These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
These Violent Delights by Chole Gong, is a fantasy retelling of Rome & Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai. In this version, Roma Montagov is heir to the White Flower Gang, and Juliette Cai is heir to the Scarlet Gang; these gangs have been in a blood feud for years and Roma and Juliette are lovers-turned-enemies forced together to solve the mystery of a madness sweeping through the city that causes people to claw out their throats.
I wanted to like this book, but it just didn’t do it for me. I will say the prose was gorgeous, poetic and at times lyrical. And I loved the interaction between Roma and Juliette and Marshall and Benedikt. However, this wasn’t enough to overcome the books many shortcomings.
First, it wasn’t until 100 pages in that plot picked up, then it crept along at a glacial pace. Events would happen, then you’re forced to slog through tons of exposition that had little to no relevance to the plot. I get world building is a thing, but if you’re going to info dump, make it interesting.
Second, this book drags on. It rightly could have been cut in half and you wouldn’t notice it. So many of the scenes/chapters are spent with characters sitting around discussing things that have no bearing on the plot. Politics and social commentary, when done well, are a joy to read, but in this case, I was bored to tears waiting for something to happened. The only reason I didn’t DNF was because of Benedikt and Marshall’s scenes. But by the 60% mark, I started skimming the pages.
Third, there were too many POV characters. Don’t get me wrong. I love books with more than one POV character, when they are done well. In the case of These Violent Delights, outside of Roma, Juliette and Benedikt and Marshall, the other POVs weren’t needed and in the case of Tyler Cai’s lone section, it added nothing that couldn’t have been incorporated into Juliette’s chapters/sections.
Ultimately, by the last 20% of the book I didn’t care who the Larkspur was, who the monster was, or what happened to the main characters.
I also, saw the setup for a sequel coming, but was still angry when the book ended on a massive cliffhanger.
Overall, this felt more like a second or third draft than a finished book. I loved the concept, but it lacked a ton in the execution. If I do read the sequel, I’ll rent it from the library.
I give These Violent Delights 2.0 out of 5 stars. Rent this one from your library or buy when it’s on sale.
No comment yet, add your voice below!