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packedjam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Suicide, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, and Gun violence
Moderate: Classism, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Genocide, Alcohol, Trafficking, and Xenophobia
Minor: Drug abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Transphobia, and War
pages_with_panda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
"This city is filthy and deep in the thrall of unending sin, so saturated with the kiss of decadence that the sky threatens to buckle and crush all those living vivaciously beneath it in punishment."
This is the story of Romeo and Juliet killing a monster in 1920s gangster-run Shaghai. Gong does an amazing job of describing the city as alive, and as its own character with its own desires.
The story is slow-paced and Gong takes her time to describe the setting but I loved it - it's poetic, just as a Shakespeare retelling should be. The relationship between the characters is revealed slowly, through the POVs of each characters which I liked. It was a bit confusing to follow some of the politics or the characters but if you stick through it it starts to make sense.
The characters are a diverse mix as well. For being a historical fantasy, we have LGBTQIA+ rep. that I loved.
I loved the forced alliance between Roma and Juliette as well and the slow-burn between their relationship, but this is not a romance. They're relationship is not the main point of the story. There's a mystery going on within the city that they're trying to solve.
The ending was a huge cliff-hanger and I can't wait to start reading the 2nd one!
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Transphobia, Drug abuse, and Blood
lady_moon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Oh, and THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE ENEMIES TO LOVERS, TAKE NOTES PEOPLE.
Also, I love Benedikt for no reason but his existential crisis, bye
15/09/2021: It's not you baby, it's me being on the edge of reading slump for more than a month and your slow pacing. And all the hype around you...
Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Gun violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug abuse
Minor: Transphobia and Police brutality
monsoleil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
i had to pull out a translator for all the french bits, but aside from that, it was a very exciting story! can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel.
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Drug abuse, and Death of parent
orchidsituation'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, Murder, Blood, and Colonisation
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Drug abuse, Medical content, and Death of parent
mackenziem12's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Racism
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Deadnaming and Transphobia
_kimb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Death, Blood, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Transphobia, Colonisation, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
elissareadsbooks's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Racism
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
nerdybirdy101's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, Gun violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, Cursing, Bullying, Blood, Addiction, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Stalking, Police brutality, Physical abuse, and Murder
angelareads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, and Terminal illness
Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexism, Trafficking, Transphobia, and Vomit