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feministfaereads87 's review for:
Our Violent Ends
by Chloe Gong
It's been five days since I finished this book, and I am still consumed by it. I've been putting off reviewing this book, but I have to do it justice because this duology was phenomenal.
No one else needs to write a Romeo and Juliet retelling. Chloe Gong won the competition, and frankly, trying to outdo her would just be laughable at this point. She cannot be topped. Shakespeare is rolling in his grave because she wrote a better story than him.
I'm not sure where I want to start; I guess at the beginning. I thought I would be suffering for hundreds of pages before I got anything from Juliette and Roma, but in the first fifty pages they were interacting. Juliette knocked Roma out and had the gaul to bandage his cut and kiss his forward or whisper that she loved him and was sorry for hurting him. I mean!!!!!! Thank you for the pain but also thank you for serving, Miss Chloe!
Marshall just completely trusting Juliette and listening to her requests not to reveal himself to Benedikt, but simultaneously looking out for him and following him. God, my heart hurt. Their chaotic moments made me smile.
Chloe really served in this book with my favorite tropes. I love a 'oh we're travelling together, and therefore, must pose as husband and wife in this situation' scenario. From the moment those two decided to go to Kunshan (and then Zhouzhuang) I knew it was going to be eventful, and oh hot damn was I right. Juliette pushing Roma into a compartment to protect him from the madness made me feral. AND THEN, jumping into Roma's pov where he's freaking out not knowing whether Juliette is alive and why she would do that. AND THEN HE KISSED HER. AND SHE KISSED HIM BACK. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought I was going to have to wait for eternity before they kissed again (given how the first book progressed, thank God I was wrong). Ohhhh, but that was not the end. No, then Roma thought, "He wanted to scream at Juliette until his lungs grew hoarse. Only he knew that if he screamed I hate you, what he really meant was I love you. I still love you so much that I hate you for it. Like bitch? Come ON. The ANGST. SOOOOO GOOD. But then, to have them spend the night in a whorehouse and as they're getting their rooms Roma escapes some ladies by saying Juliette is his wife. Oh, it was delicious. I ate that shit UP. Sadly, they got separate rooms, but the fact that they were both unable to sleep and literally were in sync with each other despite having a wall between them. Yeah, my heart rate skyrocketed.
Immediately as they arrive in Shanghai shit is going down because of fucking Tyler. At multiple points during the book I was thinking how useful it would be if he died, so imagine my delight when Juliette killed him to save Roma during their duel at dawn. Dude committed war crimes against children in this book. Also, in this instance Marshall saved Benedikt from himself. Benedikt was a mess for most of this book, so I was beyond thrilled whenever Juliette decided to take him to see Marshall. I was so damn happy.
OH MY GOD. That moment when Benedikt woke up and smelled Marshall because Marshall brought him home. That was a stab to my heart.
And then, Benedikt tells Roma that he loved Marshall.I love that it gets brought up later that Marshall's mad me told Roma before he told him, and Benedikt's like, 'uh you were dead, so I was out of options.' So, then Roma's like, alright, I'll kill Juliette. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here like, bitch please, you physically cannot harm her.
I'm basically rereading the book now because I need to for my sanity, but I'm going to take this break in the action to mention a few quotes that I enjoyed: "These violent delights have violent ends, you have always known this. Ouch. "Juliette was, perhaps, a threat." It reminded me of that tiktok that's like, 'I don't identify as a woman or a man, I identify has a problem or a threat.' Anyways.....I love it when women are perceived as threats because I love it when people realize women have power.
LOL, Juliette asking Alisa to run with her so that she could goad Roma into following her. XD TOP TIER CONTENT. AND THEN I GET A FIGHT SCENE. AND JULIETTE TOOK A KNIFE (THROWN BY ROMA) TO PROTECT ALISA. TRULY TOP TIER CONTENT. Then this gem: "It was easy sometimes to forget how well they had known each other before everything went awry. To forget that they were once as familiar as halves of the same soul, predicting each other's next words." I mean, Jesus Christ, Chloe give me some warning next time before you put some fucked up nostalgia like that in the middle of a paragraph and a cleaning/fixing your wounds scene. Actually I spoke too soon because it ends with this unsaid thought--"Because I cannot bear to see you hurt, even when I am the one hurting you the most." MY GOD.
Okay, so I must take a momentary break from the romance to say that Chloe's books are so compelling because she balances the romance alongside the plot unfolding and her commentary on the world. I really enjoyed this quote: "I used to think this city I am to inherit was descending into one ruled by hatred. I used to think that it was our doing, that the blood feud ruined all that was good. But it has been hateful for a long time. Hatred has been lurking in the waters before the first bullet was fired from Scarlet to White Flower; it's been there since the British brought opium into the city and took what wasn't theirs; since the foreigners stomped in and the city split in factions, divided by rights and wrongs that foreign law put into being. These things do not fade away with time. They can only grow and fester and ooze like a slow, slow cancer." I got chills.
When it was revealed that Rosalind had a lover my first thought was Lord Montagov, but then I was like, no, I don't think he would do that, and then I was like, oh, it must be Dmitri. It had to be someone important and high up to be such a secret, so the fact that I was right was pretty exhilarating.
The moment between Roma and Kathleen while they waited for Juliette to distract Tyler was fantastic. Him joking about Juliette's signal, and Kathleen knowing that Juliette was lying about destroying Roma. Good shit. I adore Juliette and Kathleen's relationship. I want more of them in Foul Lady Fortune. I can't wait to be inside Rosalind's head because I just know I'm going to get the backstory I want.
So it was to my utter delight that immediately following that scene Juliette reveals to Benedikt that Marshall is alive. :D I LOVE A REUNION SCENE. Sad Benedikt didn't tell Marshall how he felt, but I understand.
OH, and the reveal that Rosalind was the White Flower spy???? It was a shock, but honestly I kind of respect it. Let more women be messy and make bad decisions and learn and grow.
THE DUEL. THIS DUEL. Okay first things first: the lead up to the duel. Benedikt reaching out to Juliette; them meeting and him asking her why she doesn't tell him the truth that she loves him and that she didn't kill Marshall. "Besides, I am not not afraid of him revealing to the world that Marshall is alive. I am afraid of him forgiving me...So long as he hates me, we are safe. If we love again...this city may just kill us both for daring to hope." FUCK. Fuck.
THE DUEL. THE DUEL. THE DUEL. THE DUEL. THE DUEL. THE DUEL. THE DUEL.
"Because--I love him. I love him, Tyler, and you tried to take him from me."
FUCKING FUCK. Top top TOP tier content.
Thank you Benedikt for being like, 'you should tell him.'
BUT THEN Marshall jumps into the scene. ICONIC BEHAVIOR.
I'm so glad that Roma refused to let Juliette walk away without explaining herself--beyond why she made it seem like Marshall died--to him and made her take him with her.
"She didn't regret it. She hated it, and she hated herself. But standing there, in front of her, was the reason for everything she had done, and to look upon him alive and well was enough to push back the loathing she had for the blood on her hands, for the city that had made her into this monster of a person." DAMN. I love her. I love Juliette so much.
"You are a liar, Juliette Cai. You lied to me until I wanted you dead."
"Because I could not risk the consequences. I could not risk my own cousin taking your life because I was took weak to let you go. And yet he pursued your death nonetheless."
"You think so intently of protecting me that you did not consider whether I wanted to be protected. I would have rather died knowing you are as you are than lived a long life thinking you cruel."
"I am cruel."
You are not."
"What are you afraid of?"
"The consequences of love in a city ruled by hate."
"Answer me something. Do you love me?"
"Why are you asking? Less than an hour ago, you wanted me dead."
"I said I wanted you dead. I never said I didn't love you."
"There's a difference?"
"Yes. Juliette--"
"I love you. I have always loved you. I'm sorry I lied."
"I missed you you, dorogaya. I missed you so much."
The way I waited so fucking long to have this conversation happen.
Chloe interrupting Juliette and Roma's scenes with updates on what was happening in the outside world was important and I get it, necessary to the plot, but God, I was angry every time it happened.
"I will fight this war to love you, Juliette Cai. I will fight this feud to have you, because it was this feud that gave you to me, twisted as it is, and now I will take you away from it."
Me, crying, will I ever love someone like this? Also, it was at this point when the love declarations got momentous that I got hella worried about the ending and whether or not my Romeo and Juliet retelling would have a tragic ending like the original. Uh. We'll get to that, but first let's reread the journey because I was anxious reading it the first time. (I still am, even though I know what happens.)
"I will stare fear in the face. I will dare to love you, Roma Montagov, and if the city cuts me down for it, then so be it."
"Juliette. My darling, darling Juliette." (Kill me. I just want someone to call me darling.)
HIM QUESTIONING HER ABOUT IMPALING HIM BECAUSE OF HER DAGGER ON HER HIP. AND HER JOKING, "WHAT'S A LITTLE LIGHT STABBING BETWEEN LOVERS?" Chloe. I adore and love you for getting that line in. You are a gift.
I almost forgot about Marshall being the child of General Shu. DAMN. That's right. WILD TIMES.
Did I enjoy the theatrics of us following the plot points of Romeo and Juliet, yes I did. I love the drama. Did I loose my mind a little bit reading it? Yes. Benedikt being like 'Juliette is dead by her own hand.' and the next line being 'Juliette was not dead.' ICONIC MISS CHLOE GONG. UGH, the reaction when Roma hears that Juliette is dead. Gutted. He wants to blow up the Scarlett compound for a second time. Man, you're crazy. When Juliette walks into Lorens' lab, ICONIC and literally just in time.
My dramatic two lovers.
Juliette moving her hand to cover Alisa's eyes given how fiercely Roma was kissing her makes me CACKLE.
I love a younger sibling asking the older sibling if they married/are in love with/dating their love interest in front of said love interest. Good content.
ROMA'S PROPOSAL HAD ME CHOKING. Juliette joking that she would use a Bible as a weapon LOL. THEIR WEDDING VOWS.
"To have and to hold, where even death cannot part us. In this life and the next, for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours. Those are my vows to you."
"They had always been two mirrored souls, the only ones who understood the other in a city that wanted to consume them whole, and now they were joined, mightier when together."
"Even death cannot part us."
It was at this point, with the hard lean into the R&J rhetoric, that I truly began to succumb to fear for the lives of our lying lovers. (Rightfully so.)
I love a desperately screamed "Because I love you!" Thank you Benedikt for your services to my happiness.
I just knew that shit was gonna go down, but the way that shit continued to go down until the last 20 pages had me feral and desperate. Juliette's love declaration for Roma to her parents. UGHHHHHHH. I also really respect a throw last word of 'I regret nothing.' I do love a lady who sticks by her decisions.
Something that I shouldn't have brushed over: Kathleen becoming Celia. I am so proud of her, and I would really love for her to get her own book. I currently have no idea how big of a character she'll be in Foul Lady Fortune, but I'm hopeful she will be.
I have to say that Juliette wins the award for having the badass-iest, genius plans in the book and the entire series. Just more reasons I love her.
"I made a vow to you Roma. Where you go, I go. I will not bear a day parted. I will take a dagger to my own heart if I must."
"Together or not at all, dorogaya. I'm with you if we run. I'm with you if we fight."
"Don't miss."
"I never do."
JESUS.
So we made it to the end. Properly, because I reread the book. I would like to note for the record that I believed from the beginning that they were not dead. Even though I feared it and what would happen. I jumped straight from reading the news that they had tombstones to denial. Because using your death to escape is a very genius plan. I figured they did it with some help, and given what Alisa thought she saw, I believe it. I know they're living happily in Zhouzhuang. As soon as they both mentioned it was peaceful and beautiful there, I just assumed they would be escaping there. I believe it, and yes, I did look at the last page of Foul Lady Fortune and see that Rosalind received a note from JM, and yes I believe deep in my bones that is from Juliette Montagov. I am hoping that Roma took Juliette's last name, but ya know, patriarchy.
Oh, and the final paragraphs from Chloe about the country and believing in hope. Beautiful. I will be starting Foul Lady Fortune as soon as humanly possible, but alas, I have prior commitments. :(
No one else needs to write a Romeo and Juliet retelling. Chloe Gong won the competition, and frankly, trying to outdo her would just be laughable at this point. She cannot be topped. Shakespeare is rolling in his grave because she wrote a better story than him.
I'm not sure where I want to start; I guess at the beginning. I thought I would be suffering for hundreds of pages before I got anything from Juliette and Roma, but in the first fifty pages they were interacting. Juliette knocked Roma out and had the gaul to bandage his cut and kiss his forward or whisper that she loved him and was sorry for hurting him. I mean!!!!!! Thank you for the pain but also thank you for serving, Miss Chloe!
Marshall just completely trusting Juliette and listening to her requests not to reveal himself to Benedikt, but simultaneously looking out for him and following him. God, my heart hurt. Their chaotic moments made me smile.
Chloe really served in this book with my favorite tropes. I love a 'oh we're travelling together, and therefore, must pose as husband and wife in this situation' scenario. From the moment those two decided to go to Kunshan (and then Zhouzhuang) I knew it was going to be eventful, and oh hot damn was I right. Juliette pushing Roma into a compartment to protect him from the madness made me feral. AND THEN, jumping into Roma's pov where he's freaking out not knowing whether Juliette is alive and why she would do that. AND THEN HE KISSED HER. AND SHE KISSED HIM BACK. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought I was going to have to wait for eternity before they kissed again (given how the first book progressed, thank God I was wrong). Ohhhh, but that was not the end. No, then Roma thought, "He wanted to scream at Juliette until his lungs grew hoarse. Only he knew that if he screamed I hate you, what he really meant was I love you. I still love you so much that I hate you for it. Like bitch? Come ON. The ANGST. SOOOOO GOOD. But then, to have them spend the night in a whorehouse and as they're getting their rooms Roma escapes some ladies by saying Juliette is his wife. Oh, it was delicious. I ate that shit UP. Sadly, they got separate rooms, but the fact that they were both unable to sleep and literally were in sync with each other despite having a wall between them. Yeah, my heart rate skyrocketed.
Immediately as they arrive in Shanghai shit is going down because of fucking Tyler. At multiple points during the book I was thinking how useful it would be if he died, so imagine my delight when Juliette killed him to save Roma during their duel at dawn. Dude committed war crimes against children in this book. Also, in this instance Marshall saved Benedikt from himself. Benedikt was a mess for most of this book, so I was beyond thrilled whenever Juliette decided to take him to see Marshall. I was so damn happy.
OH MY GOD. That moment when Benedikt woke up and smelled Marshall because Marshall brought him home. That was a stab to my heart.
And then, Benedikt tells Roma that he loved Marshall.
I'm basically rereading the book now because I need to for my sanity, but I'm going to take this break in the action to mention a few quotes that I enjoyed: "These violent delights have violent ends, you have always known this. Ouch. "Juliette was, perhaps, a threat." It reminded me of that tiktok that's like, 'I don't identify as a woman or a man, I identify has a problem or a threat.' Anyways.....I love it when women are perceived as threats because I love it when people realize women have power.
LOL, Juliette asking Alisa to run with her so that she could goad Roma into following her. XD TOP TIER CONTENT. AND THEN I GET A FIGHT SCENE. AND JULIETTE TOOK A KNIFE (THROWN BY ROMA) TO PROTECT ALISA. TRULY TOP TIER CONTENT. Then this gem: "It was easy sometimes to forget how well they had known each other before everything went awry. To forget that they were once as familiar as halves of the same soul, predicting each other's next words." I mean, Jesus Christ, Chloe give me some warning next time before you put some fucked up nostalgia like that in the middle of a paragraph and a cleaning/fixing your wounds scene. Actually I spoke too soon because it ends with this unsaid thought--"Because I cannot bear to see you hurt, even when I am the one hurting you the most." MY GOD.
Okay, so I must take a momentary break from the romance to say that Chloe's books are so compelling because she balances the romance alongside the plot unfolding and her commentary on the world. I really enjoyed this quote: "I used to think this city I am to inherit was descending into one ruled by hatred. I used to think that it was our doing, that the blood feud ruined all that was good. But it has been hateful for a long time. Hatred has been lurking in the waters before the first bullet was fired from Scarlet to White Flower; it's been there since the British brought opium into the city and took what wasn't theirs; since the foreigners stomped in and the city split in factions, divided by rights and wrongs that foreign law put into being. These things do not fade away with time. They can only grow and fester and ooze like a slow, slow cancer." I got chills.
When it was revealed that Rosalind had a lover my first thought was Lord Montagov, but then I was like, no, I don't think he would do that, and then I was like, oh, it must be Dmitri. It had to be someone important and high up to be such a secret, so the fact that I was right was pretty exhilarating.
The moment between Roma and Kathleen while they waited for Juliette to distract Tyler was fantastic. Him joking about Juliette's signal, and Kathleen knowing that Juliette was lying about destroying Roma. Good shit. I adore Juliette and Kathleen's relationship. I want more of them in Foul Lady Fortune. I can't wait to be inside Rosalind's head because I just know I'm going to get the backstory I want.
So it was to my utter delight that immediately following that scene Juliette reveals to Benedikt that Marshall is alive. :D I LOVE A REUNION SCENE. Sad Benedikt didn't tell Marshall how he felt, but I understand.
OH, and the reveal that Rosalind was the White Flower spy???? It was a shock, but honestly I kind of respect it. Let more women be messy and make bad decisions and learn and grow.
THE DUEL. THIS DUEL. Okay first things first: the lead up to the duel. Benedikt reaching out to Juliette; them meeting and him asking her why she doesn't tell him the truth that she loves him and that she didn't kill Marshall. "Besides, I am not not afraid of him revealing to the world that Marshall is alive. I am afraid of him forgiving me...So long as he hates me, we are safe. If we love again...this city may just kill us both for daring to hope." FUCK. Fuck.
THE DUEL. THE DUEL. THE DUEL. THE DUEL. THE DUEL. THE DUEL. THE DUEL.
FUCKING FUCK. Top top TOP tier content.
Thank you Benedikt for being like, 'you should tell him.'
BUT THEN Marshall jumps into the scene. ICONIC BEHAVIOR.
I'm so glad that Roma refused to let Juliette walk away without explaining herself--beyond why she made it seem like Marshall died--to him and made her take him with her.
"She didn't regret it. She hated it, and she hated herself. But standing there, in front of her, was the reason for everything she had done, and to look upon him alive and well was enough to push back the loathing she had for the blood on her hands, for the city that had made her into this monster of a person." DAMN. I love her. I love Juliette so much.
"You are a liar, Juliette Cai. You lied to me until I wanted you dead."
"Because I could not risk the consequences. I could not risk my own cousin taking your life because I was took weak to let you go. And yet he pursued your death nonetheless."
"You think so intently of protecting me that you did not consider whether I wanted to be protected. I would have rather died knowing you are as you are than lived a long life thinking you cruel."
"I am cruel."
You are not."
"What are you afraid of?"
"The consequences of love in a city ruled by hate."
"Answer me something. Do you love me?"
"Why are you asking? Less than an hour ago, you wanted me dead."
"I said I wanted you dead. I never said I didn't love you."
"There's a difference?"
"Yes. Juliette--"
"I love you. I have always loved you. I'm sorry I lied."
"I missed you you, dorogaya. I missed you so much."
Chloe interrupting Juliette and Roma's scenes with updates on what was happening in the outside world was important and I get it, necessary to the plot, but God, I was angry every time it happened.
"I will fight this war to love you, Juliette Cai. I will fight this feud to have you, because it was this feud that gave you to me, twisted as it is, and now I will take you away from it."
"I will stare fear in the face. I will dare to love you, Roma Montagov, and if the city cuts me down for it, then so be it."
"Juliette. My darling, darling Juliette." (Kill me. I just want someone to call me darling.)
HIM QUESTIONING HER ABOUT IMPALING HIM BECAUSE OF HER DAGGER ON HER HIP. AND HER JOKING, "WHAT'S A LITTLE LIGHT STABBING BETWEEN LOVERS?" Chloe. I adore and love you for getting that line in. You are a gift.
I almost forgot about Marshall being the child of General Shu. DAMN. That's right. WILD TIMES.
Did I enjoy the theatrics of us following the plot points of Romeo and Juliet, yes I did. I love the drama. Did I loose my mind a little bit reading it? Yes. Benedikt being like 'Juliette is dead by her own hand.' and the next line being 'Juliette was not dead.' ICONIC MISS CHLOE GONG. UGH, the reaction when Roma hears that Juliette is dead. Gutted. He wants to blow up the Scarlett compound for a second time. Man, you're crazy. When Juliette walks into Lorens' lab, ICONIC and literally just in time.
My dramatic two lovers.
Juliette moving her hand to cover Alisa's eyes given how fiercely Roma was kissing her makes me CACKLE.
I love a younger sibling asking the older sibling if they married/are in love with/dating their love interest in front of said love interest. Good content.
ROMA'S PROPOSAL HAD ME CHOKING. Juliette joking that she would use a Bible as a weapon LOL. THEIR WEDDING VOWS.
"To have and to hold, where even death cannot part us. In this life and the next, for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours. Those are my vows to you."
"They had always been two mirrored souls, the only ones who understood the other in a city that wanted to consume them whole, and now they were joined, mightier when together."
"Even death cannot part us."
It was at this point, with the hard lean into the R&J rhetoric, that I truly began to succumb to fear for the lives of our lying lovers. (Rightfully so.)
I love a desperately screamed "Because I love you!" Thank you Benedikt for your services to my happiness.
I just knew that shit was gonna go down, but the way that shit continued to go down until the last 20 pages had me feral and desperate. Juliette's love declaration for Roma to her parents. UGHHHHHHH. I also really respect a throw last word of 'I regret nothing.' I do love a lady who sticks by her decisions.
Something that I shouldn't have brushed over: Kathleen becoming Celia. I am so proud of her, and I would really love for her to get her own book. I currently have no idea how big of a character she'll be in Foul Lady Fortune, but I'm hopeful she will be.
I have to say that Juliette wins the award for having the badass-iest, genius plans in the book and the entire series. Just more reasons I love her.
"I made a vow to you Roma. Where you go, I go. I will not bear a day parted. I will take a dagger to my own heart if I must."
"Together or not at all, dorogaya. I'm with you if we run. I'm with you if we fight."
"Don't miss."
"I never do."
JESUS.
So we made it to the end. Properly, because I reread the book. I would like to note for the record that I believed from the beginning that they were not dead. Even though I feared it and what would happen. I jumped straight from reading the news that they had tombstones to denial. Because using your death to escape is a very genius plan. I figured they did it with some help, and given what Alisa thought she saw, I believe it. I know they're living happily in Zhouzhuang. As soon as they both mentioned it was peaceful and beautiful there, I just assumed they would be escaping there. I believe it, and yes, I did look at the last page of Foul Lady Fortune and see that Rosalind received a note from JM, and yes I believe deep in my bones that is from Juliette Montagov. I am hoping that Roma took Juliette's last name, but ya know, patriarchy.
Oh, and the final paragraphs from Chloe about the country and believing in hope. Beautiful. I will be starting Foul Lady Fortune as soon as humanly possible, but alas, I have prior commitments. :(