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A review by finding_novel_land
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Firstly I am still in awe, 12 days later, that this book was written by someone in university. I’m sorry, who has the time?!?!
These Violent Delights is a Romeo and Juliet retelling in that they are in different gangs but they have dated in a time before the book begins and the repercussions of them dating someone in the opposite gang have already been lived out. Now they have to relearn to trust each other to bring down a monster and deadly infection raging through Shanghai .
I loved the concept and setting for this book and was surprised by how many characters I was able to match up to their original Shakespeare character names - I didn’t realise my R&J knowledge was that good! The time and place setting was fascinating, especially reading the Authors note at the end and discovering how much was based on history - THIS IS WHAT I WANTED TO LEARN IN HISTORY CLASS!!
Unfortunately, despite this book ticking a lot of hypothetical boxes for me (ie this should have been a book I devoured) I never really got into it until the tension hit breaking point right at the end. It was probably a mix of:
* Not really gelling with any of the characters
* A lack of world building (I found it really hard to imagine the setting)
* The illness being so overly unrealistic ( Insets that make you rip your throat out - really? )
* Some plot confusion about who knew what
* The fact that it’s a retelling removing some of the tension ( Eg as soon as the death sleep potion was mentioned you knew to keep an eye out for it )
* NO ONE THINKING TO SHAVE THEIR HEAD WHEN THEY REALISED IT WAS A HEAD LICE LIKE INFECTION - sorry, that one really griped me
* Dodgy pacing that made the book feel like a draaaagggg - it really should have been a stand alone.
Overall, an impressive, inventive historical fantasy debut which never fully drew me in - I’m looking forward to seeing if the second part of the duology improves the series’ standing.
These Violent Delights is a Romeo and Juliet retelling in that they are in different gangs but they have dated in a time before the book begins and the repercussions of them dating someone in the opposite gang have already been lived out. Now they have to relearn to trust each other to bring down a monster and deadly infection raging through Shanghai .
I loved the concept and setting for this book and was surprised by how many characters I was able to match up to their original Shakespeare character names - I didn’t realise my R&J knowledge was that good! The time and place setting was fascinating, especially reading the Authors note at the end and discovering how much was based on history - THIS IS WHAT I WANTED TO LEARN IN HISTORY CLASS!!
Unfortunately, despite this book ticking a lot of hypothetical boxes for me (ie this should have been a book I devoured) I never really got into it until the tension hit breaking point right at the end. It was probably a mix of:
* Not really gelling with any of the characters
* A lack of world building (I found it really hard to imagine the setting)
* The illness being so overly unrealistic (
* Some plot confusion about who knew what
* The fact that it’s a retelling removing some of the tension (
*
* Dodgy pacing that made the book feel like a draaaagggg - it really should have been a stand alone.
Overall, an impressive, inventive historical fantasy debut which never fully drew me in - I’m looking forward to seeing if the second part of the duology improves the series’ standing.