A review by eisenbuns
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Did not finish book. Stopped at 36%.

I really hated the writing. I found it inconsistent and shallow. When I finally got frustrated enough, I flipped to the end of the book and saw

that we end with Mercutio/Marshall's death, which I could almost excuse, but it smacked of burying the gays

. It also ends with a cheeky "To be continued" and I just wasn't having it. Life is too short for another bad Romeo & Juliet retelling, especially one that wants so badly to be Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. Also huge trigger warning for suicide and self-mutilation. It's a no from me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia

So much of this book revolves around a 'madness' that makes people commit suicide by clawing out their own throats. It's really terrible and I would have enjoyed a trigger warning from the author about that. Also, burying our gays, because why not.