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melissaslibraryy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
I gave Our Violent Ends 5 stars and to be followed by this book just solidified that Chloe Gong is officially an auto-buy author for me, bc this book did not disappoint one bit. This universe and its storyline’s are so interesting to read about especially when we get to see different characters perspectives on what’s going on politically and personally. I love that this book was more action packed than the previous duology bc I loved the spy + double agent arcs since you can never be too convinced about one’s loyalty in this ‘kill or be killed’ world. Don’t even get me started on the slow burn romance between Rosalind & Orion bc they legit had me blushing and kicking my feet from cute and intimate their interactions were especially since they aren’t physically intimate. The prolonged eye contact, them dancing and him putting on her necklace while looking at her in the mirror? Him literally beating up the man that attacked her screaming “Don’t touch my wife!” LORDDDDD I eat that shit up every fucking time and I love it 😫 One might say I loved these two a bit more than Roma and Juliette but don’t tell them that 🫣 PLUS the romantically intimate scenes from the side characters like Oliver and Celia *swoooooon*. I cannot wait to start Last Violent Call bc the ending had me screaming‼️ If the note is from who I think it is, I will cry :’) I must continue reading this series if it’s the last thing I do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, War, Blood, Abandonment, Confinement, Murder, Colonisation, Grief, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Police brutality
plsnotanotherdamselindistress's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I love when there are many plotlines in a book and the author sprinkles in information that doesn't get acknowledged as information because its importance for the story is not yet evident and then slowly plotlines start connecting and you're able to recognize the importance of some before sprinkled in information so you can start guessing possible plottwists that may come further on in the story making the tension build up steadily until the story reaches a crescendo.
I also really enjoyed the use of terms in multiple different languages and how important things were later on explained but other less important ones were like collecting trinkets if you could translate them.
They also helped build the setting as far as I can recognize it quite accurately of the past.
(Of course I am only referring to the setting and not the kind of sci-fi aspects of the story.)
"Advise":
- I would advise to read this book in your first language, because skimming over pages isn't a thing with this book
- this book is not primarily a romance story (though romantic relationships are a subplot but the book does not focus on them and personally I believe they are one of the weaker parts of the story)
And I am sorry but the reveal that Phoebe is Priest...I had considered her but as we also got her POV in certain situations it did not make sense anymore...
Either slightly leave out her thoughts in her POV or just don't mention certain things...
I also really enjoyed the use of terms in multiple different languages and how important things were later on explained but other less important ones were like collecting trinkets if you could translate them.
They also helped build the setting as far as I can recognize it quite accurately of the past.
(Of course I am only referring to the setting and not the kind of sci-fi aspects of the story.)
"Advise":
- I would advise to read this book in your first language, because skimming over pages isn't a thing with this book
- this book is not primarily a romance story (though romantic relationships are a subplot but the book does not focus on them and personally I believe they are one of the weaker parts of the story)
Either slightly leave out her thoughts in her POV or just don't mention certain things...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism and Murder
Moderate: War and Gun violence
Minor: Child abuse
jessiereads98's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.0
This book is decent to fine. I enjoyed the story and characters well enough that I’ll probably pick up the sequel if I remember. I do wish it had been rooted more firmly in the time period in terms of the vibes of the 1930s and with more references to the dance halls of that era or the decor or fashions. I think I probably would’ve enjoyed this more had I read the Violent Delights duet prior to going into this for more context and world building but I didn’t realize that would be necessary. I also found this very tropey to the extent I was rolling my eyes at moments that were so obviously inserted in order to fulfill a trope. The characters all also seemed to act very young compared to their age. The timeline seemed to me like while yes Rosalind was frozen at 19, all the older characters at this point would be in their early to mid 20s but were all acting like they were still 17-19. While I didn’t entirely expect the solution to the main mystery, the final reveal of the book was very predictable.
UPDATE: I read the These Violent Delights duology then read this again. It is better after reading that. However, I still feel that the setting and atmosphere in this book are lacking, even in comparison to the These Violent Delights duology. It seemed like Chloe Gong decided that rather than expanding on that, and the changing political climate, she would handwave world-building for this one. The tropeyness irked me less on reread. The characters do still read a little young for what their ages seem to be, but not as harshly as I originally thought. It especially makes sense when these are young people caught up in large, shifting politics and underworlds, and that’s a theme Chloe Gong is clearly exploring in both duologies.
UPDATE: I read the These Violent Delights duology then read this again. It is better after reading that. However, I still feel that the setting and atmosphere in this book are lacking, even in comparison to the These Violent Delights duology. It seemed like Chloe Gong decided that rather than expanding on that, and the changing political climate, she would handwave world-building for this one. The tropeyness irked me less on reread. The characters do still read a little young for what their ages seem to be, but not as harshly as I originally thought. It especially makes sense when these are young people caught up in large, shifting politics and underworlds, and that’s a theme Chloe Gong is clearly exploring in both duologies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Colonisation, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Death, Grief, Torture, Transphobia, and War
greymalkin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to love this, I love assassins and spies and interesting potentially-supernatural plots. But alas it didn't quite work for me. While I could forgive Rosalind for being a terrible spy, Orion was even worse than her and he _was_ a spy. And for an assassin she was incredibly bad at tracking people's movements and positioning and body language, all things that you'd think you'd need to know if you are a poisoner assassin. If you're a sniper, you have distance and can focus on angles of shots and such, but if you're up close and personal, you need to know what the person drinks and when and who they'd trust to give them food or drink. Or you have to know if they are wearing thick clothing that your hairpin can go through or if they'll move defensively in a way where you can scratch their skin... sigh. I spent the whole book wishing I could spend the time with Analisa and Phoebe instead, they were at least engaged with their lives. I am pleased about who Priest ended up being, if only because I guessed it from early on and was hopeful it would actually play out that way.
I found the plot and tracking of who got which info where extremely muddled, which made it hard for the twists and reveals to have much impact because half the time I was thinking "did I not put that together or did the author just not tell me?" which is not very satisfying.
The chemistry between Rosalind and Orion was not the worst but it wasn't exactly compelling either. It was more a "you're very hot" lust than any likemindedness of love or devotion. Which would have been fine except for how the ending hinged so much on his love for Rosalind overcoming his programming. I didn't buy that.
I did enjoy the history and cultural details, especially the bits with "Chinese names" and "Western names" which made the Romeo and Juliet stuff easier to understand.
Though dear god please some editor suggest the author include some other article of clothing for them to wear other than a qipao. There were so many references to it that it got distracting. Even just a few references to an "outfit" or "green fabric" or SOMETHING. Surely that wasn't the only article of clothing ever worn by anyone in that time period in Shanghai?? And if it was, then at least describe them differently? I know the fabrics and cut and embroidery and hand details would make a difference!
I found the plot and tracking of who got which info where extremely muddled, which made it hard for the twists and reveals to have much impact because half the time I was thinking "did I not put that together or did the author just not tell me?" which is not very satisfying.
The chemistry between Rosalind and Orion was not the worst but it wasn't exactly compelling either. It was more a "you're very hot" lust than any likemindedness of love or devotion. Which would have been fine except for how the ending hinged so much on his love for Rosalind overcoming his programming. I didn't buy that.
I did enjoy the history and cultural details, especially the bits with "Chinese names" and "Western names" which made the Romeo and Juliet stuff easier to understand.
Though dear god please some editor suggest the author include some other article of clothing for them to wear other than a qipao. There were so many references to it that it got distracting. Even just a few references to an "outfit" or "green fabric" or SOMETHING. Surely that wasn't the only article of clothing ever worn by anyone in that time period in Shanghai?? And if it was, then at least describe them differently? I know the fabrics and cut and embroidery and hand details would make a difference!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Death, Racism, and Classism
Minor: War
kdailyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Torture, War, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Colonisation, Gun violence, Medical content, Classism, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
Minor: Cursing, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Child death
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