Thoughts on : These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Posted by Kay on March 13, 2022 6:01 pm in 3.5 stars reads | 1 comment

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
Genre : Fantasy, YA
Series : These Violent Delights, book 1

About the Book  :

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

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

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

I feel incredibly torn about These Violent Delights. I didn’t love it as much as I had expected, and it was incredibly hard to pinpoint what didn’t quite work for me.

First, let me say that I didn’t hate the book, if I were to rate it, I’d give it something around 3.25 or 3.5 out of 5. I finished it and enjoyed a lot about it, yet I had to constantly push myself to keep reading. It’s a baffling experience, because there’s honestly so much I should love about it : beautiful writing (if you enjoy flowery writing that is), interesting setting (Shanghai, the 1920’s), Romeo & Juliet retelling with rival gangs, big cast of characters and a fascinating monster story.

In the end, I think there’s just too much going on, and the different aspects of the book constantly pulled me away from the story. The writing, for instance, is good, but at times it gets in the way of the story moving forward. There’s so much going on in terms of plot that I didn’t get to see as much of Roma and Juliette, as I would have liked, and consequently, I didn’t feel their chemistry. There’s also a huge cast of characters, but I didn’t really connect to any of them for the same reason.

The monster aspect was probably my favorite of the plot. I really enjoyed the vivid descriptions, these scenes felt like the were right out of a horror movie.

I’m a bit sad that I didn’t fall in love with this one, but the author is young and clearly talented, so I know this isn’t the last time I’m reading one of her books!