These Violent Delights, by Chloe Gong, made its New York Times bestselling debut blowing up in communities such as BookTok and Goodreads in 2020. I had been putting off reading it for a while and was skeptical when I first picked it up, but I have no regrets. I’m actually disappointed at how long I waited to read this…

These Violent Delights is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set in Shanghai in 1926. Roma Montagov and Juliette Cai are the heirs of rival gangs: the Scarletts and the White Flowers. Juliette has just arrived back in Shanghai after spending a great deal of time in America and is proud to resume her role as the heir of the Scarletts. She is determined to stay away from Roma, for they were both in love only a few short years ago – until he betrayed her. 

This book differs from the original plot of Romeo and Juliet as one could make the claim that These Violent Delights starts after a plot similar to Romeo and Juliet ended. We get the sense that Roma and Juliette’s past relationship was forbidden, complex and, like Romeo and Juliet’s, came to an end. 

However, when members of both gangs start dropping dead from horrifying circumstances, Roma and Juliette are forced to set aside their feud and work together to solve a seemingly impossible mystery – a mystery that will send both their gangs to ruin if not solved.

This book is a phenomenal retelling of Romeo and Juliet. It pulls just enough concepts from Shakespeare’s original play so that you can tell it’s a retelling, but it also adds in many original thoughts and concepts. 

It was incredibly easy for me to get sucked into the Shanghai featured in These Violent Delights. Gong’s thoughtful use of metaphorical language paints an incredible scene in your head, bringing complex and unique characters to life. It was impossible for me to put this down, for the plot was engaging, fast-paced, and the characters were easy to get attached to. 

These Violent Delights is perfect for fans of the enemies to lovers, forbidden romance, and second chance tropes. However, this book is also very gory, so if that bothers you, this book isn’t for you. 

These Violent Delights is part of a duology, so if you read this and enjoyed it, be sure to look for its sequel Our Violent Ends, and its other companion novels set in the same universe.

Whether you loved Romeo and Juliet, didn’t like it, or have never read it, These Violent Delights is a spectacular retelling whose mystery and world are easy to get immersed in.

These Violent Delights is available at EHS’s library and is also available to order.