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A review by aromarrie
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
with a book that holds so much promise in exploring even deeper the famous tragic tale of “romeo & juliet”, chloe gong completely exceeded my expectations with such vivid storytelling and such fiery angst that it made my reading journey with these characters absolutely memorable.
a historical fiction this story is, and gong does such an incredible job of making sure this piece of history—Shanghai in the 1920s—wasn’t a complete work of fiction. she shared rather marvelous insight and an in-depth look of how colonialism and power played a hand in shifting Shanghai during this time and what impresses me even further is that she did so with connecting these events to her own characters. romeo & juliet are shakespeare’s creation, yes, but roma & juliette are completely a work of art created in gong’s image. she took these two characters from a classic tale of star-crossed lovers and absolutely knocked it out of the park by completely tearing apart all criticisms that are attached to one of shakespeare’s famous works, and rather highlighting just how tragic this tale lies between not just juliet and her romeo, but between two prominent families within the same city that practically tore themselves apart.
the inclusion of a sort of fantastical element that much more teeters into speculative fiction heightened the tension that made the original love story between romeo & juliet so forbidden, and it goes even deeper to make the overall arcs of roma & juliette to be so high-stakes and incredibly moving. the passion that both of these characters have and the ties they’ve made not just to each other but to other characters as well brought deeper connections to the story and raised the angst bar pretty high once i got to the end of the book. i found the multiple perspectives included in this narrative to be so distinct and well-done, especially with the vivid atmosphere surrounding these characters in Shanghai, and while this story did feel very slow, i don’t have much complaints at all as i am a fan of a slow-moving character study that also relies on political tension so there’s no qualms coming from me.
how descriptive gong was in her storytelling, how imaginative, she was in laying out motivations between all the characters and the shocking reveal that erupts at the very last page was all so smart and exciting. it means a lot to me to see someone so close to my age have such a complex way of bringing her ideas to life, so much so that she’s gotten so much praise and well-deserved insights into how her ideas can stretch on even further once the sequel, “our violent ends” is eventually up to being released. seeing how much work she’s put into this and her making me see beyond what was said to be a satire in shakespeare’s original story, it just goes to show how much deeper these classic works could have gone and how inspirational the characters have become. i absolutely loved this.
a historical fiction this story is, and gong does such an incredible job of making sure this piece of history—Shanghai in the 1920s—wasn’t a complete work of fiction. she shared rather marvelous insight and an in-depth look of how colonialism and power played a hand in shifting Shanghai during this time and what impresses me even further is that she did so with connecting these events to her own characters. romeo & juliet are shakespeare’s creation, yes, but roma & juliette are completely a work of art created in gong’s image. she took these two characters from a classic tale of star-crossed lovers and absolutely knocked it out of the park by completely tearing apart all criticisms that are attached to one of shakespeare’s famous works, and rather highlighting just how tragic this tale lies between not just juliet and her romeo, but between two prominent families within the same city that practically tore themselves apart.
the inclusion of a sort of fantastical element that much more teeters into speculative fiction heightened the tension that made the original love story between romeo & juliet so forbidden, and it goes even deeper to make the overall arcs of roma & juliette to be so high-stakes and incredibly moving. the passion that both of these characters have and the ties they’ve made not just to each other but to other characters as well brought deeper connections to the story and raised the angst bar pretty high once i got to the end of the book. i found the multiple perspectives included in this narrative to be so distinct and well-done, especially with the vivid atmosphere surrounding these characters in Shanghai, and while this story did feel very slow, i don’t have much complaints at all as i am a fan of a slow-moving character study that also relies on political tension so there’s no qualms coming from me.
how descriptive gong was in her storytelling, how imaginative, she was in laying out motivations between all the characters and the shocking reveal that erupts at the very last page was all so smart and exciting. it means a lot to me to see someone so close to my age have such a complex way of bringing her ideas to life, so much so that she’s gotten so much praise and well-deserved insights into how her ideas can stretch on even further once the sequel, “our violent ends” is eventually up to being released. seeing how much work she’s put into this and her making me see beyond what was said to be a satire in shakespeare’s original story, it just goes to show how much deeper these classic works could have gone and how inspirational the characters have become. i absolutely loved this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, Self harm, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Gun violence, Vomit, Torture, Alcohol, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent