I would not be surprised, based on the ending, if this book gets a sequel. I drew heavily on my Fates knowledge from Stephanie Garber’s Caraval series. You don’t have to know anything about the Fates, but I kind of wish I did. It has just as much a New Adult feel to it as Young Adult, though technically it is upper YA.

This is a High Fantasy Romance Beauty and the Beast retelling that takes place entirely within one city. Under threat of a conquest-hungry dying king, fairy forest beasts, and more than one imposter, Violet struggles to understand who she is, what occupational knowledge for profession has been lost, and whether love can exist without trust. As the charismatic Cyrus is forced into a Cinderella ball where a blind date set up by his father threatens to overwrite his real destined bride, a witch plots to steer Violet’s visions to create a future where corruption magic reigns supreme. Meanwhile, Prince Cyrus, who is ambiguously uninterested romantically in both women and men, can’t decide whether to throw Violet out on the street, trade her away for another seer, or get under her skirts…or a combination thereof. When Violet discovers the answer to the prophecy is ransoming the prince’s stolen life back to the Fates, she can’t decide whether it’s in her best interest. She lives under the shadow of a prophecy that the previous occupant of her position gave without explanation. Where that’s gotten her is under the king’s thumb, where she can’t say no and has to lie to the populace for a living for the king’s political gain. Violet is a rags-to-famous fortune-telling prophetess who purposely thwarted the crown prince’s death destiny during childhood on the streets to make her own life better.

Violet made of thorns by gina chen