From the Bookshelf of Challenge Corner…

These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights, #1)

Chloe Gong

Start date: February 1, 2021

Finish date: February 28, 2021

Discussion: Book of the Month

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 8 topics — 675 comments total

Book of the Month

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* Previous BOTMs
By Felicia · 11 posts · 738 views

last updated Dec 27, 2024 06:25AM

* BOTM Polls!
By Alaina · 25 posts · 225 views

last updated Oct 21, 2025 05:28AM

showing 10 of 53 topics view all »

What Members Thought

May 12, 2021 akacya ❦ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: format-ebook, audience-young-adult, ownvoices, asian-authors, retellings, own, genre-fantasy

imagine the bare bones of the classic romeo & juliet story: two kids whose love, due to family reasons, is star-crossed fall in love anyway. now imagine romeo & juliet are in shanghai in the 1920s, and are the children of the leaders of rival gangs. and a virus is running rampant. there you have these violent delights.

this story was incredible. chloe gong brought so much originality and creativity into both the classic story of romeo & juliet and the characters. there was never a dull moment in ...more

21 likes · Like · see review

Mar 06, 2021 Kelly rated it really liked it

I dove into this book not for the Romeo & Juliet retelling (which I don't really have an opinion about to be honest) but for the hype that this book has been accumulating. And now that I finished this book, I get why this debut novel is so popular. One thing I forgot when I started reading is that this is a first in a series and not a standalone so imagine my surprise when things weren't being wrapped up in a nice little bow at the end ahah. I don't have much to say since you probably already kn ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Aug 12, 2021 Ashley Lewis rated it really liked it

Fully entertaining!

I had a hard time getting into this book, but once I did I felt fully immersed. Chloe Gong paints quite a picture with her words, but I felt like I was on the streets of Shanghai in 1926 along with the characters. The romance aspect left a little to be desired, listen, I know this is YA so my expectations weren't super high here but this is a Romeo and Juliet retelling so I did expect a bit more. I had a hard time believing that the couple was actually in love and this is prob ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Feb 22, 2021 Connie rated it really liked it

Shelves: for-review, netgalley, favorites, ebooks, read-in-2021

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. This gift has not impacted on my review.

Where do I even start with this one? Potentially already one of my favourite reads of the year. This is set in 1920s Shanghai where gangs rule their little corners of the world. The Scarlets on one side, the White Flowers on the other. Juliette. Roma. Two star crossed lovers...wait... Yup, you ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Aug 07, 2022 Ashlyn added it

Shelves: physical-owned

I read every single word of this book. You know what stuck out to me the most? The words "lice" and "insect." It's like after I read those two words, I just started itching and itching. I'm actually still itching writing this review. Pretty much most of the other words went into one eye and out the other (you know... kind of like the ear saying). Well... I'm still itching. Anyways, I'm not going to rate this book, mainly because my main takeaway is that I am now itchy. I will reread it sometime ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jan 15, 2021 Ruthie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Romeo and Juliet retelling, Shanghai, 1920's, gangsters, a mysterious illness or monster. If it's not on your list yet, add it!

I had read the description several months ago when I requested the ARC from Netgalley. Then I forgot what it was about when I started it a few days ago with my TBR Twin Lacey. I just knew it was on my list and I wanted to read it. Right from the beginning, I was sucked in and once I reached the halfway point, I couldn't stop reading and finished the second half that day ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Mar 04, 2021 Cindee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: popsugar-2021-tbr, march-2021-tbr

I really loved this book even with the slow start because when it does start there is never a dull moment and you really root for the characters. I loved the characters so much they were so well fleshed out I loved Juliette and Roma most of all you can see how much they still love each other even with how things turned out between them. What I really like about both Juliette and Roma are one is headstrong and does things the way she wants them to be done while the other is very self sacrificing ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2021 Erika rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Omg this was so good!!!

I loved every bit of it. When I picked it up (because of the GORGEOUS cover) I was not 100% sold on the gang aspect of the book. It was not because of the violence, that aspect never stopped me before, but I was not too keen to have a Romeo too ruthless —the idea of a badass Juliet instead was very appealing.

But I am glad I picked it up, and decided to read it right away, because Chloe Gong did such a great job with the characters. But not just that, the settings were per ...more

1 like · Like · see review