these violent delights was great - this was *STUNNING*

i honestly don't know how to put into words the absolute chokehold this book has on me but even just reading through the quotes i had plucked to pick my favorite, i'm sitting here crying lmfao
not only was this a TOTAL level-up from these violent delights (which i maintain was still a great read!!) in prose, in romance, in tension, but this was completely on par with, what i consider to be, the most epic love story and devastatingly beautiful book i've read - song of achilles.

which is to say that as emotional as this book made me all the way through, it was so goddamn stunning that it would be a mistake not to experience it

i deadass cried through the entire book y'all. and i made the mistake of reading this on the plane so i was BAWLING in public and i didn't even care bc it was so achingly beautiful there is nothing i'd rather cry over more (also, as a note, i cry over everything including happy and/or beautiful things lmao).
there wasn't one aspect of this book that wasn't absolutely PERFECT.

find my full review on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CYE_o7cPB-y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Our Violent Ends was a thrilling finish to a duology. I had my concerns because I thought it would end with These Violent Delights. but I found myself enjoying the plot. It was separate from the first, not just a continuation.

I cannot begin to express how excited I was to receive this ARC!!!! I absolutely adored These Violent Delights and was ecstatic to read Our Violent Ends! Let me just say Chloe Gong does not disappoint. This was an amazing I am so sad that this duopoly has come to an end but cannot wait to read the next great thing that Chloe Gong comes out with.

If I'm being honest, I feel rather disappointed. I know originally this duology was supposed to be a standalone, and I think it would have been amazing that way. However, I had issues with how repetitive and redundant about 60% of this novel felt.

I was hoping that we would get an interesting twist on part two of Romeo and Juliet, a deeper dive into the communist vs nationalist struggle, and even all the foreign interest in Shanghai. However, I was rather bored, I didn't feel shocked from any of the climactic moments, and I know the ending was coming, however, I found myself wishing it was different.

Chloe Gong writes words that I do like, I will continue reading from her and I hope that her next projects show her potential better.

Chloe Gong has created a beautifully written Romeo and Juliette retelling set in the enchanting city of Shanghai.

If you're a fan of the forbidden love or enemies to lovers trope I would highly recommend this read. I loved the diversity of the cast that was predominantly asian with a splash of LGBTQ+ representation. I also feel like Chloe Gong did a great job at imbedding tid bits about Shanghai cultural dynamics into her writing. It2 also helped that although some characters were depicted as villains you couldn't help but see their vulnerable sides as well. The characters were fully developed, distinct and well written. The plot will also leave you anxious and at the edge of your seats. Although the plot twists were easily predictable the betrayal and tension will keep you drawn in to everything that is unfolding.

I would highly recommend this YA fantasy and I’m extremely excited to see what Chloe Gong comes with next.

Thank you @Netgalley and @Simon&Schuster for sending me this ARC

I was so excited to receive this ARC after absolutely loving These Violent Delights! The conclusion to Juliet and Roma's story was amazing! This was a stunning followup to the first book and definitely satisfied my questions. I can't wait to see what Chloe Gong does next.

Thank you to @netgalley @simonschusterca #MargaretKMcElderryBooks for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
Wow! So,I ended my November read with this book. And was I super surprised how much I enjoyed it. Maybe it was my mood, and that Romeo & Juliet is my least favourite Shakespeare, that I became engrossed in the story. So, whether the author likes Romeo & Juliet or not, for me this book felt like a finger to the original story. I just didn’t buy-in to that star-crossed lover thing at school. Although, maybe we were forced to read it and interpret it a certain way, so it lost all the feels for me. Regardless, this would be a somewhat, extreme opposite, retelling of R&J. With it being set in a historical 1920s China, Chinese gangsters vs Russian gangsters, violence, bloody, revolutionary and with a sci-fi/fantasy thread. I just got so much enjoyment.
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I really enjoyed this duology. I think that the atmosphere is one of the best things about it: it's done really well with almost an ominous vibe, and I adore reading anything set in Shanghai.

This book....went a LOT into politics, communism, etc. and some of it went a bit over my head. I know it's really important to this time period, and it's actually something I'm really interested in but I felt like it wasn't quite explained enough or necessarily relevant to the story.

I did adore the ending of this book, and to be honest am more attached to some of the side characters than Roma and Juliette themselves.

I look forward to seeing how Chloe Gong develops as a writer!

Weaving the history of a troubled city, riddled with foreigners, gangs and a major political struggle, with a forbidden love story, a coming of age and deciding what you want to be and how you want to live story, family loyalty and friends who are closer than family story, all while dealing with literal monsters!! If you loved book one, this doesn't disappoint. It does a lot of work wrapping up the story and ending the series, in maybe the only satisfying and believably true to the characters way.
A fantastic dualogy.

I’m going to keep this short and sweet because I everything I want to say would be spoilers but this ending broke me, like full on sobbing. This is great ending to the story and I am sad to have this story end.

I will say I enjoyed this book more than the first, I think that’s because I already had a grasp on the characters and what they were like. Even though I didn’t absolutely love this story I do really love Roma and Juliette so much, just them and their chemistry and the way that they interact is wonderful.

I didn’t think this book would make me cry but as I mentioned before I did and without saying why just think about what retelling this is. That’s all I’m saying.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong.

I enjoyed this retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The second novel allowed for the story to be more fully fleshed out than if Gong had attempted to get her entire story into one novel. I thought the use of character and her monster was well done in this second novel in the series.

I think with another read of both books in a closer time span with some more attention I would enjoy these books more. The ends of both of them were engaging and had me reading nonstop but I struggled to get into both of them as well. A second reread would offer more insight into the backstory and the politics that Gong has brought to her duology that would provide greater enjoyment for me.

Overall I gave Our Violent Ends 3.5 stars and rounded up to 4.

First off, thank you to netgalley for an e-ARC copy of Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong. This book was phenomenal from the beginning. It had everything I expected and more. I cried a solid four times while reading this. It's been months and i'm still speechless about OVE. Juliette and Roma just <3

Back in the chaos of Shanghai, Roma and Juliette are still fighting for each other, even if the other doesn’t know.

This was a fun and brutal ending to the duology! These two books were so such an adventure and I was thrown by a couple twists that I thought I had figured out. I definitely don’t want to give spoilers, so there’s not much I can say, but can I just say how much I adore forbidden love stories?? Plus this is much better than the original Romeo and Juliette because it’s not just over a matter of days.

My heart aches for these characters and that’s a testament to how they were written. They were all full of passion and fight, and that showed right until the bitter end. Would definitely recommend!

This book was absolutely wonderful! It was the perfect sequel to These Violent delights featuring thrilling plot twists and dangerous gambles. Juliette Cai once again battles feuds and makes life-changing decisions in the blood-thirsty city of Shanghai. This book is even better and exciting than the book before. I highly recommend that you check out this stunning, mind-twisting duology.

This book was a wild ride and a fitting end to the duology. I loved every second of this book even when it was tearing my heart into a thousand pieces. I absolutely can't to read more from Chloe Gong!

This book was so good, at times the politics went a little over my head but that’s on me for not knowing anything about how it was in Shanghai in the 1920’s. I was screaming and wanted to throw the book (but in a good way) during the last 60 pages.

Needless to say, Chloe Gong is a talented writer who is phenomenal at writing minor details, complex characters and a killer slowburn.

Although I never finished this arc, the amount I read was action-packed and makes me what to continue this book later on because it was so interesting. I love all the details and how whenever one minor action happens, your heart begins to race in anticipation. It truly gets the reader to flip the page because they aren't able to put the book down!

I am very grateful for having the opportunity to read this arc and I can't wait to read what Chloe Gong has in the future.

I will admit, I went into this read with much apprehension due to my thoughts and experiences with These Violent Delights. I did read with a relatively unbiased view of the events of this sequel, but many of the points that rubbed me the wrong way in the first book continued to do so here.

As I've mentioned in previous reviews for These Violent Delights, I am a die hard Shakespeare enthusiast. Throughout school I was actively involved in directing and creating stage plays of his work - both in a more juvenile text as well as entrepreneurial theatre ventures with our acting community. I lived and breathed his work, always keen to dig into his beautiful meter and phrase. Romeo and Juliet is the piece I worked with the most, even going as far as directing a children's version (as a child myself) and helping develop a production set in a similar time period as this book - including bein part of the cast as a gender-bended Benvolio (Benedikt). To add to that, I was involved as a cast member in the production of the musical West Side Story by Stephen Sondheim.

I continued to have issues with the choices in names. Not many new characters were introduced in this book, so the reader resumes their adventure with the key players: Juliette, Roma, Benedikt, Kathleen and Rosalind. I will acknowledge that there seemed to be a bit more inclusion of the characters' Chinese names, but this also lended to some confusion when relating to who the focus of the chapters and scenes are on.

This leads into my next point. There are a lot of players in this book. A LOT. I don't mind this at all, as it can give flavour and pretext into the motivations of the characters; however, the scene shifts typically happened mid-chapter without clear indication it was changing (ie headers or even clear paragraph/scene breaks). I found that I had to calibrate myself to what was happening before fully jumping onboard with each scene.

The main antagonist in this sequel felt weak, for lack of a better term. The first book focused on the paranormal experience of an unknown monster and illness coming from the waters and orchestrated through science and cunning. Guess what? Same monster, different delivery. As soon as I read that the bugs were infesting civilians again - albeit with more control and less casualties - I nearly threw the book. It feels like a cheap recycling of climax and crisis from the first novel. That being said, Our Violent Ends touches more on the politics of the potential revolution and brings the Communist and Nationalist movements closer to the front, which added layers beyond the reusing of the paranormal/horror theme from the first book.

I also felt there were some research gaps with the speech and technology of the day. At one point, a character states they missed the thrill of a "high-octane chase". This may be just me nit-picking, but the term "high-octane" wasn't coined until the late 1930s, and this book is based in 1927. There were small instances of this

My main criticism focuses on the two biggest elements: inspiration and writing. Much of what Chloe writes is fairly easy to follow - some words or actions are either dumbed down or repeated, which, as a reader, could be distracting. Again, my biggest issue is that it felt lazy.

Yes, it is directly inspired by Romeo & Juliet. This is very apparent in the "star-crossed lovers" from opposing gangs/families; however, there were times where the scenes, actions and even words were pulled directly from the play, as well as heavy mirroring derived from West Side Story by Stephen Sondheim.

I did appreciate the inclusion of an honest and beautiful relationship between two male characters - the LGBT element is much needed and very welcome in the literary community as we continue to break down barriers. When done right - and not for the purpose of clout - it can add additional depth to both the characters and the story.

The relationships in this book were well thought out and the level of intimacy was still appropriate for younger readers; however, there is significant amounts of violence and gore that may be difficult for some to stomach.

I know this review comes across as very heavy on criticism - and I always feel bad about giving this type of review - but for the hype this series has received, and as an enthusiast of classic playwrights, it was very hard for me to align with the excitement after digesting the first (and now second) installation in this duology. I'm honestly not sure I'll pick up the next series she's working on - but perhaps a different story style that's not derived from a very popular and loved story will present better for me.

I am an empty shell of my former self 😃
Chloe you're paying for my therapy bills <3


This is the 2nd time in my life that I’ve been this heartbroken over a book. Literally it was a full out sob-fest for me reading this.

I don't think I will ever truly recover and really I should've known better but of course I foolishly hoped. My heart has been stomped on, torn into pieces and thrown into an explosion. I actually wasn't expecting to be this heartbroken like WHY did I go ahead and fall in love with every single one of these characters?? I was literally setting myself up for pain *sobs* But oh, isn't that the beauty of reading? To fall in love only to have your heart broken.

Just the way I got trolled so badly, like some of the events actually had me thinking otherwise but oh no no🤡 I am now and forever depressed™

I can literally imagine this was how Chloe was when she wrote OVE:

The monster of Shanghai who?? I only know Miss Chloe Gong *sobbing*


(Warning: There will be spoiler from the 1st book, These Violent Delights!!)

═══*.·:·.☽✧ ❀ ✧☾.·:·.*═══

"A rose is a rose, even by another name. But we choose whether we will offer beauty to the world, or if we will use our thorns to sting."

1927 Shanghai and the city is at the brink of complete chaos. Sightings of monsters have re-emerged, the Communists have grown more bold, and the two gangs ruling the city have gone at each other out for more blood than usual.

Meanwhile, Juliette Cai is having to watch her every step in the face of Tyler--her cousin just waiting to find reason to declare Juliette a traitor and become heir to the Scarlet Gang--and watch for Roma Montagov who is out for revenge after the death of Marshall Seo. Oh and also worry about the appearances of monsters and state of the city. Life is stressful for Juliette :(

I won't go into anymore details of the plot because ✨spoilers✨ BUT OMG THE WAY IT GRIPPED ME FROM THE START?? It took me a while to get into TVD but this!! Literally there wasn't a moment in this book I didn't love. I was a ball of anxiety the whole time. of course my heart was also dying because of the wholesomeness and very few precious scenes And like I actually dropped my expectations for this because I thought and feared it wouldn't be that good but oh how very, very wrong I was.

The characters were so much more fleshed out here?? I already liked them before in TVD but I was just so so in love with them all here to the point where I'd straight up be PRAYING they'd survive😭 Benedikt, Marshall, Kathleen... I didn't think it was possible to adore them all so much, my heart is so full of love. And don't even get me started on the two stars who went from enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies in TVD sdfsfgs THE ANGST.

"She was not fighting for love. She was protecting her own, everyone else's be damned."

THIS QUEEN. Did I believe it to be possible for Juliette to be even more of a queen than she already was? No. Did it happen anyways? HELL YES. All the pain she had to go through, making Roma believe that she had actually killed Marshall and subjecting herself to his hatred *sobbing* And it was all to protect him and the city. And then also having to deal with that bastard Tyler along with her own family and people having not so much faith in her ugh. Juliette hiding away any signs of weakness because people were always watching was so heartbreaking. She couldn't give her people any more reason to doubt her then they already do. Kathleen being the only one she could be herself with, always there for her🥺

You know that moment when you have so much to say that you don't know how to write it all out? That's me right now. Just know if you loved Juliette before, you will definitely love her even more now.

"And maybe he was a coward. He was a coward who wouldn't stop loving a wicked thing."

ROMA, MY LOVE. Oh my god, he's such a cinnamon roll that must be protected at all costs. The hatred and love he felt towards Juliette hurt my soul. Even after seeing Juliette "kill" Marshall, a small part of him believed that there was more to it AND HOW RIGHT THAT FEELING WAS. Of course, Juliette tried as hard as ever to extinguish that feeling but still sdfdgsgds THE ANGST BETWEEN THE TWO.

"Only he knew if he screamed I hate you, what he really meant was I love you. I still love you so much that I hate you for it."

Enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies at its peak😩
The first book's romance wasn't a really big focus BUT HERE?? God, the tension was literally killing me. So many times my heart stopped because of these two😭 The two heirs of rival gangs who dared to love one another <3


"And if you are gunned down because you want to fight a war that doesn't belong to you, I will never forgive this city. I will tear it down to pieces, and you will be to blame!"

When the ship is in a heated argument and then one of them breaks and yells "because I love you!" sdfsfgsgs MY HEART I LOVED THIS SCENE SO MUCH IT WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED.


The amount of pain I was in during this whole book like not only did I have suffer watching Roma and Juliette BUT ALSO BENEDIKT WAS SO BROKEN IT HURT. Believing Marshall to be dead completely destroyed him and the whole time throughout I was just screaming "he's alive Benedikt, he's alive!!" That was honestly just true torture knowing Marshall was alive. Benedikt being so reckless about his life like no Ben what are you doing😭

And meanwhile, there's Marshall -- AKA MY PRECIOUS BEAN -- who missed everyone, but of course Ben the most🥺 The two being apart pained me so much, like why can't everyone just be happy?? Is that too much to ask for??
Stan BenMars forever <3


Also let it be remembered that Benedikt is and forever will be the only sensible one of the whole group. (view spoiler)

"Keep fighting for love. It is worth it."

ALSO LET ME JUST SCREAM ABOUT JULIETTE AND MARSHALL'S FRIENDSHIP. It was so beautiful, sweet, and just everything omg I loved it so so so much. Their banter was like one between siblings and the way my heart was about to burst😭 IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. Literally all the relationships between the characters were so so amazing, I can't choose a favourite it's impossible.

"And yet wasn't that the root of all hatred? Wasn't that what made it so vicious? There was never a reason. Never a good one. Never a fair one."

Kathleen Lang, please marry me. She's literally such a genuine and kind-hearted person just how?? Such a morally good character and the development she went through by the end of this book???🥺 I was actually about to cry. Also, Juliette and her just have the most wholesome friendship ever, there was moment between them that made me so emotional, get a friend like Kathleen😭 (view spoiler)

Also this is totally off-topic but I'm WHEEZING at how I said at the end of my These Violent Delights review how my loyalty will forever lie with the Scarlet Gang... HAHA no the Scarlet Gang can go to hell :)
Correction: My loyalty forever lies with Roma and Juliette <3 They are true leaders.


↓ MAJOR SPOILERS FOR OVE IN THIS SECTION ↓


═══*.·:·.☽✧ ❀ ✧☾.·:·.*═══
"Keep fighting for love. Juliette had wanted to be selfish, had wanted to run. But this was their love⁠—violent and bloody. This city was their love. They couldn't deny their upbringings as the heirs of Shanghai, as two pieces of a throne. What was left of their love if they rejected that? How could they live with themselves, look at each other, knowing they had been presented a choice and gone against who they were at the core."

I legit can't even write their names without tears blurring my vision. LIKE I'M ACTUALLY STRUGGLING WRITING THIS RIGHT NOW TRYING TO SEE. It's so heartbreaking my heart physically hurts. All they wanted was to live happy, alone and free from the blood feud ohmygod AND THEY EVEN HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO RUN AWAY, but oh Roma and Juliette were too noble for their own good and I both love and hate them for that. They just wanted to love each other freely. They just wanted peace, and they couldn't even have that. I'M SOBBING. They gave up their lives for the city that caused them so much pain. PLEASE HOW ARE ROMA AND JULIETTE SO GOOD??

And like obviously it shouldn't have been a surprise they were going to die considering it was a retelling of R&J. Like even the foreshadowing made it obvious BUT I STILL FOOLISHLY HOPED CHLOE WOULD SPARE OUR HEARTS. It wouldn't have been an accurate retelling if she hadn't followed through BUT STILL😭😭 It pains me so so much and I just want to crawl into a hole and die because those two so deserved all the happiness in this world.

I WANTED BENMARS AND ROMAJULIETTE TO LIVE NEXT TO EACH OTHER, HAVE KIDS, AND GROW OLD TOGETHER HAPPY THIS ISN'T FAIR, THIS PAIN IS ILLEGAL. I love that Roma and Juliette got to at least die together holding hands and knowing that both of their cousins were dead at least but omg I will never recover from this. And the gangs were disbanded because of their deaths so at least that's something😭

They were only married for one day before they died *sobbing* Chloe you're too cruel.
"In this life they had been born enemies. In this life they had blood for miles between them, wide enough to run a river, deep enough to forge a valley. In the next, maybe there would be peace."


═══*.·:·.☽✧ ❀ ✧☾.·:·.*═══


This review was a chaotic mess, so you can tell just how much this book destroyed me. It's been months since a book made me feel this way and I don't know if I should be thanking or cursing Chloe. Either way, STAN THIS QUEEN FOR MAKING ME FEEL LIKE THIS. I will forever remember each of these lovable characters and absolutely can't wait for Foul Lady Fortune which hopefully won't break me as much as OVE did. lies, the masochist in me hopes for that


Now, time to go through the stages of grief... except in this case, I'll never get to the 5th✌



Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review! All quotes in this review are subject to change upon release date.

✧*˚*✧

These Violent Delights: ★★★★

I received an eARC from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada, but this review is completely my own.

All I can say now that I'm done this book is that I. Am. Speechless. After reading the first in this duology I knew that I loved Chloe Gong's writing, but this just cemented that, from the moment the book opens up I was so captivated, she has this style that just really pulls you in, her decision to not use character names in certain chapters and part feels so intentional and makes it feel like you're watching a movie you're so immersed. If you're looking for some of the most delectable writing you've ever consumed than look no further.

This book was a fantastic continuation of Roma and Juliette's story, the raw emotion on both sides is so evident and it makes your heart break right along with yours, this is an almost direct pick up from the previous book, give or take a few months, and without even a stutter you're flushed right back into the story. This story is the ultimate enemies to lovers, knife to throat, gun to head, all of it. If you're a fan of Cassandra Clare's worlds I'd say that this would be a good pick for you, the book can be quite gory (They're gang members, what can you do) but even with that the book just stands as this amazing love story but also a deep dive in a gorgeous and rich city and culture. This book was amazing and I highly highly recommend.