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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
I worship the ground miss Gong walks on! It’s true. She is what the YA genre needs right now. The fact that she absolutely delivered on her debut series is embarrassing to other authors who have been in the game for awhile. I seriously am in awe.
The character work is truly phenomenal. Gong’s distinction between characters and their voice is very impressive. Every pov you follow has a very unique line of thought and interpretation of the world. I loved getting to know these characters and follow their arcs. There is something to be said about the way Chloe Gong makes every point of view engaging and immersive. The subtle, and extremely positively diversity, was excellent. It’s a shame that this is even such a big plus but bitch, the bar is fucking low for diversity when it comes to popular books in YA.
One of the highlights of both books in this series, but especially book 2, is the slow burn, complex plot. Gong weaves together politics, world building, action, and drama seamlessly. Everything comes together in such a fully realized way. You can tell she put her BACK into thinking everything through. Also, the plot twist were WILD and they had me gasping at my book. When I tell you this book had me STRESSED, I mean it.
One of Gong’s best strength is definitely her prose. It is so entrancing and almost elegant? The descriptions of Shanghai were fucking beautiful! Even the gory, visceral scenes were stunning. I was glued to the page during these damn descriptions. Everything was perfectly laid out and gave me a very bright image of everything going on.
It was definitely a bold move retelling a story as notorious as Romeo and Juliet but damn, she did it. And she did it so fucking well. Adding Chloe to my auto-buy list and I cannot wait to read anything else she writes!
The character work is truly phenomenal. Gong’s distinction between characters and their voice is very impressive. Every pov you follow has a very unique line of thought and interpretation of the world. I loved getting to know these characters and follow their arcs. There is something to be said about the way Chloe Gong makes every point of view engaging and immersive. The subtle, and extremely positively diversity, was excellent. It’s a shame that this is even such a big plus but bitch, the bar is fucking low for diversity when it comes to popular books in YA.
One of the highlights of both books in this series, but especially book 2, is the slow burn, complex plot. Gong weaves together politics, world building, action, and drama seamlessly. Everything comes together in such a fully realized way. You can tell she put her BACK into thinking everything through. Also, the plot twist were WILD and they had me gasping at my book. When I tell you this book had me STRESSED, I mean it.
One of Gong’s best strength is definitely her prose. It is so entrancing and almost elegant? The descriptions of Shanghai were fucking beautiful! Even the gory, visceral scenes were stunning. I was glued to the page during these damn descriptions. Everything was perfectly laid out and gave me a very bright image of everything going on.
It was definitely a bold move retelling a story as notorious as Romeo and Juliet but damn, she did it. And she did it so fucking well. Adding Chloe to my auto-buy list and I cannot wait to read anything else she writes!
Okay. The plot of this book didn't capture me as much as the first. And some of the romantic dialogue between Roma and Juliette was cringey. BUT it's still 5 stars.
Because that scene between Benedikt and Marshall was worth a million stars. My highlighter began dying I was using it so much. I was actively swooning.
"I am horrendously, horrendously in love with your dreadful face." I can't. Obsessed forever.
And I was still in love with Gong's writing - cringe and all lol And I even teared up when Juliette killed Tyler? Like, what? I just had a great time.
Now I can finally read Foul Lady Fortune which was the first book I bought from her. Though it has big shoes to fill.
AND THEN the novellas with my boys back.
Because that scene between Benedikt and Marshall was worth a million stars. My highlighter began dying I was using it so much. I was actively swooning.
"I am horrendously, horrendously in love with your dreadful face." I can't. Obsessed forever.
And I was still in love with Gong's writing - cringe and all lol And I even teared up when Juliette killed Tyler? Like, what? I just had a great time.
Now I can finally read Foul Lady Fortune which was the first book I bought from her. Though it has big shoes to fill.
AND THEN the novellas with my boys back.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
Oh shoot me ig.
Simply too overcome with emotions for any coherency
Wow that is how you write a book
Wow that is how you write a book
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this series a lot, unsurprisingly! Let's just pray that Roma and Juliette didn't actually die because like Alisa, I refuse to accept the fact that they died. I want them to live their lives away from the madness of the city and the gangsters, and praying that they'd get to grow old alongside Benedikt and Marshall.
I just really don’t like the whole enemies turned lovers turned enemies turned lovers again trope and this book lacked some of the fun and interesting parts of the first
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
medium-paced