ARC Review: Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution.

After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. One wrong move, and her cousin will step in to usurp her place as the Scarlet Gang’s heir. The only way to save the boy she loves from the wrath of the Scarlets is to have him want her dead for murdering his best friend in cold blood. If Juliette were actually guilty of the crime Roma believes she committed, his rejection might sting less.

Roma is still reeling from Marshall’s death, and his cousin Benedikt will barely speak to him. Roma knows it’s his fault for letting the ruthless Juliette back into his life, and he’s determined to set things right—even if that means killing the girl he hates and loves with equal measure.

Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city, and though secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation if they are to end this threat once and for all. Shanghai is already at a boiling point: The Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war brew louder every day, and gangster rule faces complete annihilation. Roma and Juliette must put aside their differences to combat monsters and politics, but they aren’t prepared for the biggest threat of all: protecting their hearts from each other.

• Title:  Our Violent Ends
• Author: Chloe Gong 
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books / Margaret K. McElderry  
• Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling
• Targeted Age Range: Young Adult
• Trigger Warnings: Blood, violence, gore, character deaths, murder, weapon use, insects (chapter 3 & 14 particularly are quite descriptive), alcohol consumption, parental abuse, transphobia.
• Rating:  ★★★★★

From the moment I heard of These Violent Delights, a Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1926 Shanghai, I was immediately intrigued. While I wasn’t fully immersed into the bookish community until a month before These Violent Delights released, I could already tell how genius the marketing of it was — it was evident that Chloe Gong knew her audience. I saw feuds on Twitter (Which side are you on: The Scarlet Gang or the White Flowers?), an incredibly appealing pre-order campaign, TikTok videos, and so much more. Everyone I knew loved it, and I could only hope that my expectations wouldn’t be let down. But I shouldn’t have feared. These Violent Delights was without a doubt, one of my favorite 2020 reads. Like many others, I’d read Romeo and Juliet at school countless times, seen the movies, and yet, this retelling of Romeo and Juliet holds its own. In fact, I’ll even say that I prefer it to the original. These Violent Delights had me on the edge of my seat — a small part of me will always be angry with Chloe Gong for the cliffhanger ending. 

All this to say, I couldn’t believe my luck when my ARC request on Edelweiss+ for Our Violent Ends got approved. It took every inch of my self-control to finish my work day, and my homework, before starting Our Violent Ends. I ended up starting it around 9 pm, and finishing it right before midnight. I simply couldn’t put it down. And if I started rereading it the next morning when I woke up at 4 am? That’s my business.

There’s no other way to describe it, but Our Violent Delights feels like how going home to Hong Kong feels. It feels like going back to somewhere familiar but somewhere that’s changed while you’ve been away, somewhere that’s improved and grown. A place that I don’t want to leave every time I’m there, and a place that’ll forever have a special place in my heart.

NOTE: There will be spoilers for These Violent Delights from here on out. 

From the get-go, we’re dropped right into the action: four months after the end of These Violent Delights, Roma and Juliette are once again tasked to work together to save Shanghai from ruin. Since we’ve last spent time with them, they’ve grown up significantly; they’re more bitter, angry, frightened — there’s more at stake for them than ever before. Our Violent Ends is made up of everything that I loved in These Violent Delights, and more.

Similarly to These Violent Delights, Gong has crafted such a wonderfully immersive story. I felt like I was simply transported to 1927 Shanghai, and could so easily picture Juliette and Roma strolling along the Bund, Alissa sneaking around and eavesdropping, Benedikt and Marshall, and just about every scene (even in the scenes where I didn’t necessarily want to be able to clearly envision what was going on). If you like snacking while reading, I would highly recommend you put the snacks away while reading Chapter 3, and Chapter 14. 

The These Violent Delights duology is home to one of my favorite stories, and some of my favorite characters. Whether it’s Juliette, Roma, Marshall, Benedikt, Rosalind or anyone else — you can definitely tell who they were molded after from the original source, but they’re also so much more than that. They’re completely and uniquely themselves, and I’m waiting with bated breath to know more about Foul Lady Fortune. I’ve got some guesses, but who knows? I’m simply just glad to know that we’ll be able to spend more time in this universe and with these characters. I’m not quite ready to let them all go just yet. 

Those of you who know me know how much I love These Violent Delights, how much it means to me, and more specifically, how much the character of Juliette means to me. She is undoubtedly strong, witty and clever. And it’s no surprise that I’d relate to her, as someone who also left the East for the West for education, and still struggles with being too westernized every time they go back “home”. All of her experiences with no longer fitting in in Shanghai, and also how she learned to look out for herself while she was away hit too close to home. Juliette is a character that I truly wish I had when I was younger, and one that I’ll cherish forever.

Similarly to These Violent Delights, Our Violent Ends is told in different POVs, mostly following Roma and Juliette, although some side characters get their own chapters too. I loved being able to follow Marshall, Benedikt, Alisa, Kathleen, and Rosalind more this time around, and getting to watch them grow and develop. 

Just like our characters, Gong’s writing and talents have developed immensely since These Violent Delights. While Gong’s talents shone through in her debut, it’s evident that Our Violent Ends is a better testament to her talent. Each sentence tugs on your heartstrings, reminding you that at the end of the day, our main cast is composed of children simply trying to do their best, while their world crumbles around them. 

Who would I be if I didn’t talk about Roma and Juliette? The enemies-to-lovers, forbidden love trope is one that’s tried and true, but with the added elements of betrayal, forced proximity, working together, sneaking around, and aliases? Their loyalties and tension are present in every scene, almost like a third character in the room, their head and their heart conflicting as they try to make sense of what’s real and what isn’t. While everyone’s familiar with the story of Romeo and Juliet, you can’t help but just root for the two of them to run away, and that things will be different for the two of them. 

Our Violent Ends is a story of what it means to have hope, and how powerful love can be. It’s a testament to Gong’s talent, her wonderful worldbuilding, vivid imagery, storytelling, and I cannot wait to see what’s next for her.

Links for Our Violent Ends: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

Check out the rest of the tour here!

Up for grabs, Turn the Pages Tours is giving away ONE (1) finished copy of These Violent Delights and ONE (1) finished copy of Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong. This giveaway will run from November 1st through 20th at 11:59 PM CST and will be open to U.S. residents ONLY. One winner will be chosen. To enter, click the link below!

RAFFLECOPTER LINK: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1e4a114d48/?