My attempt at a bookstagram-ish picture of These Violent Delights ↑
Summary:
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.
Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, 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.
I originally started this book a few months ago(though I don't remember when exactly) and I started a few chapters but ended up pushing it aside since I was reading so many other books. Later, I put it on hold and then forgot about it, until just recently I saw that it was available. I was already reading 13 books, but come on! This seemed so good I couldn't resist, and now that I'm finished with it, I'm so glad I didn't.
Characters:
Juliette: I liked how fierce, brave, clever, and bold she was, but I was still a little mixed about her, because of how violent she could be. She felt very complex though since her feelings about being a mix of two cultures were very real. Though Juliette was born in China, she was sent to live in America for a few years and ever since returning, she feels conflicted about her identity. Most of the time, she feels like an outsider even within her own territory because she feels as if she can never truly belong there.
“Juliette breathed in and found her lungs to be horribly tight. Could she never be both? Was she doomed to choose one country or the other? Be an American or nothing?”
Roma: I don’t actually have much to say about Roma because he felt like a bit of a bland character. I did enjoy reading about him, but there wasn't much depth to him and I really would have liked to learn more about his backstory.
The side characters were so fun to read about! I like how they were all so different from each other.
I liked Kathleen and Marhsall the best but Benedikt and Rosalind were okay. Kathleen was more on the quiet and clever side while Rosalind was more violent and sassy.
Plot: This was definitely very plot-focused and it was pretty fast-paced which I really enjoyed. There were more mystery elements and plot twists than I expected but that ended up making me like it even more!
The ending scenes just had me going like:
Setting: ahhhhh!! The setting of 1920s Shanghai was just so beautifully atmospheric! If I closed my eyes I could just imagine myself standing there. I could see the streets, the lake, the merchants, the buildings...everything!
Me to the Setting:
Writing: I just LOVED the writing! The atmosphere, tone, mood, suspense, and everything else about was so well done, and it really made the entire book so much better than it already was. The writing felt like something out of a fairytale, even though the story itself wasn't necessarily fairy-tale-like.
“Memories were beastly little creatures, after all—they rose with the faintest whiff of nourishment.”
I also liked the theme with how Juliet felt while in America because it just felt so real, and it was set in the truth of what it must have been like for many immigrants during the time.
She didn't have to do a single thing in offense. It was the entitlement that drove these men forward. Entitlement that encouraged their wives to place a delicate handkerchief to their nose and sniff, wholeheartedly believing the tirade was deserved. They believe themselves the rulers of the world--on stolen land in America, on stolen land in Shanghai.
Everywhere they went--entitlement.
And Juliette was so tired."
This book was such a delight to read(delight! get it?) and I'm really looking forward to reading the next one!
You can find my review on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3637990806
