3.5 Stars

I absolutely adored this one. It is a Romeo & Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai. Roma & Juliette are the respective heirs to their rival gangs. After a string of unexplained murders of their people, the two must now put aside the blood feud between their gangs to find out what is responsible for these deaths and save the city. Tensions flare, feelings are kindled and the game is afoot!

If like me, you aren’t a fan of Romeo and Juliet fear not, I am happy to say that while there are nods to the original, this romance is much more grounded than that and doesn’t over take the plot of the book. Roma & Juliette have their own agency and together they play well off of each other.

What I especially loved about it is that it is an own voices book that speaks to the immigrant experience and how you can feel like a foreigner not just in a foreign country but in your native land as well. There is this feeling as if you are never quite enough of one to truly belong. Gong also doesn’t shy away from tackling colonialism and it’s effects on a country, it’s people and culture.

There were a few things that didn’t work for me, namely the big bad and how exactly there came to be a monster in a world where there isn’t any magic. I needed a bit more there. But overall These Violent Delights is a solid debut featuring great diverse rep, trans rep and there is a side M/M romance I am rooting for. You should definitely add this one to your tbr.

Wow. Wow!! I will be the first to admit, I was apprehensive about yet another YA Romeo and Juliet retelling. I thought the premise sounded promising but it's beyond that--These Violent Delights is brilliant, rich in world-building and characterization. It's a dazzling retelling of Romeo and Juliet, and I adored it. It will pair marvelously with the early aughts film version and will be an excellent resource for those looking for a way to sell Shakespeare to readers who can't get into the original play.

These Violent Delights absolutely shines as a retelling of a classic story but it stands on its own through its brilliant plot and characterizations. Very, very highly recommended.

If a Romeo and Julet retelling set in 1926 Shanghai with an added mystery disease/madness thrown in sounds like something you'd like? Then this book is definitely for you. Juliet Cai, heir of the Scarlet Gang, and her bitter rival, Roma Montagov, heir of the Russian White Flower gang, must team up to figure out why their people are going mad and ripping their own throats out. Is it related to the monster sightings by the water?

An enjoyable read but as someone who teaches Romeo and Juliet well, I didn't grab me as much as someone with maybe less knowledge of the story. Overall, I enjoyed this story but as I read it, I separated it in my mind from the original. The setting was beautiful and the writing was well done. I feel like some of my students will devour this story! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Beautifully poetic and incredibly suspenseful. I loved every word of this book. I found myself compulsively highlighting excerpts on my kindle app to reread later--what a masterclass in prose.

https://twitter.com/sosaidvictoria/status/1319676572501221376

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of These Violent Delights.

Even though Romeo and Juliet is ridiculously overdone, I was so stoked for a new take on it! I loved the premise and the setting, so I couldn't wait to read it.

Unfortunately, I seriously struggled through These Violent Delights. The way the characters are written actually fall more into the New Adult genre rather than Young Adult. YA is supposed to be about NEW, about firsts, whereas New Adult is supposed to be about seconds, about rediscovering, about figuring out adulthood.

In These violent Delights, Roma and Juliette have already been in love, and it's been a few years.

I found the writing to be too flowery, and yet not describe characters' emotions or thoughts fully. Juliette was such a stereotypical strong-woman trope, that it made the book such a struggle for me. I thought it was interesting to see her think a bit about the person she wanted to be, and the perosn she was forced into being, but at the same time, we got so little of it!

Also, can I just say I was not a fan of the name changes? I get it, she was trying to adapt the names to the multiple cultures represented in the book, but it felt so forced. I would have almost rather different names entirely. Instead of just choosing similar names, I would have almost rather she'd shown the character of each more strongly. The personalities of most secondary characters were just pretty lacking.

I loved the representation, and it's something seriously lacking in the YA Historical genre, but I just couldn't do it with this book. It's definitely for a younger audience who isn't as familiar with Shakespeare as I am. As a theater nerd and an older reader, this book just didn't do it for me.

Thank you again for the chance to read it, I'm sure this is the right book for some readers out there, and again, great representation for the genre!

An atmospheric and inventive reimagining of Romeo and Juliet with compelling tension, a sharp-as-knives protagonist in Juliette, and a horror element that creeps under your skin.

I was pre-approved of an eARC on NetGalley by the publisher, so thank you Margaret K. McElderry Books!

My Rating: 3.5 / 5 🌟

A “Romeo & Juliet” reimagining in the world of “The Godfather” set in 1920s Shanghai. This was the pitch of These Violent Delights when I first came across this debut novel. Being a romantic, I was truly intrigued by what the book will bring in terms of the romance and that was my biggest mistake going into the book. While These Violent Delights is a retelling of “Romeo & Juliet”, the story had so many other elements to showcase that it was a story of its own.

These Violent Delights is a story about the heirs of the two gangs in Shanghai – the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers – putting aside their rivalry and teaming up together when the threat of a contagion and a monster starts taking the lives of their gang members. And with the lack of initiative from both of their fathers, it became the responsibility of Juliette Chai, the heir of the Scarlet Gang; and Roma Montagov, the heir of the White Flowers; to find the cause behind the madness.

Right off the bat, the first aspect I want to give praise to is the exceptional writing that has been displayed by the author. Since this book has the element of a “Romeo & Juliet” story, it was clear through Chloe’s writing that she wanted to pay homage to the creator of that tale, but at the same time still wanting to capture the other essence of the book – the gang rivalry and the situation in Shanghai during that period. Chloe also succeeded in delivering quotes that manage to catch your attention, as well as being fully capable of standing well in its own without the context of the story.

The book is told in third person limited with the POV switching not only between the two main characters but also all the side characters – Marshall, Benedict, Rosalind and Kathleen, that allows the readers a glimpse into the lives and the past of all the characters that will be moving the story forward. All of them have a distinct voice throughout the book and I enjoyed reading from all of their perspectives. However, although having spent more time with Juliette and Roma, it was the side characters that I was more interested in reading. I think it’s because the side characters; despite being close to the two heirs, are still normal people while Juliette and Roma are the heirs, hence putting them on a higher pedestal, which created a lack of connection between me and the two main characters.

Even so, I was still invested in Juliette and Roma from the angle of their love story that I was most anticipating from the book. But sadly, the romance fell flat. Since the book does revolve around the heirs of the two rival gangs and their love story, I was interested to see how the tension between these two characters will affect their position in their respective gangs, as well as their dynamics working together. And yet, I still don’t find myself rooting for their relationship as much as I hoped. So, if you’re someone like me, who is highly anticipating the romance aspect, I would ask for you to manage your expectations for it.

Other than the disappointing romance, the book also felt messy in terms of its storylines and elements that ended up affecting the book’s pacing. How the story seems to move is by having a web of storylines heading to one main direction. I find this to be a good strategy to tell this story, as the book has fantastic storylines that not only deal with the main plot but also the idea of colonialism which is highly relevant to the given period and place this book was set in. But with all this riding on its back, the pacing became slow for my personal preference. Chloe tried to give each storyline sufficient time to develop but instead, it ended up slowing down the story as a whole. It seems that the story only got really interesting within the last quarter or so when all the storylines start coming together, but other than that, the book seems to flow passively rather than engaging.

All in all, These Violent Delights is a very solid debut novel especially since it’s written by someone who is still an undergraduate in college. While the book does take inspiration from elsewhere, I think it manages to stand out as its own true and original story, as well as bringing something new to the YA genre. I’ll be looking forward to reading the sequel in the future, although it’s not one I’ll be highly anticipating. But if you’re looking for a new breath of fresh air in the YA genre, I believe These Violent Delights would be a good choice.

Although well told, I found the amount of detail given, wore me out to the point that I began skimming text. I don’t blame the author in this, I’m an impatient reader. If there was slightly less detail, I think I would have enjoyed it more. For instance, there was a lot of talk about the Nationalists and Communists, which I realize is a central point of the book, but some of the mentions came across as rather, for lack of a better word, clumsy. It didn’t feel organic to what was happening in the moment, it was almost text book.

Overall, this particular book wasn’t my cup of tea, but I did enjoy reading about Shanghai in the 1920s, she wove a clear and unsettling world and, if you know a little about history, you can see what is coming next (the Shanghai massacre). Hopefully, Ms. Gong comes out with future works because there is no doubt she has talent.

I really wanted to like this one because I'm a sucker for any kind of re-telling, especially when it's Shakespeare or Jane Austen related, but this one did nothing for me. I felt like the plot was messy, I couldn't tell if this was about what happened at the beginning of the book or had to do with the drugs each side was pedaling (this is not a spoiler it mentions it at the beginning). The names of the characters really bothered me as well, with the exception of Juliette. Roma's (which was perhaps the most annoying name to read, no offense to anyone named Roma) family was supposed to be Russian, yet his name is clearly Italian and his cousin and friend had American names. Juliette was the only character that I enjoyed (for the percentage I did read) and I kind of wish this book was only from her perspective because she was a total badass and way better than Juliet in the Shakespeare play. Overall disappointing.

These Violent Delights has been on my radar for quite some time. The author has been touting this book as a Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, full of gangsters, blood feuds, and yearning, and boy did she deliver on that premise. From the writing to the characters to the execution, These Violent Delights kills it.

Most Shakespeare retellings have subtle nods to their source material, but there is nothing subtle about These Violent Delights and it works so well. The book doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is: a Romeo and Juliet retelling. The characters are named Juliet and Roma, there are two family-run gangs in a blood feud, there are side characters are named Benedikt and Rosalind, Juliet had a nursemaid growing up whom she was close too, etc. And although the reader may feel like the story is familiar and they know what to expect, the beauty of retellings (and this particular retelling) is that the author has added so many other elements that it becomes something fresh and new.

Chloe Gong is a beautiful writer. The descriptions were elegant and vivid, easily transporting me into the book. She did an amazing job crafting the setting and building the world in These Violent Delights. Not only are we given too strongly written and easily captivating protagonists by way of Juliet and Romeo, but there are a cast of side characters whom I loved reading about just as much. The book always does a fantastic job of including important themes, such as the political history of China and colonization, and wonderful LGBT rep!

These Violent Delights was a perfectly executed retelling of a Shakespeare classic. I’m obsessed with the Scarlet Gang and White Flowers and I cannot wait for every to choose a side come November!

5/5 stars

I am all but speechless. This book blew me away in all the best ways. I'm absolutely in awe of Chloe Gong's writing — it's gorgeous, seamless, beautiful prose all throughout the book.

The structure of this novel as well — it's multi-POV with sections in the perspective of various side characters as well as, of course, Roma and Juliette. I thought the author did an incredible job of handling that interesting structure, as every perspective showed us something new about the mystery at the core of the novel without giving away too much at any point.

Now, with the caveat that I'm never someone who figures out the mystery ahead of time, I was completely shocked with the way this book wrapped up. I was at the edge of my seat, heart pounding, could-hardly-breathe-omg for the last 17% of the book, which I read all in one sitting so fast I could hardly see straight.

Don't get me started on the sheer bittersweet nature of Roma and Juliette's relationship. I love Roma a lot, he deserves the world, but Juliette? With thorns over her heart and just — she's my girl. I loved her so much.

This book is really good. You all should buy it and read it.

I struggled with what to rate this book. If I could give half stars, I would say 3 1/2.

These Violent Delights is set in a culturally rich Shanghai in the 20s. Chloe Gong takes elements from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and creates a completely new story with the familiar characters of house Capulet (Cai) and Montague (Montagov).

I really love the setting. It feels vibrant and full of life. The seedy aspects of the gang’s terf with the burlesque club and fighting rings really sets the mood where the action is taking place. I feel like the overall period piece aspect of the story is a bit off. It doesn’t really feel like the 1920s with the characters attitudes or speech. It feels too modern to me-not because of the excellent LGBTQ representation or the racial diversity, which are awesome to see-but because it just doesn’t seem all that fleshed out. The reader sees Juliet refer to her “ditzy flapper” act several times, hmm but I honestly don’t remember ever seeing a good example of her behaving this way.

The Communist uprising is happening behind the scenes, and is probably the biggest factor anchoring the text in the 20s. I wish that maybe one of the more minor characters, like Kathleen had become a Communist sympathizer-or had more thoroughly infiltrated their ranks-to add a richer layer to her story. Or Rosiland! Honestly, they were hard for me to keep track of who was who at first. They feel fairly flat to me.
Kathleen was fleshed out the best between the two, but there was a lot left to be desired, especially when they had their own POV chapters.

Juliette was probably the most fleshed out character. Roma was often very bland. I think this is due to the reveal on why he launched the attack on the Cai compound. We don’t get this payoff until close to the end of the novel.
Roma’s development up until that point is really boring. What are his motivations for anything, really?
In some ways, I feel like both Roma and Juliet have too similar in structure with the family dynamic. Both are on shaky grounds as heirs, but at least we see Juliette really fighting for her place.
Roma is just ambivalent. Which is fine! I’m okay with the idea of Roma not wanting or caring to be the heir. It isn’t until his sister is infected he has any real drive.

Which brings me to how sad I am that Alisa isn’t really an interesting character at all. We just are expected to care about her because she’s Roma’s sister. She could have had a richer story, or rather this plot line could have been given to Marshall. It would make sense to have Marshall/Mercutio be the tragic trigger point for Roma to finally spring into decisive action.

I also was not a fan of the conclusion. Part of it was I did not realize this was not a stand alone, so I was surprised when it ended rather abruptly with a cliffhanger and a lot of unresolved drama.

This review does seem very critical for a 3.5-4 star rating. I love the idea and essence of the book. I really am rooting for Gong to be successful in this endeavor! It is such a fun and interesting premise for a book! I just think the characters need a bit more work in their depth.

I did not enjoy this book. There was nothing wrong with it, it was brilliantly written, I just don't like Romeo and Juliet retellings. I also do not like that it is an apparent duology. it ended on such a cliffhanger and I cannot see how it can have a happy ending if since it is Romeo and Juliet. I will not be reading the sequel

Wow. Packed full of adventure and intrigue, an absolute delight. The world was beautiful and lush. The characters fierce and flawed. The writing gorgeously crafted. I want more of this story!

This was such a wonderful debut novel! Loved the premise -- Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai. Of course, given the original that inspired the book, I wasn't sure if the book would contain insta-love, but the author found a way to retell the story without that element! (Mentioning this as I know many people shy away from stories with insta-love.)

It was fun coming across the references to R&J, and on top of that there was so much richness built into the culture, world-building, and backstory. I enjoyed following the characters along as they uncovered clues to solve the main mystery, and especially had fun with the mild horror scenes throughout. The story is also beautifully diverse. My favorite thing of all, though, was the way being Chinese was written into the story. As a Chinese American woman, it always makes my heart soar seeing little cultural nods in stories, and Chloe Gong incorporated SO many into this book in such smooth ways.

Overall, I think this one lived up to its brilliant premise and would recommend it!

This is a fast-paced Romeo and Juliet YA novel loosely retold as enemy mobsters turned monster hunters in 1920s Shanghai.

Romeo is Roma, a Russian heir to the White Flowers gang while Juliet is Juliette, a Chinese heiress to the Scarlet gang. There are plenty of references to the original play, some tongue in cheek and others are paraphrased quotes.

Other than the references and plays on the original characters’ names (Mercutio is a Korean man named Marshall who is with the Russian gang and Tybalt is Tyler, Juliette’s power hungry cousin), the similarities end there.

This is mostly a mystery rather than a tragic romance (although we get hints of romance and tragedy throughout the book). The people of Shanghai are killing themselves because of a monster. The majority of the novel focuses on the mystery and uncovering the source of this monster while the ticking time bomb of death and destruction lurks.

I loved the worldbuilding. I learned so much about 1920s Shanghai from the foreign influence, the Communist party, the role of organized crime, and how quickly things changed in the city after the International Agreement.

This book is gorier and more gruesome than I had expected, but it is perfect for people who enjoy stories about monsters.

There is some resolution at the end but a major cliffhanger that will lead to a sequel. My only disappointment was knowing that the story didn’t really end because it’s hard for me to keep up with series with all the books I have in my TBR. #bookwormproblems But for people who really enjoyed this book, a sequel is great to revisit the characters and mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am here for Shakespeare retellings, especially when marginalized voices take them, grab them by the throat, and make them their own. I am also here for gangsters; ask anyone who knows me. Or don't, you do you. The synopsis reminds me of what I loved about Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet but in a dark, bloody fantasy meets historical fiction set in a complicated and nuanced 1920s Shanghai. It did not disappoint.

I appreciate the trans and queer characters, but most of all I love Juliette Cai. More ruthless badasses who are badass and speak multiple languages and are, well, badass, please. Without spoiling anything, if that's possible for this classic AF story, I love the twist on the romance, the banter between Juliette and Roma, and their complex back story. It made for a fantastic read.

I was never much of a Shakespeare fan, but a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with rival gangs? How can you pass that up?

Roma and Juliette are heirs to rival gangs (White Flowers and Scarlets respectively) caught up in a blood feud in Shanghai. Although on opposite sides, both gangs have common enemies: a monster killing their people and foreign groups (British, Americans, French, and Russians) attempting to take over their land and cities. There’s too much bad blood between the current heads of the families to work together, but Roma and Juliette are intelligent enough to understand cooperation is required to eliminate these common threats. Each (especially Roma) is also trying to prove to their fathers and gang members they’re worthy heirs.

Although they had a brief relationship four years prior, I honestly wasn’t feeling the connection between these two. I liked Roma and admired the fact he wanted to take the White Flowers in a different direction in the future, and his relationship with his sister is adorable. Juliette is a different case entirely for me. Most of the time she comes across as a petulant child too hot-headed to ever be in a position of authority, and her cousins sense it. She tends to shoot first and think later. My favorite characters are easily Roma’s cousin Benedikt and Marshall (he has some killer lines). They support Roma no matter what and stand by him.

This is an action-packed, bloody, gory tale, which I didn’t mind, but other readers may appreciate trigger warnings. Although I enjoyed many aspects of the plot, some didn’t work as well for me, but that’s just personal preference. On the other hand, the diverse cast thrilled me, and I was actually shipping two male characters over Roma and Juliette and hope to see more of them in the sequel.

At over 400 pages, These Violent Delights is a chunk of a read, but an impressive debut (the author is still in college!) with important and timely overall themes.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

First of all I love the setting of the book. I never thought I'd read a Romeo and Juliet retelling in 1920s Shanghai, but here we are. I could really tell while reading that Chloe Gong put an amazing amount of love and dedication into describing the city and its inner workings. Normally when I read, I can see the scenes play out in my head, and the sharper the image, the better the writing. In this case, I can still recall scenes in my head as if I was literally there.

Right from the bat I loved the characters, too. I want to protect all of them. The story is told from multiple perspectives, and I never had the sense that one character's chapter was more boring than the other. I liked reading about all of them! Especially Roma, because to me he was the most interesting character. He always seemed like he had secrets upon secrets, and I wanted to know everything. I really enjoyed Juliet's character, too. One of my favorite things about this book is that sometimes you forget it's a Romeo and Juliet retelling, but then you come across a scene that is just incredibly familiar, and you are reminded which story this book is based on. I'm not going to say which scenes those are obviously, but you'll know when you come across them!

One of my other favorite things about this book is the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) criticism of the foreigners in the story. Especially when it comes to language. Even I have had the "wow you're so articulate!" thrown at me. Like yes, I've had an education, thank you. Anyway, these criticisms were valid then and are still valid now, and I liked coming across them in this book.

A four star book for me is a book that I truly enjoyed. So I don't have that many negative points to make. I just thought the beginning was a little slow. In my opinion, it took a little while for the plot to really get going, and I think that made me read the book less fast than I normally would. However, once it started truly picking up the pace, I couldn't put it down!

In all, these Violent Delights is an excellent combination of romance, rivalry, and "whodunnit," and I definitely implore you all to read it before the year ends if you can!