These Violent Delights

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By Chloe Gong

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Publisher Description

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!
A BuzzFeed Best Young Adult Book of 2020

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Serpent & Dove, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.

This paperback edition of These Violent Delights contains never-before-seen letters from Roma to Juliette!

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

This paperback edition of These Violent Delights contains never-before-seen content!

922 Reviews

3.5

BamaDama

Created 16 days ago

“Im not sure how i feel about this book honestly.. i hated the super long descriptions and the painstakingly long paragraphs of the characters' thoughts. I didnt care about the characters at all uptill the 50% mark. The 1st half of the book could easily have been cut down to 100 pgs. It was actually painful to read and i wanted to dnf it so bad. The 2nd half was alot better. I liked that it had very little romance. Not what i expected from a book thats about 2 rival gangs. The ending was nice tho”

Descriptive writingDark setting

Libra Incarnate

Created about 1 month ago

“I feel like not enough happened in the first 300 pages to be engaging, but the end was good. I didn't really *feel* the romance plot, I think if they had dedicated a few chapters to the time when Roma & Juliette were in love it would have fleshed it out more and made it feel more like they actually had anything? Meh.”

Reviewed in:Read Fast, Die Young

Unengaging charactersUnsatisfying plot

Julia

Created 3 months ago

“Was very good but not my style. I prefer romances just started not characters getting back together. Writing was beautiful but had to understand at times, but that is my error. I prefer descriptions to be to a point and poetic, but I feel this was missing it? Otherwise, love the Romeo and Juliet retelling in 1920s Shanghai (was it shanghai?) and thought it was wonderfully creative”

Multi-layered charactersBeautifully writtenFloweryComplexBeautiful settingCreative settingDescriptiveVividToo long

haneul 🤍

Created 3 months ago

“if i had picked this up on my own i would probably never finish it. but i'm so so glad i read tvd. even though the plot was slow at times, i really enjoyed the mystery behind the monster. surprisingly i didn't care THAT much about the romance bc i feel like i need more of roma and definitely more of benedikt &mars. loved juliette and i'm really excited for more <3”

Reviewed in:bookish fairies🧚🏽‍♀️🫶🏽

Likable charactersOriginal charactersBeautifully writtenPoeticThrillingUnpredictableBeautiful settingWell-researchedMemorableSlow plot

erin

Created 3 months ago

“i enjoyed this more than i thought i would. i liked the modern retelling of romeo and juliet, & that they already had a past & were aged up so it was a new take, despite it being obvious they’d end up together. majority of the plot was predictable with a few unexpected twists in there. quite political; so took me a little longer to get into it but was relevant to the story. i liked some of the side characters, they added depth to the story and it was left in a way that i want to read the sequel.”

Reviewed in:bookish fairies🧚🏽‍♀️🫶🏽

Colorful personalitiesMorally ambiguousAction-packedSuspensefulDark settingDescriptiveWell-researchedAngstyPoliticalPredictable

About Chloe Gong

Chloe Gong is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Secret Shanghai novels, as well as the Flesh and False Gods trilogy. Her books have been published in over twenty countries and have been featured in The New York Times, People, Forbes, and more. She is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she double majored in English and international relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Chloe is now located in New York City, pretending to be a real adult.