These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

“She … hoped. And hope was dangerous. Hope was the most vicious evil of them all, the thing that had managed to thrive in Pandora’s box among misery, and disease, and sadness—and what could endure alongside such things with such teeth is it didn’t have ghastly claws of its own?”
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.

In my head, the Romeo and Juliet feud will always be one of gangsters. Whether the idea was implanted in my head by the Leonardo DiCaprio movie or just bloomed from common sense, I will never know. Still, I see no other logical way to explain the shoot-at-sight enmity that brewed between the Montagues and Capulets. Either way, These Violent Delights improves the Shakespeare classic wonderfully; let me count the ways.
First off, the Shanghai setting is just phenomenal. The racial and colonial tensions throughout the plot give it so many new layers. (“The British sip away on their tea and claim they invented it. Think again, fool. The Chinese were brewing tea before you even had a king.”) Not to mention that the vibrancy of Asia is just so rich, especially when compared to dull feudal European towns. I said what I said. Also, the numerous different cultures mingling in the city mean that the characters all speak so many different languages, and that gave me a lot of good vibes.
Aside from that, the monster/madness angle also brings a lot to the plot. It gives Juliette something tangible to run after. The mystery is hooking enough, but not overly complicated. It’s a real threat, but Juliette makes solutions pop out even when everyone around her is giving up.
The most irritating thing about Romeo and Juliet is just how addicted they are to each other, and how stupidly they act because of it. These Violent Delights solves all of that. We are served a story of a girl who must collaborate with her enemy in order to save her city, her family. They’ve already done the star-crossed lovers bit, and it ended terribly. They’ve moved. Juliette has the same thought process as me; she’s determined not to go down that path.
Aside from Juliette and Roma, the side characters are all developed wonderfully. Instead of being used as props for the plot, they are each fleshed out fully and given their own stories. At no point did Marshall, or Benedikt, or Kathleen, or even Alisa feel unimportant. If I had to choose, I’d say any of them were more interesting than either Juliette or Roma. Juliette is more like the narrator; we project ourselves into her shoes. And Roma is just the de facto love interest. She loves him, and we don’t question it. Both of them are insanely relatable though. (“Roma was too exhausted to argue. If all the gangsters in this city were constantly as tired as he was, the blood feud would come to a complete halt within the hour.” “There was a direct correlation between her willingness to be civil and the distance between them. With him several strides away, she wanted to commit homicide a little less.”)
Overall though, These Violent Delights provided a very clever Romeo and Juliet retelling. The plot, setting, and characters all brought something to the table, and it was a great read overall.