Title: These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights #1)
Author: Chloe Gong
ISBN: 978-1534457690
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Copyright Date: 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Format: Novel
Reading Level/Interest Level: Grades 9-12, Lexile - 890
Awards or Honors:
BuzzFeed Best Young Adult Book (2020)
Plot Summary
Shanghai, 1926. Rival gangs the White Flowers and the Scarlets run the streets and Scarlet heir Juliette Cai has just returned from America, ready to take up her role. Upon her return, Juliette is faced with the White Flower heir and her former lover, Roma Montagov, who she parted with after a heartbreaking betrayal four years ago. Still bitter over his betrayal, Juliette wants nothing to do with Roma, but he arrives with information to share. Gangsters from both sides of the blood feud are unexplainably tearing their throats out in horrific acts of violence, and no one can figure out why.
Tasked with investigating these horrific deaths by the respective heads of their gangs, Juliette and Roma begrudgingly team up to figure out how this madness is being spread and why citizens are killing themselves. Whispers of a monster and a contagious illness start to spread around the city, and Juliette and Roma must work together to figure out who, or what is behind it before their city collapses.
Author Background
A voracious reader of YA novels herself, Chloe Gong has taken up the young adult mantle with her novel These Violent Delights and its sequel, Our Violent Ends. With a double major in English and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, Shanghai-born and New Zealand-raised Chloe has a unique voice with a story to tell. She has many books in the works, including a These Violent Delights spin-off as well as two additional book series forthcoming in the next two years (Gong, n.d.).
Critical Evaluation
I absolutely devoured this book. From the fashion to the setting and scenic historical context, I was fully immersed in the story. Juliette is iconic and fierce, something I love in a YA-heroine. There was particular attention paid to her appearance, down to the gelled finger waves in her hair, which made the story come to life that much more. Roma was the perfect counterpart to the heroine, kind of lovable in a “looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll” way. The plot was intricate and told extremely well, with seeds planted throughout the novel with some that came to fruition and others that were being saved for the sequel. With such a great pair of strong, lovable lead characters, I think teens will be infatuated with this retelling of Romeo & Juliet. At the core of this novel is the theme of responsibility and what the main characters will do to protect their families, friends, and their cities. Though that responsibility may be more dramatic than your average teen will face, I think they will still rally behind these characters and certainly relate to their situations.
I will say that the beginning of the novel was a bit slow with all the gang minutiae, but I did appreciate it more as the characters were introduced, so this element ended up elevating the stakes quite a bit. There was a monster plotline that felt kind of random and got no explanation, which I assume is going to be in the sequel. There were also quite a few mixed-genre aspects between fantasy, historical fiction, and some bits of thriller toward the end that left me a little confused about where the author was going with the story. I didn’t fall in love with most of the side characters (I had trouble distinguishing Marshall and Benedikt through a lot of the novel), but Kathleen was definitely the exception to this. The author utilized words in Russian and Chinese, which gave a great effect of showing these two cultures, but I felt she could have provided more translations because I found myself spending a lot of time on Google translate.
Creative Use for a Library Program
With loans from a local thrift store, host a 1920’s themed fashion show - bringing your own costume is encouraged!
Speed-Round Book Talk
Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet (if our star-crossed lovers hated each other) meets a Shanghai Gangs of New York in this fast-paced novel from Chloe Gong. Gang rivalries, 1920s flappers, and a mysterious monster that is killing people in the most horrific way will keep you riveted from the first page. This historical masterpiece is a can’t miss for readers with a love for Shakespeare reimaginings and a penchant for the 1920s.
Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation
There was a lot of violence in this book, particularly gun violence. I would definitely recommend this book to older teens who are more capable of separating fiction from real life. My response to any concerns about these issues is that this book is a period piece and rather fantastical in content, so I think level-headed teens would understand that the actions of the characters in these books are not something that should be replicated in reality.
Reason for Inclusion
I chose this title for its cultural representation, amazing storytelling, rich world-building, and themes of responsibility and risking it all for love. This book is a great historical fiction piece that is based on Eastern culture and I felt like the author set the bar extremely high for this genre.
References
Darkerstar. (n.d.). Juliette Cai from These Violent Delights. “The stars incline us, they do not bind us.” [Image]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJBmtDisSAO/
Gong, C. (n.d.). About. Chloe Gong. https://thechloegong.com/
Gong, C. (2020). These violent delights [Cover Image]. Margaret K. McElderry Books. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/These-Violent-Delights-Chloe-Gong/dp/1534457690/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1647817056&sr=8-1
Oliveira, G. (2021, May 2). [Review] these violent delights - Chloe Gong [Image]. Dei Um Jeito.
Popova, R. (n.d.). Loyalty plays its dirty hand too [Image]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/350928995975575134/
Raman, A. (n.d.). Juliette and Roma [Image]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/350928995975610087/
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