Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

90 reviews

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: Gore, Gun violence, and Blood

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

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: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, 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: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Gore

Minor: Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, and Stalking

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: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Grief

daniellestarredpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.0

Review to come

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Transphobia

planreadrepeat's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

cinnasbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.75

Stars: 4/5

Summary: I struggled a bit for a lot of this book. It's very political and I read to escape the politics of the every-day. It was pretty slow but picked up really well towards the end. Great characters that I became attached to and I love the setting and little clue trail plot.

Characters: 8 - I adore Roma and Juliette - also the play on their names from the Shakespeare story. Both characters have a lot of death though this book mostly focusses on Juliette and really develops her character. I would love to see Roma developed more in future books. My favourite character is Marshall. He's my baby. There was never confusion with characters for me as I occasionally find in complex YA.

Atmosphere: 7 - The setting is another aspect of this story that I adore. I love 1920's Shanghai and Chloe Gong's descriptions of it. The story is mainly plot driven and not lyrical in writing. Nevertheless, I like the historical fiction aspect, it sets up the story very well.

Writing: 8 - The writing is not simple but not complex, either. It is easy to read and highly enjoyable. My favourite part is the incorporation of so many languages, though again, it is never confusing.

Plot: 7 - It started out so so slowly. It always felt pretty frustrating like they had done so much, yet got nowhere, making it feel like they had done nothing. Towards the end, however, when everything was being revealed and the climax happened, THAT is when I enjoyed it and had to know what was on the next page.

Intrigue: 8 - This book is pretty well hyped and very well loved. Tik Tok didn't make me do it (fairyloot did) but I went in with no expectations other than it would be good.

Logic: 8 - I hope there's a bit more explanation to the fantasy/ fiction aspect of this novel in the following books because it has left me with questions.

Enjoyment: 6 - This is a fairly low number because of that slow beginning... I really did love the last maybe 1/4... 1/6? and the clue trail, but again, felt like they, and therefore me as the reader, got nowhere for a lot of it.

WARNINGS: major gun violence, gangs

RECOMMED: for lovers of YA, a bit of gore and some will-they/ wont-they romance. 13+

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder

introvertinterrupted's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Stalking

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

What I loved about this was all the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) ways that Gong brings in the classic Romeo and Juliet. All of these details are woven in so expertly, making each one a surprise, especially if you're pretty familiar with the original story. What she did with the story makes it unique and interesting, bring you into this world of 1920s China.

The relationship between Roma and Juliette is at the core of the story, but also this feud between their gangs and the newcomers into Shanghai. All of the elements work together so nicely to create an engrossing story. There is also an excellent diverse cast of characters, including race and sexuality (one of the POVs is even a trans character). I'm so glad this lived up to the hype! Once I got into it, it was difficult to put down. Only deducting half a star because I wasn't necessarily a fan of all the gore/violence. But it made sense for the story that Gong was telling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Transphobia, and Xenophobia

Minor: Vomit

malloryfitz's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Murder

Minor: Drug use and Homophobia