Our Violent Ends
Chloe Gong
Publication Date: November 16, 2021
★★★☆☆
In the aftermath of the events portrayed in These Violent Delights, Juliette and Roma are vehemently opposed after much bloodshed, leaving them alienated from each other under the guise of betrayal and hatred. For Juliette, this is a ruse as she works to protect Roma from the wrath of the Scarlets.
Whispers of revolution sweep through Shanghai. A monstrous threat looms over the dance halls and safe houses. Can they put aside their differences to protect their gangs and rise above in the end?
I will admit, I went into this read with much apprehension due to my thoughts and experiences with These Violent Delights. I did read with a relatively unbiased view of the events of this sequel, but many of the points that rubbed me the wrong way in the first book continued to do so here.
To save time, you can read my review of These Violent Delights HERE to get a grasp of my initial thoughts and issues.
As I've mentioned before, I am a die hard Shakespeare enthusiast. Throughout school I was actively involved in directing and creating stage plays of his work - both in a more juvenile text as well as entrepreneurial theatre ventures with our acting community. I lived and breathed his work, always keen to dig into his beautiful meter and phrase. Romeo and Juliet is the piece I worked with the most, even going as far as directing a children's version (as a child myself) and helping develop a production set in a similar time period as this book. To add to that, I was involved as a cast member in the production of the musical West Side Story by Stephen Sondheim.
I continued to have issues with the choices in names. Not many new characters were introduced in this book, so the reader resumes their adventure with the key players: Juliette, Roma, Benedikt, Kathleen and Rosalind. I will acknowledge that there seemed to be a bit more inclusion of the characters' chinese names, but this also lended to some confusion when relating to who the focus of the chapters and scenes are on.
This leads into my next point. There are a lot of players in this book. A LOT. I don't mind this at all, as it can give flavour and pretext into the motivations of the characters; however, the scene shifts typically happened mid-chapter without clear indication it was changing (ie headers or even clear paragraph/scene breaks). I found that I had to calibrate myself to what was happening before fully jumping onboard with each scene.
If you don't want spoilers, I suggest skimming or skipping the next bit...
The main antagonist in this sequel felt weak, for lack of a better term. The first book focused on the paranormal experience of an unknown monster and illness coming from the waters and orchestrated through science and cunning. Guess what? Same monster, different delivery. As soon as I read that the bugs were infesting civilians again - albeit with more control and less casualties - I nearly threw the book. It feels like a cheap recycling of climax and crisis from the first novel. That being said, Our Violent Ends touches more on the politics of the potential revolution and brings the Communist and Nationalist movements closer to the front, which added layers beyond the reusing of the paranormal/horror theme from the first book.
I also felt there were some research gaps with the speech and technology of the day. At one point, a character states they missed the thrill of a "high-octane chase". This may be just me nit-picking, but the term "high-octane" wasn't coined until the late 1930s, and this book is based in 1927. There were small instances of this
My main criticism focuses on the two biggest elements: inspiration and writing. Much of what Chloe writes is fairly easy to follow - some words or actions are either dumbed down or repeated, which, as a reader, could be distracting. Again, my biggest issue is that it felt lazy.
Yes, it is directly inspired by Romeo & Juliet. This is very apparent in the "star-crossed lovers" from opposing gangs/families; however, there were times where the scenes, actions and even words were pulled directly from the play, as well as heavy mirroring derived from West Side Story by Stephen Sondheim.
There were many examples of lazy writing, but one in particular jumped out at me. Act 2, Scene 2 in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet has Juliet perched on her balcony as she recalls interactions with Romeo. Her monologue is one of the most memorable of the entire play:
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and
I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy:
thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? It is nor hand nor foot,
nor arm nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man.
O be some other name!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name which is no part of thee Take all myself.
Around the 80% point of the book, Roma and Juliette are pledging themselves to each other in a pseudo marriage ceremony - much like the wedding scene in West Side Story. As they swear devotion, Juliette states "I will be free of my name [and] I will take yours", which is very similar to the first highlighted portion in the monologue above. In response, after a brief rebuttal, Roma responds with "A rose is a rose, even by another name", which is essentially a modern paraphrasing of the second bolded section above.
I did appreciate the inclusion of an honest and beautiful relationship between two male characters - the LGBT element is much needed and very welcome in the literary community as we continue to break down barriers. When done right - and not for the purpose of clout - it can add additional depth to both the characters and the story.
The relationships in this book were well thought out and the level of intimacy was still appropriate for younger readers; however, there is significant amounts of violence and gore that may be difficult for some to stomach.
I know this review comes across as very heavy on criticism - and I always feel bad about giving this type of review - but for the hype this series has received, and as an enthusiast of classic literature, it was very hard for me to align with the excitement after digesting the first (and now second) installation in this duology. I'm honestly not sure I'll pick up the next series she's working on - but perhaps a different story style that's not derived from a very popular and loved story will present better for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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