Blog Tour - Review + Author Guest Post + Giveaway : Violet Made Of Thorns by Gina Chen




Violet Made Of Thorns by Gina Chen
Series : Violet Made Of Thorns #1
Genre : Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher : Delacorte Press
Publication Date : July 26th, 2022
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.

(CW's : Child Abuse, Emotional Manipulation, Violence, Death, Body Horror, Self-Harm, Racism)

B&N



Hey everyone! I'm very excited to be taking part in the blog tour for Violet Made Of Thorns today and to have the author - Gina Chen sharing a guest post with us as well! Violet Made Of Thorns was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and I had so much fun reading it! And honestly, it's been one of my favorite fantasy books this year as well!
Keep scrolling to read the guest post and my review!
Make sure to check out the giveaway too!
What inspired you to write Violet Made Of Thorns?
 
Violet Made of Thorns started with the character of Violet, and the story built around her. But there was no one direction I was building at first. All I knew was I wanted to try writing a manuscript. See what happened. I kept going back and forth on whether the setting had electricity (the setting, by the way, was an island academy). Violet was a matchmaker. Cyrus had a different name that I no longer remember. That character was still chased down by his fans.
 
None of that—except the last part—is in the book that made it to print. But the book and that first partial draft is the same in the ways that matter. In both, Violet is resourceful to a fault, Cyrus is a golden boy who is slightly obsessed with changing Violet's ways, and the story is ultimately about love in a world where romance is a neatly packaged prize, given to those who are deemed most deserving.
 
At some point, I took a step back and narrowed in on what I wanted to do with this convoluted thing I was creating. I looked at some paragraphs-long fairytale metaphors I wrote in Violet's narration, where she scathingly broke down everything she loathed about the pursuit of the Happily Ever After. Then I smacked my forehead and realized: Oh, I can skip the metaphor and just write this story as a fairytale.
 
So I scrapped (almost) everything and did just that.
 
I have nothing against a classic happily ever after, but I think how we popularly define them is interesting. Patterns emerge: Love fixes the problem—any problem! The characters get exactly what they supposedly deserve! There's a very important kiss! I wanted to poke and prod at these patterns, look into why we gravitate toward them, how they limit us, and what effect they have on our perception of escapism (especially what makes a good romance). More generally, I also wanted to explore how common narratives—especially ones that tap into wishful dreaming or other deep emotion—can be weaponized and alter our perception of the truth. Violet has always been the lead for this reason: I wanted to explore this with a heroine who is chatty about her observations and gleefully aware of the narrative she's living through. Many, many more details would change as I drafted, but this was the core of the story that kept it all together.
I finished reading an early copy of Violet Made Of Thorns by Gina Chen a while back and it's definitely one of my favorite reads this month. I mean I can't believe this is a debut novel? Wow.⁣
Violet is a mix of many things - a Seer, a liar and a selfish person, but she's unapologetic about it. Even if the prince, Cyrus hates her for who she is. She's worked her way up from the streets to the royal court and she doesn't mind falsifying a few things(or many) for the king here and there if it keeps her where she is. The heir to the throne doesn't like this and he would like it better if she wasn't the Seer either. It doesn't help that he's the center of a dark prophecy, and his future partner could save or ruin the kingdom 🤨⁣
But, Violet then begins to have some ominous dreams that make her rethink her choices, and her trust in others as well.⁣
Violet was fantastic and I wouldn't call her an anti-heroine but she's not one with too many principles either. She lies, hides stuff when it suits her and puts herself first(nothing wrong with that imo) but she's not completely uncaring about the world either? Like she wouldn't want a war(because it would affect her comfort ofcourse but still)😂 The book title suits because she's very prickly + made of thorns and doesn't trust others at all. 

He told me that a lie is a tool, just as much as honesty is. Both are about choosing what words to say. Both can have consequences. What you achieve in the end is what matters.

Cyrus was an amazing counterpart to her - he puts his kingdom first(but he also wants love?😆). But he doesn't trust her - at all - because he knows her too well. Basically they both have their own agendas, so there's peak love/hate between them. I'll just call it lust-hate because I think the emotional development would still need some work. But extra points for the steam, as I thought this was gonna be a non-steamy YA book(Hey I like surprises🤣)!⁣
“You don’t have a single selfless thought in that blessed mind of yours, and I will never oblige myself to someone like that. Be proud, because pride is all you have.”
My blood hums. If he wants to put me in my place, I’ll put him in his. I strip off my gloves and tuck them into my sleeve.
“Maybe I should take a better look at your threads.”
He hasn’t let me read them since my first year here.
“If you’re so confident you can make your way without me, I should see nothing but success in your future.”

I loved the world-building and the supporting cast with Camilla, Dante and the others as well! Even if I'd removed the fantasy elements from the story, it would still feel realistic because of the way the characters were portrayed and the choices that they made - which is what I liked the most I think! It's got a promising setup and I can't wait to see how the author takes this further! Thankfully it didn't end on a cliffy, but I'm very curious about many other things now 🧐⁣

I understand why others put such faith in the Fates: Don’t we all wish— beyond any gold or fame— to be right? To have some authority tell us with certainty that we’ve done the best we could with the life we have? So we idly listen to kings and gods who tell us what to do, even when we have no idea what their true intentions are. Even if all they want is blood.

*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

You can also find my review on my bookstagram here 


Blog Tour Giveaway

Up for grabs we have ONE (1) finished copy of Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen. This giveaway will be available from July 24th to August 7th at 11:59 PM CST. Open to US residents only. No giveaway accounts allowed. To enter, click the (link/button) below!


Gina Chen spent most of her life thinking she hated writing, until she churned out a few hundred thousand words of fanfiction and decided that maybe she was a writer. Her stories lean toward the fantastic, featuring heroines, antiheroines, and the kind of cleverness that brings trouble in its wake.

A self-taught artist with a degree in computer science, she generates creative nonsense in all forms of media and always has a project stewing. She has particular fondness for fairy tales, demon tales, romantic comedies, and quiz shows. Currently, she resides in Southern California, where the sunshine is as plentiful as its tea shops.

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Also check out the other blogs taking part in the tour here!

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