Reviews with content warning for Deadnaming - These Violent Delights

This was a solid four star book for me
I didn’t love the premise as the descriptions were pretty gross and I don’t love reading about pandemics in the middle of 2 lol but overall I enjoyed this
It was super fast paced especially once you got a quarter or halfway through and I got more invested than I expected to
I’m immediately going to start These Violent Ends but idk if I’m going to read the next ones that come out (and definitely not going to buy them like I did with the duology) as I’m not obsessed and also I don’t love some of the stuff Chloe Gong has done (especially when it came to blurbing and supporting problematic books and then not making any kind of statement or anything about it to apologize in any way

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tinybluepixel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.25

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takarakei's review

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dark mysterious slow-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

2.0

I did not like the writing style or pacing of these books. The way the story is written makes it hard to follow, and I found the writing to be repetitive and boring. I found myself having to constantly re-read paragraphs, but at the same time not really caring about what I was reading. Ultimately I did not care for Juliette and Roma’s relationship. After finishing the first book I found myself wondering why it is I just didn’t seem to really *get* their relationship - supposedly this is enemies to lovers (which is my favorite trope btw) but beyond this giant familial rivalry which is described over and over again I honestly did not feel enough tension or hatred between them to build up and make me care about them ending up together. I did not find either Juliette or Roma to be very complex and therefore their relationship was not impactful.
Throughout both books I was way more interested in the secondary characters: Benedikt and Marshall and Kathleen in particular. I found myself wishing for more time spent with these characters and their journey, struggles and development. To me, Kathleen is the real intriguing character of the series - she is way smarter, complex and ultimately I think more badass than Juliette.

I also did not really understand the monster/plague thing, once they figured it out at the end. The storyline here was confusing, and again I felt myself not really caring about it.

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emmacartlidge's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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maladaptivedaydreams's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

Although this book felt slow in certain areas the characters are all amazing. You fall in love with them all and just hope for them all to make it out alive. This ending of this story had me on the edge of my seat! The entire story is amazingly written and immersive but the ending really makes it a 4.0!

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offbrandclubsoda's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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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k_aro's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad 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

3.5

Whoo! These Violent Delights is certainly not what I was expecting, and I do not mean that in a bad way. I mean, when someone comes up to you and tells you about a "Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai as gangsters", it definitely gives someone a certain image.

Anyways, I liked it! It's not a Romeo and Juliet retelling in the traditional sense, so per my English teacher's ask, I do not think it is a good prelude to Romeo and Juliet. It like, barely follows the Romeo and Juliet plotline.

The characters are a lot of fun, though I find Juliette to be a little bland in terms of how she talks about herself—like, obviously sexism is something that would face a would-be heiress of a gangster empire in the 1920s, it just feels a little trite (as a narrative, as a narrative device, etc). I also wish she was allowed to be angrier and kill more people, but I just like characters who are like that.

There's also something that I'm not entirely a fan of, which is how much (textually) Juliette pines for Roma but it isn't so much that way in the inverse; trust me, I am very much a fan of the whole "pining for each other but for one reason or another shouldn't", but I've read enough fanfic (and just like... books lol) that if only one half, and especially if that one half is the female half in a straight relationship, it doesn't make me really happy. Something about how overly emotional women are, I guess? Seems to confirm the things Juliette is fighting against, metatextually (not that she shouldn't be emotional, but given that Roma isn't showered with description on description of how badly he pines, it feels... a little unbalanced).

On a lighter note, Roma's a lot of fun! I like his character, it very much falls into a pattern of how I enjoy my male characters (tightly controlled until pushed to the brink, which could also just be my enjoyment of characters who go nuts).

Marshall is a lot of fun! He's very Karma Akabane-esque, and I mean that only as the highest of compliments, because Karma Akabane is like... my original comfort character haha.

Anyways. It's an enjoyable book. But I think I'd recommend other books before this one.

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nightfell's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

Unpopular opinion: Juliette and Roma were never enemies, they just had gun kinks and knife kinks.

Listen, I know they have serious trust issues with each other and lingering feelings of dislike because they've both killed each other's loved ones ect ect but they were never enemies. They literally had FRIENDLY banter, teased each other constantly, Juliette was simping for Roma the entire time while being mean to Roma. But her being mean to him was lessened by the fact that she was rude to literally EVERY character, even the random one time appearance characters, like she has some pent-up aggression she needs to deal with. It made me less sympathetic to her character as it got really excessive, she was rude unnecessarily and then weirdly nice in a way that felt out of character for her. Although I see why she is so rude, because she has to work hard for her family's respect as a female heir ect ect, however I just couldn't get behind it. Maybe because I can't take the whole gang aspect seriously. The whole idea of gangs in literature feels immature and especially the rivalry in Romeo and Juliette which is notoriously petty, I just couldn't take it fully seriously, therefore I couldn't agree with Juliette's actions towards others. However, I think the depiction of these two gangs in context of 1920s Shanghai and all the colonialism gave it the realism that I needed to connect with the story, and is what made the story so interesting. Chloe Gong did an excellent job in weaving the story of Romeo and Juliette (but make it childhood friends to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies..., slow burn, angst, pining) and the history of the French and British taking over Shanghai mixed with the fantasy elements. It was so interesting, and while I feel like the relationship between Roma and Juliette could have been more intense in the way that they acted towards each other I think it was done well (maybe the author depicted their relationship more realistically in not making them extremely antagonistic between each other, besides the frequent threats of violence, as they have a long history, basically grew up with each other and were lovers, so it would make sense, I just wish they were outwardly hostile in more than just threatening to shoot/stab each other, especially because I knew they would never have actually done it, it felt like an empty threat the whole time which it was).
Also Roma is my lil bby, he's so cute idk why I just feel protective over him. Probably because Juliette's so mean.
Marshall, Benedikt and Kathleen are the best characters fight me. I really wasn't expecting Chloe Gong to include as much diversity as she did (other than racial) and it made me so happy. I think in Fantasy YA there typically isn't much diversity other than a black/Asian side character (this could just be me) and I don't see more than one LGBTQ+ character, so to have 3 was so refreshing and gave the story depth and a range in perspectives. Also I could be wrong but I think they're also neurodivergent, love that rep. Marshall and Benedikt's relationship development was so beautiful, I started shipping them about halfway through the book but I didn't actually think they'd be canon I'm so happyyy. They NEED to KISS AND BE TOGETHER. I literally ship them more than Roma and Juliette. I love Kathleen.
After reading the last chapter of the book, I'm not sure if I like Juliette anymore. I know that was the only way to keep them all alive, I think it was smart and I think it was the right thing to do, but Benedikt will have PTSD after seeing his bf dying, grieving, thinking he's dead only to find him alive... that's messed up. But the reason I don't support Juliette is because she basically killed his mum. Like. I know I asked for more antagonism between them but this is too far. The more you think about it, the worse you realise it is. Imagine dating someone who killed your mum. Idc if she didn't directly do it, she told her family the location knowing the type of people they are, the literal BLOOD FEUD they have and their history of ruthlessness and violence, therefore she killed his mum, which he is clearly still torn up about. Roma shouldn't have to sympathise with her, or empathise or have to even see her again, like that is so messed up. I still am probably going to lowkey want them together, because I can't help it, but at the same time I can't fully support their relationship, I just feel so bad for Roma. Also, what he did to her was nothing compared to her betrayal. He killed her servants so she wouldn't die, she killed his mum out of spite. Like what. Anyway.
Overall it was a good book, the pacing was really slow for me, and I think there were a lot of scenes that described the scenery that were a little unnecessary, although they did add to the cinematography of this book. The author did such an amazing job with the writing, truly some of the best writing I've read in a while. I could see all of it vividly in my head; this was a cinematic masterpiece. Can't wait for the sequel.

Also, the detail of the potion that makes someone seem dead from the source material, I thought was so smart, it was so cool to see that detail added, especially because it seems quite different from the original play.

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