Amazing photo by @xenatine!
Hey fairies!
Welcome back to day 4 of our readalong of Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen! Yesterday’s section ended very dramatically and I’m so eager to see what happens!
Today we’re reading from Chapter 17 to the end of Chapter 21.
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen, from chapters 17 to 21. Please only read on if you’ve finished this section!
-!SPOILERS!-
So Raya is not Raya, but Nadiya, Raya’s handmaiden, the Witch of Nightmares killed the real Raya and forced Nadiya to impersonate her. The Witch wants to start a war. Unsurprisingly, Not-Raya didn’t actually do anything to tame the beasts earlier, it was her fairies. They manage to convince Nadiya to keep up the charade and marry Cyrus.
Violet slowly stops attending the meetings between Nadiya, Cyrus and the others. Jealousy maybe? Until Cyrus drops her a note that he needs to see her. When she returns to her tower, he’s there, since she didn’t respond to the note, he came to her.
Their flirting leads to more again and I’m stumped at the audacity Cyrus has of acknowledging out loud that he has a bride but wants her and surely she didn’t expect to be queen.
The King asks Violet to speak at Cyrus and Raya’s wedding. It’s not like she can say no, but I can’t imagine the pain it will cause her to be so involved with the wedding, when she clearly harbours feelings for the prince.
Dante, too, has questions of his own for Violet, after finding Cyrus in her tower. He asks if she loves him, he says it’s obvious he’s gotten under her skin. He warns her that this is a dangerous game, she’ll get hurt. When she accidentally touches Dante and sees one of his memories, she realises the Fates don’t want Cyrus to live, because a world where he rules will be the only one where they avoid bloodshed, and the Fates want bloodshed.
Cyrus asks Violet to lie to Nadiya, to read her threads and essentially tell her everything is great, all will be fine etc etc. She does, and it seems to give Nadiya a little confidence boost.
Before Violet can leave, Cyrus offers to walk her back to her tower and once they’re alone he asks her to come to his study. It’s not long before they’re tangled up in each other again! These two really cannot resist each other!
After, Cyrus brings up the prophecy, Violet is quick to mention it fits Nadiya, and Cyrus is quick to mention that while it does fit Nadiya, it also fits her. She wants to know why he wants her after all these years, but it’s not something that’s magically happened, he’s always wanted her. He hoped as time went on she would break free of his father’s influence, of the liar he moulded Violet into. He wants her to tell a prophecy that will make his father abdicate. Wouldn’t that just make Violet his liar instead though?
Not only does he want her to lie, but he makes it clear he’s willing to make an enemy of her, and of his father, to get what he wants…
Oh, I am stressed!
None of this, NONE of this, sounds good. I’m nervous.
See you tomorrow for our final (cries) section!
Love,
Shannon
It didn’t feel like a ton happened in these chapters, other than finding out who “Raya” actually was. We got a bit more info on the political machinations of the king, a bit more information of how the fairy wood works and how it’s necessary, and Nadiya getting comfortable. I did love Dante in these chapters! And what could the witch have done from far away to make Violet lose her sight?
By this point in the book, I was more interested in Nadiya as not-Raya then I was in Violet and Cyrus. The plot still seemed like it doesn’t know what it wants to be.
And I needed more Dante. More Dante giving Violet what-for because he knows exactly what the stakes are and Violet just doesn’t pay attention to anything outside her tower.
Hmmm, I wish there were more hints for us to figure stuff out for ourselves. It’s all very wild and sure ok, I guess so? Like, I still doubt that we know enough about the world they’re inhabiting. I’m sure the author has a plan though.
Okay so I definitively think Dante and Violet could have been a really great couple : but thanksfully he’s such a great friend for her. I’m just afraid that if there really was a need to chose between Violet and Cyrus, he would side with the prince for his country (which is understandable in a way).
Cyrus is throwing red flags all over the place : when she’s lying for the king it’s bad but for him it would be okay ? He will protect her but he left her on her own all these years to figure out alone she was pushed to lie for and by his father out of fear ? He loves her but he won’t hesitate to make her his enemy because she won’t comply with his orders ? Yeah right…. he really doesn’t deserve Violet. And yes Violet has her faults but at least she’s consistent in her beliefs and tries to trust her friends even though a nasty voice is telling her everyone will betray her. I’m just so scared to read the final part *crying silent tears*
BUT we have a ray of sunshine ! Camila and Nadita are getting cosy *living together for a few days have we hehe*
I just really love Violet. I’ve sad it before, and I’ll say it again. She’s such a gem. I love how she’s self-serving, witty, sly etc. in a way female protagonists rarely get to be. Female characters in general are expected to have at least a shred of kindness in them, especially as the protagonist. But in this book she actually gets to be the opposite and even look down upon the trait. She’s lived on the streets as a child and is desperately clinging to job stability, especially in a period that threatens to take that away from her and I feel like that makes her incredibly relatable. I’m also just generally relating to her struggling to trust people and just?? Overall be social, since she’s far from a social butterfly. She’s more of a little gremlin who likes to be in her own tower and avoid social events, sorta like me, except I don’t have a tower.
I’m also really loving the enemies / rivals to lovers relationship she has with the prince. I’m not too big on the whole Nadiya situation making the romance kind of dip it’s toes info a love triangle, since I’m not the biggest fan of that. But I really like this whole situation with the way the two perceive each other and themselves and how their perceptions clash. Their relationship is also giving enemies AND lovers vibes and I’m here for it.
Said* oopsie
I’m not a fan of Cyrus and Violet’s relationship at this stage. Violet hasn’t done enough growth to believe that Cyrus could possibly have wanted her this whole time, and her immediate response is always ‘it must be a trick, you hate me’. I gotta admit after the dramatic way we finished the last section this one was a bit of a let down in terms of action!
Did anyone else felt like Dante was off in these chapters?
I am still not a fan of Cyrus and Violet being together, it all seems very inconsistent to me.
Well, Im getting stressed out in any case and I need to know what happens with this prophecy, the future of the kingdom and what does it mean that Nadiya’s future is a dark void of nothingness????
I knew there was something strange about Raya but never would I have thought she was her servant. Cyrus wants to marry but wants Violet? Dante and Camila know about what’s going on between them even if Violet doesn’t. I can’t wait to see how this all plays out. I’m secretly hoping that they end up together.
I habe no idea what to think at this point. We’re 80% through and I still feel little to no chemistry between Cyrus and Violet. It feels so flat.
I am excited to read the rest just to see how the author resolves the plot. But other than that I am not really too invested.
Alsooooo I’m not the biggest fan of Violet as a character. I don’t understand her character or intentions. Is the author trying to write her as good or self serving. And I don’t really see any growth either. Maybe that will change in the end tho? But idk man I’m not really feeling her
Oh I just love the steamy moments between Cyrus and Violet but when he said thst he would hurt her if she got in his eay I was like run away from him not worth it girl
This is so interesting what is causing Violet to loose her seight or is it maybe that Nadiya will die and thts why Violet couldnt see anything
I did not suspect that the voice was the witch I did suspect it was someone that has sinister plans for the kingdom this is reaally getting interesting
Never mind, I don’t want Cyrus POV…I want this entire novel through Dante’s eyes hahaha. Poor boy, dealing with Cyrus and Violet and their secrets and denials.
Also, did the Witch block Violet’s powers??? At first when she didn’t see anything for Raya/Nadiya, I thought it could mean she’s going to die, but then Violet also mentioned not having any dreams since her last encounter with the Witch.
The wedding is going to be so dramatic, isn’t it…
Has the King hired the Witch of nightmares to start a war so he can take over the whole continent?
For some reason I suspect that the woman who writes the Lacy things newsletter, Lady Ziza might be the Witch?
I know this isn’t a standalone so the story doesn’t have to answer ALL the questions this book but I feel like we only have a small nunber of pages left and a lot that has to happen…
I appreciate that Violet is honest – not necessarily to everyone else, but at least to herself. So in that sense her character continues to grow on me. I like her more now. Although I see some character development, like how she’s slowly realizing how far King Emilius’s plans stretch, I’m waiting for more.
And though I loved how her and Cyrus and Dante all got together and finally started figuring some things out (and I really do love Dante as a character. He’s my favorite in this book!), and how Violet and Cyrus started being decent in each other’s presence, it was short lived. I feel like Cyrus is just starting to act like a, for a lack of better words, a dog. He’s portrayed a bit differently in various parts of the book and it’s not consistent, so it’s hard to pinpoint how I feel about him – a prince who knows how to deal with the politics of a kingdom, but at other times, like when he waited for Violet for that steamy make out session in her tower, he didn’t seem to care that he was going to get married to someone else, not “really” be with Violet and just essentially wanted to use her for the time being. He didn’t seem to be honorable when at other times, he seems like he is. He seems to appreciate who she is at one moment and then the other, he doesn’t respect her as someone that just could have some feelings about him (whether she knows/admits it or not). So for this part of the reading, I didn’t like their dynamics. And in their most recent romp, he seems to want her..but still want to use her to manipulate things in court.
I do love a particular line in this section: “But it’s not about victory…War is war, war is blood, war is death.” Poignant and a harsh truth.
I feel like in this section a lot of the relationships have advanced more but not so much the plot, I’m still enjoying it though I’m just not sure how it’ll all wrap up in 70 or so pages. I feel like maybe the witch took Violet’s powers or maybe Nadiya will die and that’s why she can’t see anything when she touches her? If not I feel like Camilla and Nadiya will possibly end up together and Cyrus and Violet will end up with each other or they’ll kill each other? I don’t know so many possibilities!
Violet and Cyrus’s relationship gets more and more complex. There are too many factors involved, their own positions, ambitions and what they could lose that I don’t know what the future has in store for them. I do believe Cyrus has been in love with Violet ever since he met her, but that love has been doomed since the start by the way his father meddled with their lives.
I’m worried about what will happen at the wedding, and the betrayal that is to come.
But at the same time I can’t wait to see how everything will play out!
I don’t how to feel on the relationship between Cyrus and Violet, I feel is a little bit toxic. Is good that Violet says what she wants and that she’s not changing her personality but I thinks this makes it more harder to think that they are going to end up together. Nadiya character is interesting, even if Violet saw her past I don’t fully trust her. I don’t know, maybe she has a deal with the witch.
The fact that Not-Raya was a good person pleasantly surprised me!
Okay, acknowledging that the Fates have their own agenda has me even more invested in the story! Like, not only Violet has to deal with an ominous prophecy but also beings willing to manipulate her to get what they want…
Yeah, I mean, the fact that Cyrus accuses her of being moulded into a liar and then asks her to lie in his favour doesn’t exactly compliment Cyrus’ behaviour (I could go as far as say he reminds me of his father on that).
Dante needs to be given a break. This guy seriously has a lot on his mind.
This far in and I feel like the world building is really lacking. Like, we’ve been at the castle this entire time and I’m still trying to figure out where the plot is going. I can’t get on board with the love story blossoming between these two characters because they are so riddled with hate for each other. It’s like a toxic relationship unfolding and I’m just not into it. I’d like to see more Dante because his character still seems a bit mysterious.