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azrah786's review against another edition
4.25
[This full review can also be found on my BLOG]
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, gore, mass shooting, murder, injury, death, kidnapping, torture, whipping, suicidal thoughts, war themes, parental abuse, police brutality
Our Violent Ends, where the “our” is really the reader because after finishing this I was so NOT okay!
This sequel continues a couple of months after the end of These Violent Delights with Shanghai on the brink of revolution. The blood feud is back in full force, especially with Roma seeing red after Juliette’s betrayal, which is not helping the situation in the slightest. Meanwhile Juliette is trying to tiptoe her way around her own secrets to save her neck as well as Roma’s. However, when the dreaded monster madness threat resurfaces Roma and Juliette are forced to once again come to a truce and combine forces to save their beloved city.
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, gore, mass shooting, murder, injury, death, kidnapping, torture, whipping, suicidal thoughts, war themes, parental abuse, police brutality
Our Violent Ends, where the “our” is really the reader because after finishing this I was so NOT okay!
This sequel continues a couple of months after the end of These Violent Delights with Shanghai on the brink of revolution. The blood feud is back in full force, especially with Roma seeing red after Juliette’s betrayal, which is not helping the situation in the slightest. Meanwhile Juliette is trying to tiptoe her way around her own secrets to save her neck as well as Roma’s. However, when the dreaded monster madness threat resurfaces Roma and Juliette are forced to once again come to a truce and combine forces to save their beloved city.
“Maybe it was inevitable in a city like this. Each and every one of them, taking on a path of destruction, even if they knew better, even if they would warn someone else off it.”
Chloe Gong's remarkable prose both immerses you right back into the setting, the city once again acting as a character itself, and perfectly captures the various tensions that can be found in its streets.
Much like the first book Gong has masterfully merged the classic story with the real world history of Shanghai, the political side to the storyline in particular taking centre stage. Plus with some of the primary plot from the play already having been mirrored in book 1 the retelling side is a little looser. However, I still had that constant anticipation for what events from the original were going to be rewritten and stumbling across cleverly utilised Shakespeare quotes made it all the more enjoyable.
“A rose is a rose, even by another name,” he whispered. “But we choose whether we will offer beauty to the world, or if we will use our thorns to sting.”
As ever the characters own my heart. The interactions between Roma and Juliette were as you would expect like a dagger in the heart, full of even more angst than before and I loved every second of it. I will admit I did spend a lot of time just wanting to jump into the book myself to knock some sense into the two of them and mainly yell at him to admit that HE LOVES HER and at her to acknowledge that HE’LL UNDERSTAND if she comes clean!!!
What I also really enjoyed was that there was a bigger spotlight on Kathleen, Rosalind, Benedict, Marshall and even Alisa which added so much more to the narrative! It has made me all the more excited for Foul Lady Fortune, the first book in the spin off duology releasing later in 2022!
“Sometimes hatred has no memory to feed off. It has grown strong enough to feed itself, and so long as we do not fight it, it will not bother us. It will not weaken us.”
All that aside I think I fall into the minority group of those who really enjoyed this book but didn’t love it as much as the first one (hence my slightly lower rating). The main reasons being the pacing and that I guessed a lot of the twists.. The book had a little bit of a slow start – despite there being some actiony scenes in the beginning which were great - and then when the political side of the plot really kicked off it got much more explosive and interesting but I also felt that the amount of focus on this made the monster part of the story seem a little overlooked? Not that this was a bad thing just there was SO MUCH going on!
Furthermore, I was reading this at an off time for me personally (it’s why I didn’t get through the ARC in time) so I think my mood definitely had an impact on my overall enjoyment but like I mentioned before this book was fantastic and I really didn’t want it to end.
Speaking of which, bittersweet though it was I don’t think we could have asked for a more perfect conclusion to this duology. I look forward to my heart being broken again in the next adventure Chloe Gong has in store for us.
Final Rating – 4.25/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Police brutality
caitlin033's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mass/school shootings
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
hannahbaysinger_jones's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
nightfell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Chloe Gong really said: oh you want angst? I'll give you 490 pages of it with only three happy scenes to sustain you. And although it was hard to read because of all the unending angst, it was a big part of why I rated it 5 stars.
I honestly have no complaints for this book, it was perfect, a masterpiece, so interesting and engaging....just not fun because of all the angst (I'll keep saying angst get used to it). I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to make it through because the way these characters were yearning for each other for so long was immaculate, and very intense. I really liked how the author switched from plot driven to character driven in this book compared to the first one. These violent delights needed to be more plot centred because it covers what the duology is mainly about, with the imperialism and the monsters. And in this one, that is still a focus, but the characters were developed over the course of this book, as well as their relationships with each other, and that's why I loved this book so much.
When I finished These Violent Delights, I honestly wasn't rooting for Roma and Juliette to get together. We just found out that she was responsible for the death of his mother, and although she didn't really kill Marshall, making Roma and Benedikt believe she had is arguably just as bad. I know that the book tried to make the whole 'she killed his mum' thing seem like not a big deal, but it should be. However, reading the second book made me not care as much once I saw how much both characters suffered and yearned for each other, I just wanted them to be together so bad. Despite this, the way the author handled this whole situation was SO funny it's the more unbelievable than literal monsters invading the city:
Benedikt is distraught mourning Marshall's death, and confronts Roma, reminding him that Juliette basically killed his mum. And this man thinks it over, and comes to the conclusion that killing is best FRIEND is worse that killing his MOTHER. EXCUSE ME? WHAT? WHO IS THIS MAN? And I may have made this up but I swear at one point Roma mentions how he loved his mum and was close to her. And he's really holding more of a grudge over his street rat of a friend? (No hate to Marshall, I love him. He is a rat tho).
Anyway, I just felt terrible for Roma, he literally suffered for the entire duology, and after all the horrendous things Juliette has inflicted on him, he still can't help but love her and it's was so devastating to see him almost rip himself apart angsting about it. Meanwhile Juliette is just as torn up, and I'm still in pain. I really liked how their relationship evolved from the first book, and I ship them even more.
The role reversal in their relationship dynamic made me love Juliette, as I didn't really like her in the first book, but it really helped to see her more vulnerable side which really came out in this book more often, as well as her soft side, which was what warmed me to her. She was so silly and goofy in this book Chloe Gong MADE me love her. And I loved all of Juliette's relationships with other characters, such as Marshall. I love how their friendship bloomed from the fake death hide out situation they were so cute, and I'm still sad that they never got to say goodbye. I like how Benedikt slowly warmed to her, and her and Alisa relationship over the course of the duology.
My favourite parts of the book have to be:
- The first chapter (THAT IS HOW YOU START A SEQUAL)
- The entirety of Roma and Juliette's trip to Zhouzhuang, it was so comforting despite the angst, and the fact that the book ends with Alisa in Zhouzhuang seeing a mysterious couple across the lake who are hinted to being Roma and Juliette's souls reunited there after they died is beautiful.
- Every Marshall and Benedikt scene, their angry love confession scene was perfection, I'm still not over the fact that Marshall was (secretly) simping the entire duology.
- The duel/shoot out scene with Tyler and Roma, it was so tense and one of my favourite Juliette moments, she was so vulnerable I loved it.
- The entire ending battle sequence (basically the last 100-150 pages) it was such as good ending. The way you see Kathleen slowly believing in the communists' cause to fully joining them and becoming Celia was such a good progression of her character, I wish we saw more of her in our violent ends but the book didn't need to be longer at the same time. I wish Kathleen and Juliette's goodbye wasn't so sad, I loved their relationship. (Also I knew Rosalind was a spy, but the fact that she was dating Dimitri, was the blackmailer and was helping the rise of the monsters was a twist I wasn't expecting, it was good, I just don't care about her).
Roma and Juliette's end was perfectly done. I liked how it empowered them as opposed to Romeo and Juliet. I liked how they were death trope because it would have been anticlimactic otherwise, even though it hurts. The more I think about it, the more destined it seems. Like how Juliette told Roma she could never be his lover, only his killer in the first book, and she was the one to throw the lighter, killing them. How Benedikt says he wished Roma and Juliette wouldn't burn the world down every time they chose each other, and they probably burned a lot of Shanghai with the vaccine, included each other. And so many other times throughout the duology where she knows they won't survive loving each other. I just know they're living their best lives in heaven or Zhouzhuang, as are Benedikt and Marshall. And Alisa and Celia.
Overall, Our Violent Ends was an incredible book, and so deserving the five stars I gave it. The duology stands so strong, and everyone who wants a Romeo and Juliette retelling that is better than the source material should read it, along with anyone who like historical fiction, and wants to learn about Shanghai in the 1920s, as it was depicted so well and in a way that is understandable and enjoyable. Someone needs to start a gofundme so Chloe Gong can pay all of our therapy bills, she can't keep getting away with this.
(ALSO I WAS RIGHT, ROMA AND JULIETTE MENTIONING STABBING EACH OTHER DURING THEIR SEX SCENE, KNIFE KINK CONFIRMED).
I honestly have no complaints for this book, it was perfect, a masterpiece, so interesting and engaging....just not fun because of all the angst (I'll keep saying angst get used to it). I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to make it through because the way these characters were yearning for each other for so long was immaculate, and very intense. I really liked how the author switched from plot driven to character driven in this book compared to the first one. These violent delights needed to be more plot centred because it covers what the duology is mainly about, with the imperialism and the monsters. And in this one, that is still a focus, but the characters were developed over the course of this book, as well as their relationships with each other, and that's why I loved this book so much.
Benedikt is distraught mourning Marshall's death, and confronts Roma, reminding him that Juliette basically killed his mum. And this man thinks it over, and comes to the conclusion that killing is best FRIEND is worse that killing his MOTHER. EXCUSE ME? WHAT? WHO IS THIS MAN? And I may have made this up but I swear at one point Roma mentions how he loved his mum and was close to her. And he's really holding more of a grudge over his street rat of a friend? (No hate to Marshall, I love him. He is a rat tho).
Anyway, I just felt terrible for Roma, he literally suffered for the entire duology, and after all the horrendous things Juliette has inflicted on him, he still can't help but love her and it's was so devastating to see him almost rip himself apart angsting about it. Meanwhile Juliette is just as torn up, and I'm still in pain. I really liked how their relationship evolved from the first book, and I ship them even more.
The role reversal in their relationship dynamic made me love Juliette, as I didn't really like her in the first book, but it really helped to see her more vulnerable side which really came out in this book more often, as well as her soft side, which was what warmed me to her. She was so silly and goofy in this book Chloe Gong MADE me love her. And I loved all of Juliette's relationships with other characters, such as Marshall. I love how their friendship bloomed from the fake death hide out situation they were so cute, and I'm still sad that they never got to say goodbye. I like how Benedikt slowly warmed to her, and her and Alisa relationship over the course of the duology.
My favourite parts of the book have to be:
- The first chapter (THAT IS HOW YOU START A SEQUAL)
- The entirety of Roma and Juliette's trip to Zhouzhuang, it was so comforting despite the angst, and the fact that the book ends with Alisa in Zhouzhuang seeing a mysterious couple across the lake who are hinted to being Roma and Juliette's souls reunited there after they died is beautiful.
- Every Marshall and Benedikt scene, their angry love confession scene was perfection, I'm still not over the fact that Marshall was (secretly) simping the entire duology.
- The duel/shoot out scene with Tyler and Roma, it was so tense and one of my favourite Juliette moments, she was so vulnerable I loved it.
- The entire ending battle sequence (basically the last 100-150 pages) it was such as good ending. The way you see Kathleen slowly believing in the communists' cause to fully joining them and becoming Celia was such a good progression of her character, I wish we saw more of her in our violent ends but the book didn't need to be longer at the same time. I wish Kathleen and Juliette's goodbye wasn't so sad, I loved their relationship. (Also I knew Rosalind was a spy, but the fact that she was dating Dimitri, was the blackmailer and was helping the rise of the monsters was a twist I wasn't expecting, it was good, I just don't care about her).
Roma and Juliette's end was perfectly done. I liked how it empowered them as opposed to Romeo and Juliet. I liked how they were death trope because it would have been anticlimactic otherwise, even though it hurts. The more I think about it, the more destined it seems. Like how Juliette told Roma she could never be his lover, only his killer in the first book, and she was the one to throw the lighter, killing them. How Benedikt says he wished Roma and Juliette wouldn't burn the world down every time they chose each other, and they probably burned a lot of Shanghai with the vaccine, included each other. And so many other times throughout the duology where she knows they won't survive loving each other. I just know they're living their best lives in heaven or Zhouzhuang, as are Benedikt and Marshall. And Alisa and Celia.
Overall, Our Violent Ends was an incredible book, and so deserving the five stars I gave it. The duology stands so strong, and everyone who wants a Romeo and Juliette retelling that is better than the source material should read it, along with anyone who like historical fiction, and wants to learn about Shanghai in the 1920s, as it was depicted so well and in a way that is understandable and enjoyable. Someone needs to start a gofundme so Chloe Gong can pay all of our therapy bills, she can't keep getting away with this.
(ALSO I WAS RIGHT, ROMA AND JULIETTE MENTIONING STABBING EACH OTHER DURING THEIR SEX SCENE, KNIFE KINK CONFIRMED).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
jules_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.5
Miss Chloe how could you do this to me? Full review later today!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury