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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
"which shade do you bleed, madame? scarlet or red?"
these violent delights bewitched me with its red-stained streets & vicious prose. it's one of those books that reads seamlessly--like wading through a river (the huangpu river, perhaps)--and everything about it is sinister, double-faced, & sometimes achingly vulnerable. that being said, the book was really slow for me, at least for the first half. many scenes were repetitive--with their constant themes of evil and sin--and the search for the roots of the madness was only going in circles. the characters, however, did steal my heart <3
"call a truce," juliette murmured against his lips. they needed to stop. she couldn't stop. "you are torturing me."
still sobbing over roma & juliette's love story--of course, i knew from the very start that their paths were destined for disaster, but the fact that they will forever be separated by the blood feud puts a golden, lily-etched knife in me TT
also, KATHLEEN. i loved every scene with her in it.
Spoiler
i swear, when marshall died i was literally about to start screaming LOL. & benedikt's reaction was SO SAD i'm still so not over the fact that marshall has to hide the truth of his fake death from benedikt AHHHhh. just, the way those 2 connect like a puzzle piece. if benedikt believes marshall is dead, then so does the city. my heart lies in pieces.brb, on my way to get our violent ends so that marshall and benedikt can be happy & in love together T^T (please don't break my already broken heart even more, chloe gong)
4 stars. a solid, gripping debut. my throat still hurts after reading this.
"do you not listen to me when i speak? i love you. i have always loved you."
Hmmmm I think I enjoyed the concept of this a bit more than the execution, which may be mostly due to the fact that I am not the target audience of YA, but even as I type that it rings a bit untrue. I'm a huge fan of many YA books, but this one in particular felt held back by the limitations that YA placed on this narrative.
I'm a sucker for Shakespeare retellings and Romeo and Juliet in 1920s Shanghai is an incredible premise. Had this been an adult novel it could have packed the punch that the premise deserved, but the fact that it was trying to appeal to a YA audience meant that the story felt a bit watered-down and censored, with a bit more hand-holding than I would have liked. I would have loved to have read whatever this novel could have been had it been allowed explore this premise and these themes more thoroughly, without feeling like it was still trying to stay palatable for a younger audience.
I'm a sucker for Shakespeare retellings and Romeo and Juliet in 1920s Shanghai is an incredible premise. Had this been an adult novel it could have packed the punch that the premise deserved, but the fact that it was trying to appeal to a YA audience meant that the story felt a bit watered-down and censored, with a bit more hand-holding than I would have liked. I would have loved to have read whatever this novel could have been had it been allowed explore this premise and these themes more thoroughly, without feeling like it was still trying to stay palatable for a younger audience.
adventurous
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:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
*Tik Tok indecisive sound*
This is a really weird book. I disliked a LOT about it, but I didn't DNF, and I'm gonna outline all my thoughts below so hopefully that conclusion will make sense by the end.
First thing first: This is really not a Romeo and Juliet retelling. The core of that play is the romance between Juliet and Romeo, or in our case, Roma and Juliette - and there's barely any. It is a loose retelling in other senses, with a lot of the core story changed, which I appreciated the innovation but also there is no story without romance so I was annoyed that this was marketed as that.
A lot of the issues I had with this book come from ye age old argument: showing v. telling. We are told, repeatedly, that Juliette and Roma had this wild love affair four years ago, and that's the basis of the plot of this book. There are a few flashback references, but nothing fleshed out enough for me to believe. IT NEEDS DEVELOPMENT!!!!!! You can't just make readers assume shit. The few romance scenes towards the end of the book were great, but I didn't feel like they were warranted? It just happened out of nowhere. I didn't believe these two to be angsty, star-crossed lovers.
I felt really indifferent about this book as a whole. I was intrigued by the mystery surrounding the monster, so I kept reading, and the side characters really brought this story together. But... I just didn't care for Juliette. I found that the whole 'badass gang leader take-no-shit' girl trope was over done, and she didn't have a personality besides that so I wasn't interested. Honestly she was really boring and probably my least favorite character. There was no depth to her. Roma was a step up, but really, I was more there for the side characters than the main ones.
Another thing I struggled with in this story is all the political shit. Don't get me wrong, I loved that it was set in Shanghai and had a lot of hot takes on colonialism. But after the first 14 digs about white people, colonialism, etc, I got bored. That is NOT to say I don't understand how important this is, and also, how wicked cool it is to have a realistic story, but it felt like the whole story became about that rather than the characters. And that's boring to me.
And lastly.... the gore. I get it. This monster sucks. He's horrible. People are dying from this madness, but it felt like the violence/gore/bluntness throughout book were used as mechanisms to make up for the lack of depth and development in the plot and character relationships overall.
Anyway, the mystery was great, and the writing is actually very well done, but the lack of romantic development (for Shakespeare's most ROMANTIC play), the lack of interesting main characters, and the gore really made this book a drag to finish. I fully skimmed the second half of it.
I'm not sure if I am going to read the next one to be honest.
This is a really weird book. I disliked a LOT about it, but I didn't DNF, and I'm gonna outline all my thoughts below so hopefully that conclusion will make sense by the end.
First thing first: This is really not a Romeo and Juliet retelling. The core of that play is the romance between Juliet and Romeo, or in our case, Roma and Juliette - and there's barely any. It is a loose retelling in other senses, with a lot of the core story changed, which I appreciated the innovation but also there is no story without romance so I was annoyed that this was marketed as that.
A lot of the issues I had with this book come from ye age old argument: showing v. telling. We are told, repeatedly, that Juliette and Roma had this wild love affair four years ago, and that's the basis of the plot of this book. There are a few flashback references, but nothing fleshed out enough for me to believe. IT NEEDS DEVELOPMENT!!!!!! You can't just make readers assume shit. The few romance scenes towards the end of the book were great, but I didn't feel like they were warranted? It just happened out of nowhere. I didn't believe these two to be angsty, star-crossed lovers.
I felt really indifferent about this book as a whole. I was intrigued by the mystery surrounding the monster, so I kept reading, and the side characters really brought this story together. But... I just didn't care for Juliette. I found that the whole 'badass gang leader take-no-shit' girl trope was over done, and she didn't have a personality besides that so I wasn't interested. Honestly she was really boring and probably my least favorite character. There was no depth to her. Roma was a step up, but really, I was more there for the side characters than the main ones.
Another thing I struggled with in this story is all the political shit. Don't get me wrong, I loved that it was set in Shanghai and had a lot of hot takes on colonialism. But after the first 14 digs about white people, colonialism, etc, I got bored. That is NOT to say I don't understand how important this is, and also, how wicked cool it is to have a realistic story, but it felt like the whole story became about that rather than the characters. And that's boring to me.
And lastly.... the gore. I get it. This monster sucks. He's horrible. People are dying from this madness, but it felt like the violence/gore/bluntness throughout book were used as mechanisms to make up for the lack of depth and development in the plot and character relationships overall.
Anyway, the mystery was great, and the writing is actually very well done, but the lack of romantic development (for Shakespeare's most ROMANTIC play), the lack of interesting main characters, and the gore really made this book a drag to finish. I fully skimmed the second half of it.
I'm not sure if I am going to read the next one to be honest.
I love the characters in this book!!! Kinda threw me off that it was a Romeo and Juliet inspired so I was waiting for tragedy but I liked the sci fi weirdness added to historical setting. Fav relationships: the friendship trio / duo not huge fan of main characters but it’s ok
I’m not even a fan of Romeo & Juliet, but these retellings are getting out of hand!!! Seriously, take me into the world of These Violent Delights, to 1920’s Shanghai where I can befriend rival gangsters and hunt river monsters.
Although I’m tempted to kick off this review with praise, the first half of the book left me with mixed opinions. Roma and Juliette were probably the least interesting characters in my opinion, which—considering they’re the protagonists—made things harder for me to get through. You’d think that Roma being the male heir to a Russian gang and Juliette being the female heir to a Chinese gang would offer culturally vibrant and overall very different perspectives, but that wasn’t always the case. Similar family dilemmas and trauma made their POV’s feel closely related a lot of the time.
Since the start, though, These Violent Delights had a massive saving grace, one that was a consistent high point: Basically every character except Roma and Juliette.
I’m serious. The side characters undug the early grave this book was readying for itself. I love Kathleen, Benedikt and Marshall an unhealthy amount. I’m itching to read the sequel for them (and a certain *cough* dilemma involving two of them).
The amount of LGTBQ representation was lovely. Chloe Gong mentioned that said rep is incredibly important because it reflects the state of our current world, and teens should be able to see themselves in the stories they read (which I loved to hear!!) Kathleen’s experience as a trans woman in the 20’s touched my heart, and watching Marshall and Benedikt’s feelings for eachother subtly unravel was so sweet.
The last 20% of this book was mind blowing. The romance, action scenes, and plot twists that came had me beyond taken aback. (Swooning, gasping, putting the book down, and crying a bit for someone…). I need the sequel, desperately.
“The stars incline us, they do not bind us.”
Although I’m tempted to kick off this review with praise, the first half of the book left me with mixed opinions. Roma and Juliette were probably the least interesting characters in my opinion, which—considering they’re the protagonists—made things harder for me to get through. You’d think that Roma being the male heir to a Russian gang and Juliette being the female heir to a Chinese gang would offer culturally vibrant and overall very different perspectives, but that wasn’t always the case. Similar family dilemmas and trauma made their POV’s feel closely related a lot of the time.
Since the start, though, These Violent Delights had a massive saving grace, one that was a consistent high point: Basically every character except Roma and Juliette.
I’m serious. The side characters undug the early grave this book was readying for itself. I love Kathleen, Benedikt and Marshall an unhealthy amount. I’m itching to read the sequel for them (and a certain *cough* dilemma involving two of them).
The amount of LGTBQ representation was lovely. Chloe Gong mentioned that said rep is incredibly important because it reflects the state of our current world, and teens should be able to see themselves in the stories they read (which I loved to hear!!) Kathleen’s experience as a trans woman in the 20’s touched my heart, and watching Marshall and Benedikt’s feelings for eachother subtly unravel was so sweet.
The last 20% of this book was mind blowing. The romance, action scenes, and plot twists that came had me beyond taken aback. (Swooning, gasping, putting the book down, and crying a bit for someone…). I need the sequel, desperately.
Let me start this by saying Romeo and Juliet is one of my least favorite stories. So when I read this the first time a year ago, I wasn’t excited. However, this book has become a comfort read for me. I’ve read it three times since I discovered it.
I love the twist with Juliette and Roma being heirs to rival gangs in Shanghai. Along with the mystery that gives this book sci-fi/fantasy vibes.
Marshall and Kathleen are also some favorite characters of mine.
Even if you aren’t a fan of Romeo and Juliet but enjoy mystery, enemies to lovers to enemies, tension, and a touch of fantasy, please give this retelling a shot!
Chloe Gong’s writing style is one of my favorite and I just love how she describes Shanghai.
I love the twist with Juliette and Roma being heirs to rival gangs in Shanghai. Along with the mystery that gives this book sci-fi/fantasy vibes.
Marshall and Kathleen are also some favorite characters of mine.
Even if you aren’t a fan of Romeo and Juliet but enjoy mystery, enemies to lovers to enemies, tension, and a touch of fantasy, please give this retelling a shot!
Chloe Gong’s writing style is one of my favorite and I just love how she describes Shanghai.
adventurous
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