Gong’s novel is not the derivative YA novel you expect, but rather a fast-paced and creative reinvention of one of the world’s most well-known stories. Despite the cast of familiar characters with distorted names (Juliette, Roma, etc…) Gong manages to create an entirely new story, which combines nods to the original with the murky violence of 1920s Shanghai.

The main characters are transformed by this setting -where Shakespeare’s Juliet is childlike in her naivete and purity of spirit, Gong’s Juliette is ruthless and calculating, hiding weapons beneath her colourful qipao. The shift in the values of most of the characters, as well as the age change (both Roma and Juliette are around 19) feels like a genuine response to the meticulously researched setting and time period. The depiction of Shanghai serves to create a sense of the changing atmosphere in the East between the World Wars, and the extra conflict created by the entitled foreign powers and the opiates they circulate only adds to the tension in the narrative. The ultraviolent ‘madness’ that drives the citizens of Shanghai to tear out their own throats is a useful device in bringing the leads together to investigate, as they cross paths with communists, gangsters, and British officials.

Overall, this book is so enjoyable because of the vivid characters (both the original and additional characters which add to the richness of the story), the attention to detail in the writing and the incredibly-written action sequences.

I’m a huge Shakespeare nerd so was excited to hear we were getting a ROMEO & JULIET retelling set in 1920s Shanghai. THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS by Chloe Gong was everything I hoped for and beautifully captured the spirit of the play. I loved the nods to the original yet the story remained wholly unique and refreshing.

The evocative setting of a corrupt and debauched 1920s Shanghai overrun by gangsters was as fantastic as it sounds. The Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers were both engaging and I loved discovering their backstories. As heirs to these rival gangs, Juliette and Roma have a bitter history and I was desperate to find out what happened between them in the past. The side characters were just as complex and fleshed-out and the complicated family ties added another dimension to the story.

The author also explores the wider issue of colonialism and the eradication of Chinese culture. The rival political factions and countries have corrupted the city and are in danger of breaking it beyond repair. This pervasive destruction is highlighted by an unknown monster sowing the seeds of madness amongst the populace. Be warned, there are some truly repulsive scenes that will make you shudder.

This enthralling retelling kept me engaged from beginning to end and I quickly became invested in the developing relationship between Juliette and Roma. The diversity and LGBTQIA+ inclusion were fantastic and added so much to the story. The ending took me completely by surprise and I can’t wait for the sequel. I’d definitely recommend THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS with its stunning imagery and descriptive prose but it’s not for the faint-hearted!

I absolutely loved this book! I was intrigued by the synopsis and the story did not disappoint. Gripped me from the start and kept me hooked until the end. I would've preferred a bit more romance, a bit more 'enimies to lovers' troupe. Buuut, that said, I'll definitely still be buying the sequel!

Full review available on my blog from 25th January 2021.

Trigger Warnings: This book contains mentions and descriptions of blood, violence, gore, character deaths, explicit description of gouging self (not of their own volition), murder, weapon use, insects, alcohol consumption, parental abuse. Taken from author's Goodreads review.

I really liked the way that Chloe Gong approached the Romeo and Juliet retelling in These Violent Delights. It was unconventional and that made it really interesting. Rather than seeing the naive lovebirds section of the Romeo and Juliet story, instead Roma and Juliette have a fierce and fractured relationship instead. I won’t go into the reasons why because it’s so beautifully explored in the book. But it allowed for their incredible characterisations, Juliette in particular, to be fully explored.

Juliette is a raw, harsh character, and I absolutely adored that. She had her soft moments and a gentler side, but mostly she was exactly as tough and vicious as the daughter and heir to a gang leader would need to be. She’s cool. Absolutely the kind of character that I’d let step on me. I loved the way she was described, always noticeable in her distinctive flapper dresses and ’20’s hairstyles. It was super visual, even for me, and I loved it. Roma is a softer kind of character and equally loveable, and I adored the way that they both had their softer sides – but were capable of all the brutalities that gang war demands.

For some reason I wasn’t expecting the fantasy elements to this book. I have no idea how I missed that in the promotion, but for some reason I was expecting a standard Romeo and Juliet retelling so the monster in the first chapter was an immediate page-turning hook. I loved it. It had truly gory body horror moments (BUGS!!!) and was a lot of fun overall, with the fantastical mystery threaded through the emotional character driven moments really well.

I did find that it was a bit of a slow start. It took me a while to get into this book despite the good prose and gorgeous settings and characters. I’m not entirely sure why, but I’m glad I persevered with it. Once I’d gotten past the first third of the book, it picked up momentum and built to a fantastic ending that left me desperate to read more. I can’t wait for the final part in this duology to find out what happens next.

Thanks to Hodder for the review copy. Enjoyed the reimagined location for Romeo and Juliet, and the diverse backgrounds of the main players, but for whatever reason I didn't connect with Roma or Juliette, and instead found myself wanting to focus more on Marshall and Benedict's budding relationship, and Kathleen.

This is a great Romeo and Juliet retelling, the fantasy elements were very well incorporated and seamless. The world building was great, the representation in this book is good, I loved the whole element of this retelling set in Shanghai in the 1920s. These Violent Delights has the perfect amount of drama, angst, longing, action, though I would have loved to see more romance but I appreciate the fantasy and warring families aspects take precedence.

I think this is a duology so I’m really intrigued to see where this ends up, especially considering it’s a Romeo and Juliet retelling and the events at the end of the book!

A splendid retelling of the classic Romeo and Juliet, These Violent Delights took me on an adventurous journey through 1920s Shanghai laden with gangsters, feud and a monster rising. I must say, Chloe Gong's writing is spectacular and she has created her characters with utmost care.

The story begins with an aura of murder and mystery hanging in the air, immediately plunging us readers in a state of guessing. When Juliette and Roma enter the scene, we're further left with our guessing senses, trying to make sense of their half-done feelings and what might have gone wrong. Gong takes care while unraveling the plotline wholly and cradles with the twists, the secrets before giving us minute access to it. I enjoyed the mystery and suspense element to it, how both the parties tried to put their thinking caps on and yet how it all fared.

The family feud was done so well - there were years and years of distrust and hatred towards the other and reasons were fully justified. As we work on the monster and killings, Gong did a commendable job in focusing the story in the right areas whenever needed. There wasn't too much of the romance yearning, or too much of the mystery or the killing, everything had a nice great balance.

That said, I did feel like in between, the plot dragged. The promised 'joining of hands to defeat the monster' happened way too late in the story and before it were simply repeated scenes or dragged. I couldn't help but swiftly skip some of these parts.

When it comes to the characters, I loved the mains so much. All of them were so distinct and mysterious, I couldn't help but doubt everyone haha. Marshall and Benedikt were very adorable and I loved their chemistry. Roma and Juliette's slow burn was amazing, I loved the emotional and sexual tension that went on between these two. It was beautiful and emotional to read.

The ending is what really got me, I won't lie. I'm still not sure if I completely like how it fared, and I don't think I'm wholly in with the issue surrounding the monster. I mean, I'm sorry but the insect thing just is so weird? It is very clever and unique but also very weird? Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book a lot. As I had said, Chloe Gong's writing is immaculate and very rich with imagery and vision. I'm excited to see how the second and final book turns out and I hope there are deaths 😌

The synopsis stated this to be"an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River", and that is exactly what was delivered.

I loved this amalgamation of two overarching storylines. Gong reworked the romance from arguably the most infamous Shakespearian play alongside a quest to solve the mysteries surrounding a deadly contagion plaguing the city. What I most appreciated, however, was how these two elements were used to cleverly highlight the struggles of living in a country under a communist regime and a city during a colonial takeover. The romantic combined with the fantastical alongside the equivalent of real-word issues and struggles.

The confrontation of these elements remained strong throughout and yet I somehow failed to fully gel with the story surrounding it. I adored the representation, the core themes, the main characters, and the central storyline but not entirely the direction the latter took. I finished this book ultimately feeling that I wanted a little more focus on the well-executed mystery and a little more presence of the fantastical elements. I am hopeful this will be granted in this series' second instalment.

This was AMAZING. I studied R&J at university and it was such a brilliant retelling. I would highly recommend for anyone. It has the angst, the action, the humour... it also has amazing characters set in an amazing world. The author made a fantastic job on this!

Gritty & engrossing! It was impossible not to be swept away by this high stakes fantasy romance. I can't wait to see what Cholesbury Gong does next.

Firstly, it is so obvious how much the author loves Shanghai - so much so that it felt like the city and it's culture were a character unto iteself. The writing style and quality is excellent, if a little heavy on the descriptive side. This book reads like historical fiction with elements of horror and a simmering amount of passion between the two main characters. It's an interesting and unexpected take on Romeo and Juilet which for the most part I did enjoy.

I found this book to have a very gripping prologue and then it lost me a little until the last eight chapters or so which were action packed. The book was slower paced than I would usually like and with the multi pov, heavy descriptions and the background socioeconomic content it was sometimes a little bit too slow for me. I didn't find the main characters particularly compelling but absolutely loved Kathleen and Marshall who made for diverse and interesting side characters.

The character development is minimal with two morally grey and flawed characters that I struggled to identifiy with however the writing really made you feel the pain each of them had felt in a past life. The dynamic between them was lacking in romance for a Romeo and Juliet style story but I think thats what made it interesting. I did not expect the demonic lice/bug infestation and some of the descriptions made my stomach churn and my skin crawl - an example of great writing to bring it out of the imagination, the pages, and almost make it tangible.

Overall, a good read thanks to the fast paced ending and whilst I'm curious about where this story will go next I'm not in a hurry to read the sequel.

Content warnings for gore, violence, on-page death, murder, insects.

This book was so dramatic and tense that reading it felt like riding a rollercoaster. And I loved it.

The world building was fantastic. The glamour and excitement of 1920s Shanghai set against the gruesome backdrop of murders, gang in-fighting, and a monster. Chloe Gong's writing style is wonderful; the way she sets the scene and describes the streets of Shanghai is completely captivating.

I thought the way the characters were matched with the characters in Romeo and Juliette was really clever and I loved the use of language in this story.

Juliette was definitely my favourite character. She's bold, ruthless, decisive, and cares so much for her people that she's willing to do anything to save them. Honestly, Juliette could step on me in her heels and I'd thank her for it.

Romeo is equally as decisive, but he definitely seemed less ruthless and as we find out more of their shared backstory, we understand his motivations and see how much he still cares for Juliette.

Aside from the very slow pacing in certain chapters, I loved this and I was shocked by some of the plot twists at the end. I'm really looking forward to book two.

I enjoyed this book as it was fast-paced and had plenty of action to keep me hooked, and the mystery behind the plot kept me guessing until the final reveal. I also really enjoyed the spin on Romeo and Juliet, the only thing I think grated on me was that maybe the already established relationship isn’t my thing? Not sure about that, but the writing style was beautiful!

Chloe Gong’s debut, These Violent Delights, is an intriguing take on the story of Romeo and Juliet, set in glittering 1920s Shanghai. Now I must admit, I’ve not read Romeo and Juliet myself, nor have I watched the films so I won’t be able to compare this reimagination of the story to the original. What I will say is that I really found interested was the elements of history within this book in terms of outside forces gathering in Shanghai. Not only was this story focused on just the stories of Juliette and Roma, it felt bigger than them.

I really liked both Juliette and Roma and their dynamic. Juliette is a fierce character but we also see her vulnerable. Roma seems quite tough but I’d say he’s a softie on the inside really. I also really liked the characters close to both Roma and Juliette, particularly Marshall and Benedikt!

This was a really great debut by Chloe and I’m excited to read the next instalment in this series!

WOW. This was phenomenal. It's a take on Romeo and Juliet set in Shanghai. It is brilliantly written, hooking me in from the get go. Absolutely brilliant, I can't wait for book 2.

This book sounds incredible, and it keeps all its promises! It's a fabulously entertaining read that will keep you on the edge of your seat as the mystery slowly unravels. The characters are incredibly three-dimensional, and the setting is so vivid! The book stays just true enough to the original to be hauntingly recognizable, but manages to be its own entire thing at the same time, keeping the story unpredictable. I enjoyed this book so very much, and can only recommend it!

These Violent Delights was not quite what I expected. Like many, I had been sold on it as a "Romeo and Juliet in China" story, but ended up being a hint of that and so so much more. For a brief rundown, the story centres around Juliette Cai, the heir to the Scarlet Gang, and Roma Montagov, heir to the White Flowers. Between these two gangs, they run Shanghai's underworld. However, a madness is upon the city and gangsters are dying in droves. And you guessed it, it's up to our not so friendly rivals to find out why and save the day.

That's actually a fairly rosy take; both J and R come from dark places, they're both used to shedding blood and using violence to get their way. As gangsters, we see they threaten, abuse and bring violence towards others, all for the sake of their families power. And yet, you can still understand them, and know why they've come to do the things they believe they need to do. I was a big fan of the writing in this story, it's quick to read, but insightful and full of small details that I loved.

It's been a while since I read a story which dealt so much with Chinese culture and I really can't wait to get my hands on more; I know we're due for a few this coming year. Growing up in Asia, it's genuinely great to see more and more works being published and getting traction over in the Western sphere of the book world. It's not my culture, so I can't really judge it, but I loved it nonetheless.

Plot wise, as I mentioned it's about the two characters trying to solve the issue of the Madness that's plaguing Shanghai. Some people see a monster, and then suddenly they're tearing their throats out. And yet, at other times it feels more like a plague, spreading from one human to another. A slight too topical for the current climate, hah. At the start, the two rivals loath each other, fighting for any advantage they can get. But as they grow closer to finding out the truth, they must rely and trust each other, and only danger can come from that. It's a relatively straightforward plot that's done quite well. I didn't really find any glaring contradictions, and for the majority of the time, I could see why the characters were acting as they were. I think my biggest complaint was finding out it wasn't a standalone when I realised where the story ended. I can't wait for the sequel to be out!

Juliette and Roma are the heirs of opposing Shanghai gangs. When a monster attacks their city, they have to put aside their history and work together.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Set in 1920's Shanghai, this story follows Juliette Cai, the heir apparent in the Scarlet Gang.
After 4 years in America, she has returned to support her father and establish her place in the gang.
As a woman, she has to struggle to get respect within her gang; and has to deal with the foreigners that are encroaching on her city.

Roma Montagov was the heir of the White Flowers, until he lost his father's favour. Roma has to earn back the respect of his family and gang, which is made all the harder when Juliette comes back into his life.

When a new enemy is operating in the shadows, killing innocent people with a madness that seems contagious; Juliette and Roma begrudgingly work together.

I really liked the setting, the city of Shanghai is as big a part of this story as any character.
It's at an important time in history, with many opposing factors taking the city further away from its traditional roots.
Westerners have brought their culture and technology, claiming parts of the city - so much that there are even parts where chinese are not allowed to go.
The Nationalists and Communists are drumming up support, and inflaming the growing unrest in their citizens.
The world is changing faster than ever.

Juliette and her cousins paint how life is for Chinese girls and how it is to be trans.
Juliette's time in America wasn't all great. After being Shanghai's princess, she had to learn how to be a person of colour in an intolerant country.
After being too Chinese for America, she returns home to be the "American girl".

The not-so-good.
I was underwhelmed by the "romance" between Juliette and Roma.
They had a brief but passionate relationship four years ago, when they were young. Now, they try and be indifferent, and it's very believable. I never felt that they were falling back into love, and despite being <i>told</i> repeatedly that they were infatuated, it never felt real.

I felt that everything was thrown into this story, without any one thing being fully embraced or realised.
We have gangsters, family fueds, foreigners, monsters, Communists, Nationalists, and a loose Romeo & Juliet retelling.
So many threads are picked up, gained my interest, only to fade into nothing.
I realise that this is the first book in the series, and it should be building the foundation, but I was just left wanting - in a bad way.

Overall, I like the world that has been created, and I am intrigued to see where the story goes next.

I absolutely loved this when I first started it but then I got a bit swamped & had to take a break but still kinda read it a bit patchily here & there.
Then I piled on the pressure to finish for the new year & I’m glad I did because I really enjoyed it!

I loved the darker elements, mainly in the beginning, although I thought it got a bit more typically YA-y as it went on. I really liked the Romeo & Juliette inspiration (because I would call it more inspiration than retelling) because it kept it unpredictable. With a lot of retellings you know the story already (obviously) so it looses that ‘unknowing’ which is so exciting. Yeah, it felt more like Easter eggs for the Shakespeare nerds among us.
I feel like a retelling should be able to stand up on it’s own & this certainly does.

I loved the setting & thought the Shanghai gang background was brilliant. The political climate was incredibly well handled – interesting but not too heavy.
I liked the investigation but I think the pacing could have been a bit better: it’s very slow at the beginning then all rushes in. The romance was the most predictable element & the most based on the play. I did like it but it wasn’t my favourite romance ever & I wish a bit more ~tension~ was built up (bc you can never have enough 😉)

“Even the land of dreams needs to wake up sometimes.”

I received with thanks e-arc copy of These Violent Delights from Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley .
This is my review of These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong.
Here we go again another retelling of Romeo and Juliet. This was 1st reaction to when I first heard about this book. But then I saw that it was set in Shanghai in the 1920’s and was intrigued so I requested a copy to read and I was not disappointed. This is different from other retellings and is its own story. The story intertwines fantasy and reality of the time period. The ending was brutal and leave you wanting more. I really to by my own hardcover copy very soon.
Would recommend if you enjoy fantasy, retellings or both.