This novel is incredible! It's an entirely original and utterly addictive reimagining of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, full of violence, romance - and monsters!
Juliette Cai returns from America to find Shanghai changed, but she will still risk everything to keep her people, and her city, safe. When madness takes root and there are monster sightings on the streets, she is determined to get to the bottom of what is going on, before there is no one left to save. To do so, she will have to risk her loyalty to the Scarlet gang - and her heart - by putting the blood-feud aside and combining forces with her greatest enemy - Roma Montagov. Part-mystery, part monster story, part-romance, it's impossible not to be sucked into These Violent Delights.
This is the star-crossed lovers as you have never seen them before: dripping with blood, fury and power. When Roma enters a Scarlet-controlled club and finds himself face to face with Juliette, they already have a history steeped in violence and betrayal. Gong's characters are far from naive teenagers swept up in the rush of first love. They are battle-weary and angry, and determined to see the worst in each other.
Roma and Juliette aren't the only brilliant characters to be found amongst the diverse, exciting cast of These Violent Delights. Kathleen, Rosalind, Benedikt and Marshall each had their own secrets and storylines and I loved when the novel switched to any of their perspectives.
These Violent Delights is full of fun references to the original play, as Gong plays with names and has character's quite familiar lines of poetry, but this novel never follows a set path and there are so many twists and shock reveals along the way. These Violent Delights is anything but predictable.
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