These Violent Delights

Fantasy is not my preferred genre, but the idea of fantasy with a Romeo and Juliet retelling aspect sounded really intriguing. I can say after finishing it that I liked it well enough, but I do not think I will continue the series.

There is nothing wrong with this book or the story it tells. There is also nothing that makes it stand out to me. It is set in 1920s China where two rival gangs rule Shanghai. The two young heirs, Juliette and Roma, are from these opposing gangs and have a love/hate relationship. They must work together in the book to find a cure to an infectious madness that is spreading through their city.

Honestly, there is not a lot of fantasy in this book. The only fantasy aspect is the monster that supposedly spreads the madness. It reads more like a very fictionalized story about a volatile time period in China. The Romeo and Juliet aspect is not very prominent, in my opinion.

The characters are okay. They do not stand out to me as either likable or unlikable. They just are. The two characters I find most interesting, Kathleen and Marshall, are secondary characters with more diversity to their personalities than the main characters.

I rate this as a 3 star read because it is not going to be memorable for me, but I do not dislike it.

estoy ENOJADA, estoy INDIGNADA. ESE FINAL !!!#¿$!%€%£$¡%_,$?$£ va. a. caer. sangre. lo ame. juliette cai, kathleen lang, estoy enamorada de ustedes casense conmigo plss. also, fuck tyler, fuck voronin y fuck paul :D

Wow, this book was something different! I've never read anything like this before and I really enjoyed it. I don't think I would've normally picked it up, but I got it in my Fairyloot box and I was so excited when I started reading it.

A story about two rival gangs, forbidden love and a monster that roams the streets of 1920 Shanghai, this book kept getting better and better. I really enjoyed all the information about Chinese culture, the whole vibe of the book and the fact that it's a Romeo and Juliet retelling (if the names Roma and Juliette didn't already make that very clear).

The plot twist were good, the pace of the book was good and it made me want to keep reading and reading after finishing chapter after chapter. The ending left me speechless and I hate the fact that I have to wait for the next book to come out, but I kind of loved that cliff-hanger.

i wanted to love this book due to the super intriguing premise, but could not find myself drawn into the world. i did not find juliette a likable character, i didn't like how rosalind faded into the background (but understand that this was already a chonky book so some things needed to be cut), how useless all the “adults” around juliette/roma were, how it seemed like this was one of those YA books that makes its hard ass edge lord young protags young in age only, when really they should probably at the very least be in their early 20s or something. you know. the kind of trope you normally find in content geared towards a younger crowd, because why would you want to read these books if these kids actually acted their age.

i had a hard time following what was going on with the factions in the city, and it really bugged me (lol) that there...wasn't really an explanation for how qi ren became the monster? like...how did that even happen?? for all of the political gang related shenanigans going on the city, this unexplained scifi element seemed kind of lazily shoehorned in, when i was hoping for some kind of explanation.

or maybe it's just me, and i finished the book late and am writing this review late, and the explanation went right over my head lol.

all that said, i'm probably going to pick up the sequel.

A retelling of Romeo and Juliet with Russian and Chinese gangster in Shanghai with an added mysterious monster causing people to rip out their own throats. Sometimes the source material references are a little bit too much on the nose (Roma Montagov and Juliette Cai are not exactly names that leave much to the imagination) but the change of setting and added supernatural elements give a really fun twist to what could have been a dreary romance. The relationship between Juliette and Roma forms the core of this story and it is a well told enemies to lovers story - you get a really good grasp of their emotions, loyalties and frustrations through the course of the book. The Shanghai at the start of the revolution setting adds some extra interesting tension. The fly monster thing is well worked in in a way that doesn't require much in the way of supernatural and gives an air of believability to the whole affair.

I don't know if I expected to enjoy this as much as I eventually did. Romeo and Juliet seems to be something that has been done to death but Chloe Gong has provided some fresh and interesting takes on its concepts.