These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Mar 11, 2022 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library-has-a-copy, young-adult-teen-new-adult, romance, favorites

A truly original Romeo and Juliet retelling is a very hard thing to do. And to have it be good? That’s even harder. But that’s exactly what Gong accomplished here. This is a thoroughly original take on Romeo and Juliet that casts Romeo Montague as Roma Montagov who is the heir to the criminal White Flower gang and Juliet Capulet as Juliette Cai who is the heir to the rival criminal Scarlet Gang and this is all set against the thrilling backdrop of 1926 Shanghai when the city is divided amongst v A truly original Romeo and Juliet retelling is a very hard thing to do. And to have it be good? That’s even harder. But that’s exactly what Gong accomplished here. This is a thoroughly original take on Romeo and Juliet that casts Romeo Montague as Roma Montagov who is the heir to the criminal White Flower gang and Juliet Capulet as Juliette Cai who is the heir to the rival criminal Scarlet Gang and this is all set against the thrilling backdrop of 1926 Shanghai when the city is divided amongst varying factions, the White Flowers, the Scarlets, the French, the British. And now the looming threat of the Communist Party. There is also the even worse threat of an evil that has been unleashed upon the city that threatens to destroy them all with little heed for loyalties and factions. Roma and Juliette were lovers in the past until they were torn apart by a bitter betrayal on the part of Roma. Or so Juliette thinks… And they’re forced to team up to figure out who or what is behind the evil plaguing Shanghai.
I’m not normally a fan of reunion romances at all. But because this was much more enemies to lovers as opposed to a reunion romance, it worked really well for me. This was also very believable as enemies to lovers. No instant reunion here. It takes time. But that’s okay because of just how good this is! It’s very well written and compelling! And Roma and Juliette are great characters! I loved their unique perspectives and how Gong switched back and forth between them.
Speaking of characters… Many of the other characters from Shakespeare’s original work are also present in a wide variety of fascinatingly rewritten roles. And we get the perspectives of several of those characters as well and they’re equally as interesting.
I just adored the backdrop of 1926 Shanghai and how gorgeously Gong brought it to life. The 20s roared just as loudly in much of the rest of the world as they did in the United States and Gong showcases that so well here. Shanghai practically leaps off of the pages.
My main quibble is that I found the origins of the (view spoiler) to be pretty vague in nature and rather nondescript. I was actually expecting something from Chinese mythology or folklore. Not a (view spoiler) that seemed about as unique as plain oatmeal. And rather anti-climatic. I felt like Gong could have done a lot more than that. But I’m hopeful that maybe it will be better explained in Our Violent Ends.
It wasn’t poorly done. I just feel like a lot more could have been done with it.
That aside, I really, really, really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading the sequel! ...more

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May 21, 2022 Sam rated it liked it

Shelves: setting-china, young-person-protag, reviewed, young-adult, 8-fantasy-scifi, audiobook, read-2022, authors-asian-descent-outside-asia

I really liked how atmospheric the story was--Shanghai was definitely an important character in the story. For a Romeo and Juliet retelling, it's notable that the romance took a backseat to the rivalry between the two gangs and the pursuit of a mystery behind the spate of killings in the city, all against the backdrop of looming political upheaval. However, I didn't find the main conflict--the killings, the monster, shady villains--to be particularly compelling. It was just okay. And the story i ...more

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