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alexpeter2795's review against another edition
2.0
This unfortunately did not do it for me.
I felt like so much of this book was muddy and slow for no reason. It felt like the world building was occurring simply so that there was world building, the romance aspect was weird because they weren't really enemies to lovers and I don't feel like their romance was actually believable.
I read a lot of fantasy and a lot of YA fantasy and while this was a decent full story debut, it did feel like taking aspects from every other YA fantasy and putting it in the book.
Also I would not consider this "steamy" I feel like this is very YA in the sense that anyone in the YA age range could read it, although there are some instances of swearing.
I think this is a good start and I'd like to see what this author does next.
I felt like so much of this book was muddy and slow for no reason. It felt like the world building was occurring simply so that there was world building, the romance aspect was weird because they weren't really enemies to lovers and I don't feel like their romance was actually believable.
I read a lot of fantasy and a lot of YA fantasy and while this was a decent full story debut, it did feel like taking aspects from every other YA fantasy and putting it in the book.
Also I would not consider this "steamy" I feel like this is very YA in the sense that anyone in the YA age range could read it, although there are some instances of swearing.
I think this is a good start and I'd like to see what this author does next.
katiejohn_'s review against another edition
4.0
Waffling between 3/4 stars but it was entertaining as hell. Who doesn’t love magic? Morally grey girls can sometimes be a tough pill to swallow, but Violet wasn’t awful. Was she blind to her feelings? Yes, BUT her upbringing kind of makes that make sense. This wasn’t a perfect book, by any means- but it was fun and entertaining and I liked the characters a lot. I’ll probably read the next book that comes out.
aelinslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
I really really enjoyed this book! The romance was perfectly angsty, and the atmosphere was immaculate. Definitely can’t wait for the sequel!
alyn_reads's review against another edition
2.0
November 2023 Book club pick.
This story was actually quite a let down, if i'm being honest, and it started out quite promising. Violet was petty, conniving, and smart mouthed. She had a sharp preservation instinct, and she did not give one single fuck about anyone but herself. I was a fan. I was excited for what seemed to be the promise of an enemies to lovers story, with characters who truly fucking hated each other.....then little by little it just started to tank. Let's be honest here...the story isn't very long, so it didn't take long for me to realize that my hopes of a great enemies to lovers, fairytale retelling, were quickly being dashed, stabbed, then chucked off the literary mountain.
The world and magic systems lacked development. The Characters were dull, and the plot had as many holes as swiss cheese. Which retelling was this? Who knows, I think the author couldn't decide so she just threw a little of everything in there. A tower, check, a prince, check, a beast, check, some tinkerbell-ish flying fairies, check, a poisoned thorn, check, an evil witch, check, stealing from the rich to give to the poor, check. Lets not forget about token poc, and the fashion obsessed queer characters, yup checkity check. Oh how I could go on, but I digress. There was all this danger going on in and around the village and characters, yet noooobody really cared. If they did, I didn't see it. The enemies to lovers romance, no. Just, no. I refuse to categorize it as such. To compare this to the Cruel Prince? Bite your tongue, we're not doing that either. The only thing that saved this was ultimately Violet, but even she was a poorly fleshed out character. Who by the way just became a seer one day while roaming the streets as a beggar, because.....ta da, magic!?
Okay, I'm done. ((insert awkward forced smile))
This story was actually quite a let down, if i'm being honest, and it started out quite promising. Violet was petty, conniving, and smart mouthed. She had a sharp preservation instinct, and she did not give one single fuck about anyone but herself. I was a fan. I was excited for what seemed to be the promise of an enemies to lovers story, with characters who truly fucking hated each other.....then little by little it just started to tank. Let's be honest here...the story isn't very long, so it didn't take long for me to realize that my hopes of a great enemies to lovers, fairytale retelling, were quickly being dashed, stabbed, then chucked off the literary mountain.
The world and magic systems lacked development. The Characters were dull, and the plot had as many holes as swiss cheese. Which retelling was this? Who knows, I think the author couldn't decide so she just threw a little of everything in there. A tower, check, a prince, check, a beast, check, some tinkerbell-ish flying fairies, check, a poisoned thorn, check, an evil witch, check, stealing from the rich to give to the poor, check. Lets not forget about token poc, and the fashion obsessed queer characters, yup checkity check. Oh how I could go on, but I digress. There was all this danger going on in and around the village and characters, yet noooobody really cared. If they did, I didn't see it. The enemies to lovers romance, no. Just, no. I refuse to categorize it as such. To compare this to the Cruel Prince? Bite your tongue, we're not doing that either. The only thing that saved this was ultimately Violet, but even she was a poorly fleshed out character. Who by the way just became a seer one day while roaming the streets as a beggar, because.....ta da, magic!?
Okay, I'm done. ((insert awkward forced smile))
pagesofmaria13's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 3.5 stars
I need to stop getting too hyped up from the hype, because more often than not this year it has led me astray.
Violet Made of Thorns was a nice read that is definitely more enjoyable if you read quickly—which is not what I did, as this was this month’s book for the Book Talk With Wifey readalong on IG. If you read it fast, you won’t have time to linger on the things that fell a bit short, and you’ll likely be concentrating on all the positive aspects of the book.
Reading it while following the readalong’s schedule, I found the first half of the book to be a little slow. The setting was cute and with a modern fairytale vibe that reminded me a little Ella Enchanted or Shrek, but what sparked my interest above everything else were the interactions between Violet and Cyrus. Their hate/lust—and eventually love—dynamic was really addicting, but their scenes were too brief and sporadic for me to truly grasp why they hate each other, which is ultimately what frustrated me about the first half of the book. I mean, on Violet’s part it’s pretty straight-forward—Cyrus acts like a self-righteous prick with her—but for Cyrus it took me almost the whole book to maybe understand his true motive. I would have loved for there to be more scenes and banter between the two, because I truly believe their dynamic is the book’s strongest point—as proven by the second half of the book, which sees the plot picking up and more scenes between the couple.
In the end, I enjoyed this book enough to be curious about the sequel, but seeing the hype, I’d been expecting to find a new favorite ship and, unfortunately, Cyrus and Violet are not there yet for lack of scenes and build-up.
I need to stop getting too hyped up from the hype, because more often than not this year it has led me astray.
Violet Made of Thorns was a nice read that is definitely more enjoyable if you read quickly—which is not what I did, as this was this month’s book for the Book Talk With Wifey readalong on IG. If you read it fast, you won’t have time to linger on the things that fell a bit short, and you’ll likely be concentrating on all the positive aspects of the book.
Reading it while following the readalong’s schedule, I found the first half of the book to be a little slow. The setting was cute and with a modern fairytale vibe that reminded me a little Ella Enchanted or Shrek, but what sparked my interest above everything else were the interactions between Violet and Cyrus. Their hate/lust—and eventually love—dynamic was really addicting, but their scenes were too brief and sporadic for me to truly grasp why they hate each other, which is ultimately what frustrated me about the first half of the book. I mean, on Violet’s part it’s pretty straight-forward—Cyrus acts like a self-righteous prick with her—but for Cyrus it took me almost the whole book to maybe understand his true motive. I would have loved for there to be more scenes and banter between the two, because I truly believe their dynamic is the book’s strongest point—as proven by the second half of the book, which sees the plot picking up and more scenes between the couple.
In the end, I enjoyed this book enough to be curious about the sequel, but seeing the hype, I’d been expecting to find a new favorite ship and, unfortunately, Cyrus and Violet are not there yet for lack of scenes and build-up.
amandasloothaak's review against another edition
4.0
A wonderful book for the fairytale lovers with interesting characters, nice twists & turns.
readersparadiso's review against another edition
4.0
FML I THOUGHT THIS WAS A STAND-ALONE ALJDJAKA
⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆
Gave into the hype of another YA fantasy and was a little let down, but not really!
I loved a lot of the aspects in this book, like the interwoven fairy tale motifs scattered throughout the plot and the tension between Cyrus and Violet. Honestly, this whole book seemed like it was just about the tension between Cyrus and Violet and less about the whole curse thing lmao.
While the plot dragged at certain points, I enjoyed the world building and learning about the magic system that surrounds Violet. It's dark, a little creepy, and lush in its descriptions of the Kingdom of Auveny.
Ultimately, I think Violet is the object that really makes or breaks this novel. Similar to Jude from The Cruel Prince, she's not a very likeable character but she's one that you want to root for. She's selfish and only looks out for herself given her past, but seeing her gradual journey towards trusting others instead of pushing people away solidified my love for her. Violet's relationship with Cyrus also reminded me a little of Jude and Cardan, but I definitely think they possess a uniqueness that makes them sound out from the Folk of the Air series.
Definitely pick this one up if you're in the mood for a YA fantasy filled with:
- fairy tales
- masquerade balls
- grumpy x sunshine
- enemies to lovers
- morally gray main character
- golden boys
⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆
Gave into the hype of another YA fantasy and was a little let down, but not really!
I loved a lot of the aspects in this book, like the interwoven fairy tale motifs scattered throughout the plot and the tension between Cyrus and Violet. Honestly, this whole book seemed like it was just about the tension between Cyrus and Violet and less about the whole curse thing lmao.
While the plot dragged at certain points, I enjoyed the world building and learning about the magic system that surrounds Violet. It's dark, a little creepy, and lush in its descriptions of the Kingdom of Auveny.
Ultimately, I think Violet is the object that really makes or breaks this novel. Similar to Jude from The Cruel Prince, she's not a very likeable character but she's one that you want to root for. She's selfish and only looks out for herself given her past, but seeing her gradual journey towards trusting others instead of pushing people away solidified my love for her. Violet's relationship with Cyrus also reminded me a little of Jude and Cardan, but I definitely think they possess a uniqueness that makes them sound out from the Folk of the Air series.
Definitely pick this one up if you're in the mood for a YA fantasy filled with:
- fairy tales
- masquerade balls
- grumpy x sunshine
- enemies to lovers
- morally gray main character
- golden boys
berrynee's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
make sure to check out my blog!
rating: 4 stars
First of all, let me just say that if I hadn’t been so busy this past week I would have read this book in one sitting. It was great in almost every aspect and it met all my expectations that I set for it.
Violet Made of Thorns, follows Violet who is the only seer in the kingdom of Auveny. But Violet is not only a seer but she is also a liar, influencing the royal court with her clever divinations. When Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end either in damnation or salvation, she will have to make her own choice: seize the opportunity to gain control of her own destiniy or give into the ill-fated attraction between her and the kingdom’s prince, Cyrus.
What I liked the most about this book was honestly the romance and I must admit that I didn’t care much about anything else. The chemistry and the tension were immaculate and the book had me almost screaming at some points. It was enemies to lovers at it’s best which is always a big plus for me.
Violet as a protagonist was like a breath of fresh air. She is prickly and confident, selfish and vengeful. She is not perfect and she doesn’t always make the best decisions but I love her more for it.
I have to admit that the plot and the worldbuilding of the book were the weaker points here and I feel like there wasn’t enough focus on that. The curse that is frequently mentioned in this book could have been explored more to give us readers a better understanding of how it works but I guess that question is left to be answered in the sequel. There were also significant fairytale inspired moments that were unnecessary in my opinion but I didn’t mind them that much.
In conclusion, this book really is a good choice for anyone who enjoyed reading The Cruel Prince or any other darker fantasy with intriguing characters and swoony romance.
make sure to check out my blog!
rating: 4 stars
First of all, let me just say that if I hadn’t been so busy this past week I would have read this book in one sitting. It was great in almost every aspect and it met all my expectations that I set for it.
Violet Made of Thorns, follows Violet who is the only seer in the kingdom of Auveny. But Violet is not only a seer but she is also a liar, influencing the royal court with her clever divinations. When Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end either in damnation or salvation, she will have to make her own choice: seize the opportunity to gain control of her own destiniy or give into the ill-fated attraction between her and the kingdom’s prince, Cyrus.
What I liked the most about this book was honestly the romance and I must admit that I didn’t care much about anything else. The chemistry and the tension were immaculate and the book had me almost screaming at some points. It was enemies to lovers at it’s best which is always a big plus for me.
Violet as a protagonist was like a breath of fresh air. She is prickly and confident, selfish and vengeful. She is not perfect and she doesn’t always make the best decisions but I love her more for it.
I have to admit that the plot and the worldbuilding of the book were the weaker points here and I feel like there wasn’t enough focus on that. The curse that is frequently mentioned in this book could have been explored more to give us readers a better understanding of how it works but I guess that question is left to be answered in the sequel. There were also significant fairytale inspired moments that were unnecessary in my opinion but I didn’t mind them that much.
In conclusion, this book really is a good choice for anyone who enjoyed reading The Cruel Prince or any other darker fantasy with intriguing characters and swoony romance.