Our Violent Ends has a violent ending, and it is overall the conclusion I was expecting from the sequel of These Violent Delights. However, I can’t say I enjoyed the sequel as much as I enjoyed the first one.

The sequel has a very slow start but offers a recap of the events at the end of the first book, so you may find this helpful if you, like me, have trouble remembering what happened in a book you read more than one year ago. My main problem with this book is how the plot and the events that bring us to the end developed overall. There are many characters-related plotlines, plus the terrifying mysterious monsters on one side and the politics on the other. The story takes place in Shanghai on the brink of a revolution, with communists fighting against the nationalists. I felt the politics took too much of the plot compared to the first book, and while I get the relevance of the topic, I can’t say I enjoyed those parts. They brought an uneven pace to the plot, sometimes it was too fast and often too slow and underwhelming. On top of that, because of the way everything was structured, I thought Roma was a bit bland and not really a strong character. Juliette, Kathleen and Marshall had a more organised and consistent storyline and they were more engaging characters overall.

It’s difficult to talk about this book in detail without hinting too much about the ending. I still enjoyed and appreciate Chloe Gong’s dramatic writing style, the descriptions of Shangai and its atmosphere, even if I personally felt a lot the impact of the pandemic in the descriptions related to the illness and monsters. I also appreciate how the writer remained true to her original purpose of bringing this retelling of Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliette. I loved Marshall and Benedikt’s arc, as well as Kathleen’s part.

In the end, I think my main issue is that the monster part was rather a small subplot that reappeared right at the very end to get its long-awaited resolution. There was a lot going on and I couldn’t see the end of everything until the very last chapter. If you loved the first book you still need to read this, it’s a great story, and if you don’t mind historical bits, then it’s a don’t miss for sure.

When I found out that my request for this arc had been approved, I was so so excited. I posted about it on Twitter, something that I don’t usually do, and I told a lot of my irl friends about it as well. It shot to the top of my tbr, and the next moment I was in a situation where I could freely choose what to read next, I of course chose this. These Violent Delights was one of my favourite books of 2020, and I needed to see if its sequel would hold up.

To say that it held up would be an understatement!

I adored every single one of the major characters! Juliette continues to be iconic and one of the coolest protagonists I think I’ve ever read about. She could stab me and I’d say thank you. The events of the previous book have affected Roma and Benedikt deeply. Their anger and hatred and Roma’s conflicting feelings for Juliette felt raw and real and were handled really well. In the first book I found that I loved Roma more than I’d expected to, and that love didn’t diminish at all while reading this one.

Books with multiple narrators where you love all the characters and enjoy reading from all of their perspectives are hard to come by, and with so many characters getting at least a couple of chapters from their pov in this there is a risk that some will work better than others, but this was never an issue for me. Roma and Benedikt’s anger, Juliette’s balancing act, Marshall’s aid from the shadows, and Kathleen, Rosalind, and Alisa’s own perspectives on what was happening, and in Kathleen’s case her views on the changing political climate of Shanghai, were all captivating and all drew me in. I even enjoyed Tyler’s chapters, and he’s one of the villains! Writing a strong villain pov chapter is no easy task but Gong made it look effortless. There are also a handful of passages in here with no character focus, where the narration pulls back and gives a more objective description of events. Again, this is something that can be difficult to get right, and Gong absolutely pulled it off.

Have you ever been reading a book during a spare five minutes, reached an Important Scene, and had to stop reading so you could come back to it later when you had more time and could give the scene the attention it deserves? This book was good enough that I was reading it during every spare moment I had, and this exact scenario happened to me a few times. Benedikt and Marshall were the culprits more than once. On a related note, anguished declarations of love are *chef’s kiss*

This is a Romeo and Juliet retelling, and it’s an example of how to do a retelling right. A lot about the story in this duology doesn’t come from the play, and Gong weaves her own story in with aspects of the play so well it feels like this is what the story was always meant to be. Gong also managed to make me way more invested in Roma and Juliette and in their relationship and in them being okay than I’ve ever been in the characters of the original play. It’s all fun and games until you remember that the Romeo and Juliet retelling you’re reading is in fact a Romeo and Juliet retelling.

If you haven’t picked up this duology yet then please do it, you won’t regret it and you will wonder why you didn’t pick it up sooner! I can’t wait for my preorder of the finished copy to come in so I can finally hold it in my hands.

What can I say about this book that hasn’t already been said?
What a fitting ending to this duology. Without spoiling anything... this didn’t end exactly as I thought it would, but it was a more perfect ending than I could ever have imagined.
If you loved the writing of THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS, settle in, because Gong’s writing has levelled up significantly. It was already lush—now it’s dripping with rich description and weighted by a carefully meted-out emotional character that carries us effortlessly through a dramatic, heart-stopping finale.
I really enjoyed seeing the resolution of each character arc—even though I’m pretty familiar with R&J, I had no idea where anyone was going to end up, which is just how I like it!
All in all, a thrilling resolution that’s left me dying to see what Chloe Gong does next,

Our Violent Ends was a brilliant finale to the These Violents Delights duology. As a Romeo and Juliette retelling, a certain ending was expected from this book and Chloe Gong has managed to used these expectations to play us, and keep us on edge until the very end. The characters were all so uniquely characterised, just like the city of Shanghai, which once again was presented as a proper entity, suffering from all the misfortune happening on its territory. This book was a page turner, filled with plot-twists making the reader always want to read more, and the romance, the tension between our main character was palatable. The writing was stunning and full of metaphors, presenting the city of Shanghai in a different light, and the monsters were just as gory, if not more.

Tense, atmospheric & deadly - welcome back to Shanghai!

I enjoyed These Violent Delights far more than I expected to - transporting the star-crossed lovers to a gangster-filled & glamorous Shanghai of the 1920s (with a hint of the fantastical courtesy of a monster spreading deadly insects). That book ended with a monster-shaped cliffhanger and with Roma & Juliette back to loathing more than loving - I was keen to see where Our Violent Ends took them.

Although I didn't reread These Violent Delights first, it feels like Chloe Gong's writing has improved (not to say it was ever bad) - I was pulled into the story straight away and back into the world of 1920's Shanghai. Roma and Juliette continue their missions to uncover who controls the monsters that are terrorizing the city and how it all connects to the wider conflict between the Gangs, the Nationalists, Communists & the foreigners.

One of the things I liked about the first book was how much depth the world had- it wasn't just a simple retelling with rival gangs, there was a depth to the characters and to the politics. Our Violent Ends is a fitting title as we see the old world of the gangsters - the ruling Scarlets and White Flowers- start to fall apart as the greater forces of the Nationalists and Communists set their sights on Shanghai.

The motivations of the characters are all believable and varied as loyalties and blood ties are tested by the new world order- I like that, in there own way, all the characters are trying to do what they think is best and even when their decisions or actions make them "villains" - you can see why they've chosen them.

Without giving away spoilers, I will say that I wanted more info about what happens to some of the characters after the climax - but if it means more sequels then I'm ok with waiting.

Tense, political & atmospheric and filled with characters you'll love and loathe Our Violent Ends is a fantastic conclusion to the story of the star-crossed lovers Roma & Juliette.

our violent ends is a pretty good conclusion to roma and juliette's story from these violent delights and lives up to what the title promised us. i do have my issues with this book but given that this is a debut duology by a new young author, i think chloe gong did really well with the story she set out to tell.

first, what i loved: the writing style is as smooth, beautiful and solid as ever. the dialogue can get a bit too dramatic but it suits the context of the story and i enjoyed it. marshall and benedikt were definitely the highlights of this book for me - i loved their dynamic, the push and pull, the angst and yearning their romance had. i guess i'm just a sucker for best friends to lovers but i always looked forward to their scenes and i wish they got more page time.

what i didn't like as much was sadly the main focus of these books: roma and juliette. this sequel just drove home the fact that these two had zero character development or any kind of change over the course of the duology. they're the exact same characters with the exact same dynamics from beginning to end. their scenes, especially in the first half, just felt like a rehash from the first book with nothing new or exciting happening. their relationship got stale and predictable for me and as individual characters, they didn't really stand out either (roma got even more bland if that's possible).

apart from that, the plot was weirdly uneven - the first half moved at a snail's pace and felt unnecessarily stretched out. i'm also not sure how to feel about the monster plot combined with the political tension of 1920s shanghai - while i appreciate how the author dives deeper into the politics of communists vs. nationalists in this book, i also think it made the monster plot feel even more out of place.

overall, despite my criticisms, this was an entertaining and fairly quick read. if you're attached to the characters and loved the first book, i can pretty much guarantee you'll enjoy this one too.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This arc was provided by Hodder & Stoughton via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Crying shaking throwing up 🥲
My biggest clown moment of 2021 was thinking I would somehow survive this book unscathed. I’m pretty sure reading this raised my blood pressure to the point of permanent damage but oh well it was worth it.

my heart has just been wrenched out. I literally barely have words.
This book was phenomenal and dare I say, I enjoyed it more than I loved These Violent Delights?! I’m so in love with the characters and the plot and the side characters. I found myself so thoroughly invested in Marshal and Benedikt’s storyline as much as I was in Roma and Juliette.
This was a beautiful end to a beautiful trilogy and it was such a well written book, I will surely be thinking about it for a long time, especially after that ending oh my god.

Our Violent Ends is a sequel to These Violent Delights, a book I’ve really enjoyed. This one, unfortunately wasn’t as good.
The story picks up where it ended in the previous book. There are new monsters spreading madness around the city, Roma and Juliette are enemies again, the blood feud is getting worse and there is a revolution happening with communists getting stronger.

The main focus of the story is on the revolution and the politics. As much as I appreciate historical elements in fantasy books, there was just too much of it. The story about two opposite gang heirs being forced to work together to get rid of the monsters who spread madness around the city somehow went off track and became the story about Chinese revolution. And as much as I love historical facts, if I read a fantasy book, I expect it to contain magic, monsters and all kinds of crazy things. Not for it to be a lecture in Chinese history.

The highlight of this book was a relationship between Benedikt and Marshall and it was my favorite part. The characters were well portrayed and I especially loved the fact that Roma finally became a badass. The atmosphere wasn’t as mysterious is in the first book because all the talk about politics made the story too realistic. The plot line about monsters and madness was so thin that I even missed the bugs 🪲😁.

The ending of the book was very disappointing and predictable. The resolution of the monster problem was too simple and not satisfying. I wouldn’t call this ending a happy ending, but since this is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet -and you know how they end up- I think it’s still more comforting than the Shakespeare’s end.

OUR VIOLENT ENDS and OH MY 😭😭 was it everything I wanted it to be and more I’m so so happy it kept up its stamina from Book 1 and just know guys your going to be in for a treat. Of course I can’t say anything it’s the second book and we ain’t all about the spoiler life
I’m pretty sure this is the end.well unless chloe Gong has got something up her sleeve for more hehe

I can’t tell you how happy I was to be back in one of my favourite fantasy books again and to be with all the character who I just fell even more and more in love with in this second book too

Monsters once again roam the streets of Shanghai, but this time Roma and Juliette have been brought together by unexpected forces to eradicate them - their fathers. With civil war looming and forces beyond the gangsters' control at play, will a frosty (and temporary) ceasefire be enough to prevent the city from becoming a bloodbath? Or will these warring star-crossed lovers set Shanghai on fire themselves?

There are plenty of twists readers won't see coming (no mean feat in a retelling) as well as some great nods to the original play. Our Violent Ends bubbles with tension - not just within the plot, where stability in Shanghai balances on a knife-edge, but between Roma and Juliette themselves. The blood feud is more dangerous than ever. The original Romeo and Juliet have it easy by comparison; the warring Capulets and Montagues have nothing on the Scarlet and White Flower blood feud.

While the premise will definitely draw people into this series (it's a masterclass in how to pitch a novel in one sentence!) it's very much not the only selling point. Both books are exquisitely written. Gong's use of language has ranked her firmly among my favourite writers and I will automatically buy whatever she writes next. Every character from book one is developed further, with their own goals and character-arcs.

I'm writing this review carefully as I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say it has a perfect ending to an amazing sequel.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Our Violent Ends - These Violent Delights was SO good and one of my favourite novels last year, and I was worried the sequel wouldn't be able to live up to my expectations. Instead, it surpassed them. I can't wait to see (and buy) whatever Chloe Gong writes next.

I was provided with an advanced copy of Our Violent Ends via NetGalley for review.

HOW IS THIS EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST ONE?!?! I cried so much over this book, I look like I was attacked by bees!!!


I don't even know where to begin with this. I am so utterly wrecked by this, I will never be the same again. For one thing, this was so incredibly well-written. The plot, the descriptions, the plot-twists. Just AMAZING!! It was bad enough that I was crying uncontrolably, but to have my mind completely and utterly blown, at the same time....it was just so damn cruel Chloe Gong!!! And, somehow, I am eternally greatful for it...what a sucker!! There were so many moments that ABSOLUTELY KILLED ME. There's a reason this book is called, Our Violent Ends...because it was definitely my violent end!!! However, nothing killed me like that cruel, cruel ending!!! Without getting into spoilery details, you will cry, it will be ugly, and you won't be able to stop. Word of advise, DO NOT finish this past midnight...you will not sleep a wing afterward. I am still not okay. I may or may not be experiencing deep, unrelenting emotional instability....and so will you. Guaranteed!!


**There is absolutely NOTHING I didn't like about this book. This entire series. That's how good both books were.**


Sufficed to say, the characters were just as good, if not even better, than in the first book. Every one, from hero to villain, was so well-written, so fascinating and natural, I forgot that I was reading about fictional people. (Admittedly, this happens with most of the books I read, but even more so with this one.) The Romuliette content was *chef's kiss* from start to end. The tension, the fighting, the looooove. 💜😭💜😭💜 Like seriouly...so, so good!!! In fact, I loath that I can't write exactly what I am referring to, because it's all gooooood stuff. But alas, I am no asshole, I will not spoil such a masterpiece and ruin it for you. Now for my other favourite pairing in the series, Benedikt and Marshall, the content was just as good as Romuliette's. So good I'm holding back tears writing this. Again, I can't get into too much detail without spoiling, so you're gonna have to wait and read for yourselves, but one thing I can say is, the ship support between Romuliette and Benshall (is this a good enough ship name) filled me with warm and wholesome joy!!! Another thing I can say is, how precious the Marshall x Juliette friendship was. They clicked like they've been friends forever!! ...Aaand I'm about to start crying again...Marshall is still my favourite (duh), and I CANNOT BELIEVE I actually felt bad for Tyler....Uncool, Chloe Gong. Uncool.

Our Violent Delights, by Chloe Gong, is an incredible sequel to her debut novel, These Violent Delights. I was hooked from the very first page, with the writing progressing so much that I felt as if I were in Shanghai in the 1920s, despite knowing little of the city in that time (soon to be changed).

The politics and plot were main focuses of the novel, ensuring a fast pace throughout, but the character development was outstanding, expanding on my love for not only Roma and Juliette, but Benedikt, Marshall, Celia, Kathleen (!!!), Ailsa and so many more, and I am going to have to reread the duology MANY times to visit them.

The depth of Chloe Gong's writing was incredible, and you learn so much about the characters, with multiple POV's adding so much to the book. The retelling used the basics of Shakespeare's tale, and created a whole new story, which was so beautiful and heartbreaking and I loved it so so much!

The writing was phenomenal, and had me terrified in many sections of the novel but the ending (the ending!!!), WOW. I was so numb once I finished it, but it is honestly a perfect ending and I feel finished off the duology perfectly.

5 stars does not do it justice; thank you Chloe Gong for writing this incredible book

3.5/5 stars

That was something...

Our Violent Ends is the second and final book in this duology that follows Juliette and Roma and a series of other characters as they try and source out the new mysterious person controlling the beasts/insects who have wreaked havoc in the first book. Meanwhile, tensions between gangs rise and fall, communists and nationalists wrestle for power in the city, and Roma and Juliette have a lot of shit to get through.

The two books share similar beautiful prose, a poetic voice, and a writing style that reminds you that this is a retelling of a Shakespeare classic. The first book did the heavy lifting of setting up all the characters, giving OVE the leeway to focus on adding more depth to their characters (something that I thought was lacking and took from my overall experience of the book).

The plot is pretty simple and predictable, though it loses its grip nearing the end as the focus shifts back and forth so roughly that I just felt detached from a lot of it. The back and forth between Roma and Juliette got so repetitive that I felt zero tension or interest in certain events happening. If I know how it'll end with these two at the end of the scene, it doesn't matter how matter times they point a knife or gun at each other, we'll hear the same speech going through their heads for the 11th time and move on. With main characters that come off so lackluster and a plot that was so messily done and felt incredibly dull (esp the middle), I just felt nothing very little at the end.

The pacing of this book also felt really messy, some parts were actually really engaging and things will be moving at breakneck speed (sometimes a little too fast), other times characters feel like they're placed in a scene to perform a specific trope/say a witty line before moving on.

However, there were moments in the book that were quite fun to read, I loved the developing relationship between Marshall and Benedikt, the push and pull between the two, paired with the yearning was really well done. Rosalind was such an interesting character that fell flat for me in the end but had so much potential and was really interesting given the little bit of time spent on her. The dialogue was the highlight for me, some pivotal scenes had exchanges between characters that packed so much punch and were so dramatic in the best way possible that I kind of dig it - I mean this is a retelling of a Shakespeare play...

Overall, I would recommend it to people, especially those who loved the first book and want an ending to the story. But if you had a problem getting through the first one and enjoying it, chances are this one isn't for you as well... (How disappointing, at the 25% mark I kept going on about how this was leaps better than the first book cause I thought it fixed all the problems I had with TVD)...

Our Violent Ends treads much the same ground as its predecessor - which will be a positive or a negative, depending on your bandwidth. We pick up almost immediately after the first novel, and hit the ground running with more bloodshed and gangland plotting. If you loved these elements of the first novel, these will fire you up, but if you’re here for romance, you will be left wanting, as events of the previous book have left the two star-crossed lovers seething with hatred for one another… for now.

I hoped the plot would change things up a little - yes, it’s a Shakespeare re-telling, but it’s also got monsters in it so I don’t think Gong needs to be prescriptive - and it did leave me a bit bored, seeing as I read These Violent Delights earlier this year. I also found myself more drawn to side characters - some of whom, to Gong’s credit, have been queered delightfully - than the main couple, and I am not sure that’s a good thing at all when you’re trying to write a Romeo & Juliet retelling. I suspect that some of the issue is that this is a YA novel and so Gong is somewhat hamstrung in showing sexual tension and chemistry between characters. That said, I have read some YA novels with truly stunning chemistry between romantic leads, and so the main coupling here fell a little flat for me. That said, I read the last hundred pages of this book with my heart in my mouth - well paced, exciting and genuinely thrilling, it bumped the book up a whole star for me. I am very curious to see what the 21-year-old (!!) Gong does next, and this is a solid if ultimately slightly overlong duology.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This book messed up my emotions in many ways. I was surprised at how fast I got into the story again and I soon realized that I had missed the characters a lot, especially Roma and Juliette.
The story continues a few weeks after the events of These Violent Delights and even though our heroes killed the monster in the first book, there is a new threat coming right away.
I was already hooked on the first chapter and excited to see how this wonderful story would end.
The setting in Shanghai was very compulsive and a cool twist to this Romeo and Juliette retelling. Everything seemed very authentic and even though the political circumstances were a bit hard to understand at first, I had no problems getting through this book thanks to the beautiful storytelling of the author and the loveable characters.
Juliette was as fierce and clever as in the first book. Yes, she is a bit stubborn and there were times where I just wanted to scream in her face (in a polite way of course), but this is exactly what makes her so likeable. Also, she never disappoints with a new plot twist.
The situation between Roma and Juliette at the beginning of this book is a bit complicated because he still thinks Juliette killed Marshall in cold blood. Nevertheless, this gave us readers one of the best lovers to enemies stories ever. The dynamic between these two protagonists is literally everything and I just couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know what would happen next. Their story is stressful, emotional and heartbreaking- but in the best way possible.
I also adored the side characters and I loved that we finally got to know more about Marshall's and Benedict's relationship. I don’t want to tell you too much but I really liked how the author included their story in the main plot.
At this point, I don’t want to talk about the ending because I still haven‘t realized what happened. All I can say is that I truly recommend this duology to everyone who loves a thrilling urban fantasy story packed with loveable characters and a lot of heartbreak.

I read These Violent Delights at the end of 2020, and was obsessed and desperate for the sequel. When I requested Our Violent Ends on NetGalley, no part of me thought I would be approved for it, but I was! This review will contain spoilers from These Violent Delights. I adored this book and I think it was a good ending, and one of the only ways this duology could end.

Our Violent Ends picks up a few months after the ending of These Violent Delights. Roma and Juliette’s roles seem to have been reversed, with Roma truly stepping into his role as the White Flowers heir. Juliette is still keeping Marshall hidden from both Roma and Benedikt, which fuels Roma’s hatred for Juliette as he believes she killed him. At the end of These Violent Delights, Juliette discovers that there are five other monsters that could be released , threatening the city of Shanghai. After the first monster attack, Lord Cai and Lord Montagov, Juliette and Roma’s fathers, meet and demand Roma and Juliette work together to discover the origin of the monsters and destroy them. This forces them back into close proximity and they have to deal with their true feelings for each other. Our Violent Ends shows how far people will go for love and to protect those they love.

‘Because even if you hate me, Roma Montagov, I still love you.’

Similarly to the first book, Our Violent Ends revolves a lot around the politics of Shanghai, and if anything I think it is even more so in this book. The Nationalists and Communists have a large part in this book. It was very interesting to me, as a reader who doesn’t know much about the political parties in Shanghai in the 1920s, as Gong takes inspiration from reality and incorporates it within her book. Loyalties are tested and spies are revealed in this gripping novel.

‘I am grateful that our roles are not switched, for I would have dove headfirst into the Huangpu should I be left in this world without you.’

The characters in this duology are my favourite, each of them is unique and complex in different ways. Their relationships with each other are constantly changing. I loved how Marshall and Juliette grew closer in this book, and the banter between them always amused me. I loved seeing Marshall and Benedikt properly come to terms with how they felt for one another, whilst Benedikt believes Marshall is dead. Kathleen and Rosalind are quite complex characters and I loved exploring their individual storylines, and trying to piece together what was happening. Roma and Juliette’s relationship is, hands down, my favourite. I couldn’t stop reading as I needed to know what was going to happen. The tension was high, and the author writes it incredibly well. The romance in this book had me swooning, crying, and on the edge of my seat. My heart has been on an emotional rollercoaster whilst reading the final instalment of this duology.

‘I would rather the two of you not burn the world down each time you choose each other.’

My heart was crushed by the ending, but I would read this again and again. The emotions I felt during this book were unreal. This duology has made Chloe Gong an automatic-buy author for me, and I can’t wait to read the rest of her works!

After the events of These Violent Delights Juliette and Roma are back to opposite sides of the war. Roma despises her for killing Marshall & Juliette can never tell him the truth for fear of the repercussions, but there are bigger things at play. The monster is back, only this time it seems to be able to attack at will, containing the bugs instead of letting them run free, and both the Montagov's and Cai's are being blackmailed to ensure they aren't let loose. With tensions high Roma and Juliette are forced to work together once again to find out the identity of the blackmailer, they just have to not kill each other first. Alliances will be tested and new bonds will be forged, but it's not just the monsters that the gangs have to be wary of, and before long Roma and Juliette will have to decide how far they are willing to go to save the city they love.

Juliette, my knife wielding, danger facing, unapologetically feisty bitch... I can't tell you how much I love her. We really see her grow as a person in this book. We see her constant struggle with Roma, we know she still loves him and it broke me a little inside having to see her put on a face of indifference around him, when all she wanted to do was tell him the truth. But through it all, she does whats right, for her, for Shanghai, and for the people she loves. I'm not saying some of her decisions didn't have a hint of self-preservation, but as someone who has always had to fight for her right to be in the room, included in the conversation, whether or not she was the heir, she shows restraint where others would not.

Roma, as much as I love him, made me want to slap him multiple times in this book. Maybe it's because we had insight into Juliette's actions, knowing that she didn't really kill Marshall, and the reasoning behind why she had to fake it, but there were multiple times where she saved him, or someone close to him, and he was so blinded by rage that he couldn't see past his belief that Juliette acts for her own preservation and nothing else. His heart being ripped open has almost made him a shell of the caring and open person we saw in book one, instead he now longs for revenge, for blood and has turned into the White Flowers most efficient killer.

This story may be Juliette and Roma's but it wouldn't be the same without Gong's exquisite cast of side characters. Rosalind and Kathleen, Benedikt and Marshall, Tyler and Dimitri, they all have extremely pivotal parts to play in the story, each have their own stories to follow, their own beliefs and actions, you will love and hate them in equal measure, but you can't deny that they each stand out to you. I found myself as invested in their stories as I was Juliette and Roma's, and desperately wanted most of them (sorry Tyler and Dimitri) to get their happy endings.

Our Violent Ends may be set in 1920's Shanghai, but it has lessons and consequences that reach to the modern day. It shows the generational differences that were still seeing now. The likes of Juliette, Roma and even Kathleen saying, this is going to be our world, let us at least have a say in how you leave it to us. Juliette fights so hard to be heard, for people to understand that the Scarlet's surviving alone is not enough, they need the people to function as a gang, but the elders didn't care about that cause it didn't directly effect them. As well as this Gong really highlights the struggle of colonialism and like Juliette, I found myself getting extremely frustrated in parts. At their inability to listen, to learn and move with the times. To realise that their country is being sold off in parts, and if they worked together they had the chance to stop it. The fact that she was willing to walk away from everything and leave the gang without an heir to throw her weight behind her beliefs, for someone so bloodthirsty to fight so hard for peace means a lot.

I adored everything about this book. The pacing, the plot twists ( and boy were there some fucking big plot twists), the descriptions of the characters and places all written in Gong's lush and engrossing writing style come together to make one hell of an unforgettable read. Shakespeare fans will notice the little nods to the bard that Gong throws in, she does a fantastic job with sticking fairly close to the events of Romeo and Juliette but making sure Roma and Juliette's story is wholly it's own, and one that will certainly stick with me long after I've finished. It's a love that overcomes war and petty grievances to bring together and save a city that was being pulled apart by differing warring factions.

The TENSION between the two of them was off the charts, some of my favourite parts of this book were their interactions when they are forced to work together, Juliette falling into the role of the indifferent and no fucks given Scarlet Heir, and Roma just getting so exasperated at her actions. Parts had me cackling, parts had me heartbroken, but being able to see their relationship getting built back up, their journey from lovers to enemies to lovers has to be one of my all time favourites.

Now for the ending! As much as I want to hate the author for they way she ended the book, there was just no other way to do it. It was epic in every single way, but also a little sad, heartwarming and bittersweet. I made the grave mistake of fishing this book at work and my cry of 'fuck off' was swiftly followed by a deluge of tears that succeeded in confusing my colleagues, luckily though I buddy read this with Leah and instantly jumped on twitter to scream about what I had just read. I still can't quite get it through my head that this is a debut series. Gong has cemented her place as one of my all time favourite authors, and has ensured that I will be eagerly anticipating any of her future works.

Wow, just Wow.
Chloe Gong really outdid herself here, it was everything I wanted and more (with a touch of pure pain) but these characters all just became so much more loveable and admirable and the plot is just so. good.
I really can't say much without spoiling this but every fan of these violent delights will just adore this book! I can't wait to see what Chloe does next!

I was not ready for this book.
This book broke me in the best way possible, I was always a fun of Romeo and Juliet but this book just took it to another level.
I loved everything about it even the fact that at the end I was sobbing like a baby