Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

196 reviews

angel__'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

It was pretty good - tbh better, than I thought at the beginning.
Most characters I didn't like, including the main character Juliette. 
And it's quite brutal, so check the trigger warnings before reading!
Rep.: trans, gay

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Blood, Racism, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

graceheartsbooks's review against another edition

4.0

FYI: can’t tag this but trigger warning for insects—especially near the end (I think they’re beetles?). 

All I’ve ever heard about this book is it’s a Romeo and Juliet retelling but I honestly think that does it a disservice (or maybe it’s just the fact that Romeo and Juliet retellings have to bring something interesting to the table since a story that’s been retold many times). I’ve never seen anyone mention that this story involves a supernatural monster and if I had known that I would’ve read it sooner lol

I’m amazed that Chloe Gong wrote this during college—writing/doing the research process to make the story authentic to 1920s Shanghai while also studying as a student. Especially since I’m around the same age she was.

Anyway, the story is much more about Roma and Juliette’s relationship and the mystery surrounding the ‘Larkspur’ which is the monster that is killing Shanghai plus the struggles between current residents and the foreigners that have taken over the area’s local businesses. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the world that Chloe Gong set up. I can’t wait to read the second book.

I was going to rate this 4.5 stars initially but I got into a reading slump so had gap between when I last read a chapter and when I finished the book so it’s getting a 4.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racism and Blood

Minor: Homophobia, Drug use, Transphobia, and Death of parent

mblanke's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Classism, War, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, and Violence

jooniethemoonie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.75

this book has been on my tbr for FOREVERR 😭 glad I finally got to it! ready for the next one 🤞

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, and Hate crime

Minor: Classism, Cursing, Hate crime, War, and Torture

literarianrose's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Minor: Death of parent

tell_them_stories's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Colonisation, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Body horror, Classism, and Medical content

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Parasitic lice-like insects

anna_333's review against another edition

dark 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

Nothing like I expected, loved it's gritty darkness while maintaining likable characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Physical abuse

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Stalking, Suicide, Body horror, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Gore, Bullying, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, and Vomit

victoria_elaine's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really liked the writing and setting of this book. I also enjoyed how much went into setting up the cultural background, as the world building was executed phenomenally. This is definitely leaning toward the fantasy side, just in a realistic setting.

I wish I didn’t have to wait so long to see Roma and Juliette together since they ended on bad terms rip, but I loved their development.

One thing I will say is this book was pretty long and drawn out in parts, but also I’m just impatient. Overall a good read and pretty different from anything I’ve read before. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Gore, Death, Murder, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent and Grief

creolelitbelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

These Violent Delights is a great re-imagining of Shakespeare's classic Romeo and Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai, China with Roma & Juliette now at odds against each other after secretly dating four years prior to the events of the novel. Their families head the rival White Flowers and Scarlet Gang, and they can never forget that key piece of their personal identities. I love the subtle (and not-so-subtle) callbacks to the original play through major and minor characters, scenes, and pivotal lines. Those were all written in carefully to tie book into its source material but not pull the reader out of the new historical fiction story. Gong also did a delicately wonderful job weaving Chinese and other world history into the setting and plot by laying the history out whenever relevant to the story or characters but never over-explaining anything. Knowing the history prior to reading this book is not necessary but did add to my experience. The mystery of what causes the madness seeping into the city pushes enemies together for collaboration, and the intense action kept me hooked. Diversity in cast felt authentic to the time period of China's forced spheres of influence from other countries' powers, and the multi-pov storytelling really made certain chapters feel like isolated scenes as in a play. I am excited to read the sequel and the other books in the world of Secret Shanghai soon. The bonus content in the B&N edition was well worth it, too. I loved getting inside Roma's head through his letters from their first romance together, the prequel story of their courtship before is so sweet. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Emotional abuse, Blood, Classism, Violence, Murder, Death, Gun violence, Gore, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Cursing, Terminal illness, Racism, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Transphobia, Sexual content, and Drug use