Now when I say twisted retelling, I seriously mean twisted. I thought I was prepaared for what would happen. I mean, it’s Romeo and Juliet, right? Oh, gosh. It was so much more than that. Not only do we have these star crossed lovers in rival gangs… but there’s also this wild (sort of graphic) disease that is spreading throughout the city and monsters and murder? It was wild!

Forget teaching Romeo and Juliet in schools, they should make this required curriculum instead because you get history but also entertainment and tragedy and just *chef’s kiss* star-crossed lovers. You know what class this would be perfect for? World Literature. I took a World Lit class in 10th grade and it was paired with AP World History and this would have been just PERFECT for that.

BUT I DIGRESS

Whenever I read a retelling or a book inspired by something, I love seeing parallels between the original text and the new story. I also love to see the story spun in a unique way. And this? This book was just GENIUS. It took the original play and turned into something completely new while also keeping elements of the original and making them even better and juicier and darker.

Juliette is the heiress of the Scarlet Gang but she was sent to the States for a few years and when she returns to Shanghai she has to deal with trying to solidify her role in the family, but also wrestle with the identity issues that I related to a lot. She talked a lot about how she’s too American for Shanghai, but too Chinese for America and wow, I felt that deep in my soul. But on top of that, Juliette is an incredibly interesting character. I loved reading in her perspective because not only could she shoot or stab me (and I’d thank her) but she is also emotional and calculated and just overall really badass.

Roma is the heir of the White Flowers and he has this air of mystery to him in the beginning. But he’s a total sweetheart?! I have to admit, I had to grow to really like him, but maybe that’s because I was biased from being Scarlet Gang. The two leads contrast each other really well in my opinion, but they also had these similarities that made it so easy to want them to be together. The TENSION. oof.

I also loved that we get a glimpse into some side characters like Kathleen and Benedick and Marshall. I don’t want to elaborate too much about them because it was honestly a really cool surprise to see them spotlighted and see their importance in the plot as the story went on.

I really thought that this was just going to be about rival gangs and drama and blood feuds and then all of a sudden I’m sucked into this twisted story of people (GRAPHIC CONTENT) suddenly getting possibly attacked by a monster and dropping dead by clawing their throats out. Honestly not something I knew would happen and yet, I was here for it completely.

If I didn’t read at the most inconvenient times, I probably could have finished this in one or two sittings because it was just so interesting. I loved how the history and politics were intertwined with this story. And on top of that, it was just so immersive. Honestly, I can’t get over how this book was such a cool blend of murder mystery and historical fiction and maybe a little sci-fi fantasy. Like seriously genius.

On top of that, we get that star-crossed lovers romance where you crave for them to just KISS ALREADY.

I don’t even know how to end this review because I just want to gush about how I would theorize how things would wrap up and none of my theories ended up coming true and it was seriously mind blowing. Everything you think might happen… well, prepare to just be completely thrown off and surprised.

I would recommend this to anyone that likes Shakespeare retellings with incredible twists, a book that blends genres, enemies to lovers to enemies romance, and a thrilling ride. If you’re a fan of complex and morally grey characters, betrayal, contagion, female leads that aren’t afraid to just go off and male characters that are just a little afraid of shooting you but they will if they absolutely have to, and that one trope where one person hold up a gun to shoot the other but you also just want them to kiss already and you can feel that tension then definitely pick this book up!

I have been sitting on this ARC for MONTHS – I am not kidding. I reached out to the publisher way back in June, and received it in July first week! Why didn’t I read it sooner, you ask me? Because I was absolutely terrified of not having anything good to read after I finished reading it🙈

I finally read it a few weeks back, and as expected, I absolutely LOVED it. Now let me tell you, romance is a genre I read extremely rarely, and like even more rarely. But I do like a good angsty romance in the plot, with loads of yearning, and These Violent Delights had that on point.

I did not go into this book expecting to be surprised by the plot, but there were still quite a few good plot twists in there. I love the new, refreshing feel and the almost supernatural twist to the well-known Romeo-Juliette story. Most of the plot is a slow-burn, but the last 30% of the book is an absolute roller-coaster.

The setting for this retelling is literal *perfection*, and Chloe Gong has done a brilliant job bringing it alive. The turbulent political climate of 1926 Shanghai is fraught with tension and power struggle. Blood flows freely as people are at each other’s throats at the drop of a hat. Amidst all this, even the glitz and glamour of the city takes a dark and sinister form. It makes you almost forget that Juliette and Roma are in fact, just 19-year olds who are innocent at heart but have been exposed to way too much bloodshed too early in life.

The protagonists, Juliette Kai and Roma Montagov, 19 year old heirs of the two ruling gangs of the city, are the most perfect star crossed lovers, one all fire and fury and the other calm like water. Even though I usually balk at the idea of the “star-crossed lovers” and fate standing in the way of two people clearly meant to be together, it was delivered so believably in These Violent Delights that my heart actually ached. The city and its blood feud is a monster in itself that drives people apart and breeds darkness in their hearts.

While the characters of Juliette and Roma are quite well-developed and their romance and yearning was EVERYTHING, I really wished I got to know more about the side characters, especially Rosalind and Kathleen. Kathleen is a trans-woman and whatever little I got to know about her character was quite interesting, so I really hope I get to see more of her in the sequel. Marshall and Benedikt had their own story going on which I thoroughly enjoyed.

It’s the 1920s All of the magic and beauty of the flappers age but make it China and make it violent.

Gong’s book takes some work up but ones it grabs you it sucks you in and won’t let go.

The characters in this book were super dynamic and thrilling. Even though I knew what archetypes to expect and they fit the mold pretty well, I still found myself wondering what each one was going to do next. This Romeo and Juliet retelling slides modern style characters into the early age molds, the characters names are all mostly similar if not identical to the original text, so it’s easy to fill the roles in your head.

Overall, I really wanted to love everything about this book, but I had some serious qualms. For one, the prologue was a bit rough for me. It didn’t grasp my attention or anything AT ALL. Also, the story fell a little TOO hard into the retelling mold, taking away most of the surprise. At some moments, I felt almost like I was reading West Side Story (already a R+J retelling with gangs).

I’m giving this book 3 stars, but it is probably a 3.5 star read for me. There are A LOT of shining moments for me. The majority of the book showcases the author’s creativity and unique take on the story. There were just a few spots that fell kind of flat. I did go to college to study Shakespeare, though, and I am a seriously hard critic, I will definitely be buying this book in paperback when it is available.

I was really excited for this book, and I truly appreciate how it acknowledges its roots in Romeo & Juliet without being overly predictable. However. This may be my covid-19 attention span, but I felt like there were too many elements to this story that watered down a great premise. I powered through and made sure to finish the book, but I felt like I was missing some terrific elements because I was getting tossed between the love story(/ies), the gangster story, the sisterhood story, the power struggle story, and the bonus Fangoria spectacular stuffed into whatever small cracks that were left in the storytelling. The end leaves the readers wanting more, but I'm not sure if I want it.

Chloe Gong's These Violent Delights is one of the buzziest titles of the final few months of 2020 - and with good reason. It's one of the most surprising books you'll encounter this year, a story whose contours feel familiar, but that manages to tell an old tale in an entirely brand new way.

On its surface, Gong's novel is a Romeo and Juliet retelling, but one that is utterly unlike any you've seen before. Here, Shakespeare's tale of forbidden love and tragic misunderstandings is reimagined as an epic gangland opera. Juliette Cai and Roma Montagov are the heirs of the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers, respectively, the two warring factions struggling to control Shanghai in the 1920s, as Bolsheviks, French forces, and other foreigners pour into their land.

These Violent Delights is a story of present-day cooperation and previously forbidden love between rivals which, if discovered, could cost both Roma and Juliette everything they have. But it's also a period story of a roiling, changing city that's struggling to hold on to the things that make it unique even as it adapts to a constantly shifting world. The shifting culture of Shanghai informs the day to day existence of all the characters in this story, as its competing gangs try to hold on to their territories and traditions in the face of encroaching French soldiers, Communist party members, and capitalist businessmen.

Though These Violent Delights is a Romeo and Juliet retelling, it's not a paint by numbers adaptation in any respect, and you certainly don't need to be terribly familiar with the play to enjoy this story. For fans of Shakespeare's work, there are plenty of Easter eggs and shoutouts in the novel - certain characters who double as familiar figures from the play, plot elements that pop up in unexpected places, and similar structure and pacing throughout. But even if you barely remember much beyond the basics of the originally, you'll find these characters compelling.

Full review on Culturess.com closer to release!

This book is a fantastic twist on Romeo and Juliet. Roma Montagov and Juliette Cai are heirs to rival gangs in Shanghai in the 1920's. The city is on edge various nations are creeping in with their own national interests along with communists and the entire city is a powder keg. When bugs start coming out of the river and causes people to tear their throats out Juliette and Roma agree to work together to stop the deaths and devastation of the city. They have a past involvement to get over and a mystery to solve but when their attraction, bugs, death and rival gang status what else can go wrong for them both. This is a story full of action, mystery and a fantastic setting that will make you keep guessing until the final page. My only problem is the cliffhanger ending that makes me want the next book right away (that's more my impatience than anything that the author has actually done).

This is a beautifully dark and diverse romeo & juliet retelling that takes place in Shanghai in the 1920s! After the first chapter, I knew I was going too be hooked. I fell in love with the lush descriptions of Shanghai and the details of the time period. But what really got me was the immediate and tick tension between our two main characters, Roma & Juliette.

This is a second chance loved story, in a sense, which I typically tend to avoid as they are not something I overly enjoy, but Chloe Gong really knocked this out of the park. For most of the book, you, as the reader, are unaware and completely on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what happened four years ago that tore them apart. Their very first moments on screen and filled with angst and pressure and bottled emotions and, thankfully, it never really dies down from there on out.
Roma is the heir to the Russian gang, the White Flowers while Juliette is the heir to the Shanghai native gang called the Scarlet Gang. Of course, between these two gangs we have hatred and bloodshed, going back decades before Roma and Juliette were even born.

The plot and the directions this story took were definitely unexpected. I loved the scientific elements, especially being that this takes place in 1926. It was super intriguing to hear about the developments in science and health at that time.

I truly adored all of our side characters. We had so much diversity and it filled my heart with happiness

I can see the passion Gong put into this story. it bleeds through the page in the most passion way. I am beyond excited to see more of Roma and Juliette and to see how their story continues to unfold.

3.75 stars but I'm bumping it up to 4 stars.

Juliette Cai is the heiress of the Scarlet gang and has matured into a stong and slightly scary badass. She returns to Shanghai after many years in America to find that the city has changed. It's alliances no longer fully remain with the Scarlet gang; the French, communist powers and more oversee foreigners are staking more and more claims on their land.

With all these political unrest an unknown madness is spreading through the city, making people rip at their necks until they bleed to death. The madness and danger are spreading and Juliette Cai does not know what to do. Her parents turn a blind eye, her relatives question her power as the heiress she as nowhere to start.

Roma Montagov is the heir to the White flowers, the rival gang with the Scarlets. Juliette has a past with him she rather not relive, but she has no choices if she wants to save her city.

Asian representation? check.
Beautiful writing? check.
Some romance waiting to be developed? check.

Chole Gong is an author who gets it right, even more, impressive as it is her debut novel. The book's language and the writing style was beautiful, lush, and detailed that I was transported onto the shanghai streets with the overhead sunset illuminating the buildings.

The romance between Juliette and Roma was perfect. I loved how there was this grey area depicting both of the love interests. They understood that neither of them were in the right or in the wrong, they were just dealt the hand of cards and had to live with it. The pain as well emulated in their dialogue and actions was spot on!

The plot I had a little trouble with and that was where I docked some stars off. I understand the author had to chop this book off somewhere so she could write another book but this whole madness thing with the monster really should of been resolved or slightly resolved in the f400 pages of this book. It dragged quite a long time and I really hope that the second book is not just a continuation of this madness stuff; I need some new action.

Solid start of a series and debut novel by Chloe Gong!

May I just start off by saying that this book has FULL permission to push me into the nearest body of water (but like, preferably not the Huangpu River because I’m not trying to be engulfed by mind-controlling, killer bugs) because it was THAT magnificent.

Juliette also has full permission to punch me in the throat. She is, a phenomenal woman. THE GUMPTION. She cannot be fussed! I would lay my flimsy little life on the line for her!

This Romeo and Juliet retelling is set in Shanghai, 1926. The Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers are involved in a major turf war, while foreigners (Russian, French and English) are trying to swoop in and colonize the shit out of their homeland. Say it with me class, “White. People. Are. The. Worst.” (I’m white and I acknowledge this several times a day OK). Juliette and Roma are the heads of their gangs and have a bit of a shared (romantic) past. But they’re enemies. Diametrically opposed foes. They’re not supposed to be on each other's turf let alone speak to one another. I think we can guess how well that works out, tee hee! When a mysterious, deadly illness starts to spread through Shanghai and whisperings of a monster surface, Julliette and Roma and their merry band of pals are forced to work together to figure out what the actual hell is going on.

There are so many things I loved about this book. First of all, it was feminist as hell. Like I already mentioned, Juliette is not about to take any shit from any man. She is in charge of her life and she’s willing to go to extraordinary lengths to protect her friends, family and people. She is sharp. Again, please punch me in the face. Roma and his closest friends are also amazing? These men, I swear. The banter between them felt genuine and warm. ROMA HIMSELF IS A SOFT BEAN. I love him. I want to protect him, Marshall and Benedikt at all costs. I want to wrap them up in blankets and hold them to my breast. Honestly, every character in this book is coolio beans. I felt invested in every single person’s story. The tension and ~ yearning between Roma and Juliette is just *chefs kiss.*

Second thing I loved, the LGBTQIA+ rep. This is the first book in what I assume will be a trilogy and it gives us a little taste of the relationships that are to come. It didn’t go fully into them in this first one, but it’s coming. We can see it coming. And it is going to be so gay and so glorious. We love to see it.

Third thing. I was SO invested, the whole way through. I’m talking on the edge of my seat, yelling, gasping and squealing. At one point, I may have thrown (okay, lightly tossed) my Ipad and thoroughly alarmed my cats. I cannot believe how this ended. I cannot believe we have to WAIT for more. I don’t want to leave this world. I WANT ANSWERS NOW. Please respect my privacy in this time of healing.

Chloe Gong, I think I love you. Thank you for bringing this magic into our lives. I can’t wait to see what you do next. We’re all waiting with bated breath.

Thanks to Margaret K. McElderry Books and Netgalley for sending this ARC to me in exchange for an honest review.

There is so much to love about this book that I don't know where I want to start!! Honestly did not realize I needed Romeo and Juliet fighting a monster until I read the summary of this book, but I certainly did need it. The book was fun, exciting, fast-paced, and overall just extremely delightful. The language was descriptive and beautiful without being over-bearing. I loved the descriptions of the setting and the feeling of being transported to a time and place I've obviously never been.

The setting was a very fascinating choice to me. I know very little about 1920's Shanghai, but thought that Gong did well to create an environment that readers could embrace. This was helped with lovable and memorable characters, especially main cast members like Roma, Juliette, Kathleen, Marshall, and Benedikt.

Of course, this a debut, which means it is no means perfect. Many of the problems I had the book probably stemmed from the set-up to a sequel, but overall, I felt like at points the book was trying to do a bit too much. There are questions that never get answered and I am disappointed at how Rosalind seems to to drop off the page halfway through the story.

This story is a very solid 4/5 for me and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves heartbreak, action, drama, and Shakespeare. I am also excited to potentially introduce it to my 9th grade students who may take a liking to this fun and exciting adaptation.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel in exchange of an honest review.

This book had SO MUCH POTENTIAL but it fell rather flat.

1920s Shanghai? Romeo and Juliette? Bring it on! But we didn’t get much of either, sadly. There was nothing about this setting that screamed 1920s. There were a few references to finger waves and flapper dresses but that’s it. None of the glitz and glamor you’d really expect for the time period. I’m assuming Rosalind was a flapper-sequel dancer at the Cai burlesque, but you really don’t know.

There were a few subtle nods to the Shakespeare tragedy to appease me while reading, but it didn’t have a strong Romeo and Juliette flavor. That can be both good and bad, depending on the reader. It really felt more like early America NY gang wars. But there were also Communists.

But what really let me down was the plot. There is this whole supernatural element that was intriguing in the beginning, but then it just dragged on and on. AND ON. I’m pretty sure 100 pages could have been trimmed from this book. It was also never fully explained. Which is so annoying. It maybe that’s because there is a sequel! This also annoys me. Nearly 500 pages and it just ends abruptly. As if someone wrote more but they suddenly decided to cut it off and save the rest for later. But if I’m being honest, I’m curious about how there is going to be enough substance to fuel a 2nd book. Seriously scratching my head. I predict book 2 will be horribly predictable just based on the events in book 1.

The author had beautiful descriptions, I’ll give her that. I was sucked in instantly. It just lost its charm along the way somewhere. Probably in the 5 or so POVs battling for attention in the book....

I doubt I read book two.

1.5 stars.

The good: when Gong is writing about Shanghai, she does a pretty good job. You can tell that she has a lot of love for the city and it's history, and I appreciate that. She's clearly done research to make sure she's honoring that history, and I respect that. She also clearly loves the story of Romeo and Juliet. There are plenty of allusions to the story that showed off the depth of her knowledge. In addition, she has some sections where she captures the atmosphere of fear and tension well.


However, I DNF'd this because overall, the writing is immature and has flaws that a more mature author would instinctively know need significant revisions. These issues made my reading experience a labor, not a pleasure. I know that I am in the minority, at least of early reviewers who feel this way; for the author, this is a good thing and leads me to think that maybe it's more of an issue with my own changing preferences and feelings toward the genre as a whole--but more on that later.

My largest critique is the amount of telling. The author has felt the need to explain *everything*, interrupting otherwise interesting conversations or thoughts with additional backstory or descriptions that heavily rely on metaphors. While the chapters bounce from one dramatic reveal to the next, the book's inner-chapter paces feel very slow due to the amount of exposition dumping. I wasn't the biggest fan of Roma and Juliette's backstory or characterization, and I think it's because what the author gives us that backstory at oddly chosen moments, such as during action sequences, making scenes that would otherwise be tense and a lot of fun, much slower in pace. It also meant that Roma and Juliette stayed as surface level characters for me. I couldn't really get invested in their relationship or struggles, because we're told so much about them, but never shown that through their actions.

There are plenty of other minor problems that dogged this for me and ultimately give up around the 30% mark, but I worry that if the rest of my review is a litany of them, it will undermine the intent that I'm going for.

I've loved YA for years--both as a teenager and throughout my twenties, I read the genre voraciously. But lately I've felt let down by nearly all the YA that I've read. And when so many books in a genre aren't working for me, I have to take a step back and reevaluate: maybe it's not you, it's me, as the saying goes. I think, to my sorrow, that I'm just aging out of YA now that I'm in my thirties. Perhaps Gong's book encapsulates the direction this genre is going and I'm just stuck behind the times, y'know? The fuddy-duddy I never thought I'd grow into. Maybe the genre is trending in a way that doesn't prioritize the characters or worldbuilding in the same ways I do, but instead prefers to prioritize the plot and the set pieces. This is completely understandable: it's a different world and different style of reading that happens today, especially when (seemingly) many YA books are being optioned for film. Who wouldn't prefer to write books that would make amazing movies/TV, instead of the pieces that haven't translated well in the past and make clunker movies? I think that maybe I am just a generation too far gone from the one now writing YA to make it work for my preferences any more

Well, I'll wrap up, now that I've interrupted my own review to monologue. Apologies for that. Anyway, there is an interesting, vibrant story at the heart of this book with an author who is clearly passionate about her ideas. If you don't mind the writing, I think you'll find a lot to like. I can see more than a few of my students appreciating the drama of Romeo and Juliet for a new era, but unfortunately, it wasn't for me.

I received my ebook ARC from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine alone.

Much thanks to Netgalley for this eARC! Okay, 1) That cover and title sucked me in immediately. 2) I’m a sucker for a good prologue and this one had me by the throat. 3) Beautiful writing and lush settings, which is a huge plus for me. 4) Adored the representation. Great job and I look forward to the next book!

I loved how this was a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, but it was a very loose retelling. The ending was completely different. However, I wasn’t expecting it to end with a “to be continued”, so that was a bit disappointing. This book was a lot longer than it needed to be. I found myself lost in some of the narrative and I think it could have been kept a lot shorter. I could have done without the supernatural aspect, and had a simple retelling with the waring gangs. I really enjoyed the two main characters, Roma and Juliette. I thought Juliette was done very well. She was a great character and I loved learning about her. The opium dens and burlesque clubs made for interesting settings and gave a great feel for the city of Shanghai. I was also happy to see representation with a transgender character. While I enjoyed the story, I don’t think I’ll be reading the continuation.

“Empires can fall in mere hours. This one is no different. Here in Shanghai, whoever shoots first has the best chance of surviving.”

These Violent Delights comes out 11/17.

An action packed, heart pounding, break out debut by an author to watch.

Wow, this book came onto my radar recently and I’m so glad it did. This retelling of Romeo and Juliet takes the core of the classic characters and breathes new life into them. Part historical, part retelling, part fantasy, and part pandemic, this novel is full of twists and turns and stands out in a crowded genre. Balancing two compelling plot lines, a mysterious plague and jilted lovers reuniting, can be a challenge, but Gong manages it beautifully.

Brief content warning: aside from the expected violence of a story about gangs, those who have issues with insects may also want to tread lightly as there are scenes where they play a prominent role.

I felt this could have worked well as a stand alone, but with a cliffhanger like that, I am looking forward to the sequel.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an e-arc.

With vivid prose, well-realized setting, and morally grey characters, THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS lives up to its name and will indeed, violently delight you.

Really intriguing premise. I loved that this book just BARELY stuck to the Romeo and Juliet template. The two main characters are indeed star-crossed lovers from waring families, but that's about it. There are subtle references to R+J thrown in here and there to keep the Shakespeare nerds happy, however everyone else will still find their experience enjoyable for its own sake.

First off, let me just say that TVD is in fact quite violent. The supernatural element is pretty creepy (there's some imagery toward the end that made me downright squeamish) and people are dying horribly or being murdered left and right. If you're looking for more of a romance, this is not the book for you. In some respects the monster plot overshadows the relationship-building. However, since it is a retelling of a story often told, that didn't entirely bug me.

I dug both Roma and Juliet. The later in particular defies most expectations for the character. She's strong, hot-headed and not entirely likeable (the take on the "balcony scene" in this book made me actually LOL). I love that we meet these two characters AFTER they've fallen for each other and are now dealing with the emotional impact from mutual betrayal. I felt like their story holds much more gravitas in this story than the play. These do not feel like ignorant children, but battle-scarred warriors. (However, I did wish for just a bit more romance to round out that gravitas.)

Lastly, if you had told high school-me that someday the big love story I'd be shipping in R+J was not in fact Romeo and Juliet, but instead Benvolio and Mercutio, I would have laughed at you. But indeed for me that relationship (between Benedikt and Marshall in this story) is by far the best part of the book. I'm not necessarily excited to pick up Book 2 when it comes out, but if I DID it would only be to see how things play out for those two.

Downsides? This book felt hella long to me. I liked all of it, I just felt like there was a bit too much to get through. (So perhaps ultimately an issue with editing than the writing.)

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a wild ride. From the moment you begin the prologue, things take an unexpected turn. While the Cais and the Montagovs are clearly meant to be the center of the story, it's also clear that there are so many other events and characters that hold weight within the story. Not only are we dealing with a long standing family feud, we're dealing with emotional newly formed adults who happen to have engaged in a past secret love affair, the colonization and invasion of Shanghai, and a mysterious monster that is causing havoc and spreading madness along the Huangpu River.

Let me tell you that for majority of this book I was asking myself what in the world is going on? On the surface I obviously understood what was happening, but once we start to dig deep....this was all over the place. I SWEAR I MEAN THAT IN A GOOD WAY. There were so many subplots and elements going on that I can't even decide which one was the best or had me the most involved. The battle of the Communists, the Nationalists, the Foreigners, and the gangsters of Shanghai is something that is always in the forefront. While the Montagovs and Cais are constantly at each other's throats with violent act after violent act, they also have to deal with the fact that both may be losing control of their city. They are fighting on war on multiple fronts, not just with one another. Through this mysterious monster into the mix and well....things begin to boil over.

One thing I loved is the fact that there isn't a full rhyme or reason to why the blood feud is happening. Yes we learn about the recent stressors that have led to the violent escalation of the past few years, but most of the gang members don't even know how this feud started. There is no real explanation. You don't join the gangs because you hate the opposing end. You hate the opposing end because you've joined the gang. It really lent itself to the trickle down effect that I think the gangster lifestyle has. Even the slightly association with the wrong person can get you on a list that leads to you killing or being killed. The Cais and Montagovs are the definition of on sight and we learn that from the very first page of the book.

Character wise, we meet an array of amazing faces, each with their own motivations and stories. We learn early on that Juliette is committed to being as ruthless as possible. There's no room for her to question herself. The reasons behind this aren't immediately understood, but eventually I think it all comes down to two things: Her past with Roma and her role as a female heir in an otherwise traditional family. Juliette has been westernized and so it's easy for others to question whether or not she's truly the best person to take over once her father steps down. Add on top of that that having a woman leader is something that the Cais have never had to face. Yeah that's have you trying to prove yourself. Juliette also has the added element of having a secret affair with Roma which led to devastating consequences in the past. She can't afford to be seen as weak and she'll do anything to prove that family is her first priority.

Roma is an emotionally driven character through and through. Unlike Juliette, he's fought against the notion that he has to be ruthless just because he's a Montagov. The one ruthless act he committed nearly destroyed him and yet he still has a role to play. Early on, I couldn't get a good sense of Roma and I was worried that he would just serve as a catalyst for Juliette's story, but I definitely fell in love with him while reading. It's clear that he's fiercely protective and loyal and I want him protected at all costs okay. I will say that his nonchalant attitude about the blood feud was a bit weird. I couldn't tell if he was just jaded or if he truly believed that this is the hand he was dealt.

Other characters I had strong feelings about:
-Tyler Cai and Rosalind Lang could jump off the dock because they irritated me so much. Tyler at least served as an outright antagonist so he was supposed to irritate me, but Rosalind I didn't understand. Why are you so mad sis??? Please explain.
-Kathleen Lang was amazing. I loved her loyalty and the work she put in to collect intel. I also really appreciated the dynamics of her relationship with Juliette. Her backstory just made me so emotional and I just want all the happiness for her.
-Benedikt Montagov and Marshall Seo must be protected at all costs and I'll fight anyone who disagrees.

Last last 33% of the book really takes you on an emotional rollercoaster that I don't think anything can prepare you for. It literally knocked me on my ass. There were a few cliffhangers and items that weren't explained that I hope we get resolved in the follow-up book.

If I had to give a critique of anything it would be that it took awhile for me to get into Roma's character. Like I said, I eventually grew to love him, but for the first 1/3 of the book it felt like he was only there to drive Juliette's character and the plot. I would also say that sometimes things did feel a little chaotic and I had to re-read some moments to understand what was going on. I think it's just because there were so many sub-plots that at times it felt a little overwhelming.

All in all though, this was a great read and I thoroughly enjoyed letting one Chloe Gong wreck my life.

This book is full of potential, but it did not work for me so I DNF’d it at 25%. I thought the setting was fascinating, but the writing didn’t bring it to life, and because of my own narrow knowledge of history my brain was unable to fill in the blanks that the writing left. I felt like I was told the setting without it living and breathing on the page. Same with the characters: on paper Juliette and Roma have interesting backgrounds which would make for complex interactions, but their dialogue and actions felt flat and cliché rather than rich and nuanced. I think the concept is great and will be of interest to a lot of readers, but the execution of the story did not work for me.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Shanghai in the 1920s. Two rival gangs shoot each other on sight. A monster is indiscriminately killing the people of Shanghai. The heirs of the rival gangs, Roma and Juliet, work together to stop the monster.

At heart, this is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The author elevates the tale with vivid depictions of Shanghai in the 1920s. The city is brought to life in all its gritty glory. The characters are well depicted and relateable. Entwined are issues about gender, race and culture.

Although this is labeled as Young Adult, as an adult I was drawn in at the very beginning.

My main criticism is that the ending doesn't wrap up the loose ends. Instead the events will be continued in a subsequent book.

I was given a free copy of this book and I am leaving my honest review