Hi friends!
I’m back! I had a lovely two weeks on vacation, visiting family and friends, eating delicious home-cooked meals and Cantonese food, exploring how much my neighbourhood and high school have changed and visiting old teachers. It was a walk down memory lane, and I enjoyed every moment.
Although I didn’t share my weekly book reviews then, I read quite a lot.
Here’s my reading highlight:
Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen
3 stars
The premise was pretty interesting, with Violet as a prophet influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. I expected more politics and intrigue, but because of the weak character development (especially Violet), this aspect of the book was not executed well, to be honest. Likewise, the love-hate relationship between Violet and Cyrus felt quite childish (I guess this is the young adult aspect of the novel).
I am surprised the book is categorised as a series. The ending, which summarized the tale in the third person, felt like the end.
poetryandproze 