Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

443 reviews

bo0ks_are_cool91's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

LOVE the world and the characters, but I felt kinda slumped during the middle. It was lots of fun following the mystery and the payoff (and that cliffhanger?????!!!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Gore, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Alcohol

tell_them_stories's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Colonisation, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Body horror, Classism, and Medical content

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Parasitic lice-like insects

madjaz217's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death, Classism, Violence, Colonisation, and Gun violence

litliz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Stalking, Suicide, Body horror, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Gore, Bullying, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, and Vomit

victoria_elaine's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? N/A

4.0

I really liked the writing and setting of this book. I also enjoyed how much went into setting up the cultural background, as the world building was executed phenomenally. This is definitely leaning toward the fantasy side, just in a realistic setting.

I wish I didn’t have to wait so long to see Roma and Juliette together since they ended on bad terms rip, but I loved their development.

One thing I will say is this book was pretty long and drawn out in parts, but also I’m just impatient. Overall a good read and pretty different from anything I’ve read before. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Gore, Death, Murder, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent and Grief

moondaisyy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Violence

scarletthequeen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Sexism and Racism

creolelitbelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

These Violent Delights is a great re-imagining of Shakespeare's classic Romeo and Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai, China with Roma & Juliette now at odds against each other after secretly dating four years prior to the events of the novel. Their families head the rival White Flowers and Scarlet Gang, and they can never forget that key piece of their personal identities. I love the subtle (and not-so-subtle) callbacks to the original play through major and minor characters, scenes, and pivotal lines. Those were all written in carefully to tie book into its source material but not pull the reader out of the new historical fiction story. Gong also did a delicately wonderful job weaving Chinese and other world history into the setting and plot by laying the history out whenever relevant to the story or characters but never over-explaining anything. Knowing the history prior to reading this book is not necessary but did add to my experience. The mystery of what causes the madness seeping into the city pushes enemies together for collaboration, and the intense action kept me hooked. Diversity in cast felt authentic to the time period of China's forced spheres of influence from other countries' powers, and the multi-pov storytelling really made certain chapters feel like isolated scenes as in a play. I am excited to read the sequel and the other books in the world of Secret Shanghai soon. The bonus content in the B&N edition was well worth it, too. I loved getting inside Roma's head through his letters from their first romance together, the prequel story of their courtship before is so sweet. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Emotional abuse, Blood, Classism, Violence, Murder, Death, Gun violence, Gore, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Cursing, Terminal illness, Racism, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Transphobia, Sexual content, and Drug use

kottengoesbork's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

bookycnidaria's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gun violence, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use and Transphobia