Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

154 reviews

epellicci's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

A beautiful squeal to Chloe Gong's debut, The Violent Delights. Once again I was so impressed by the way Gong balances emotional, political, and physical conflict. You are drawn into the tension of the story immediately, and yet the book is not all doom. There is a hope, lightness, and moments of comedy which feel completely natural. The historical context to this book was so important, shadowing true events to build a fantasy world grounded solidly in reality, and made all the more terrible for the true events it weaved into the plot. With characters that are entirely three-dimensional and relatable, I was completely wrapped up in the horror and the tenderness. I can't wait to read more of Gong's writing 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Murder

elmewhy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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? No

4.5

~Review to come~

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Moderate: Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

angstifies's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

i found the first book much more interesting than this sequel, this book had very much the same exact plot as the first one it just unfolded differently somehow? mhmm idk

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content

wet_towlette's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-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

5.0

I am never going to emotionally recover from this book 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

annie_m_12's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and War

ireallyshouldsleeprn's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Xenophobia

katsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

"...for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours.”

“What was love if all it did was kill?”

“Nothing in this world is complicated, only misunderstood.”

I think this second novel surpassed the first one in terms of enjoyment. The connections to Romeo & Juliet are a little more noticeable in this novel. By the time I got about half way through and fully realized the ending to R & J and had to finish to figure out how it turned out in the end. I really appreciated how Juliette had so much more agency than the Juliet of Shakespeare's play. She was a total badass that got to call so many of the shots. I loved that change from the original. I also adored Marshall and Benedikt's story. I loved how secondary characters like Marshall, Benedikt, Celia and Rosalind had side stories that were developed so much more from the first book. There were definitely points when I cared more about their stories than the main love story between Roma and Juliette. That being said, I still really loved the love story. I love the enemies-to-lovers trope so this definitely delivered in that regard. And finally, as a history teacher, I loved the connection to real life events that occurred during the Chinese Civil War. They even name-dropped Chiang Kai-Shek! The author made a point in her author's note to note the pieces that weren't quite historically accurate (other than the fantastical elements, of course.) The political intrigue felt quite realistic for that reason. I really enjoyed all of the different factions. It felt messy and complex but it rang true. Ultimately, I really enjoyed this duology and would definitely recommend. I can't wait to see what Chloe Gong comes out with next.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

calamitywindpetal's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

eddine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

beautiful! i loved this book😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lauren_miller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

this book delivered on many things, including higher stakes and politics (all around) on a much larger scale, but at the same time, it was also exhausting and so. damn. convoluted. to be perfectly honest, I didn't really want to push through the last hour, but I knew if I didn't I'd probably never get around to finishing it, so... and speaking of, the ending is predictable, but only in its ending, not in how the ending was achieved, which I greatly appreciate. that said, I also feel like there wasn't enough emotional payoff in the end, which is disappointing.

overall, I find myself impressed by this debut duology, but not really interested in continuing on within the "Chloe cinematic universe." solid 4 out of 5 stars, ★★★★☆

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexism