Daydreaming Book Lover

Book Review: Thoughts on… Our Violent Ends

  Our Violent Ends, the sequel to Chloe Gong’s debut novel, is a thrilling novel with angsty romance, beautifully written prose, and shocking twists that complete the story in a very satisfying but tragic way. This Duology is definitely one of my favorites of all time that I wish I could experience reading it for the first time again.
 
*Warning: Contains spoilers of the ending of These Violent Delights*
 
 

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Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong book cover
Shanghai is under siege in this captivating and searingly romantic sequel to These Violent Delights, which New York Times bestselling author Natasha Ngan calls “deliciously dark.”
 
The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution.
 
After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. One wrong move, and her cousin will step in to usurp her place as the Scarlet Gang’s heir. The only way to save the boy she loves from the wrath of the Scarlets is to have him want her dead for murdering his best friend in cold blood. If Juliette were actually guilty of the crime Roma believes she committed, his rejection might sting less.
 
Roma is still reeling from Marshall’s death, and his cousin Benedikt will barely speak to him. Roma knows it’s his fault 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, and though secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation if they are to end this threat once and for all. Shanghai is already at a boiling point: The Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war brew louder every day, 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.
 

Writing style

  When I thought Gong’s writing couldn’t get any better, Our Violent Ends completely exceeded my expectations! Chloe Gong’s an author I plan on automatically buying new books from now because I love her writing style that much! While These Violent Delights introduced me and established my love for Gong’s storytelling, Our Violent Ends elevated this passion to new heights.
 
  Gong’s beautiful prose describes every moment and emotion in a very cinematic way, and I was immersed in the story from the very first chapter! There are some moments that were so well written that, due to this being a retelling, I thought they might be references to Shakespeare. But I would google it and see that it was not! Which just shows how masterfully written Gong’s prose is.
 
  I love so many quotes from this novel, so much so that I plan on making a whole post just on that alone. 
 
 
Our Violent Ends Quote "Like twin statues reaching for each other, they both fell asleep at last."

Our Violent Ends Characters

  One of the things I was looking forward to most was getting to know the characters even more and Our Violent Ends defiantly delivered! After Juliette’s betrayal at the end of These Violent Delights, Roma felt betrayed and heartbroken. While Juliette deals with the consequences of her decision to sacrifice her relationship with Roma.
 
  Roma grieving over Marshall was very sad. Seeing Roma wanting revenge for killing Marshall while knowing as a reader that she has to keep the fact he’s alive and in hiding a secret made me very emotional. I also thought that Roma grappling with his complex feelings of grief and revenge conflicting with his love for Juliette was very compelling.
 
  I couldn’t help but empathize with Juliette when she was internally dealing with the pain of Roma’s resentment because it was so heartbreaking. Despite this, Juliette continued being a strong, quick-witted, and fierce heir of the Scarlet gang. She’s determined to protect the people she cares about most even if it means Roma would want her dead.
 
 
Our Violent Ends Quote At this distance between them that she had willingly manufactured, because they had been born into two families at war, and she would rather die at Roma’s hand than be the cause of his death.
  
  There isn’t too much more I think I can say about them without spoilers. But I will say that we really get to know more about our favorite side characters. They were given more depth, as characters that are just as integral to the story as the main characters, and also deserved their moments to shine. The character arcs throughout this series were very interesting and well-developed due to Gong’s skillful storytelling. But my favorite is definitely Juliette Cai, she’s a character that I appreciate and love so much.
 
 

Romance

  When reading These Violent Delights, the only thing I wished there was more of was romance. If you felt the same way then I’m glad to let you know that the romance was defiantly not lacking in Our Violent Ends.
 
  With the added romance was still tons of angst and yearning! There was so much angst in this book and I loved every page of it even when it was painfully heartbreaking. Every time Roma and Juliette were in the same room, the sexual tension was palpable. And there were scenes that were so romantic and swoon-worthy. The love story between Roma and Juliette is so well crafted and beautifully written. I ship them so hard that it hurts!
 
 
Our Violent Ends Quote “Why do you pause?" Juliette mimicked bitterly. "Because even if you hate me, Roma Montagov, I still love you.”

Plot

  If you thought that These Violent Delights was very overwhelming, then you defiantly aren’t prepared for Our Violent Ends! This book had MORE of everything I loved about the first book! More Angst! More Romance! More Sexual Tension! More Everything!
 
  While Gong started the first book with slowly setting things up, in Our Violent Ends she didn’t hold back. She jumped straight into the action! Our Violent Ends had me go through a rollercoaster of emotions from beginning to end. The stakes are higher than ever with not just more monsters and death, but also a revolution on the horizon. A civil war that will threaten the power the gangs hold within Shanghai.
 
 
Our Violent Ends Quote “Nothing in this world is complicated, only misunderstood.”
 
 
  I love how Gong wove the world and characters she created with the real-life historical events of Shanghai in 1927. She took inspiration from the classic story of Romeo and Juliet and was able to retell it in a way that was unpredictable and kept me on edge till the very last page.
 
  This dark but riveting novel is full of angst, awesome fight scenes, and shocking plot twists. The phenomenal conclusion to Roma and Juliette’s story was one of the most satisfying but painful endings I’ve ever read. There are so many feelings I have for this book that just can’t be put into words but with tons of weeping face emojis because of the EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!!! Our Violent Ends is truly a masterpiece and Chloe Gong deserves ALL the hype!
 
Our Violent Ends Quote “I will fight this war to love you, Juliette Cai. I will fight this feud to have you, because it was this feud that gave you to me, twisted as it is, and now I will take you away from it.”

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  Chloe Gong is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, double-majoring in English and International Relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, she now lives at the top of a crumbling, ivory tower in Philadelphia (also known as student housing).

 

  After devouring the entire YA section of her local library, she started writing her own novels at age 13 to keep herself entertained, and has been highly entertained ever since. Chloe has been known to mysteriously appear by chanting “Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s best plays and doesn’t deserve its slander in pop culture” into a mirror three times. Her debut novel, THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS, is being published by Margaret K. McElderry/S&S in 2020 with a sequel to follow in 2021. She is represented by the wonderful Laura Crockett at TriadaUS Literary Agency.

 

Check out Gong’s Author Website | Twitter | Goodreads

2 thoughts on “Book Review: Thoughts on… Our Violent Ends”

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