After getting the ARC of this book I was excited to get TVD out from the library and binge the duo. Sadly, TVD really wasn't for me and I ended up DNF around 50%.

I wanted to give this book a fair go so read it anyway but alas, I just could not get my head into it. I found it to be a fairly lazy retelling of one of the most well-known stories of all time. Note. I am likely not the target audience and have studied Romeo and Juliet in-depth so that likely swayed my view also.

I like the authors writing style in places, although agree with a lot of other reviews that there felt like a lot of unnecessary filler included, editing some of that may help the book feel more dynamic and keep the reader interested - purely a laypersons opinion, I am not an author or publisher of any kind.

I'll look out for future reads from Chloe Gong as enjoyed the world-building and descriptions.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada, Margaret K. McElderry Books for a copy of the ARC in return for my honest review.

I really enjoy the atmosphere and creativity of the story. It's a fantastic retelling of a classic as it keeps it's own uniqueness and adds surprises.

My biggest problem is that there feels like a lot of filler. It was longer than it should have been and I felt like I was waiting for something to happen. I wanted to see the monsters and feel the tension.

It was good but I was left underwhelmed, especially with all the hype.

Chloe Gong paints another stunning portrait with this novel. I absolutely loved the first book, so it was no surprise that this one hit just as hard. This was a fabulous and creative story, and I can't wait to add it to my physical bookshelf.

This feels like exactly what young adults want: a diverse retelling of a classic with passion, surprises, and a unique vision of its own.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘭𝘰𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦-𝘢𝘳𝘤 (𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺) 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘝𝘐𝘖𝘓𝘌𝘕𝘛 𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘚


hi. Here's my short/confusion-free blurb:

This book is absolutely phenomenal and even that is not saying enough. If you loved THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS and get ready for a jaw-dropping, soul-crushing conclusion to this EPIC duology. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions and the ending was so beautiful. This book broke me in all the best ways and I can't wait to hold a physical copy of OUR VIOLENT ENDS in my hands.


And here's the extremely chaotic blurb (excuse the horrible grammar) :

WHAT THE BLEEP THIS IS SOOOOOOO GOOD. I ATE THIS BOOK UP IN TWO DAYS AND WHEN I SAY THIS BOOK WILL BREAK YOU, IT WILL BREAK YOU. CHLOE GONG HAS WRITTEN A BOOK THAT COMPLETELY FLEW PAST MY EXPECTATIONS, I mean THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS was no less of a show-stopper, so I had high expectations for this BUT WHAT THE BLEEPTY BLEEP BLEEP I WAS NOT EXPECTING IT TO BE THIS BLEEPING GOOD. The storyline does not disappoint and the Roma+ Juliette angst was so damnnnn fine.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰," 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, "𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞."
"𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐩." 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚 𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐳𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞.
"𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝--"
"𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧," 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲. "𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞?"
𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭.
"𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝," 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. "𝐑𝐚𝐰. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝."
𝐈𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞, 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡.

Chloe has done an amazing job writing about the atmosphere of Shanghai, with communists and nationalists and REVOLUTION!!!!! This book is action-packed and the BEST PART IS THE BEN AND MARS TENSION AND LOVE CONFESSION WE'VE ALLLLLLL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!!!

"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐤𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡. "𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠?"
"𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠." 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦. "𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐃𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬?"

THIS BOOK HAS MY HEART FOREVER, CHLOE GONG THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS MASTERPIECE!

also if anyone here is smart, LISTEN TO ME; take a look at the bleeping title of the book. Look at the cover of the book. AND PLS PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THIS BOOK IF U HAVE ANY HOPE NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO STOMP ON IT THANK YOU BECAUSE THIS BOOK WILL DESTROY U :))

This book ruined me. I had pre-ordered a first signed edition and it was simply brilliant, making me a fan of Chloe Gong for the rest of time.

"This city would have destroyed you for that."
"It has destroyed me anyway."

Despite the hype I can confidently say that Our Violent Ends did not destroy me. I received an arc and although I started it almost immediately it took me months to finish.

Negatives:
-Once again it's all tell no show
-Zero character progression and the complete ruination of side characters (the Cai's specifically)
-Nothing happens for the majority of the book. It's filler but not even good filler.
-Since nothing happens all urgency is lost. Political upheaval? All happening behind closed doors until we're told it's not. Monster's? We're being told they're at protests but let's not deal with that. Separate section of White Flowers that's mentioned briefly and then not utilized in the story until the very last moment? Reeks of plot convenience instead of natural integration.

Honestly, so many plotlines were abandoned and picked up when it was convenient that it just felt lazy. Nothing was addressed or built up it was all dumped on the reader at the end. Roma and Juliette solved nothing. It was redundant and extremely frustrating. Even the gangster aspect took a backseat. If someone asked me what happened I'd be hard pressed to come up with an answer aside from nothing.

Positives:
-The colonial criticism, Juliette kept on spewing beautiful lines about it and I loved every one of them.
"How dare they label themselves civilians of this city, as if they did not sail in with cannons and forced entry."
- The BenMar reunion scene. Actually any of their scenes. I preferred them over Roma & Juliette by a landslide since at least both of them have distinct personalities.

Overall, I feel like the idea of the duology is really cool but it was poorly executed. Our Violent Ends was unmemorable and felt unnecessarily long for how little plot or character progression there was.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advance readers copy in exchange for a honest review. All quotes come from a arc and may change.

This is a beautiful wrap up to These Violent Delights. I really enjoyed this Romeo and Juliette retelling. Chloe Gong writes in such a way that you feel completely submerged into this world. After reading this book I needed to know more about the history of Shanghai in the 1920s. The bits of history doesn't feel like you're reading it like that. The fantasy elements made me question if this was actually a fantasy book. It felt more like science fiction because I could see it happening. Juliette and Roma's story wraps up beautifully, and I found it to be such a realistic characterization of an R&J story. I enjoyed the way Gong also left no plot holes and gave realistic conclusions to the side characters. The multiple points gave the story a more well rounded story of the events that were happening.
I look forward to reading more books by this author.
I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

"These Violent Delights" is one of my favourite recent releases, and you don’t even know how badly I wanted to read the sequel even as I feared it. It was brilliant, captivating, and everything you could want out of a "Romeo and Juliet" retelling. I was overjoyed when I was approved for an eARC.

Once again, I didn’t rush reading this book. I slowly devoured it, the way these characters are slowly devoured by the corruption of the city and the gangs. Even devoured by corruption themselves. The dramatic events in These Violent Delights set up the final book for a lot of tension and conflict. It’s both delicious and heartbreaking. Mostly heartbreaking. I’m not kidding when I say I kept sending my bestie crying memes to express my stress, but I loved every minute of this work of art. The prose is still as purposeful and atmospheric as it was in the first book, crafting a story that flowed well and reflected the character’s emotions and the events taking place.

As a retelling, it picks up exactly where the first book left off, and follows Shakespeare’s play mostly loosely, but fairly closely where it matters most. I enjoyed being able to recognize the whispers of the bard’s work even as Gong built on it and added a lot of nuance and depth. Once again, the cast was incredibly compelling, and so well written. We get so much insight into them, even more so this time around, and I feel like I know them and understand them.

Juliette and Roma were, of course, heartbreaking and moving to read about. Roma hates Juliette after the events of the previous book, and each scene cuts us with a blade as sharp as his wish for revenge. I was hurting because they were hurting. To see such raw agony and hatred and love on the page almost constantly is a rollercoaster, but it speaks to how well written this series is that I cared so much for them. There are moments of joy to help balance the story. Marshall grew on me even more in this book, and Benedikt was in such pain that it’s impossible not to feel for him.

The fantasy is still very much a big part of this book, and it becomes even more harrowing – or maybe calculating is a better description – as we see the way it grows and changes too. My questions about it from the first book aren’t really answered in this one either, but I find that I minded even less.

Politics takes an even more prominent role, and honestly I really loved that. For those who didn’t enjoy the politics in the first book – in my review I mentioned seeing some readers comment that they felt this way -, that’s something to take note of. But for me, it felt honest and true to the story. Gong is, after all, depicting real struggles and historical moments. It’s important and provides a lot of commentary on colonialism and racism. I’m not sure why anyone would take issue with a book showing the truth of the way colonialism changed and shaped Shanghai.

The one critique I have is that there are so many complicated threads woven throughout this story that were begun in "These Violent Delights". But whereas the plot felt very controlled and thoughtful in the first book, I feel like some of the threads are weaker or forgotten about at times, only to be picked up later after taking a backseat. That made it hard for me to feel that the conclusion was anything but rushed and forced, but I’m hoping we get more insight into that in the upcoming spin-off series. I still rated it 5 stars because of the way I felt while reading it: completely absorbed and invested.

"Our Violent Ends" feels like being hit repeatedly in the same spot, but I still loved this book. Maybe not as much as "These Violent Delights", or maybe just as much but it hurt more. Gong’s books will always automatically go on my tbr because of my experiences with her debut series. It sets a high standard for Shakespeare retellings because it’s just so good at reworking the original text while adding a lot of its own flair.

Loved this book! Huge fan of the series. Great ending! I am obsessed with Roma!!! This series was very well written, I am very happy with this fantastical retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

This book was absolutely phenomenal. I will spend my whole life chasing the high this book gave me. It was a perfectly painful tale but I was addicted to every page. It is an age old tale of two star crossed lovers yet Gong placed them in such a modern day scenario which such a poetic touch it felt as though I was reading a Shakespearean tale all over again. Chloe Gong could write Romeo and Juliet but Shakespeare could never deliver an equal amount of prose and angst that Gong captured in Our Violent Ends. I am truly excited to see what she gives us next.

Huge Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC

SPOILERS AHEAD

I would give Our Violent Ends by: Chloe Gong 4 1/2 stars out of 5

I really enjoyed the continued story building and the dialogue in this book. The story was fast paced and kept my attention through out the plot. I really liked the connection between Juliette & Roma, though I wish there had been more flirting in this book, tbh.

The only reason I didn't give it a full 5 star rating, was the ending. I was a tad confused by it tbh. What was the ending of Juliette & Roma? Did they survive or was Alisa just hallucinating? Does this mean the story is left open for potentially more adventures with Juliette & Roma, or do we just let them fade away and imagine they are living a quiet life somewhere away from the rage left in Shanghai? My guess is that it's meant to be foggy so the reader can decide the fate of these two souls.

Despite this, I genuinely loved this duo. A great read and an amazing accomplishment for Chloe Gong. Can't wait to see what other amazing stories she creates next.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this about 40% of the way through. I absolutely loved TVD and was so so excited to see the story grow in TVE but I just was not able to really get into this book.

I found the plot to be very flat and although the tension between our main characters was amazing, it wasn’t enough for me to push through.

I will be picking this up later to give it another shot but for now, this is getting out on the back burner. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc!

4.5*

An amazing ending to a beautiful story! Full of politics, dynamic relationships, and of course nods to Romeo and Juliet, really well done!

wowwwwwie. this series was a trip.

what i liked: the characters. so likeable, so complex, and very real. the plot. a romeo and juliet retelling set in 1920's shanghai, but throw in monsters?! chloe gong did such a great job with this. and lastly, the romance. love love loved roma and juliette's enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers and so on. and benedikt and marshal, that scene with the safe house? s c r e a m e d.

what i didn't like: the writing. lots of people say they liked it, it was super fast paced, and that it kept their attention the whole time. but for me, my eyes kept wandering off the page and skipping over words. it took me a lot longer to read this than i'd have liked because i had to keep going back to reread paragraphs, but if you liked chloe gongs writing style in bk 1, you'll love this. the politics. it was so clever to incorporate chinese politics with this book, but i think i'd have liked to see more romance and fantasy than communists and socialists and nationalists, and even though so much of the book seemed to be devoted to the politics, the image of china's political landscape in this book is still so foggy. its like the book centered on the politics but said nothing about it at the same time.

i have to say i enjoyed book 1 more than this one, so i'll give Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong 3.5/5.

This second book in Chloe Gong's duology by far exceeded my expectations. With gratitude, I was shocked to be accepted for this ARC and had to binge the first book before starting this one!

One of the caveats of reading a retelling is that one more or less is waiting for the other shoe to drop as we all know the Shakespearean ending. In a complex tale of heartbreak, betrayal, loyalty and beyond, Our Violent Ends was masterful and illustrative to the very last page. It takes true skill to create a sequel that surpasses the first book, and my goodness, Gong is an artist, making this story her very own.

The amount of research and imagination to inspire the reader to feel as if they are truly in 1920s Shanghai despite their cultural upbringing is unparalleled. The pieces of my broken heart can fit through the eye of a needle-- that is all.

I will 100% be recommending this to friends, families and followers and have already!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the generous opportunity to read this masterpiece for the exchange of an honest review!

One of the best books I've had the pleasure of reading in 2021! I think this one was even better than the first one in the series.

4.5
thank you netgalley for the advanced copy!
this sequel is the reason books have sequels. it is SO SO well done. it levels up in every aspect: character development, angst, tension, bloodshed, fights, secrets, political chaos, monsters. e v e r y t h i n g! while still maintaining the aesthetic and tension that i loved in the first book. i only wish the book was slightly shorter and more time was focused on the ending, but overall, this is an absolute banger. I CRIED at multiple occasions feeling all the different feels.

GO BUY IT ON NOVEMBER 16TH

This was better than the first instalment! There wasn’t a dull moment, and it was faced paced right from the start. I was fully invested in what happened to all of the characters, and will continue to read anything this author writes in the future!

I absolutely loved this book it was feisty and exciting! and oh so mysterious! Great Job Chloe! I really hope there's more!!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was wondering how Chloe Gong was going to manage to top the masterpiece that was These Violent Delights, but she did it with brio. I can't believe this is only her sophomore novel; the writing style is so beautifully crafted that it seems like she's been perfecting it for decades.

Our Violent Ends picks up in 1927's Shanghai with all the characters dealing with the consequences of the end of the last book. The stakes are high with political tensions and the blood feud being even worse than before. Twists and turns until the end of the novel will keep you so engaged you'll have a hard time putting the book down. Commentaries on imperialism and colonization were also masterfully interwoven into the story, adding another layer to the already very complex story.

Chloe Gong effortlessly develops her characters in such an amazing way that they feel real. Each has their own motivations which only adds to the intrigue. The relationships between them are complex and beautiful and just as developed as the character themselves. Roma and Juliette have my whole heart.

This book is in my opinion one of the best books of 2021, I can't wait to see everyone read it. I'm also very excited to read what Chloe Gong puts out next, she's definitely one of my auto-buy authors now.