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omimogi's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
i was entranced. an enjoyable reading experience for sure!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Body horror
bookwyrmmads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Okay not going to lie, I ALMOST DNF-ed this one. I knew going in that there was going to be quite a bit of violence, but what I was NOT prepared for was the graphic descriptions of gore. I feel like that went a bit too far sometimes, but admittedly I’m not much of a dark romance or horror kinda person so maybe I’m just sensitive to it. The descriptions of the way the disease spreads alone (no details here, but EW) almost made me shut the book, but I got far enough in that I figured I’d go ahead and push through. Luckily for me, the last 25% or so of the book really picked up! I enjoyed finally getting to some of the romance and the heist/mind game/social politics aspects that came to fruition. Despite my initial hesitations, the ending of this book made me desperate to know the end of this story so book 2, here I come!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Blood, and Violence
beccaandthegingercat's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
My book club picked this one based on the description - Romeo & Juliet with dragons. It sounded like an interesting premise. It could have been executed better - there were important plot points that weren’t clear and when we met we had to ask what was this scene or that scene about.
I hope this author keeps writing and finds an editor that helps her work shine. In another few novels, I bet they’ll be really good!
I hope this author keeps writing and finds an editor that helps her work shine. In another few novels, I bet they’ll be really good!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Death, and Blood
As a content warning: insects. If you’re easily creeped out by creepy, crawly things, this isn’t the book for you.f_r_e_d's review against another edition
3.5
All in all I really enjoyed it. As far as a story remakes goes-I felt like it was close enough to the actually story to understand it, but different enough to not be a boring story. I love the idea and the whole thought. The writing style was very pretty. But I do think that it was a little sloppy when it came together. The amount of switching between characters got very confusing at some points. Though it added to the understand and character development, I felt like it could have been better executed.
I loved the concept of the gangs and thought that it was a very fun idea and very mysterious. I don't think the ending or the "big reveal" made any sense at all. All the puzzle pieces came together to fast to understand. And then the understanding switched every ten seconds. So the ending was sloppy and hard to understand. I never actually knew who the antagonist was.I loved the surprise of Marshall still being alive, but I also felt like it was a little pushed.
All in all I enjoyed and would read it again. Very good retailing.
I loved the concept of the gangs and thought that it was a very fun idea and very mysterious. I don't think the ending or the "big reveal" made any sense at all. All the puzzle pieces came together to fast to understand. And then the understanding switched every ten seconds. So the ending was sloppy and hard to understand. I never actually knew who the antagonist was.
All in all I enjoyed and would read it again. Very good retailing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Blood
readwithria's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, and Gun violence
m4rtt4's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Secret Shanghai is officially one of my favourite world's I've ever visited, and I'm glad to know the story doesn't end here. I enjoyed almost everything — the monster plotline could have been executed a little better — but I'm only taking 0.5 stars off for that. My absolute favourite thing in addition to the dynamic between Juliette and Roma was everything about the brain-infesting insects (I'm a biology student...), though I must say the science stuff also felt a bit off and/or too modern for the time, for example the term 'viral' wasn't really used until the 1940s, and what were those machines in Lourens's lab, how did they work? I need more specific answers, I'm curious — in all seriousness, I'm just a nitpicking nerd. Nevertheless, Gong has done an excellent job researching and creating all this, big kudos to her <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Murder, Gun violence, Blood, Violence, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Body horror, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Medical content
Minor: Drug use, Transphobia, and Alcohol
readingdragon28's review against another edition
Too much detail on the gore of what happened with the "madness" from the *spoiler alert* nasty engineered insects.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Death, and Blood
hnnhhrsvsk's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
These Violent Delights is a creative twist on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, set in 1920s Shanghai, a city split between colonial powers and gangs, both local and foreign. Chloe Gong does an excellent job conveying the depths and complexities of this multicultural, crime ridden city without boring the reader with long drawn out descriptions - it truly is seamless storytelling. It was an excellent historical backdrop to pair with the blood feud between the two houses.
My only issue is, my god, the main character can be infuriating at times. She is extremely obstinate and would rather fight than take a moment to think. I found myself reeling over some of the decisions she makes because she is just so hot headed sometimes. While infuriating, though, at least it’s refreshing that these characteristics are exemplified in a female character. The other characters are quite lovable. I particularly enjoyed the lighthearted back and forth and complicated friendship between the Mercutio and Benvolio characters.
Overall, a fun read that delightfully mixed one of my favorite plays with an exciting and mysterious plot, interesting characters, and a rich historical setting.
My only issue is, my god, the main character can be infuriating at times. She is extremely obstinate and would rather fight than take a moment to think. I found myself reeling over some of the decisions she makes because she is just so hot headed sometimes. While infuriating, though, at least it’s refreshing that these characteristics are exemplified in a female character. The other characters are quite lovable. I particularly enjoyed the lighthearted back and forth and complicated friendship between the Mercutio and Benvolio characters.
Overall, a fun read that delightfully mixed one of my favorite plays with an exciting and mysterious plot, interesting characters, and a rich historical setting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Classism
jeyjeyyy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Fun book, nothing stood out exactly but I definitely found it interesting.
I really liked the historical references and it did teach me a lot about society in Shanghai at that time. However, the fantasy plots did not make a lot of sense to me. I also did not particularly care about what was happening. The romance also felt a bit bland, it was really great at the beginning but I found its ‘resolution’ a bit too easy. Kind of felt like the characters lost most of the fun aspects of their personality about halfway through… What I wanted was angst upon angst and enemies and hatred and tensionand a LOT more romance. I did not really get that. This sounds iind of bad but I wnated it to be more… toxic? I mean this is Romeo and Juliet !!
Not to say I didn’t like the book, it was just not my favourite.
Also REALLY loved the side characters, especially Kathleen and Marshall and Ben. Excited to see more of them.
I really liked the historical references and it did teach me a lot about society in Shanghai at that time. However, the fantasy plots did not make a lot of sense to me. I also did not particularly care about what was happening. The romance also felt a bit bland, it was really great at the beginning but I found its ‘resolution’ a bit too easy. Kind of felt like the characters lost most of the fun aspects of their personality about halfway through… What I wanted was angst upon angst and enemies and hatred and tensionand a LOT more romance. I did not really get that. This sounds iind of bad but I wnated it to be more… toxic? I mean this is Romeo and Juliet !!
Not to say I didn’t like the book, it was just not my favourite.
Also REALLY loved the side characters, especially Kathleen and Marshall and Ben. Excited to see more of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Racism, Medical content, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death of parent, Murder, Sexism, Death, Gun violence, and Violence
cnaccarato's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Misogyny, Classism, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Gore, Murder, Grief, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Sexism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, and Drug use
Minor: Police brutality, Outing, Bullying, Sexual content, and Homophobia