These Violent Delights – Book Review

This review might be controversial. I don’t know. A lot of people loved this book, I just liked it. Here is my These Violent Delights – Book Review!

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Title: These Violent Delights

Author: Chloe Gong

Rating: 3 Stars

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Content Warnings: Violence (guns and physical), mild body horror (lice)

Format: eARC

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderberry Books

Date Published: November 17th 2020

Goodreads Description: The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

I received a review copy from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Review

I don’t entirely know how to feel about this book. Feeling mild as milk about a book is no fun, especially since I really wanted to like this book. I have heard high praise for this book though, so I’ll link some five-star reviews for you to read. Enjoy my These Violent Delights Book Review!

Characters – 8/10

Roma Montagov is absolutely precious and I will not allow anything to happen to him. As you may know, this is a Romeo & Juliet retelling. I’m going to be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of Romeo & Juliet. In fact, it might be one of my most hated books. I tried not to carry those feelings into this book. Thankfully, this is only a loose retelling, and I enjoyed it much more than Romeo & Juliet.

Roma and Juliette are our main characters, and I am in love with both of them. Especially Roma. He’s so soft and sweet, but at the same time he doesn’t back down from a fight.

Juliette is just as badass, and I love a strong woman. She has carved out her place in a male-dominated world and continues to work hard for what she wants. I greatly admire that about how.

Not only did I enjoy Roma and Juliette, but I also loved (most of) the secondary characters as well. Rosalind was my least favourite. Benedikt, Marshall and Kathleen are the best, and I hope we get some more snippets of their stories in the sequel. The inclusion of more LGBTQ characters is definitely what the original R&J needed.

Atmosphere – 8/10

I truly loved the setting of this story. Shanghai in the 1920s as a melting pot for the world is such an amazing backdrop for this story. You almost feel like the city is a character itself. It makes every character, every decision and the entire story just that much more striking.

Gong is also a master of tension and suspense. I felt all the right emotions, especially in scenes with Kathleen’s POV. These Violent Delights has a fantastic atmosphere and I highly recommend it because of that.

Writing – 6/10

Here’s where I go back to being mild milk. While the characters and the atmosphere was amazing, I had some issues with the writing. Not big issues, Gong still writes incredibly, but tiny issues.

I do not like Shakespear, and some part of the book felt a little too flowery and Shakespear-like. Yes I know, it’s like a cardinal sin to hate Shakespear. I’m going to book hell anyway. Some of the things the characters say or some of the descriptions also pulled me out of the book. They felt too modern for the time period and the rest of the writing.

It just felt disjointed in places and my eyes would skim over those parts. It’s by no means bad writing, it just wasn’t my preferred style of writing.

Plot – 6/10

I have some issues with the plot too. It felt like it was moving too slow, but objectively I know it was really fast-paced. I don’t know what to tell you. *Insert shrug emoji*. Maybe I just couldn’t keep up.

There were scenes here and there that really pulled me into the book, and I was hanging on every word. But then other scenes just had me confused and not knowing what was going on. All I can say is that I’m really thankful we didn’t go full-on Romeo & Juliet.

Intrigue – 6/10

The ending wasn’t predictable, but I wasn’t really shocked by it either. Thinking back on it I couldn’t really connect any of the dots, but then again I might have missed them entirely. It certainly makes sense and I was eager to read on, especially after a certain character met a certain fate. I’m also eager to read the sequel because I need Roma and Juliette to be together.

Logic – 6/10

Here’s my biggest gripe with this book: the monster. The technology seems way too advanced for 1926 (but what do I know?) and it ended up pulling me out of the story. I might have preferred a more fantasy approach to the monster.

However there’s still a lot we do not know, and that makes me excited for the sequel.

Enjoyment – 7/10

This wasn’t by any means a bad read, and I did enjoy it. I just don’t feel a particular way about it. Except maybe for gratitude that I can now read this instead of the despised original Romeo & Juliet.

CAWPILE = 6.7/10

Let me know your thoughts on Here is my These Violent Delights – Book Review.

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