Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

86 reviews

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.5

This is yet another book that booktok hyped up and I just...didn’t like. I even bought it, because the cover was beautiful and I’d heard so many good things, but it only took a few pages for me to get annoyed by the writing style. I love retellings of classic stories, and the premise of this seemed so interesting—1920s glamor! Shanghai! Rival gangs!—but once I started reading I was pretty disappointed by the whole creepy bug concept. I’m not a fan of gore, and so there were a few scenes that I really wish I could’ve skipped past.

I did really like the Benedikt/Marshall relationship and I hope that we see more of it in the next book (because, yes, even though I didn’t like this book I’m still going to read the sequel).

 

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending):

It was a bit of a cliffhanger! Definitely not happy, and even though it’s only the first half of the duology, I’m not surprised—this is a Romeo and Juliet retelling, after all. I am interested to see whether Gong sticks to the original ending in the sequel, or if she’ll decide to spin it in her own way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Addiction, Colonisation, and Drug use

cinnamonandpancakes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

While I found the beginning of this book a little slow to get into, I read the latter half in about 2 hours. The setting is vividly realised and the characters are delightfully messy and complicated. In this book there are no simple choices, everyone must do their best with the information they have and it's never quite enough. Sometimes the description of the setting almost overwhelms the characters a little, but it does not detract from an excellent story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Drug use

Discussions of colonialism, the aftermath of the Opium Wars, the beginnings of the Chinese Communist revolution,

lying about vaccines

,

bugs

mothman19's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent and Drug use

Minor: Animal death

elissareadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.5

i adore Shakespeare but do not particularly enjoy romeo and juliet. this book made me enjoy romeo and juliet. this was so much fun: as dark as it needed to be to live up to its premise, as hopeful as it could dare. i had a grand time, especially during the whirlwind of the last 100 pages. im in awe of how grand YA books are at the moment.

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Content Warnings

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

claire_baco's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, and Violence

immdani's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

3.75

I found the story a bit slow, but I loved Juliette. She was my favorite character. Kathleen I feel could have an entire story of her own, I really enjoyed her. Overall a enjoyable read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Murder, and Racism

Entomophobia - big TW!!!

korolnikolai's review against another edition

mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Drug use

nerdybirdy101's review against another edition

4.0

I read this book via audiobook. I was interested in this book because of the reviews many book influencers were doing, so while mafia Romeo and Juliet books are not things I usually like, I wanted to give this book a chance. I ended up really enjoying this book! I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars because I felt like there was some lag for me because there was a bunch of drama, then a slow dragging part, and then the ending was fast. I think I needed more of a balance to keep my attention since I am not an avid fan of the themes. The author is clearly skilled and I am very excited to see their future works, definitely am hopeful they will write more historical romance-type books. I do recommend this book because the author is a fabulous writer and they have skills that other people need to read. 

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Content Warnings

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

baexlee's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

This was delightful. Immediately I was drawn in by Juliette and Roma but the mystery and historic setting were also going to be right up my alley and of course I was thrilled with this read. I found my heart racing in some moments and aching in others and while I was initially tempted to rate this lower than five stars just because I was a bit disappointed with how quickly and loosely the end wrapped up, I realized I have been a bit to harsh with my own ratings lately and I truly enjoyed this book. I think that I was just disappointed that I will have to wait until the next book to see what happens and the cliffhanger in this is brutal. (especially

if you're hoping for romance between Roma and Juliette to reignite

)

Despite the fact that both characters have plenty of blood on their hands and find plenty more before the end of the story, it was not hard to root for either Juliette or Roma as they try to protect their people, even when their means were more... questionable. I didn't find that I was distracted by the moments where the story was making references more directly to the Romeo & Juliet inspiration, which was appreciated because I either find that it is distracting or nonexistent in other works, but I felt Gong found a nice balance here.

This was absolutely delightful, the only thing that could have made it better would be some more romance but I do love some slow burn trading betrayal back and forth enemies to lovers romance (ie Cardan and Jude from The Cruel Prince) so I guess I won't complain too much about it because I can have something to look forward to in the second book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug use, and Gore

Minor: Xenophobia, Stalking, Racism, and Misogyny

angelareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

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