Reviews with content warning for Gore - Our Violent Ends

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Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

90 reviews

saoreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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? Yes

4.5

I'm just glad it doesn't have a fixed ending. Somehow, there's that hope and that hope that could provide even a little bit of a silver lining that the sacrifices were worth it. It displayed a lot of realistic analogies, especially on bouts of inciting war, which have become more prevalent with the pandemic since the first book was released in 2020, and how it wasn't all about the blood feud and physically taking over cities, but a metaphor for biological warfare through the form of a monster. Or how the main cause of evil wasn't uprooted (there's some truth in that, only the ones who seemingly caused harm at the very moment and not in the long run). I have to properly process this book because it evoked in me various emotions: it made me giddy, made me mad, made me feel sappy, and made me badly detached. This book had an obvious denouement, but at some point, life still goes on and this tale continues to live on, and maybe that's how love is made eternally.

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writingcaia's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.5

Roma Montagov from the White Flowers Gang and Juliette Cai from the Scarlet Gang have been thorn apart by bloodshed in the past, but four years later, after being exiled in NY, Juliette is back to Shangai. And, just as things heat up in the blood feud and when a creepy monster that sheds hundreds of horrid lice-like ones to infect people into tearing their throats out prowls the streets of their town. It is this common threat to both their people that will have Juliette and Roma come together again, now with not but resentment in their hearts, or so it seems, but they’ll have to put their hatred aside and team up to take down their mutual threat. However, nothing is made easy for these two, love and hate runs close to the skin, the blood feud always in the path of their love, and the monster not as easy to deal with as they hoped especially when they have to run against time to save their loved ones.
This a slow to medium paced story, anchored both in the historical events of the 20/30’s in Shangai, revolution, communists, nationalists, foreign invaders, gangsters all making the streets of the town run red with the blood of the people, and it’s also a retelling of the famous Shakespearean love tragedy Romeu and Juliet.
I’ve to say it wasn’t the easiest book to dive into, thankfully there’re the Montagov and Marsh who were all so endearing and made me keep going, eventually I came into syntony with the story albeit dreading how close to the original it would stick to.
Soon it became a riveting read and continued until the end, with plenty of bloodshed, monsters, hate, betrayal, murder, and of course love to conquer all odds.
I can’t say how close it cut to the original tale without spoilers, I can only say there’re a few plot twists related and unrelated with the Shakespearean tragedy.
Overall a 4.5⭐️ duology and if you like YA retellings, with dark mystery, gangs, history and tragedy this is for you.

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aklovekorn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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andromeda_1998's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

These violent delights was one of my favorite fairyloot books. It was different from the kinds of books I had read before and I gave it 5⭐️ Back then. I liked the book and after reading the second book I’m sure of one thing: I love this duology.

Characters
I really enjoyed reading about Juliette. She’s a strong female character that know what she wants. The thing I like the most about her is that she isn’t stripped of her femininity. She will save the world in dresses and she doesn’t need your opinion about that. She makes questionable choices but she is a morally gray character. It makes her believable. I liked Roma a bit less. He can be a bit whiny but he is still decent I guess.

The story
The story is about Roma and Juliette, two gangster heirs in the streets of Shanghai. They have loved each other in the past but there relationship ended because of mutual betrayal. It’s a enemy to lovers, action packed, unique story with some darker plot twists. I’m not a big romance reader but I still enjoyed this book tremendously. The story is written with a medium/fast pacing and is really well thought out. The writer is able to take you with her on a journey through history (with a twist) in this Romeo and Juliette retelling. The ending was dramatic but it fits the setting.

The worldbuilding
The author has thought up an amazing world. Yes it’s older days Shanghai but it also has an unique flair to it. It’s an interesting read because of the world that is created.

100% recommend this book for loves of romance, drama and gangsters.

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epellicci's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

5.0

A beautiful squeal to Chloe Gong's debut, The Violent Delights. Once again I was so impressed by the way Gong balances emotional, political, and physical conflict. You are drawn into the tension of the story immediately, and yet the book is not all doom. There is a hope, lightness, and moments of comedy which feel completely natural. The historical context to this book was so important, shadowing true events to build a fantasy world grounded solidly in reality, and made all the more terrible for the true events it weaved into the plot. With characters that are entirely three-dimensional and relatable, I was completely wrapped up in the horror and the tenderness. I can't wait to read more of Gong's writing

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elmewhy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense medium-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? No

4.5

~Review to come~

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katsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

"...for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours.”

“What was love if all it did was kill?”

“Nothing in this world is complicated, only misunderstood.”

I think this second novel surpassed the first one in terms of enjoyment. The connections to Romeo & Juliet are a little more noticeable in this novel. By the time I got about half way through and fully realized the ending to R & J and had to finish to figure out how it turned out in the end. I really appreciated how Juliette had so much more agency than the Juliet of Shakespeare's play. She was a total badass that got to call so many of the shots. I loved that change from the original. I also adored Marshall and Benedikt's story. I loved how secondary characters like Marshall, Benedikt, Celia and Rosalind had side stories that were developed so much more from the first book. There were definitely points when I cared more about their stories than the main love story between Roma and Juliette. That being said, I still really loved the love story. I love the enemies-to-lovers trope so this definitely delivered in that regard. And finally, as a history teacher, I loved the connection to real life events that occurred during the Chinese Civil War. They even name-dropped Chiang Kai-Shek! The author made a point in her author's note to note the pieces that weren't quite historically accurate (other than the fantastical elements, of course.) The political intrigue felt quite realistic for that reason. I really enjoyed all of the different factions. It felt messy and complex but it rang true. Ultimately, I really enjoyed this duology and would definitely recommend. I can't wait to see what Chloe Gong comes out with next.

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