A review by mrtvavrana
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 

I have had this book on my shelf for probably two years, so I decided it was finally the time to read it. I did not have any great expectations, and I feel like it has paid off, as I really enjoyed this book.

These Violent Delights was described as “Romeo and Juliette with a dark twist,” so I more or less was prepared for it to be dramatic, fun, and romantic. I would like to add that it really reminded me of Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows duology, and I feel like as a result my review might be a bit more positive, as I have really loved it.

Now, theplot was quite interesting. I wouldn't call it groundbreaking, and there were definitely some holes, but considering this is the author's debut and it is a popular book on TikTok, I think it was fairly good.

My least favourite part was the romance between Roma and Juliette. I am a fan of enemies to lovers, but this was enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers, and so on. It got quite boring.

There were also no surprises in the story; I think it was quite predictable, but it did not take anything away from the fun.

As for the characters—I really loved everyone. Yes, they are all flawed, and I was not fully satisfied with how they were written, but I think they all fit together nicely. I loved

Kathleen

, and I loved that this book had trans representation. It was a bit surprising to see a trans character here, as popular TikTok books are not known for their diversity.

My favourite duo was, of course, Mars and Ben. Up until the very end, I hoped I would get to see their friendship evolving (wink), but the author had some other things planned.

I did not really like the open ending with the massive cliffhanger, but overall I think this was a nice read.