A review by saoreads
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Set in the 1920s, this is a Romeo and Juliet reimagined novel with a twist of fighting off a monster from the political turmoil, faction, and blood feud. I finally got to finish the book after contemplating if I should since I saw snippets from the sequel and it made me regret I ever saw it (can someone bring me back to the time where I ignored it instead of indulging with spoilers?) Anyway, two of my favorite characters-Marshall and Kathleen-common thing about these two is that they had different surnames, Montagov and Cai alike, though they are loyal to the gang, especially the heirs (also due to friendship). I love how the novel's concept was set during the time their teens are about to end and not exactly a minor, literal kid. To take note, there were lots of anecdotes to learn from, especially the character development of Juliette where she came to process the grief and anger from the incident 4 years ago, and from Roma's confession as to how he ended up making the decision. Exactly like the original, I love that the plot of 'Romeo and Juliet' fuses with the new one with additional twists. And honestly, this is the first book I took time to read the acknowledgement for.
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