There was a reason this book was one my most highly anticipated in 2020 and I’m so happy to say it’s lived up to the hype. As a Chinese-American reader slowly rediscovering my roots, I am in love with how unabashedly Chinese this book feels. The shameless pronunciation guide to Juliette’s last name, disguised as a flowery metaphor. The vibrancy 1920s Shanghai! The quick untranslated phrases snuck in here and there. Juliette Cai is a battle-hardened asshole and we all love her for it.
There’s no self-doubt, there’s no last minute regrets, certainly no dramatic chapter long monologues about how terrified she is of the “dark inside herself”. Gong is unapologetic with Juliette’s ruthless characterization. Juliette Cai is ruthless, blood-thirsty, and relentless with her goals and she’s willing to let the whole world know. One of my favorite character archetypes is the unabashedly “villainous” main leads and I’ve been burned more than a few times by these supposed characters in YA novels. I’ll get to how delightfully Chinese this book was in a moment, but I want to first start with how much I adore Juliette’s character. Long have I awaited for a book like this!! These Violent Delights hits almost every one of my favorite tropes and settings and six months later, I’m still in awe that such a book exists in the western publishing sphere! An unapologetically Chinese setting (1920’s Shanghai), an shamelessly “villainous” MC, and an lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers tropes: I was guaranteed to love this book! 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. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.īut when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper.
Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. 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. The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.Ī blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos.
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