Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

29 reviews

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

mpbookreviews's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

celine's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.5

oh my gods oh my gods oh my gods

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Racism

Minor: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug use

gamora_zen1's review

dark emotional 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

Moderate: Child death, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gore, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, and War

brynn_books's review

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I have a lot of feelings about this book. I just loved it so much!

This was just a really interesting and intriguing read. I'm already invested in Roma and Juliette's relationship. I also love the whole setting of 1920s Shanghai. The way that the story was written made it much more interesting to read. 

The plot twists were insane. I'm still mad about the cliffhanger. I think that everyone should read this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Death, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, and Blood

voxelbee's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Transphobia, Colonisation, Medical content, Misogyny, Racism, and Terminal illness

v1rgo's review

2.75

juliette: marshall's meditating
roma: he's dead

i mean this was a smooth brained moment i don't know what to say. it was very funny. i can't really take this super seriously bc it was outrageously horny. kind of made me gag at some points but i don't want to slutshame nineteen year olds. (but on a side note i didn't get all of the pining. it's like u guys were 15 when this happened yk like u were babies. like juliette's whole oh he's as handsome as he used to be.. thing doesn't make sense. "he looks older?" sure! but like.. ?? u had a thing w this dude four years ago. ) the writing was pretty and fun you know how it is but some things did make me go hm. like juliette allegedly having "a damp feeling on her neck".  like i don't really want to know what that means. or just. the fact that they were about to fuck on some bed that was probably caked with like thousands of people's children. aside from the nauseating level of hormones they didn't really feel like teenagers. marshall does slay though. kind of a knockoff of the whole wesper dynamic but i'll take it. i hope kathleen likes girls. someone should like girls in this bc SOMEONE lied to me and said the mcs were bi. i dunno just a fun little read unsure what to say. or even how to rate because it's exam week and i wasn't paying attention. i guess on a larger level i was sorta wondering what the differences in personalities were between roma and juliette and also on a more superficial level it does kinda make me cringe when _ inspired tellings like insist on using the same names. also i just didn't super think any characters were acc like well.. not flat but. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

aseel_reads's review

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

firstly I want to acknowledge that this was the lowest possible 4 star rating based on the system I use. 

secondly, I was WELL AWARE of the mixed reviews. I think the hype and blurb made it sound one thing and it was something else, so a lot of people were disappointed. 

I was not disappointed. I really enjoyed this. I love a retelling, loved figuring out who was who. I enjoyed the setting and time period. big fan of gangs, always. the fantasy/monster element was fun and different. I liked that the characters took their time before working together, it made sense with their history. living for the anti-colonial rhetoric we get. just happy to be here 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Addiction, Child death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Transphobia, and Violence

lainiereads's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I forgot to write a review again OOPS

SUCH A GOOD BOOK??? Chloe Gong's writing style is just unmatched, man. She just made everything that happened sound so cool?? Like I felt cool reading this book !! I will forever love all of her books, I can just tell. 
I also just loved the characters. Juliette is probably one of my favorite characters ever, she is exactly who I would want to be if I was in a gang and also was just like chill with murder. And Roma is also great, and Benedikt and Marshall are great, and Kathleen is great, EVERYONE IS GREAT.
This book just feels like something everyone should love? Like it is so well written and so undeniably good that everyone should read it and get to experience how good it is. 
I had more articulate thoughts while reading, but now all I really need to say is this book is wonderful and if you have not read it yet, this is your sign to do so! Hurry, before the sequel comes out! GO!

I can't wait to cry while reading the next book!

Okay bye, gonna go get "The stars incline us, they do not bind us" tattooed on my soul.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racism, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Transphobia and Panic attacks/disorders

jayisreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.75

This was such an imaginative and unique retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I also enjoyed how These Violent Delights played with the “enemies to lovers” trope by reversing and reconstructing it. It certainly helped add to the complexities of the protagonists, Roma and Juliette. (More on the characters in a bit.) Love had a different meaning in this retelling, and I appreciated that it was grittier and, for a lack of a better word, impure.

Setting the story in 1920s Shanghai was such an interesting choice that really added a lot of life to the story. Gong did a great job balancing politics, complex relationships, and the touches of fantasy (the “madness” spreading across the cosmopolitan city) to tell a rich and immersive story.

Returning to the characters, I was enthralled by Gong’s reimagining of Shakespeare’s characters. They still retained some elements of their original selves, but for many of them—especially Juliette—they had far more agency and power in These Violent Delights that I absolutely enjoyed. It was so refreshing to have a diverse cast that reflected the city demographics at the time, as well as the rivalries that existed. I loved that the characters were part of gangs, adding another dimension to what loyalty might mean to these characters.

Perhaps this will be explored a bit more in the next book, but I felt as though Gong could have gone more into the side characters, especially since she made it seem as though those backstories and relationships were important to the overarching narrative. She gave them opportunities to share their stories and did a fair amount of hinting at certain things about them (e.g., Marshall and Benedikt). I certainly wanted more than what was given, but I guess that just means I have to wait for the next book. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Transphobia