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kbairbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
(Spoiler review) oh my gosh. Once again horror and politics are SO not my vibe when I’m reading. BUT. There’s just something about Chloe Gongs writing that ensnared me. I HAD to know what happened and I HAD to know if Roma and Juliette ended up together! I still wish she had killed her parents, and as with a couple other things I’m not entirely sure what the ending meant so I feel… fulfilled but also not. It’s been a long time since I read something that left me with that feeling at the end of a book. I will be very intrigued to see what this author comes up with in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Police brutality and Colonisation
insectsmorriganslibrary's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Suicide
katiefreeman209's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide
bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
ava_books's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
OUR VIOLENT ENDS is a great finish to an excellent duology, with just the right amount of angst and catharsis. If you read THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS and wanted more of Juliet and Roma treating stabbing and bullets as expressions of fraught teenage love in the midst of a plague-turned-takeover, you should read this ASAP.
The worldbuilding is consistent with the previous book, but it's now slowing down to build as many non-human parts of the setting as THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS was able to. Juliet sometimes still wears flapper dresses, and Roma has a Meaningful Wardrobe Change, but tensions are high and there's just less time for fun. Plenty of time for emotionally fraught pining and hatred, especially coming off of events from the last book.
I love how much Kathleen shines in this one, she has a much better sense of herself and what place she wants to hold. Alisa, too, gets more of a role and it's very nice to see. Ben and Marsh are fantastic, I'm so happy about their arc here.
This wraps up a bunch of things from THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS. It has a couple of storylines which start here and weren't present before, but since this is part two of a duology that's somewhat limited, as it exists to complete the story. I'm not sure if any major things were both introduced and resolved here, as generally the groundwork was laid previously even if the very specific story thread is mostly contained to this volume. It feels finished, except in as much as the ending intentionally left things open, e.g. living characters are implied to have plans for what they'll do next. The main characters are the same, with a similar ratio of how many chapters each one narrates. Their voices are distinct from each other but consistent with their styles of narration from THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS. This might make some sense if someone picked it up at random and didn't know about the series (especially if they're familiar with ROMEO AND JULIETTE. The relevant backstory is succinctly and precisely conveyed in a way that makes it pretty easy to get up to speed, but certain character motivations and present circumstances will be confusing if someone tries to begin here, in part two of two. It does hit the sweet spot for enough of a reminder for readers who waited a while after reading the first book, at least as far as I'm concerned.
Well-done with an ending I'm still thinking about, make sure to check out OUR VIOLENT ENDS.
The worldbuilding is consistent with the previous book, but it's now slowing down to build as many non-human parts of the setting as THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS was able to. Juliet sometimes still wears flapper dresses, and Roma has a Meaningful Wardrobe Change, but tensions are high and there's just less time for fun. Plenty of time for emotionally fraught pining and hatred, especially coming off of events from the last book.
I love how much Kathleen shines in this one, she has a much better sense of herself and what place she wants to hold. Alisa, too, gets more of a role and it's very nice to see. Ben and Marsh are fantastic, I'm so happy about their arc here.
This wraps up a bunch of things from THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS. It has a couple of storylines which start here and weren't present before, but since this is part two of a duology that's somewhat limited, as it exists to complete the story. I'm not sure if any major things were both introduced and resolved here, as generally the groundwork was laid previously even if the very specific story thread is mostly contained to this volume. It feels finished, except in as much as the ending intentionally left things open, e.g. living characters are implied to have plans for what they'll do next. The main characters are the same, with a similar ratio of how many chapters each one narrates. Their voices are distinct from each other but consistent with their styles of narration from THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS. This might make some sense if someone picked it up at random and didn't know about the series (especially if they're familiar with ROMEO AND JULIETTE. The relevant backstory is succinctly and precisely conveyed in a way that makes it pretty easy to get up to speed, but certain character motivations and present circumstances will be confusing if someone tries to begin here, in part two of two. It does hit the sweet spot for enough of a reminder for readers who waited a while after reading the first book, at least as far as I'm concerned.
Well-done with an ending I'm still thinking about, make sure to check out OUR VIOLENT ENDS.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Physical abuse
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
awxiee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content and Death of parent
tahsintries's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Blood
Moderate: Death, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Abandonment