Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen. Deliciously devious read.

Synopsis

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.

Review

“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.”

4,25 stars

I read that book in one sitting! This was deliciously devious!

That book is for the one who has always dream that the princess/seer of the fairytale would rather bite the prince’s head off than swoon at his feet, all while having the hots for his majesty!

It is for those who wants a cunning heroine, adept at surviving and ready to do what it takes to ensure her future but that still would have some moral boundaries (no killing innocent people).

I would say that Violet, our seer slash heroine made me think of Kaz Brekker: coming from nothing and determined to take her destiny in her hands and to outsmart everyone to ensure that she never falls back into misery. I loved Violet with all her flaws and declared ambition.

Violet has been left orphaned at a young age but she decided to build a better future for herself. When she’ll save the crown prince, Cyrus, from death when they both were kids, she’ll become the palace seer.

She swore fealty to the king and that means telling some white lies to help him further his agenda. All will be in the wording of her reading and her prophecy.

For years now a prophecy foretold war, roses and blood on the kingdom that would come from the prince’s curse. Only his bride will determine the future of the kingdom.

Now that there is rot spreading and rose blooming, the prophecy seem to come to fruition and there is pressure on prince Cyrus to find his bride. But Cyrus is being difficult as he has decided that he wants to marry for love!

It’s upon Violet to usher the prince in the right direction. But these two can’t stand each other and barbed comments fly at every occasion.

I loved seeing that caricature of prince charming! The author took great pleasure on having our prince making ladies swoon and faint with a wink or being chased by a mob of women decided to have a button, a lace anything coming from him! It was hilarious really to see how “charming” he could be.

Compared with our prickly Violet, this was a delight!

Violet with her wits and sharp tongue, Violet with he intelligence. Cunning Violet. Survivor Violet.

There is a mystery, dangerous beasts, a prophecy, a charming prince, a witch of Nightmare , a grumpy seer, a warrior and lesbian princess, and a world where faeries were drunk on ambrosia, ready to glamour people.

This is a anti fairytale with a grey main character and lots of sarcastic banter. I had a grand time reading it and I can’t wait for the sequel!

Thanks for reading.

Sophie