Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Our Violent Ends

This was a fun way to wrap up an overall great retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Our Violent Ends had as much of my attention as I was able to give between everything happening in my life as of late. Like These Violent Delights, I truly appreciated Gong’s spin on a classic love story and some of the creative liberties she took in the sequel. With that said, I think after reading this and having had time to mull over the first book, it’s safe to say that I was more invested in the characters than anything else. The plot of Our Violent Ends felt more scattered than its predecessor, had some loose ends, and it felt as though the book served more as a means to satisfy readers’ desires to see how things come together for the characters while the happenings of Shanghai were somewhat of an afterthought. Thankfully, the delightful thing is that Gong really knows how to breathe life into her characters in such a refreshing and exciting way.

From what I gathered, Gong seems to be working on another Shakespeare retelling, and I look forward to what she’ll come up with next.

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auudrey's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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? It's complicated

3.75

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offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

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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? No

4.5

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katsbooks's review

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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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