Reviews with content warning for Mass/school shootings - Our Violent Ends

A well-wrapped second half of a duology that continued to make interesting twists on the classic Romeo and Juliet story while also weaving in the history of the emerging conflict between the communists and nationalists in 1920s Shanghai.
However, this installment was a bit of a slog with a slow pace. Both books in the series could have been half their length. I'm glad I made it all the way through though. I found the overarching theme of the triumph of hope and love over hatred and violence to be uplifting even if the events of the book were dark, bloody, and sad.

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lyla_wicks's review

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

loved all the angst, especially at the start of the book, and thought that the revolution plot was quite interesting, but it did get a bit much sometimes. wasn’t a massive fan of the ending, but understand why it happened

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pages_with_panda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

✅ Finished Jan 17, ‘23

“Tiān nǎ” (I hope I'm using that phrase right!)

A beautiful continuation of the first story, picking up right where we left off. There's really no time for much recap so if it's been a while since you read the first one, maybe brush up on some names. This book is fast-paced, full of betrayal, violence, and yearning.

"Lovers turned to strangers, and it cut deep enough to bleed."

The monsters are still here - this time with a new master who can control them at will. The threat of the Communists, the Revolutionaries and both gangs are still around our main characters and they have to deal with the plot-twist of the last book.

Juliette and Romeo's relationship in this book was amazing. I loved their development from enemies-to-lovers and their love-hate relationship. Forced together (again) to work on solving the mystery of the monsters was great and I ate it up.

Only he knew that if he screamed I hate you, what he really meant was I love you. I still love you so much that I hate you for it.

Beyond our two star-crossed lovers, I fell in love with Alisa, Rosalind, Celia, Marshall and Benedict. Their stories were intertwined well with our main characters, and I loved all of them...Though one a lot less than the others.

Spoiler

Thank you to Gong for giving Marshall and Benedict a happy ending.

The relationships/romance weren't the main points of the story either. (Reminder that the original Romeo+Juliet wasn’t a romance but a TRAGEDY.) Gong does a great job of making this a historical fantasy book by tying in real events that happened in Shanghai. The politics were interesting and making no one faction the good guy/bad guy made for a great story. Her writing was descriptive and poetic, and she even quoted some of the plays dialogue in a way that fit the setting.

And even though this is a retelling, the story was full of surprises and I audible gasped at a few scenes. The ending should've been expected but still hurt.

Loved it.

Spoiler
She would rather hold this hope so close to her chest that it feels like a fire on its own, flickering against the darkness, flickering even where other embers burn out.

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andatherrin's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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hnagarne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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namenotimportant's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

"Why do you pause?" "Because even if you hate me Roma Montagov, I still love you."

"In the end, this was all that they were. Two hearts pressed as close as they dared, shadows melding into one by the flickering candlelight."

Wow, I'm in awe. This book had me in a chokehold for the last 100 pages. No scratch that, at least the last 200 pages.

Spoiler

Although I wished for a different ending for them, it fits. A bittersweet ending for a bittersweet love. I love that at least Marshall and Benedikt have a chance together now.

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rexpostfacto's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

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