These Violent Delights

DNF at page 115. 1/02/22 - I do not like the writing nor do I like the character of Juliette.  

I went in expecting a romance and got a monster murder mystery and only a side plot of romance where the ‘romance' has already happened.

That's what I get for listening to a BookTok reccomendation.

i genuinely want to know why this was the most hyped-up book on here, tiktok, instagram, literally everywhere back in like 2021 when this is one of the most boring books i've read in a while. this had so much potential to be brilliant, but the writing let this down real bad (and yes i know chloe gong was a young college student when she wrote this). the pacing was slow as literal christmas, the characters were so bland and uninteresting, the romance wasn't romancing, and the story was nearly boring me into a nap up until like the 80% mark. istg some of y'all have to be liars because why does this have so many five-star reviews. genuinely why. gotta give credit where it's due though, and ms. gong can write a hell of a cliffhanger epilogue. now i'm going to have to read the next book aren't i. smh.

This was better than I'd expected and surprisingly worked as a Shakespeare adaptation. (The “Montague” fake name touch was cute.) The main characters were fleshed out, I appreciate the differences in how Juliette and Roma were raised and how they'd rather be leading, if it seemed like there was much hope of achieving changes.

i LOVED this book, the female lead was sooo interesting and fun and different. also the plot - horror/thriller vibes, very fun. i didn't really give a single care about the romance but it didn't detract from the plot and exes to reunited lovers is kinda fun

I admit that this book is probably towards the lower end of my 4 star reads for the most part. It would have been almost 3.5 stars if it weren't for the ending or any Roma and Juliette parts. It was largely slow paced and I never would have expected to get through it as quickly as I did. I thought I would take at least a week reading it but I was in luck. I cannot wait to read the next book, but for now I will be attempting to move onto different books that will ease any stress for my upcoming books. It's all light-hearted from here till the 21st of June!

I  hav to say that I somewhat felt a little bored as I read this book. It was ok ish but it was set up in a way that made me kinda bored

Chloe Gong is amazing! She created a Romeo and Juliet story that is creative and fun, but also suspenseful. I remember some of the plot points from the play, so I kept wondering how that was going to show up in the story. That was so clever! It kept me on the edge of my seat. The illness and struggle for power were both good motivators for action and tension. I can’t believe it took me this long to read this book!

5☆

this book

A Romeo and Juliet retelling but set in 1920s Shanghai. Normally, none of that would have been appealing but the reviews got me. I actually really enjoyed Shanghai setting and the little bits of mandarin sprinkled in here and there. With mandarin as my second language, it was relatable on another level. I can't wait to read more

wow

DNF/opgegeven na ±32 %

Ik vond het idee en de algehele setting van dit boek erg leuk, maar ik kon niet echt in de schrijfstijl komen, die erg inspannend en vermoeiend was. Het verhaal ontwikkelde zich erg traag en kon me niet echt boeien. Het kon me gewoon niet schelen wat er gebeurde met de plot of de personages.

Romeo and Juliet by someone who paid about as much attention in school as me

Contemplating if I'd do the same thing Roma did.

ngl this was super hard for me to get into but the end was so exciting and that cliff hanger... definitely gonna pick up the next book

I'm worried it's going to suffer the same fate as the PPZ adaptation.

Retelling Romeo & Juliet dgn latar belakang Shanghai tahun 1926. Dendam kesumat antara dua geng penguasa jalanan berbuah pertumpahan darah, membuat seisi kota larut dalam kekacauan. Di tengah kericuhan tersebut, Juliette Cai, gadis delapan belas tahun yang baru kembali dari Amerika, menasbihkan diri sebagai pewaris takhta Geng Merah—jaringan kriminal yang kebal hukum. Satu-satunya seteru mereka selama bergenerasi-generasi adalah Bunga Putih, dengan Roma Montagov sebagai sang penerus. Masalahnya, Roma adalah cinta pertama Juliette... sekaligus patah hati pertamanya.

Namun, ketika para gangster di kedua kubu entah bagaimana mulai mencabik-cabik leher mereka sendiri, kabar angin pun terdengar. Ada penyakit menular, ada penyakit gila; ada makhluk di Sungai Huangpu, ada monster di balik bayang-bayang. Apa pun itu, yang jelas ia merenggut korban jiwa yang tak tanggung-tanggung jumlahnya. Untuk itu, kini Juliette dan Roma terpaksa mengesampingkan senjata—serta dendam—dan bekerja sama, karena jika mereka gagal menghentikan pandemi, takkan ada lagi yang tersisa dari kota ini.

Wat een gaaf concept! Ik vond dit boek echt heel erg vet. Het concept van de insceten die een zieke verspreiden en de Romeo en Juliette retelling was echt cool gedaan. Er waren wel stukken dat ik niet snapte waarom ze dat erin heeft gedaan.
Het was een 400 blz boek, maar voor mijn gevoel hadden het er makkelijk 300 kunnen zijn geweest. Maar overall echt een gaaf boek! Soms waren de details ook wel erg gedetailleerd.
De schrijfstijl is erg fijn en ik wil heel erg snel deel 2 lezen, want het eindigd met een mega cliffhanger...

2,5⭐️
Für mich bleibt es ein Standalone.
- die Story hat mir gefallen war mir zu aber etwas kindisch
- es kam bei mir keinen kaum spannende Momente
- und die Charaktere mochte ich nicht wirklich, außerdem gab die Liebesgeschichte nicht für mich

daher bleibt es wohl das einzige Buch dieser Autorin für mich. Auch wenn ich das Cover sehr sehr liebe

Absolutely not. Every once in a while I read a book that enrages me. Not in solidarity with the characters, but because the actual writing. As a whole the writing in this book seemed juvenile beyond the point that should be acceptable, even for the YA genre. The fmc came across as petulant and annoying more so than strong and fierce. The mmc seemed to have no personality whatsoever. I kept searching for the romance because there was a lot of push between the characters, but not a lot of pull? The gang politics weren't consistent or fleshed out in any meaningful way. The gore was gratuitous. And of all the things to add to Romeo and Juliet, the author went with BUGS!! The only love story in the world that I will accept bugs being remotely involved is with Nezumi and Shion. For all the hype this book has gotten on every platform, I expected more.

These Violent Delights has an interesting premise, and frankly, one I liked more than the original Romeo and Juliet tale (sorry, I've never been able to get into Shakespeare...), but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. My reasoning ultimately boils down to being the wrong demographic.

Set in Shanghai in 1926, the book is reminiscent of the West Side Story take on Romeo and Juliet with gangs, forbidden love, and tragedy. Juliette and Roma serve as our protagonists in this dystopian-like setting.

This had more fantasy elements than I anticipated. I'm picky with this genre, but what got to me the most was the gore. Not for me. The writing was definitely geared toward a younger audience. Of course, I was prepared for this given it's marketed as YA. The setting was fantastic, but the characters were completely unrelatable to me. I continued on due to it being a book club read. If this looks like something you'll enjoy, you probably will.

На самом деле это отзыв к книге Дома после роддома, которой нет на сайте. Автор Юлия Исмоилова. Это шикарная книжка, мне очень понравилась. Если вы недавно родили или у вас есть такие друзья — очень рекомендую. Текст адекватный, местами веселый, очень смешные комиксы :-)) И все весьма жизненно. Поможет (!) перенести трудности воспитания первого ребенка и развлечет опытных родителей.

it's difficult for me to articulate how i feel about this book but to be fair if i hadn't read this for my 24 hour readathon challenge then i probably would have dnfed it half way.

the only thing i found interesting in this book was the description of shanghai, but other than that, it seemed too mundane. like the gangs are described so scary and powerful but honestly it didnt live up to its name, it felt like it was all names and no games (???).

2.75

DNF'd at 33%

One word: Boring.

I had to force myself to read a chapter a day just to make some progress in the book which not a good indication for a compelling read. The author has a tendency to ramble on about details not important to the plot that make choking the book down really difficult.

My other complaint is the two main characters. I found myself disliking both Juliette and Roma and personally, it super hard for me to read a book with characters I cannot relate to or even want to root for.

I mean the story was fine. The plot definitely has potential to be a really solid retelling of Romeo and Juliette that is unique, creative, and set in a really promising setting, but its the little details that make this book super hard to pick up and stick with.