These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights, #1) in AMS Book Club at UBC

May 29, 2021 Laura♡︎ (SleepyPages) rated it really liked it

i love everything about this .

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May 29, 2022 Tshepiso marked it as dnf

Shelves: ya-fantasy

DNF'd on: February 11th, 2022
DNF'd at: Page 260 (58%)

If I'm being perfectly honest These Violent Delights is the worst book I've read in a while. If I'd been reading this for entertainment exclusively I would have DNF'd it at page 100—if not earlier. But I pushed through as much as I possibly could for a book club. Unfortunately, the reading experience was so miserable I couldn't finish it and maintain my sanity. I tried thinking of something I liked about this book, but honestly, nothing about DNF'd on: February 11th, 2022
DNF'd at: Page 260 (58%)

If I'm being perfectly honest These Violent Delights is the worst book I've read in a while. If I'd been reading this for entertainment exclusively I would have DNF'd it at page 100—if not earlier. But I pushed through as much as I possibly could for a book club. Unfortunately, the reading experience was so miserable I couldn't finish it and maintain my sanity. I tried thinking of something I liked about this book, but honestly, nothing about this story engaged me in any way. Almost everything about it was actively infuriating. These Violent Delights' shallow plot and worldbuilding, paper-thin characters, and eye-roll-inducing romance were a punishment to read.

The plot of this book was less than interesting. We follow the outbreak of a mysterious madness-inducing plague in Shanghai. Protagonists Roma Montagov and Juliette Cai, heirs to the White Rose and Scarlet gangs respectively, are tasked by their parents to uncover its cause. This mystery's sluggish pacing made it impossible to feel any pull towards figuring out what the cause of the madness was. I couldn't find it in me to give a shit about it at all. Maybe if Gong had done a better job of weaving politics into the pandemic plot or given the story any stakes earlier on I would have cared.

What initially drew me to this book was its setting. A 1920s Shanghai gang war sounded exactly like something I would eat up, but unfortunately, every aspect of Gong's worldbuilding in this regard was so flimsy. I never got a true sense of the politics of Shanghai. While Gong made allusions to the impact of colonialism on the city, the rising Communist movement, and the rivalry between the Scarlets and the White Roses the politics of the city was functionally background noise. Basic questions like, 'How do the Scarlets and White Roses influence the city?', 'Why are people loyal to them?' and 'How do they maintain their control over their territory?' were barely addressed almost 300 hundred pages into the novel. I also expect stories like this to truly bring a city to life yet I never felt transported to the Shanghai of this era.

A central element of These Violent Delights was the enemies-to-lovers romance between Juliette and Roma and I cannot understate how teeth grindingly annoying I found these two. The layers upon layers of melodrama foundational to this romance were absolutely draining to read. The story relies on the angst of the betrayal in the two's history, but because Gong refuses to tell you what fractured their relationship you're left with no understanding of why these two characters used to love each other or their current animosity. The romantic "tension" between these two did nothing for me because I was denied the context required to care. To add insult to injury their banter was trite rather than sexy or intriguing.

Gong also fell into the pitfall of writing incredibly juvenile characters that the audience was supposed to take seriously as dangerous criminals. Roma and Juliette are immature teenagers. I don't begrudge that in a YA book—teens are dumb sometimes. But their immaturity made it impossible to believe they were serious threats. They read like angsty teenagers, not the heirs to spawling criminal empires.

I didn't like anything about These Violent Delights. I'm glad I didn't force myself to finish the book, but I do regret reading as much of it as I did. ...more

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Jan 07, 2022 Ziyana rated it liked it

Shelves: owned

Ok so I was kind of disappointed because it was so hyped up... here is a lengthy list of my thoughts:
-great premise, lacked execution
-thought it would be a romance but more of a subplot until the last third of the book
-didn't feel the angst/yearning that much
-the mystery of the monster was boring
-Roma wasn't very developed as a character
-liked Juliette but didn't love her
-didn't care much for the side characters - scenes of their POVs were boring
-the plot twist was good but not shocking
-wished ...more

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Feb 13, 2022 Sophia rated it really liked it

I know it says I started this book like 2 weeks ago, BUT THAT IS BASICALLY A LIE, AND I READ THIS IN A DAY!!!
okay that’s all, proud of myself for that one (tho I only had to do that bc of my own procrastination, so not sure how much a win this is…). anyway, moving on from my pitiful flex

I liked this! Going into it I was prepared to love it b/c of the rave reviews, and then I heard controversial opinions (part of the reason I had that hiatus), so then I was hesitant. I do think if I went into t ...more

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Feb 11, 2022 Bella Dufresne rated it it was ok

DNF - I’m going to start by saying I REALLY wanted to like this book. I was very excited to read it. That being said, the thought of picking this book up again fills me with dread. I can’t do it. I think the world building and prose is there, but the plot and the characters are so bland and so boring. Please note that I haven’t read Romeo and Juliet (I was made to read the Merchant of Venice instead 🤢) so that might be contributing to this. I seriously did not care about the fantasy elements at ...more

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Sep 15, 2023 lita rated it it was ok

Shelves: china, fantasy

1st of all, why in the world did we throw that curveball ending at me, I really thought Marshall died...
2, I really appreciate Juliett's character and the 1920s setting Is SO fetch
3, what is even that ending
4, roommaaaaaaa ...more

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Jun 17, 2023 Robin rated it liked it

Shelves: own

3.5/5⭐️
0🌶️

i wanted to like this SO bad but it just did not live up to the hype. i don’t really like juliette tbh. i think she’s stuck up and annoying and i just couldn’t connect with her very well. i feel like the story just dragged on and never grabbed me either. i’ll probably still read the second book since the ending was decent and i already bought it 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Jan 06, 2022 Anna (ani) 🕷 rated it really liked it

Okay this was so good!! Obviously I knew what was going to happen and accurately predicted most of the plot points given the fact that this is a retelling but it was so fun to read. I didn’t care about the monster plot until like 2/3 of the way through though which is bad considering that’s like the whole story oops. But that ending was pretty crazy. Catch me reading the sequel asap

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