Wow. Wow. Wow.

This book did NOT disappoint.

Bravo!!

I absolutely loved the open ending so you can decide what happened to them!

Thank you Netgalley and Simonteen for letting me read a wonderful eARC early for this one!

As for as conclusions go, this is one of the BEST ones I have ever read. Duologies can be hit or miss for me, and this one hit right in my heart. I don't really see this as a true Romeo and Juliet retelling, but as what all Star-Crossed, Enemies to Lovers stories should live up to. The two main characters are not just love interests, they are complex in themselves and have to fight against what they know and what they were taught and go after what they feel to be right. This story is grim and dirty and also absolutely wonderful. There are some slow spots to be sure, but the over all story... I am already ready to dive in again.

I am in love with this series! The way the this book incorporated Romeo and Juliet's story while making it original and interesting is simply awe-inspiring. The ending was heartbreaking and perfect and I'm excited to actually get my hands on a copy of this book when it comes out! I can't wait to see what Chloe Gong does next, she's definitely an author to keep an eye on.

After putting in the work of setting up the world and building the characters so strongly in book one, the story is really able to soar in Our Violent Ends. And what a clever way to keep the enemies-to-lovers dynamic going. A thrilling and emotional conclusion.

Our Violent Ends kept my on the edge of my seat and turning pages.
I quickly tired of the "I have to leave you/ make you hate me to save you" trope, but enough started happening to pull my attention from it. Lots of action and twists. Lots of character development as well!

If you enjoyed These Violent Delights, you definitely need to pick this up.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy for review!

Our Violent Ends was a fantastic conclusion to Chloe Gong's Romeo and Juliet retelling! My full review is to come; I will update my NetGalley review and email it once it's ready, but I won't have it up for a while since the book isn't coming out until November.

Update:

I usually don’t write reviews for this column that are of just one book. Lately, my book reviews have been compiled thematically, but I have nothing else that is historical, fantasy or Chinese to review, nor do I have any Shakespeare retellings, and in any case, Our Violent Ends deserves its own post.

As the conclusion to Chloe Gong’s first duology, a Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920’s Shanghai with gangsters and monsters, Our Violent Ends has a lot to juggle. These Violent Delights, the first book in this series, left off on a massive cliffhanger; heroine Juliette Cai faked the murder of Roma Montagov’s best friend, Marshall, in order to keep Roma and his cousin Benedikt safe. Now, months later, all seems to have returned to normal — until a monstrous disease comes back to the city.

Even if you know the entirety of Romeo and Juliet by heart, Our Violent Ends will still surprise you. Without directly spoiling anything, there are many twists on the plot of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, enough to leave anybody wondering what will happen at the end. Side characters not in the original play also shine in this book, particularly Juliette’s cousin Kathleen and Roma’s sister Alisa.

I am absolutely not an expert on Chinese history, despite being Chinese (my mom is actually from Shanghai), but the incorporation of the Kuomintang and Communists in this story feels seamless and makes complete sense. You can tell Gong has done massive amounts of research on the time and place to make the story as accurate as possible.

I can’t stop thinking about Our Violent Ends, particularly about the epilogue, and that’s why I’m extremely grateful Gong is writing a spinoff duology (set in the 30’s!). Either way, I’m ridiculously excited to see more from one of the most talented historical fantasy writers in our generation.

And I’m still having a lot of feelings about that ending.

Our Violent Ends will be released on November 16, 2021 in the US and Canada. I received a digital advanced copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Some writers make you realize how dumb and untalented you really are. Chloe Gong is one such writer. Her writing is beautiful and intricate and haunting and her world-building is exquisite.

The tension between Juliette and Roma is even better than in TVD, which I did not think was possible. The added layer of the presumed death of [redacted] really exacerbated the animosity Roma felt for Juliette. The scenes where they're both secretly pining for each other are some of my favorite scenes of the book. THE TRAIN SCENE!!!!! (iykyk).

I've never lived through a revolution but it seems authentic from what I've studied. As [redacted] attends the communist party meetings you can feel the revolutionaries' ideals creep into them (because they creeped into me too! Such is the persuasiveness of Chloe Gong's writing). It's written in such a way that you, too, want to take up arms for the cause.

I really enjoyed the higher stakes of the politics and the sickness and the undercurrent of political tension between the parties and how that mirrors the tension between Roma and Juliette.

"Our Violent Ends" was a great follow up to "These Violent Delights"
The monster is back but there's much more political tension all around in Shanghai, there's a double agent and a blackmailer who make the blood feud battles even more tense and deathly.

I enjoyed being back in 1920's Shanghai with the lovely batch of characters. Parts of it felt a little repetitive from the first book and I felt a lot more emotionally detached (it did not destroy me like others have said). I personally liked the ending, I think it needed to go that way.

some things felt a tad illogical (looking at you B & M) and the monster felt unnecessary.

Overall, it was fun and fast paced and I love the world Chloe illustrated for us, but I enjoyed the first one more.

3.5 stars

I loved Our Violent Ends even more than the first book in the series. The plot was full of twists and turns, the characters came to life on the page, the complex geopolitical conflicts of 1920s Shanghai were explored in an informative yet entertaining and poignant way... I could go on and on. The diverse cast of characters was a delight as always, and I'm happy we got to see characters of color and LGBTQ+ characters in this series - minority groups that are often underrrepresented in the genre of historical fiction.

A wonderful follow up to These Violent Delights, with even more focus on the complex geo-political situation of Shanghai (occupated by English and French armies and divided by Communists and Nationalists). It's a pleasure to meet again with the fabulous Juliet after what happened at the end of the first book, and watch everything develop from Roma's and Benedikt's reactions following Juliet's action, to Rosalind and Kathleen being more present and important in the story.
The book is incredible in its construction, slowly building the tension before the last act, with beautiful moments about the intense relationship between the two lovers, and the importance of their feelings for each other in a city that will do everything to keep them apart.

This was one of the rare sequels that I enjoyed more than the first book. Much like the second half of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Our Violent Ends weaves together the intricate pieces of the plot that were originally setup in the first book and brings it all together in startling and stunning ways. It's amazing that even with knowing the historical context and having the whole series based on extremely well-known source material, Chloe Gong was able to masterfully craft a story that was suspenseful, original, and surprising until the very end. I don't think there was a moment when I wasn't at the edge of my seat while reading, and the ending was everything it needed to be.

I think it's become rather popular to be lazily cynical about Romeo and Juliet in a sort of throwaway take. You know the kind. Many attempt to reduce the story to two dumb and young teenagers who waste their lives because they fall in love after a couple of days. It's extremely gratifying to see an adaptation that really captures the essence of the original tragedy. To love is an act of bravery, especially in the face of such extreme hatred, violence, greed, and a blinding desire of power in the world. And though sometimes this bravery can seem futile in the face of everything, its continual survival and existence is ultimately the triumph of love and hope.

This was really really really good. Expectations? Gone. I read These Violent Delights last year and gave it a four star, so I already had some expectations going into Our Violent Ends. But, I just did not expect to like this book that much! I was not emotionally prepared for this book. In fact, I'm going to need some compensation for how bad that ending destroyed me. Chloe Gong truly did us dirty in the best possible way. Where was the permission in this?? I will not shut up about it, and I am still in shock over how much I liked this book. It's definitely secured itself as one of my top three books of the year so far.

The Characters--
Our Violent Ends starts off a bit after These Violent Delights ended and begins to discuss the consequences of the HUGE cliffhanger (last few chapters, you know what I'm talking about if you've read it) we had in the prior book. We get to see how Roma and Juliette's relationship has progressed from when we last saw them, and how their lives have been going so far. There is an insane amount of angst and sexual tension and honestly, give me all of it. I don't know if things have been turned up a lot or if my crippling memory loss hasn't served me well over the past year, but I did not remember things being this intense in the prior book. It's like if you take the midway point between a hate-to-love relationship where they say they hate each other, but we all know there's a part of them that secretly loves the other and just magnify it. AKA even more of the best part. Now imagine that same sexual tension with Roma and Juliette pointing knives at each other and still not being able to kill the other. I think these fantasies are really messing with my views on romance because the mix of hate to love with just a touch of *i want to kill you* is my new thing. It was so attractive

We also get to see changes in each of the characters' personalities with the cliffhanger. We see a sharp change in Roma's personality, acting colder, less emotional, and more vindictive. Similarly, we see Benedikt falling into a shell of who he once was, emotionless like Roma, but in a more hollow way. We see Juliette struggling with her feelings for Roma after everything that has happened, trying her best to please the Scarlets in the process. Finally, we see Marshall, surprisingly okay, doing his best to protect Benedikt no matter. I liked that the cliffhanger from the past book didn't immediately resolve itself and that it had significant repercussions in the sequel. It's really interesting to see how each of the characters deals with it in their own way, and I thought that it made them feel more real.

We also get a lot of character development within Kathleen. Without spoiling anything, she learns to embrace who she is, and transforms into a stronger person. There's also a lot of stuff with Rosalind going on, which I will also not spoil. There's a ton of major plot points tied to her, and all you need to know is that it was really good. I liked seeing into the minds of both of these characters too, especially Rosalind, to see their thoughts and motives beyond the dialogue we typically get.

Going back to our main couple of Juliette and Roma, it is just really fun to see their relationship grow and develop throughout the story. Their backstory and divisions within gangs all contribute to such a good lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance. They make rash decisions in the process, but it surprisingly works to their characters in the type of impulsive love they have for each other, which kind of mimics Romeo and Juliet in a much better way. They would literally destroy the world for each other, and it's totally dramatic, but I'm here for it. All it did was secure my need for a Roma to call me "dorogaya" in my life, so I'd say it's one of my favorite parts of the story.

The Plot--
Going more into the plot, we continue to see how the monsters/parasites/whatever you call them still impact the city today, despite the efforts of the previous book. It carries on in an alternate way that connects the two books well. It still has the same investigative, "who did it?" and "where are the monsters coming from" vibes that the first book had, which was pretty interesting. There are a few big mysteries in there that lead into some plot twists. I will say that I am a really bad predictor when it comes to these things due to how clueless and unaware I usually am of smaller details, so I was surprised! It made for a nice "whoa, really?" and I really liked reading about these unexpected reveals.

We also have the same political conflict of the first book between the White Flowers, Scarlet Gang, Communists, and Nationalists all fighting for power. It defines the whole story and continues to be there despite the many other plot points. I am always a big fan of political intrigue, and I really liked its continuous impact on the relationships, alliances, and events of the story. It just adds another layer to the story that complicates things beyond the surface level.

As for the pacing, it is a lot better than the first book. I think that it took so much time to set up everything and really explain the world, that the first book felt boring at times. However, things pick up instantly in the second book and when you think it can't get more intense, it gets more intense. The last 20% of the book had so much action in it from all of the plot points finally peaking at once, and it made for a stunning conclusion. It was so wild. Where I may have skimmed through a few chapters of the first book, I felt so much more immersed in the second and it gave me the perfect mix of fast-paced plot, developing relationships, and politics.

Conclusion--
Would I recommend this book? I rounded it up to a five star, so of course so! The series is perfect for lovers of forbidden starcrossed lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance, a gorgeous 1920s Shanghai setting, political intrigue, and a fast-paced plot. Even if you're a bit unsure of the first book, I'd highly recommend picking up this conclusion because of how much it amped up in excitement and enjoyment for me. It's one of my favorite series endings I've read in a while, and I am not afraid to shove it in your faces.

Anyways, I'm going to head off until I get word of Chloe Gong's new spin-off series (held in the same world with some of the same characters!), so I will see you all then.

First, the cover art - Gorgeous!
Second, Warning! Once you pick this book up you won't want to put it down!

Romeo and Juliet set in the 1927 Shanghai Rebellion. Roma and Juliette are the heirs to rival gang families. They are both violent and ruthless when it comes to most things except each other and their inner circle of friends and family. Miss Gong interweaves the story of the rebellion so well with the story of Roma and Juliette. Lots of twists and turns will keep you glued to the pages!

My one critique was the inclussion of the "monsters" in this story. They were so minor to the storyline that I question why they were included at all. They brought a slight fantasy flair to the book that was not needed at all.

Overall loved the characters and the story so 5 stars it is! *****

4.5/5 stars.

A stunning and showstopping end to a brilliant duology, with an ending that was both tragic and satisfying.

I had high expectations for this after really enjoying These Violent Delights, and Chloe Gong sure did deliver with a great conclusion. I enjoyed how this delved further into the side characters, including my favourite Kathleen, alongside involving more of the history in Shanghai. The political strife was written in a way that was both informative and engaging, while it did take me a while to wrap my head around. It was less paranormal monsters and more the monsters in politics, and I enjoyed the change of pace and how high the stakes were now.

Overall, a wonderful read and I look forward to reading more of Gong's works in the future.

Full review to come closer to the publication date.

EXCERPT: “It’s difficult to follow in the footsteps of one of history’s most well-known playwrights. It may be even more difficult to follow in the footsteps of one of this generation’s most talented bestselling YA authors: Chloe Gong. With Our Violent Ends, Gong proves that within the young adult genre, she’s just as masterful a storyteller as Shakespeare himself. ”

Full review published online at Asia Pacific Arts Magazine.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing and eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

First off, Our Violent Ends was one of my most anticipated reads since the moment I put These Violent Delights down months ago, and I was desperate to read this. Chloe Gong did NOT disappoint.

Here is my fair warning: this book is a roller coaster. I went through a bunch of tissues and half a bag of chocolate donuts to cope with this book.

OVE is paced very well. I read about 60% in one sitting and finished later that night because I couldn't put it down. Its exciting and emotional, but it doesn't ever feel rushed. There is a lot of politics, but I personally love that.

As for the characters, this is what really makes the series stand out, aside from the setting being beautiful and complex, and the plot being a retelling of one of the most famous stories (Romeo+Juliet, Pyramus+Thibse, etc). The main cast may be based off specific characters from <i>Romeo and Juliet,</i> but every single one of them feels unique, and I got wayyyyyy too attached- not a good idea when reading a retelling of a tragedy.

The romance is wonderful. I love the main ship, and I still am not sure if I am more in love with Juliette or Roma. However, the side ship HITS DIFFERENT. No spoilers, but my two favorite characters being together just brings me so much joy and I want a whole book about them.

Lastly...





CHLOE WHAT THE HECK!?!?????!?!?!??!

I- I-

PLEASE I CAN'T HANDLE THIS


Content Warnings: suicidal ideation, gore, fire/burning, homophobia (mentioned), insects, racism, loss of loved ones, alcohol

“These violent delights have violent ends. You have always known this." Our Violent Ends was an incredible conclusion to the duology. Both the main and side characters have my heart, and wrapping up their respective journeys was bittersweet. For fear of spoiling, there's not much I will say, but I can share that this wild, captivating book deserves every star it receives.

Positives:
- I can go on and on about how much I love the characters. Juliette and Roma are such fierce, protective, and passionate characters that carry the story so well. And not only do the main characters have my heart, but side characters like Benedikt and Marshall, Kathleen, Alisa, and Rosalind also were crafted amazingly.
- The retelling aspects of this story was definitely something I loved. But, Chloe Gong has the ability to take Shakespeare’s work and shape it into her own. She created a novel with such an interesting plot, good writing, and fantastic world building.
- It’s Romeo and Juliet; I won’t trick you into foolishly thinking no pain will be inflicted. This duology is gory and heartbreaking. But it’s also beautiful and hopeful. Tears were most definitely shed; Keep in mind, however, that one can have many reasons to cry. To allow other readers to experience the full range of emotions I did, I'll keep my lips sealed from saying anything else.

Negatives:
- The main thing I did not like stems mostly from book one. I wish there was more showing rather than telling of Juliette and Roma’s love. Don’t mistake me, I love them together and both the tension and sweet moments made my heart flutter. However, lots of their romance felt in the past, before all the events reader’s see transpired. I would have preferred many more scenes with their romantic interactions.

I’ll conclude by emphasizing my love for this book once more. I’m melancholy that this is the end of a great story.

These Violent Delights Duology
Overall rating: 5 stars

5/5 stars

I would give this book a million stars if I could. It was the closest thing to perfect I've read in a long time. Where to begin, where to even begin???

Characters - perfect. I love every one of them, even the ones I hate are perfect and match up so wonderfully with their Shakespearean counterparts.

The way this book is in conversation with the original material is nothing short of brilliant. Shakespeare himself would have to bow down and thank Chloe Gong for the work she did to improve upon his work. This book is a masterpiece ending to a masterpiece duology and I'm OBSESSED.

The ending? The ending was perfect. That's all I'm going to say because I wish to give NOTHING away but it was...it was perfect. Perfect.

Excuse me, I need to go cry now.

I liked the first book in this series/duology, but wasn't so satisfied that it was being drawn out into a sequel. Now the sequel is here, and it feels unnecessary and also unsatisfying. Roma and Juliette are back, fighting and fighting for their respective family-led gangs. But the threats of a blackmailer in control of monsters never really seems dangerous, and the politics are convoluted and at times boring. The minor characters who have plot lines never come completely alive.

What a beautifully tragic ending to Chloe Gong's duology.

Everything about this book was flawless, and I couldn't put it down. It was very clear that Chloe Gong put a lot of work into each character's archetype and how they fit into both Shakespeare's and her own story. The parallels were exquisite!

Roma and Juliette's relationship pulled my emotions every which way; I was crying, screaming, smiling, and blushing at every turn. Chloe Gong took Shakespeare's classic and shaped it into her own fantastic love story. By the end, I was heartbroken but very satisfied with her artistic decisions.

In addition, Benedikt and Marshall's dynamic was an amazing touch. Spoiler's ahead: The dramatic, heated reveal of their feelings was EVERYTHING that trope could ask for. There was the tension of the revolution outside, mixed with their own argument, and then finally we got the confession! I was squealing the entire time.

I am very satisfied with this book, and I think readers of all ages can find an appreciation of it.