Reviews with content warning for Murder - Our Violent Ends

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

151 reviews

gretchenplz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

2.0

It is very apparent that the author is incredibly passionate about the history of Shanghai. I will give her that.

But I believe that this book would have been 100% better had it been half as long. With the way the first book ended, I expected to be able to immediately be pulled back into the world and be unable to put the book down, but that is, unfortunately, not the case.

The book could have started at 60% and I would have been happy. There are too many layers, too many characters, no smooth plot to follow. The fantasy element should have been removed if she truly wanted the significance of the historical happenings to be the focus.

All of the characters are complicated, and borderline unlikeable at times. Their juvenile view of the world is frustrating, and it, I think, is partially why the story gets so bogged down.

I did, however, really appreciate the OG Romeo & Juliet Easter eggs (quotes, scenes , etc.)!

The ending... left a lot to be desired. While we all KNOW how it's going to end, it just felt like, after 500 pages, the author was just... tired of writing? The whole book ended in a literal paragraph?? This is why we need beta readers and editors who offer their honest feedback.

The fantasy elements of this duology were weak and unnecessary. I see the metaphor that the author was going for, but it was underdeveloped and would have been better just removed and reworked so R&J had a different excuse to work together.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be picking up another one of Gong's books. Her writing style is just not for me, I fear. She was definitely tried for a Leigh Bardugo/Ninth House style of writing and just did not execute the way Leigh does.

My star rating is a bit soft, because I truly did hate read this entire book and would have DNF'd if it wasn't for a club.

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jackyy93's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

I enjoyed this book way better than These Violent Delights!!
The development of the side characters makes this book more entertaining to read. <3

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kareenadeah's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

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isitcertain's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

better than shakespeare tbh

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theliterarymess's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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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lyla_wicks's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

loved all the angst, especially at the start of the book, and thought that the revolution plot was quite interesting, but it did get a bit much sometimes. wasn’t a massive fan of the ending, but understand why it happened

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pages_with_panda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

✅ Finished Jan 17, ‘23

“Tiān nǎ” (I hope I'm using that phrase right!)

A beautiful continuation of the first story, picking up right where we left off. There's really no time for much recap so if it's been a while since you read the first one, maybe brush up on some names. This book is fast-paced, full of betrayal, violence, and yearning.

"Lovers turned to strangers, and it cut deep enough to bleed."

The monsters are still here - this time with a new master who can control them at will. The threat of the Communists, the Revolutionaries and both gangs are still around our main characters and they have to deal with the plot-twist of the last book.

Juliette and Romeo's relationship in this book was amazing. I loved their development from enemies-to-lovers and their love-hate relationship. Forced together (again) to work on solving the mystery of the monsters was great and I ate it up.

Only he knew that if he screamed I hate you, what he really meant was I love you. I still love you so much that I hate you for it.

Beyond our two star-crossed lovers, I fell in love with Alisa, Rosalind, Celia, Marshall and Benedict. Their stories were intertwined well with our main characters, and I loved all of them...Though one a lot less than the others.

Thank you to Gong for giving Marshall and Benedict a happy ending.

The relationships/romance weren't the main points of the story either. (Reminder that the original Romeo+Juliet wasn’t a romance but a TRAGEDY.) Gong does a great job of making this a historical fantasy book by tying in real events that happened in Shanghai. The politics were interesting and making no one faction the good guy/bad guy made for a great story. Her writing was descriptive and poetic, and she even quoted some of the plays dialogue in a way that fit the setting.

And even though this is a retelling, the story was full of surprises and I audible gasped at a few scenes. The ending should've been expected but still hurt.

Loved it.

She would rather hold this hope so close to her chest that it feels like a fire on its own, flickering against the darkness, flickering even where other embers burn out.

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