'Violet Made of Thorns' Book Club Readalong Day 1!

Welcome to the first day of our book club readalong for OwlCrate's July book, Violet Made of Thorns!

Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for Chapters 1-3 of Violet Made of Thorns, so make sure you read are finished this section before continuing.

Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate box! Don't forget, you can also post about the readalong on Instagram with the hashtag #OCVioletMadeOfThorns for another chance to win!

The story begins...

Chapter 1:
Violet is waiting for the arrival of the royal caravan, and the return of the Prince Cyrus, who needs to have found a bride that Violet, being a seer, predicted (okay actually she made up that bit). She is one of only 9 known seers, and at 18, the youngest, and she serves the Kingdom of Auveny.

Violet barges into Cyrus’ chambers, demanding to know where his bride is. Of course, there isn’t one. When the previous seer was on her deathbed she predicted that Cyrus was cursed, citing blood and war and roses, and only a bride would be able to break it. And while the prophecy mentions a bride, it does not mention love, which unfortunately is what Cyrus wants.

Violet and Cyrus do not get along, but Violet insists they must be able to work together. The people fear Cyrus due to the prophecy, and there are now reports that there are rotting trees in the Fairywood. Cyrus leaves her behind as he enters the Council Chamber.

The reaction to Cyrus not finding a bride is as Violet expected - poor. But she claims she prophesied that he would find his bride before his journey’s end, and it’s obviously no over yet.

Back in her tower that night Violet hears laughing - even though she knows she is alone. She descends the stairs and finds the statuette atop her offering fountain is speaking in voices to her. Fates? It tells her that she stole the prince from them when Violet saved his life when they were children, and it is time for that debt to be paid. Now is the time for war and blood, and the prince must die before the end of summer or Violet will burn. Violet smashes the fountain, and the voices cackle as her tower goes up in flames.

Violet wakes, the tower definitely not on fire. Was it a dream? A prophecy? She decides that no one yet needs to know about what she just experienced.

Chapter 2:
Violet wakes, realizing she is late for her meeting with the king. Everything destroyed the night before seems to be perfectly normal. She rushes out to get to the king but notices there are more people around than normal - Camilla, the prince’s sister - has announced a royal ball and masquerade. Cyrus speaks to the crowd, explaining he hasn’t found a bride, and questions whether Violet is to be believed. Violet insults him. Leaving she finds Dante, her friend as well as the best friend of Cyrus. He explains that Cyrus told him that the rot in the Fairywood seems strange. When he got close the ground around the rot was covered in roses.

The prince approaches them in his anger after having been put in his place by Violet in front of the crowd, and they once again get into an argument in front of the public. Violet tells him to let her read his threads if he’s so sure she’s unneeded, but he hasn’t let her do that since her first year in the palace. Cyrus storms off, leaving her and Dante to talk about anything but Cyrus.

Chapter 3:
That night Violet sits perched on her balcony overlooking Auvery, reminiscing on how she came to be in the palace. She grew up without a family in the moon district, and knew she was special, but not how to convince anyone of it. One evening she had a dream about a pair of siblings who came to the market, and the boy being trampled and killed by a horse. She knew that this was going to come true and needed to stop it. For days she waited at the spot of the accident until it appeared just like she dreamt, and pulling the boy out of harm’s way explained how she knew. Cyrus took her to the palace and she swore to serve the king, her life changed forever.

One of the king’s footmen summons her to the rose gardens. There he tells Violet that she will prophesize that at the masquerade a beautiful mysterious woman will appear, and she is to be Cyrus’ true love. The only problem is, he tasks Violet with making Cyrus believe this is actually true.

 Questions:

1. Why do you think the Fates are now demanding retribution for Violet saving Cyrus?
2. Do you think that all prophecies can be changed - like Violet did with Cyrus' fate?
3. Why do you think Violet seems to be a "lesser" Seer, or one with less abilities? Do you think that will change?
4. Do you think Violet will successfully be able to convince Cyrus that his match was truly prophesized? Do you think he'll fall in love?
5. What do you think the significance of the roses is?
6. Did you enjoy the first section of the book? Leave emoji's of your first impression!

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