Uptown Oracle Reads… These Violent Delights

These Violent Delightsby Chloe Gong

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The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

These Violent Delights is a Romeo & Juliet retelling with a twist. It shows off the conflict between their houses (or in this case, gangs) more than the original Romeo & Juliet, and gives a reason behind why they can’t be together. I liked that we’re shown a history between them too. Instead of falling instantly in love they grew up together, broke apart, and learn to come back together and help each other throughout the story. Childhood friends-to-enemies-to-lovers was a good way to build depth into the relationship, and explore the star-crossed lovers in a new light.  

Shanghai of the mid-1920s was a great backdrop to the traditional story. Gong includes many aspects which had me learning about the history and culture on top of the story she’s telling, I’ll admit there were a couple of things I had to google to check I was thinking of the right thing. I loved that we got to explore the different gang territories, and how different they feel including how different they feel for our characters too. For example, Juliet walking through the French quarter was very different to her walking around her own territory. 

Instead of being a sole romance plotline, our characters are pushed into a partnership to save both their gangs/families from a monster that is killing people. There’s clear action with a mystery to uncover, and different aspects showed off the strengths of not just Roma and Juliette, but of the many side characters who are vital to the book.

The monster itself was an interesting plot point, and it’s linked to our main characters but also the gang’s backstories too. It acts as a genuine threat too, the unease and mystery surrounding it makes you second guess yourself when reading. 

Side characters include two for each main character. First up is Benedikt and Marshall for Roma and then we have Juliette’s cousins Rosalind and Kathleen. All four of them are distinct characters with wildly different personalities and backstories. I mostly love Kathleen who is a trans woman, but not openly due to the time period apart from immediate family members. I really loved the exploration of her as a character, trying to find her place in the family and how she could help Juliette too. 

Whilst a lot of the book focuses on the romance and the monster, there’s also a theme around imperialism and how ingrained the west is within Shanghai. As the White Flowers and Scarlet Gang fight between themselves for territory, there’s an insidious force of westerners who are also taking over the city bit by bit. This creates discourse around how the gangs should come together to fight a larger problem which is taking their city, and is then paralleled within the monster plotline. 

The ending of These Violent Delights ends on a cliffhanger and makes you want to pick up the next book immediately. Overall the book has a good pace, and it draws you into the streets of Shanghai. I enjoyed the read, and I’m excited to get my hands on Our Violent Ends.

Positives of These Violent Delights

• Unique take on a Romeo & Juliet retelling
• Well written world building

Negatives of These Violent Delights

• Takes time to build our characters into the plot properly

I received These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong from the publisher. This is an unbiased and honest review

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