“Memories were beastly little creatures, after all—they rose with the faintest whiff of nourishment.”

Release Date: November 17th, 2020

Genre(s): Young adult fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Retellings

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Pages: 449

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

These Violent Delights is a Romeo and Juliet retelling that takes place in 1926 Shanghai. It follows Juliette Cai, a former flapper who resumes her role as heir of the Scarlet Gang. Their only rivals are the White Flowers, whose heir, Roma Montagov, was Juliette’s first love and betrayal. But as both gangs become unstable and the death toll climbs, Juliette and Roma must put their grudges aside and work together before the city they compete for crumbles before their eyes. 

Review

Since its release last November, I’ve been seeing so much love for These Violent Delights. And after it was the pick for one of my book clubs, I finally picked it up – and I’m so glad I did! 

I often see These Violent Delights described as a YA fantasy retelling of Romeo and Juliet. But to be honest, I think there’s a lot more to the description than just this! Genre-wise, I’d refer to this book as a blend of genres. It’s a historical fiction set in 1920’s Shanghai, and there are bits of mystery, romance, and even monster horror. There are so many elements to this book and I thought all of them were executed so well. So while this is technically a fantasy novel, I prefer describing it with the breakdown as it’s definitely not your average fantasy. 

Speaking of execution, I loved the way Gong explored Shanghai in that book’s time period. In addition to the retelling, there’s the story of the two gangs as well as the Communist party that is incorporated into the main plot. This added so much depth to the history of the characters as well as the gangs without making the story feel cluttered as a whole. Additionally, I loved the integration of not only different languages, but also different dialects throughout the novel. 

Five-star books are fairly uncommon for me. While I do like most of the books I read, I can’t exactly say that I want to reread them all as soon as I finish them. That’s exactly what I felt for These Violent Delights, and that for me is likely because of the combination of the pacing, the characters, and the depth of this story. 

Even though it’s only March, These Violent Delights will likely be on my list of favorites for 2021. I’m looking forward to the conclusion later this year! 

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