Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

22 reviews

ephalent'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Violence, Death, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Murder

Minor: Cursing

kbairbooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This was super confusing for me to read. Because I don’t like horror, politics, THAT level of gore, and apparently bugs in my books. BUT the storytelling was incredible, the romance was subtle but so well crafted, I liked the sister aspect that helped push the story along, I liked the friends aspects of Kathleen and Rosalind and the dynamic between those two sisters, I like Marshall and Benedict and the thing that happened with Marshall at the end and that fucking plot twist my dude?! How can you do that on the very last page!!!! Wild!!! So good. I was certain I wasn’t gonna read book two because of the first few things I mentioned but the story and the characters and the plot twists were just too good. I can’t not read book two. So here I go!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

awxiee's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I was going to rate it 4 stars but the ending was just so amazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Torture, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Cursing, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

giannaroberts's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Racism

Minor: Cursing, Alcohol, Misogyny, and Sexism

malomegh's review

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

c45p1n's review

emotional mysterious tense slow-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

WHAT WAS THAT ENDING WHAT I CANT IM SPEECHLESS OH MY GOD WHAT NO WHAT NSJFJSKDJSJ HHHHHHHHHHH

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Transphobia, Torture, Sexism, Death of parent, and Cursing

if you dont like small bugs with many legs and detailed explanations BE WARY OR DONT READ

a_libra_library's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

If you're looking for a mystery that is a retelling of a classic but truly its own, this is the one. The setting of 1920's Shanghai told beautifully. 
The characters are beloved, funny, tense and clever. Edit*
Not an enemies to lover more of, they don't get alone in the way they would life too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Gore, and Gun violence

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Xenophobia

nerdybirdy101's review

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

rachrreads's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

These Violent Delights is set in Shanghai in the 1920s. Roma Montagov is the son and heir to the to White Flowers, a gang that rose from the bottom to the prominence they have today. Their rival gang, the Scarlet Gang has been ruling Shanghai for decades. Juliette Cai has just returned from America, and as heir to the Scarlet Gang, she is ruthless. 

Soon after, a monster is on the loose wreaking havoc among the city. People are falling dead in droves and the contagion is spreading like wildfire. Juliette realizes that to put an end to this, the Scarlets and White Flowers must pool together. Otherwise, the gangs will die out and the Communists and foreigners will take over.


I picked up this book not really knowing much about it. I had read the synopsis in the past, but never thought much about it. I even had to ask a friend “wait, is this a Romeo and Juliet retelling?” while reading the first few chapters. LOL. I’m glad I went into it with no knowledge or expectations, because otherwise I likely would’ve put it off longer. 

This book was a MASTERPIECE. Chloe Gong, thank you for this wonderful, painful, masterly crafted book. I cannot wait for book 2. The romance between Roma and Juliette was absolutely squeal worthy. I found myself screaming so many times over their interactions.

THAT COAT SCENE WAS SO HOT PLEASE

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexism, Violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism

iviarelle's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-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

5.0

This book is cheesy as heck and I love it. Just mind the content warnings, I'm sure my list isn't comprehensive but check out the main book page's lists, as there's very little this book doesn't get real squicky about. Especially something the content warnings don't include by default: bugs. If you freak out at those "bugs growing inside someone" urban legends, either prepare yourself for some nausea or consider avoiding this one.

These Violent Delights won't be to everyone's tastes, especially if you're the kind of person who reads "What was your name again? Peter? Paris?" "Paul." and rolls your eyes. Every major named character in Romeo and Juliet has a different name here and a slightly different purpose to the story.

But, for all that: I love what Gong has done with each and every one of them, though there are too many for me to list here. I also specifically love that Rosaline is NOT guesting as "Sir Not Appearing In This Film" and actually plays a role along with her trans fraternal twin, Kathleen. There are a lot of twists to the original work here and it's really interesting to me how Gong plays with our expectations, from start to finish.

And I gotta say, I fell for every misdirect and I loved it. Sometimes I start overthinking and figure things out too soon, but this really kept me on my toes until the very end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Police brutality, Racism, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Xenophobia

Bugs. Bugs growing inside people. If you get at all squicked out (or worse) by bugs, you will encounter a whole lot of nausea here.