Violet Made of Thorns
Violet Made of Thorns Book Review by Gina Chen
Blooming like a lovely violet, this novel thorned me right in the heart. Puns aside, this book was wondrous. Right from the beginning chapters, I knew I was going to like this book. From Chen’s writing, to the enemies-to-lovers premise, to the fantastical setting, everything about this book was a dream come true.
The plot surrounds Violet Lune, the official Seer for the Kingdom of Auveny. A coveted position, not to mention rare, Violet goes from pauper on the street to being the right-hand of King Emilius. As she grows up in the palace, surrounded by greed and corruption, she learns to divvy truth and lies and to use whichever suits her needs better.
Beloved by the king, tolerated by the citizens, befriended by the Princess Camilla, and confidante of the pseudo Prince’s adviser, Dante, the only so-called thorn in Violet’s side is prince charming himself: Cyrus Lidine.
Right off the bat, the premise is intriguing. A morally gray seer, a prophecy speaking of blood and roses and war, a dying King, tumultuous kingdom relations, horned beasts covered in moss roaming the lands, a rot spreading across the bewitched and unnerving Fairywood, and of course, the sizzling tension-filled relationship between Violet and Cyrus.
My regular readers probably know this, but I’m a sucker for any hate-to-love story. It is my absolute favorite trope of all time. The tension, the build, the slow transformation—it just gets to me. Chen does the trope so incredibly well in Violet Made of Thorns.
To my surprise and delight, however, she also does everything else prodigiously well too. Her writing is smooth and inviting, it sucks you in and keeps you there. The premise has multiple mysteries raging at the same time to keep you on your toes as a reader. The characters were all decently fleshed out, but Violet as the main character made this story shine for me.
Cyrus is charming on the outside, smirking on the inside sort of Prince, his sister Camilla is unabashedly loud and confident, Dante is studious and reliable, and the other characters are entertaining.
Violet Lune steals the show. She’s cynical, selfish, and cunning, but also caring, ambitious, daring, and funny. As a main character, she was such a fresh breath of air compared to the slew of YA protagonists I read about that are wholly altruistic and mind-numbingly boring.
I really enjoyed Violet’s POV. She was a complicated protagonist who was simultaneously looking out for herself, for others, wanting the best for Auveny as a whole, but also craving power and status.
Her POV enthralled me, but also made sense. Violet encapsulated what it’s like to be a human being rather than some perfect literature archetype that doesn’t exist.
Everything mixed in this novel perfectly. I’m a very character driven reader and while the book had action, an unraveling plot, and intrigue, it also placed a huge focus on the characters and their desires. The pacing aligned with Chen’s writing and I didn’t see it as too fast or as too slow.
The end delivered everything I wanted from it: drama, blood, tears, reckoning, and suspense for the sequel. For a debut novel, Chen really knocked it out of the park, leaving me craving more.
Recommendation: A witchy concoction of titillating ingredients: a cursed prince, a selfish seer, looming war, evil witches, bloodthirsty gods, and love that will either be salvation or damnation. What more could you ask for?
Score: 8/10
