Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

43 reviews

mattiedancer's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Writing: 5⭐️/5 

The writing is both natural and elegant, making the most violent of scenes read smoothly and cleanly. I really enjoyed how the writing read, both technically and artistically. 

Characters: 5⭐️/5

The characters are based on “Romeo and Juliet,” so, while she pays homage to these original characters in her retelling, Gong manages to make each one feel new. Juliette – unlike her Shakespearan counterpart – is largely independent and unreserved, constantly questioning her father, making demands of her family, and challenging established systems. Roma, based on Romeo, shares his namesake’s penchant for sensitivity and eloquence. The secondary characters used their shared traits to their advantage, gaining more characterization through their connections rather than less. 

Plot: 5⭐️/5 

Again, it’s a sort of retelling, so the plot points are predetermined, and yet the ways in which Gong uses those preestablished moments to add to her unique tale is adeptly handled. I loved the nods towards the Shakespearan play – telling someone his name was Montague while undercover, the fight scene at the start where someone utters, “I don’t know what that means,” the **SPOILERS** “death” of Marshall, who is Mercutio reincarnate. All of these were heavily enjoyable but not overdone. 

Post-Reading Rating:  5⭐️/5

Amazing. Want to read it again for the first time. 

Who Should Read This? 

• Fans of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet 
• Fantasy meets mystery fans
• Readers looking for a Chinese mythology-influenced story

CW: Blood, Violence, Gun Violence, Parental abuse, death, colonisation

Final Rating: 5⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Colonisation, Gun violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol and Fire/Fire injury

viireads's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Gore, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Physical abuse

Minor: Misogyny and Torture

lectricefeministe's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, War, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Murder, Racism, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

tinybluepixel's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Body horror, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Gore, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Drug use, and Kidnapping

dandilion's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This books was lowkey overhyped. I’d only recommend it if you really like the Enemies to Lovers trope. If you do, it’s literally perfect. If you don’t, it’s meh. Especially since the book is less of a coherent story and more a collection of Booktok's favorite tropes stringed together. The plot is really put to the side for the romance. Which is fine. It just isn’t my preference. I don’t really have a gripe with the book though, since overall, it’s exactly what people (including the author) say it is and advertise it as. That being said, I don’t think I’ll be buying any more of Gong’s books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug use, Transphobia, and Xenophobia

takarakei's review

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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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racism, Transphobia, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Colonisation and Deadnaming

packedjam's review

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

3.75

this book is insane and right up my alley. it’s like if you infused romeo and juliet with the adventurous books i read in my youth and set it in 1920s shanghai. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Classism, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Genocide, Alcohol, Trafficking, and Xenophobia

Minor: Drug abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Transphobia, and War

grace_of_avi's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gun violence, and Genocide

Moderate: Colonisation and Misogyny

Minor: Sexism, Racism, and Classism

ye_li's review

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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

4.25

I cannot gush enough about how much I love the writing—it's simply gorgeous. It took a little bit of time to fall in love with the world and its characters, but when I did, I was hooked on them. They are all falling apart at the seams, ready to break when the city does, but I cannot help but be in awe at what a spectacle it would be when they do. There are some aspects of this book that bother me.

For example, Marshall's "death"—I adore him, but I feel like he should've actually died. I also find the whole thing with Dexter Walter being the Larkspur a little abrupt.

But, despite that, I enjoyed it very, very much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Blood, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

molly_rose's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Blood, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Classism, Colonisation, and Misogyny