Review: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
YA Fantasy
These Violent Delights
Book Info
Released Date: Nov 17, 2020
Publication: Simon Teens
Pages: 449
Format: Paperback
“If you are a fan of Romeo and Juliet retelling, then you are going to love reading this YA retelling as well”
I was kind of hesitant to pick this series up because I typically don’t like to read any of Shakespeare retellings. But BookTok won me over with their aestheic videos of These Violent Delights. And I am finally happy that I started reading this book. It’s definitely different from the typical retelling of Romeo and Juliet.
These Violent Delights focus on two rivaling gangs in Shanghai around the 1920s era. Juliette, the heir to Scarlett Gang, finally arrives back to Shanghai to regain her rightful place. There is more that Juliette needs to worry about when her people start dropping dead in the midst of the city. And she does not have the time to worry about her former foe aka love, Roma, the heir to White Flowers.
Their romance was definitely unexpected yet not surprising to discover. It’s a retelling of Romeo and Juliet but there is a twist to it. They (Juliette and Roma) meet very young around their high school years. And they kept their romance a secret for at least a couple of years before Roma's father found out. That’s where their break-up happens when betrayal occurs in Juliette's life. I love the angst between them after seeing each other after several years. You can still see their love for each other but they still don’t trust each other after so much has happened between them. And it’s going to get even worse from there.
