“The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution. Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. One wrong move, and her cousin will usurp her place as the Scarlet Gang’s heir. The only way to protect Roma, and herself, is to let the boy she loves believe she murdered his best friend in cold blood. Roma is still reeling from Marshall’s death, and his cousin Benedikt will barely speak to him. Roma blames himself for letting the ruthless Juliette back into his life, and he’s determined to set things right – even if that means killing the girl he hates and loves with equal measure. Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city. Shanghai is at boiling point: the Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war are brewing, and gangster rule faces complete annihilation. Roma and Juliette must put aside their differences to combat monsters and politics, but they aren’t prepared for the biggest threat of all: protecting their hearts from each other.”
What is the book about?
It is now 1927 and Shanghai is not only being torn apart by a blood feud between two rival gangs, but also so by an inevitable revolution. Juliette has always been a girl going down one straight path – a warpath, obliterating anything and everything that gets in her way, determined to do everything she possibly could to continue to be in her father's good gracious. This is because if she makes one wrong move her cousin will take her place as a Scarlet Gang’s games heir and she will die before she lets that happen. So now, the only way to continue down that path is to let the boy she loves believe that she murdered by one of his best friends and that she never loved him. Roma is still fuming from watching Juliette kill Marshall, but he has no one to blame but himself. It doesn't help that his cousin Benedikt is barely speaking to him and also blames him for what happened. Roma is determined to set things right, even if that means killing the girl he loves and hates equally, but that is easier said than done because, even now, he still cannot pick up a gun and shoot her. On top of all this romance and personal drama, there are five new monsters and their puppeteer is not going to stop terrorising Roma and Juliette's people. And if that was enough, Shanghai is on the brink of a revolution: the Nationalists are marching in, aiming to take over and the Communists are leading the workers to do the same. Once again, Roma and Juliette must join forces destroy their common enemy. But monsters and politics are not all that they face; they must also protect themselves from their hearts and they're undeniable feelings for each other, which no matter what they do to each other they can't seem to shake away.
What were your initial thoughts on the book?
After finishing the first book in the duology (These Violent Delights), I was left on a cliff-hanger and so I immediately wanted to grab the next book and pick up where I left off. I really wanted to find out what was going to happen next and I had no doubt that Our Violent Ends was going to be as beautifully well written as the previous book. I read the blurb and was even more intrigued and was ready to dive right in; except for the one thought that kept circling through my mind; that Our Violent Ends would end exactly like the real story of Romeo and Juliet. I was terrified to start reading, but I just couldn't leave it alone and had to pick up the book and begin. It started off really quickly, which was much better than These Violent Delights, which had been quite slow, and so soon was racing through the book reaching the dreaded ending not wanting to turn the next page, but also not being able to resist.
Who was your favourite character and why?
My favourite character has probably got to be once again Kathleen, or Celia, however you want to call her. There was a change in her in this book, which didn't surprise me at all because I knew from the very beginning of the very first book that there was something about her that wasn't quite right and that if she ever decided to leave the comforts of the Scarlet Gang, she would probably end up doing something incredible. She was so brave and smart and she wasn't afraid to stand up for the people in her city. Even though Juliette was also brave and smart and wasn't going to stand down from her cause, even if the whole world was against it, she was also stubborn and prone to running straight into danger without thinking about her safety. However, Celia was different – she would be calm and calculate a good plan before running into danger, because she was kind-hearted and didn't want to harm anyone unless it was truly necessary, including the enemy. She was probably too kind-hearted for the world she was born into, probably even for our world because we all know that the world we live in is a place where, unless you are prepared to do absolutely anything for your cause, to be ruthless, mean and dishonourable, then there is no place for you up top. However, Celia did not let that get to her and she was determined to do everything she could to make her city safe and happy again because she did not want to see anyone in pain. She was a true inspiration and it's quite disappointing that I'm never going to be able to read another story about her, unless I re-read the duology.
What was your favourite part of the book and why?
This was also an easy decision to make and I think that my favourite part of Our Violent Ends was when Roma and Juliette were at the safe house and finally had a conversation that they should have had ages before. I really enjoyed this part because it kind of made me feel like hope was not lost, and it raised my spirits a lot, because it showed me that even after everything that they had been through, Roma and Juliette never lost sight of their feelings for each other and what was most important – keeping each other, and those they loved, safe. I know it didn't change anything and the situation was still as complicated as ever, but it showed me that, even though there's little hope of them ever being able to be together without someone or something trying to kill them, they still had to try and not give up even the tiniest hope they had for a better future. The parts that followed this were a mix of happy scenes that give me hope and scenes where I just wanted to throw the book out the window and not pick it up again in the hopes that things wouldn’t get any worse than they already were. But every time things got bad, I just thought this one part and the part that I really enjoyed in These Violent Delights and they made me realise that even if things ended as I dreaded, at least, deep down, they both knew that they cared for each other and nothing was going to change that.
What was your overall impression of the book?
Overall, Our Violent Ends was an incredibly written novel, and I found that I really enjoyed reading it. One thing that I absolutely loved was the enemies to lovers romance and, to be honest, any book that includes this will probably (if it's well written) become one of my favourites. It is just so entertaining and intriguing to watch how two people can go from feeling absolute hatred for each other and then they can have such a passionate love that you don't even think that something like that could be possible. I know that technically it's all just a story, so it's not possible, but try telling a reader that a story she reads isn't possible and isn't true because to me every single book that I have read lives within me and is so real that no one could possibly make me believe that the book I read was just words on paper and not real. Another thing that I really loved was the character development of Kathleen (AKA Celia). Kathleen was my favourite character in the first book, but there was something about her that just made me think that she was going to play an important role in the next book, and I was right. I loved seeing how she finally accepted that the role that she had been playing as Kathleen was not the real her and, when she took the step into becoming her true self, then she truly became my absolute favourite character. This character development was incredibly well-written and, now that I think about it, the transition was just so well written that I barely realised she had changed until she changed her name and fit it so nicely. It wasn't directly written, but it was clearly implied, and at one point in the story she's just switched and I loved it. Our Violent Ends was a great book and, although it is sad to see the characters go, I just can't wait to see if Chloe Gong writes anything else and I will definitely be ready to pre-order it.
Which is your favourite book in the These Violent Delights series? (1 or 2)
Even after strong consideration of both books and writing a pros and cons list for each of them, I still cannot decide whether or not I like These Violent Delights or Our Violent Ends more. One thing that made Our Violent Ends stand out to me more was how it started much quicker and there wasn't even a single moment where I felt bored or like I wasn't going to enjoy it; I was hooked from the very first word that I read. In contrast, These Violent Delights was very slow to start and, at one point, I felt like there is no point in reading the book because I was going to find it boring and clearly wasn't going to enjoy it, though now I am glad I gave it a chance. One thing, however, that made me think These Violent Delights was the better book was the fact that the plot felt a lot better. There wasn't anything specifically wrong with the plot of Our Violent Ends but one thing that just made me feel like something was just not exactly how it should be was that it almost felt like the author has just come up with a bunch of different new ideas and shove them into a second book just to make the second book longer and better, whereas I actually now feel at the first book was better. There wasn't much sequel syndrome, which was really good and I do think that the author did write an incredibly amazing sequel; however so much happened in the second book that it almost overshadowed the most important parts, which to me were Roma and Juliette’s romance. One last thing that I feel both books did incredibly well was enhance the enemies to lovers romance. Absolutely loved how they didn't just go enemies to lovers in the first book they went enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers (you get the idea) throughout both books and that bouncing back and forth made the whole series so much more interesting and every time Roma and Juliette were together it was truly incredible. I don’t know which of the two books I liked the best, but, either way, this series has been an absolute delight to read and I am just sad that I still feel like I need more.
Would you recommend this book?
I would definitely recommend reading this book, but I suggest reading the first book in the duology first. It is a great read for anyone over 15 who loves some romance, adventure, action and some murder.
Summarise the book in one sentence. (Verdict)
A tragic and terrifyingly thrilling romance based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Reviewed by Jimena Gutierrez Reviriego
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