![]() ![]() Violet Lune is a Seer, a witch who has the power to read the threads of people’s lives-either to take a look at their past deeds or glean what is to come in their futures. ![]() ![]() But Chen’s decision to center her story around an occasionally petty, unusually self-centered, and often straight-up unlikeable heroine ultimately reframes even the most familiar of story beats in unexpected and surprising ways, giving the novel a refreshingly different feel in this admittedly crowded fictional marketplace. There’s a broody, rude potential love interest, a fairytale-like setting, and a kingdom under threat, after all. Yes, her debut YA fantasy includes some of these-and several other-extremely familiar tropes. This is a big part of the reason why Gina Chen’s Violet Made of Thorns feels like such a breath of fresh air in this genre space. And there are usually an awful lot of faeries, of either the magical or the extremely attractive variety. Sometimes, a scrappy underground rebel faction is involved. Probably a brooding or semi-antagonistic love interest, and a seemingly impossible quest. There’s usually a kingdom under siege by mysterious forces or being ruled over by oppressive magical forces. There’s the plucky heroine who discovers she’s a long-lost princess and must reclaim her family’s throne. ![]() Many books in the genre of YA fantasy tend to tick a lot of similar boxes. ![]()
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