Reviews with content warning for Child death - Our Violent Ends

This is one of the greatest books I've ever read, and it nearly broke me emotionally.

Chloe Gong writes about colonialism and war so passionately and intelligently, and seeing how civil war was tearing Shanghai and other parts of China apart was just devastating.

The power shifts and politics are well set up, unpredictable and extremely clever. There's nuanced portrayals of racism, sexism and lgbt+ themes. Not a single word is wasted.

The prose is beautiful, brutal, energetic and flowing. Dialogue moves seamlessly and the characters' banter is witty and clever.

I just did not want to walk away from the characters, I love them so much.

All the characters are so layered and nuanced, and change over time like real people, I feel like I know them.

Roma and Juliet's sacrificed so much, I just wanted them to be happy together and alive, but the tragic ending for them made sense, even though it's heartbreaking.

Alisa is so lovable, she lifts my mood. I don't know if there's going to be a sequel about her, but if there is, I'd totally read it.

Benedikt and Marshall are so incredible and love each other so much. They risk their lives for each other and their friends and are so tender and funny with each other. I just can't express how much I love them.

Kathleen is selfless, fierce and unstoppable, and she is fantastic. She is so underrated.

Plotting was phenomenal, with triumph and tragedy stemming from the characters' actions. All believable, all heartbreaking.

Descriptions of Shanghai are so raw, heartfelt and sincere. Also loved the contrast the rural town of Kunlon presented, it sounded like such a beautiful and peaceful place.

The ending is devastating, but also hopeful in a way. All is not lost, and Roma and Juliette really did save many lives.

I love how tenderly and sensitively this book portrays grief and loss, and how Roma and Juliette are determined to end their families' toxic blood feud.

The ending totally wrecked me, but it was worth it. This book is a fitting conclusion to the 'These Violent Delights' duology and a worthy retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

Content Warnings

kdailyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was a striking and engrossing book. I don’t want to say I enjoyed this second book more than the first one, because there is a lot of dark and heartbreaking things that happen and I feel odd saying I “enjoyed” it. I was definitely highly engaged. I wanted to read this book whenever I had a free moment. I wanted to read it when I didn’t have a free moment. I felt like the first book in this duology was a little slow in pace at first, whereas this second one felt nonstop the whole time. This book is somehow both extremely plot-driven and character-driven, and both the plot and the characters destroyed me. Even though I knew this was a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, I wanted to know so badly what would happen. How close of a retelling it would be - would the ending be faithful? Or would Roma and Juliette (as I found myself hoping) survive somehow? And of course, I wanted to learn the answers to this retelling’s specific questions and mysteries. The book ends on a heart wrenching, but still somehow hopeful note. Our Violent Ends is incredibly well-written. I will be reading anything and everything else Chloe Gong writes. I also greatly appreciated the author’s notes at the end of both books discussing historical context, and am interested to learn more about this time period in Chinese history.

If you read this book (or the first one), be sure to look for a complete list of content/trigger warnings because there are many. Some major ones - gun violence, self-harm (due to monsters), violence to children, fire, neglect, and torture.

Content Warnings

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

kbairbooks's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

(Spoiler review) oh my gosh. Once again horror and politics are SO not my vibe when I’m reading. BUT. There’s just something about Chloe Gongs writing that ensnared me. I HAD to know what happened and I HAD to know if Roma and Juliette ended up together! I still wish she had killed her parents, and as with a couple other things I’m not entirely sure what the ending meant so I feel… fulfilled but also not. It’s been a long time since I read something that left me with that feeling at the end of a book. I will be very intrigued to see what this author comes up with in the future.

Content Warnings

devynry's review

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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