A review by therese_nook68
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? Yes

4.0

4.5/5

TW: death, murder, gore, assassinations, implied pandemic... pandemic vocabulary

Really good reimagining of Romeo & Juliet. I loved the prose and the background its set on — it's really fun to see a book that was created for a western audience, reimagined into an eastern backdrop.

I loved how Chloe Gong created this and made it such a compelling read. I loved the characters and how she wrote them. It was so great and I honestly loved seeing how she weaved this story with this new idea. The characters were honestly the best part, they were so complex and so fun and really brought some depth to Shakespeare's original cast.

My biggest issues was that there was no urgency. None. Like people were dying, dying, and it felt like they were taking it super casually. Even when we hit the climax, I still didn't feel the urgency or the panic.
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