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iunes 's review for:
These Violent Delights
by Chloe Gong
"Memories were beastly little creatures, after all - they rose with the faintest whiff of nourishment."
These Violent Delights takes you on a grimly journey through 1920's Shanghai - with a fantasy twist to it. Its intrigue is filled with political and cultural endeavours, with its main theme being a dangerous chase after a mysterious monster.
Many other deals decorate the narrative well: the true cost of colonization and globalization, the widespread tool of different political and gang parties or/and the never-ending, always griping tension between rival gangs. Surprisingly, these were the most interesting parts. Chloe Gong masterfully knitted all these in a sole book, never making the change too confusing.
As for our characters, I liked that, although it's beyond obvious our mains are Juliette and Roma, we had many povs coming from people in each side. It was intriguing to have new perspectives, and very much needed when the romance was so lacklustre.
I loved Juliette's fierceness and watchful disposition, even if at times I found her a tad arrogant, even that, and the way she carried herself with no shame, only danger.... made me love her more. Many of her inner conflicts were interesting to read too.
As for Roma... I'm conflicted. He was... lovely, sure, but when compared to Juliette, falls very flat, like a cardboard cut-out of someone. He's the sweetest counterpart of both, but I feel he was overshadowed and made out to be only a love interest.
The romance was by far the weakest aspect, it felt like outdated sparkly water: there was some "flavor" (mostly due to the tense atmosphere they found themselves in, which made their love forbidden), but also very...bland. There's little chemistry.
On that note, the writing was nice, albeit repetitive every now and then -. The vocabulary was fresh, I found new words to search, to look up many times, which is always welcome. I liked it, and wouldn't mind reading more of Gong's works.
However there is still something missing in this particular book. Maybe I expected too much from all the hype around it, but the world was somehow hollow, even with all the glam, the characters, their stories... perhaps I put too much faith in it. I'd still recommend it if you're looking for a fantasy x history work set in Asia, with one hell of a badass lead.
Props to the audiobook, which helped me finish the book within the week like I wanted :)
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a solid 3 stars. will review tomorrow!
These Violent Delights takes you on a grimly journey through 1920's Shanghai - with a fantasy twist to it. Its intrigue is filled with political and cultural endeavours, with its main theme being a dangerous chase after a mysterious monster.
Many other deals decorate the narrative well: the true cost of colonization and globalization, the widespread tool of different political and gang parties or/and the never-ending, always griping tension between rival gangs. Surprisingly, these were the most interesting parts. Chloe Gong masterfully knitted all these in a sole book, never making the change too confusing.
As for our characters, I liked that, although it's beyond obvious our mains are Juliette and Roma, we had many povs coming from people in each side. It was intriguing to have new perspectives, and very much needed when the romance was so lacklustre.
I loved Juliette's fierceness and watchful disposition, even if at times I found her a tad arrogant, even that, and the way she carried herself with no shame, only danger.... made me love her more. Many of her inner conflicts were interesting to read too.
As for Roma... I'm conflicted. He was... lovely, sure, but when compared to Juliette, falls very flat, like a cardboard cut-out of someone. He's the sweetest counterpart of both, but I feel he was overshadowed and made out to be only a love interest.
The romance was by far the weakest aspect, it felt like outdated sparkly water: there was some "flavor" (mostly due to the tense atmosphere they found themselves in, which made their love forbidden), but also very...bland. There's little chemistry.
Spoiler
I got the feeling the author mainly relied on the said fact that they HAD previously been in love to carry it out, which made their sparks less enthusiastic. They never truly hate each other: they hate what they have done, by their own hands or not.On that note, the writing was nice, albeit repetitive every now and then -
Spoiler
we get it, it's been 4 yearsHowever there is still something missing in this particular book. Maybe I expected too much from all the hype around it, but the world was somehow hollow, even with all the glam, the characters, their stories... perhaps I put too much faith in it. I'd still recommend it if you're looking for a fantasy x history work set in Asia, with one hell of a badass lead.
Props to the audiobook, which helped me finish the book within the week like I wanted :)
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a solid 3 stars. will review tomorrow!