Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

8 reviews

akane_shio's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.5


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clairew97's review

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

3.5


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molly_rose's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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bedtimesandbooks'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? Yes

5.0


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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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annreadss's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0


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angelareads's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5


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awitchisreading's review

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tense slow-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Own voices story with some lgtbq+ rep Slow paced feels like historical fiction ya with elements of horror/gore. Heavy political socieoeconomics for the time with xenophobic connotations and multiculturalism within Shanghai. Really well written. You can tell the author loves the city. Doesn’t really read like fantasy. Minimal romance. Pace really picks up in the last seven or so chapters when everything comes together. Didn’t feel much connection to the main characters who are morally grey but side characters Kathleen, Marshall and Alisa are really likeable and interesting. I liked learning their stories.

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