 26 July 2022

Pages: 368 pages

ISBN: 9780593427538

Language: English

BLURB

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.

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REVIEW

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me this ARC!

Never thought I'd fall so in love with a book! This book is so unique for me personally and I can never stops to keep reading until the end. I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH AND CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK.

Violet is a Seer, someone who is able to see flashes of a person's future and past memories simply by touching another person. He works for his king now that Cyrus, the prince, brought him to the kingdom after saving Cyrus' life. His kingdom is now haunted by a curse where Cyrus must find his bride or destruction will come to their kingdom. But, unwittingly there is another intervention that wants Cyrus' death and destruction to occur.

Everything I love about a fantasy story is in this book. Starting from prince charming, curse, witch, beast, little fairy, beautiful gown, and dance! The world building is not very solid because the setting in this book is centered on a tower, kingdom, and a little forest (Fairywood). So, we cannot  really see the look of the world they live in. But even so, I can really feel the fantasy world vibes. The author describes the atmosphere of this world very well. Starting from the high tower, the elegant dance party (there are even a few Cinderella scenes), the monsters, curses, annoying witches, it's all very well described. It's like reading fairy tales when we were little.

The conflict raised is actually very simple about the prince's curse and the future of the kingdom. However, what really made me fall in love with this book was the characters. These two characters who really build the story in this book.

Violet is not an ordinary main character. She is not a heroine who can save the world instead she tends to be a heroine who can destroy the world. That's why I'm really interested in this Violet character. I really like reading Violet's moments, which sometimes seems to "hate" the people around her. Because of this ability, she doesn't have many friends except the prince and princess.

Meanwhile, Cyrus is a prince who really adores love and hopes to find the bride he loves. Even though the people around him were very worried about the curse he had.

If some reviewers say that Violet and Cyrus' relationship is enemies to lovers, I don't agree. I think their relationship is more of a love & hate relationship. Violet and Cyrus have been friends since Violet saved his life but suddenly drift away when Cyrus thought that Violet is changing. Violet did have to do a lot of bad deeds at the King's demands and couldn't refuse at all because she needed this position. There are many moments where Violet and Cyrus argue but there are also many moments where Violet is attracted to Cyrus. Even after a moment, Cyrus was clearly flirting with Violet. They both like each other but also hate each other. While reading the relationship between the two that difficult to be honest with each other, it made me as a reader annoyed myself.

"Sometimes, I want to kiss him and sometimes I want to ruin him, but most of the time, I want those actions to be one and the same"

The situation they face is not easy. Even though they like each other Cyrus is still a prince. And here Violet actually has a tendency to become a villain. However, what happened next was really satisfying and the dynamics of their relationship were really tested here. It's really good!

"You could have anyone. Why do you want me? Why, after all these years-" He only laughs, weary and strained. "It wasn't after. It was always."

The story itself is not really a retelling, but there are some elements of fairy-tale included such as Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast which are very clear and when we read they will definitely be familiar. I'm very satisfied with this book, really fell in love with everything that happened in this book and certainly can't wait for the next book! This book doesn't end with cliff-hanger but we know for sure that the story is still going on and it makes us curious what steps Cyrus and Violet will take after this chaos, especially since the main enemy is still on the loose!

I give this book a 5/5⭐ rating! Very satisfied with the story and the characters, I really didn't expect it and it was very different from what I expected at the beginning! A must read for fantasy book lovers!

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