These Violent Delights

By Chloe Gong

4/5 🐣🐣🐣🐣

t;dr What if Juliet was a badass? What if Romeo wasn’t a little shit? What if you upended the trope, gave it some razor-sharp social commentary, and tossed in a contagious plague of insanity and a river monster for good measure? This is what you get.

***

I liked this way more than I expected. The ending was abrupt, unexpected and left me ready to jump into the sequel.

First, let me say: I’m a huge Shakespeare fan. Second, let me say: I’m not a Romeo + Juliet fan. That flavor of star-crossed lovers is overdone and usually not done well. BUT this one I enjoyed, I liked the setting, the gangsters and Juliette’s absolutely unstoppable attitude. She’s awesome and she scares me.

It took a while for me to warm up to some of these characters, Juliette is brash and merciless, making it hard to like her. Roma is arrogant and entitled. Kathleen and Rosalind are perfect. Marshall is annoying. Benedikt is broody. Everyone was so angsty. Which made it all the more rewarding to watch the characters grow and for me to realize that I was coming to like them rather against my will. It served to make the ending a tense sprint with too many bugs and real stakes and a delightful and heartbreaking stinger.

Gong subverted my expectations of a Romeo + Juliet retelling, keeping the story feeling fresh while staying true to the core of the original story. Some of the early parts of the story flagged for me and the first time the POV changed to a third character was jarring and I still don’t think you can quote Shakespeare in a Shakespeare retelling. Despite these minor gripes, It was a fun read and the ending really made it worth it for me.

I loved the setting, Shanghai in the 1920 is such an interesting place and I wanted more of that. I loved the way Gong wove in real-world historical context without letting it bog down the story. I want -need- more things set here. It has as much intrigue, politics and fashion as any Western setting.

I still can’t believe I didn’t get the name thing.

#bookstagram #shakespeare #shakespeareretelling #romeoandjuliet #timetofakeyourdeath