V is for Violent

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book.

I chose the books this year quite randomly from my Goodreads Want to Read page. Some are quite creatively added to letters.

If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.

You can read reviews for from previous years for this letter here, here and here, and my year-end reviews here, here, here, here and, most recently, here and here.

My TBR

About the Book I’ve Read

These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights #1) by Chloe Gong

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.

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

Lyrical prose, gruesome deaths, and violence fills the pages of this book. As well as the consuming love between Juliette and Roma amidst a blood feud that might be even worse than the monster and madness that haunts the streets of Shanghai.

I loved the detail of the city, the period, and the social issues faced by Juliette and the others.

Without giving too much away, the push and pull of violence, love, and vengeance in the book keeps one reading far past the mystery and madness of the world.

An intricate plot that keeps one guessing, yet not leaving one too surprised as revelations come. A heavy read, though, that doesn’t make one too keen to read the next book in a hurry despite the cliffhanger. (I couldn’t read anything else, either, for a week while my mind digested the book. But then I dove right into the sequel.)

I had a problem with the italics as it messes with my eyes and head, making it difficult to read and enjoy the book. Authors and publishers: please consider the neurodivergent when making decisions about italics so books are accessible to all.

A lot of French conversation. Which is fine – except when one isn’t fluent and some of the meaning gets lost without explanation either by action/reaction of others or some context.

Trigger warning: people ripping out their own throats, gun violence, blood, knife violence, death, insects.

About the Book I’ve Read

Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights #2) by Chloe Gong

Shanghai is under siege in this captivating and searingly romantic sequel to These Violent Delights, which New York Times bestselling author Natasha Ngan calls “deliciously dark.”

The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution.

After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. One wrong move, and her cousin will step in to usurp her place as the Scarlet Gang’s heir. The only way to save the boy she loves from the wrath of the Scarlets is to have him want her dead for murdering his best friend in cold blood. If Juliette were actually guilty of the crime Roma believes she committed, his rejection might sting less.

Roma is still reeling from Marshall’s death, and his cousin Benedikt will barely speak to him. Roma knows it’s his fault for letting the ruthless Juliette back into his life, and he’s determined to set things right—even if that means killing the girl he hates and loves with equal measure.

Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city, and though secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation if they are to end this threat once and for all. Shanghai is already at a boiling point: The Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war brew louder every day, and gangster rule faces complete annihilation. Roma and Juliette must put aside their differences to combat monsters and politics, but they aren’t prepared for the biggest threat of all: protecting their hearts from each other.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

The obvious star-crossed lovers motif repeating with Rosalind and someone from the White Flowers and how it feeds into the traitor part of what’s going on – and how all that played out – was rather pitiful. And the contrast between Rosalind and what happened to her and Juliette underscores the difference in their places in the Scarlet Gang.

Kathleen – or rather Celia – found her purpose. I think her storyline probably has the one filled most with hope.

Benedikt and Marshall finally figure out what they feel for each other – in a city that would kill them if anyone found out.

Roma and Juliette go from all extremes – physically fighting each other to standing together against the enemy. A lot of what you expect from a Romeo and Juliette retelling happens, just with a lot more violence and blood, with the background of revolution and betrayal. Romeo and Juliette are quite volatile and passionate, making everything else fade in comparison. I like how they finally deal with the monster threat for good.

The ending will leave you with a lump in your throat.

A heavy, yet good story about how love and our choices determine who we truly are.

I had a problem with the italics as it messes with my eyes and head, making it difficult to read and enjoy the book. Authors and publishers: please consider the neurodivergent when making decisions about italics so books are accessible to all.

A lot of conversation in foreign languages (I recognised French and Russian, but there were others). Which is fine – except when one isn’t fluent and some of the meaning gets lost without explanation either by action/reaction of others or some context.

For some reason, the author decided to make unsavoury jokes in this book regarding Christianity and used the Lord’s name as an expletive. Not cool and not in keeping with the style of the first book.

Trigger warning: torture, people ripping out their own throats, gun violence, blood, knife violence, death, insects, monsters, executions, war, language, disowning of family.

My Book

Morrígan Unleashed (Irascible Immortals #8)

Remember that you can request all of my books from your local library!

I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?

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*FYI, my reviews are my honest opinion and if something bothers me, I tell it straight. How else will anything change? My opinions are based on being a voracious reader and book buyer, not an attack on the author.*