Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

22 reviews

creolelitbelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

These Violent Delights is a great re-imagining of Shakespeare's classic Romeo and Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai, China with Roma & Juliette now at odds against each other after secretly dating four years prior to the events of the novel. Their families head the rival White Flowers and Scarlet Gang, and they can never forget that key piece of their personal identities. I love the subtle (and not-so-subtle) callbacks to the original play through major and minor characters, scenes, and pivotal lines. Those were all written in carefully to tie book into its source material but not pull the reader out of the new historical fiction story. Gong also did a delicately wonderful job weaving Chinese and other world history into the setting and plot by laying the history out whenever relevant to the story or characters but never over-explaining anything. Knowing the history prior to reading this book is not necessary but did add to my experience. The mystery of what causes the madness seeping into the city pushes enemies together for collaboration, and the intense action kept me hooked. Diversity in cast felt authentic to the time period of China's forced spheres of influence from other countries' powers, and the multi-pov storytelling really made certain chapters feel like isolated scenes as in a play. I am excited to read the sequel and the other books in the world of Secret Shanghai soon. The bonus content in the B&N edition was well worth it, too. I loved getting inside Roma's head through his letters from their first romance together, the prequel story of their courtship before is so sweet. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Emotional abuse, Blood, Classism, Violence, Murder, Death, Gun violence, Gore, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Cursing, Terminal illness, Racism, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Transphobia, Sexual content, and Drug use

superstar_y2k's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.75

this book is not as complex as it seems to be (or rather has the potential to be) 
this book speaks on colonialism, racism and white supremacy, murder, betrayal, politics, and other humanitarian topics but somehow oversimplifies and brushes off those topics to follow a clumsy mystery where our romeo & juliette must work together despite their previous murderous betrayals.  see, the thing about shakespeare’s romeo & juliette is that the reader wants to root for them.  roma & juliette cai aren’t likable characters that i felt didn’t actually love each other.  
i could go on, but honestly there are many other reviews i’ve seen that correspond to the way i feel, so i won’t beat a dead horse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Death, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Blood, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Gore, Deadnaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

serendipity421's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Violence, Classism, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Vomit

emilywemily6's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

I absolutely loved this book and bought the rest of Gong’s work because of it. This story is such a unique retelling with little hints of Shakespeare while being entirely its own thing. I loved the combination of gangster blood feuds, political intrigue, a mysterious madness sweeping the city, and a touch of romantic tension. The characters are vibrant yet morally grey and very interesting. Although it was on the longer side, I enjoyed every minute of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Child death, Classism, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Violence, Body horror, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Medical content

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, and Homophobia

ambenicole418's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

It’s not the most jaw dropping and captivating book I’ve ever read, but I did really enjoy it nonetheless. I appreciate that Chloe Gong touched on the colonization of Shanghai in the 1920s by all these different countries carving this one piece of land up into territories, and how it affected the Chinese people already living there. I also liked the dynamic between Juliette, Kathleen, and Rosalind. These three women made a badass trio when they teamed up and I hope to see more of that in the second book. The romance between Juliette and Roma wasn’t my favorite, but there was still aspects of it that I did enjoy. Overall, this isn’t my favorite book, but it was tense when it needed to be, it delivered on a interesting plot, and I had a good time reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Colonisation, Cursing, and Gun violence

lily_kruse's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, Blood, Gore, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, and Gun violence

Minor: Bullying, Vomit, Suicide, and Alcohol

oh_roudha_reads's review

dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book was a wonderful read although it was a bit slow at first I found that I finished it in three days. It’s truly such a gut wrenching book and trust me when I say your jaw will drop physically many, many times. I can’t wait to read the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, and Transphobia

Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, Violence, Body shaming, Car accident, and Grief

ghostsversion's review

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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

3.75

Right so this was my second read of this book and I have thoughts. First off I have to say that I changed my rating from 4.5 ⭐️ to 3.75 ⭐️. One of my biggest issues was the pacing of the book. Or rather how the plot moved forward. Like many chapters felt very "Tell not show" in regards to backstories and stuff. The characters were interesting (kind of) but they didn't feel as cool and smart as I was told by the book itself. Overall I did like the book as it had some cool moments but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was great. Hoping the following books are better though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Racism, Violence, Murder, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexism, Transphobia, and Medical content

plantskindaperson's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring sad 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

TEARS. whenever i think about it makes me sad. i still love this book so much. it made me feel every emotion under the sun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, and Cursing

taylor_lin's review

adventurous dark emotional 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 this book five stars because was incredibly satisfying and wonderful to read. The Romeo and Juliet rewrite aspect of this book isn't as prominent as eluded to, however I enjoyed that this book came to be its own story. It's complicated, raw, and honest, and I really connected with Juliette's struggle between being American and being Chinese. It really hurts you to watch the characters corner themselves in their own lies, but there is also inexplicable joy in seeing the characters momentarily forgetting about all of their struggles. I love books that don't have happy endings, because they're hard to find, but I was so attached to these characters that I wanted them to end on a high note. Please, read this book. Read the next book too. This book is the kind of book that you'll fall in love with. (I've seen many people say that this book is hard to follow, but for me it was fine. I read fantasy/sci fi/historical fiction/speculative fiction a lot, so I'm pretty used to having to follow lots of world-building. If you're into these genres, then I think that you'll be fine, and come to really appreciate the blend of history, politics, and fantastical elements that this series offers.) I haven’t stopped thinking about these books since.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Cultural appropriation, and Cursing