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faitherslibrary'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: Child abuse, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Violence, Blood, Drug use, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide, Alcohol, Self harm, and Torture
Minor: Transphobia
theoverbookedshelf's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Classism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Transphobia, and Racism
Minor: Stalking and Terminal illness
sarah984's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
First off I will say, I loved the concept of a 1920s Shanghai Romeo and Juliet retelling. The descriptions of the city and events surrounding the characters are great, and you can tell that the author is passionate about this history. The monster story does the job and some of the horror writing is great.
The story and characters were another thing, unfortunately. The book takes way too long, with characters meandering around monologuing while nothing much happens for large amounts of time. Juliette is an interesting enough character (a little too stock YA heroine for me but she's fine) but Roma is like a block of wood. This is a shame because in the play you can call Romeo a lot of things but "boring" isn't really one of them. The enemies to lovers romance is so bland and uninteresting. The word "thudding" is used so often that I want to erase it from the author’s brain.
Things finally come to a head at the end and the final confrontation is exciting (though there are definitely some stupid things that happen because they sound cool, like firing a 1920s pistol underwater) but the author takes a big risk and then immediately backtracks it, which bugged me.
It was fine, if you like YA enemies to lovers and/or historical you'll probably enjoy it, but I don't really care too much if I read the second one or not.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Vomit, and Transphobia
kbairbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War
offbrandclubsoda'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
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Blood, Gun violence, Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Colonisation, Alcohol, Drug use, Vomit, Misogyny, Death of parent, Deadnaming, and Grief
k_aro's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Anyways, I liked it! It's not a Romeo and Juliet retelling in the traditional sense, so per my English teacher's ask, I do not think it is a good prelude to Romeo and Juliet. It like, barely follows the Romeo and Juliet plotline.
The characters are a lot of fun, though I find Juliette to be a little bland in terms of how she talks about herself—like, obviously sexism is something that would face a would-be heiress of a gangster empire in the 1920s, it just feels a little trite (as a narrative, as a narrative device, etc). I also wish she was allowed to be angrier and kill more people, but I just like characters who are like that.
There's also something that I'm not entirely a fan of, which is how much (textually) Juliette pines for Roma but it isn't so much that way in the inverse; trust me, I am very much a fan of the whole "pining for each other but for one reason or another shouldn't", but I've read enough fanfic (and just like... books lol) that if only one half, and especially if that one half is the female half in a straight relationship, it doesn't make me really happy. Something about how overly emotional women are, I guess? Seems to confirm the things Juliette is fighting against, metatextually (not that she shouldn't be emotional, but given that Roma isn't showered with description on description of how badly he pines, it feels... a little unbalanced).
On a lighter note, Roma's a lot of fun! I like his character, it very much falls into a pattern of how I enjoy my male characters (tightly controlled until pushed to the brink, which could also just be my enjoyment of characters who go nuts).
Marshall is a lot of fun! He's very Karma Akabane-esque, and I mean that only as the highest of compliments, because Karma Akabane is like... my original comfort character haha.
Anyways. It's an enjoyable book. But I think I'd recommend other books before this one.
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Self harm, Body horror, Transphobia, Violence, Domestic abuse, Gore, Colonisation, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content, Misogyny, Outing, Abandonment, Deadnaming, and Xenophobia
chantellimus'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide, Sexism, Misogyny, Drug use, and Death of parent
kinsportch'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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Racism, and Transphobia
Minor: Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Xenophobia
akthackray'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
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, and Grief
aseel_reads's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
secondly, I was WELL AWARE of the mixed reviews. I think the hype and blurb made it sound one thing and it was something else, so a lot of people were disappointed.
I was not disappointed. I really enjoyed this. I love a retelling, loved figuring out who was who. I enjoyed the setting and time period. big fan of gangs, always. the fantasy/monster element was fun and different. I liked that the characters took their time before working together, it made sense with their history. living for the anti-colonial rhetoric we get. just happy to be here
Moderate: Blood, Addiction, Child death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Transphobia, and Violence