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nehanaomi's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
an_everyday_penguin's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Moderate: Death and Violence
shaipanda's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and War
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
ye_li's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Death of parent
aseel_reads's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
ladygetslit's review against another edition
- 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
There will be hatred. There will be war. The country will fight itself to pieces. It will starve its people, ravage its land, poison its breath. Shanghai will fall and break and cry. But alongside everything, there has to be love—eternal, undying, enduring. Burn through vengeance and terror and warfare. Burn through everything that fuels the human heart and sears it red, burn through everything that covers the outside with hard muscle and tough sinew. Cut down deep and grab what beats beneath, and it is love that will survive after everything else has perished.
My Personal Opinion: It is a rare sequel that lives up to the first installment, but Our Violent Ends managed to blow me away. This book has everything: political intrigue based in Chinese history, queer and trans representation, family drama, mysterious monsters, loyal friend groups, and (of course) star-crossed love.
My Teacher Opinion: this would be an amazing replacement for Romeo & Juliet, although I may ruffle feathers by saying so. I do think the duology would be best for an upper level high school class, due to the pretty heavy violence and complexity of the political plot lines.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Colonisation
btrz7's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Firstly, this is one of those books where an author chooses a setting (location/time period) and instead of letting it just work as a background, they fully brought it to life and let it be relevant to the story. I think Chloe Gong painted a very vivid picture of Shangai and the gang's lives and this certainly elevates the story in my eyes.
As for plot, I understand intertwining politics with gang business (not that the two leads seemed to care that much about politics), but at some point I felt like the fantasy element was too much. Like, specially in this book, it felt like it was sidetracked for a long portion of the book, and I feel like the same effect on the story could have been achieved by a non supernatural element. This is already a retelling, which has its own elements and beats to hit, and while I thought the rival gangs with a blood feud fit it well, the book felt too long for me. As in, I felt like some sections of the plot were neglected for too long, and specially towards the second half of the book, I kept waiting for things to wrap up, and even when it felt like it was time to conclude it, there were tons of things still left.
Lastly, I didn't care much for the two main characters and their relationship (when it felt to me like it was time to end the book, I kept thinking "isn't it time for you to die now?") but I did like their respective sidekicks (Ben and Marshall, Rosalind and Kathleen), and it was their endings I was looking forward to since the end of book 1.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
averyrembish's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Kidnapping
angelsfw's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
takarakei's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Colonisation