Our Violent Ends: #1 New York Times Bestseller! (These Violent Delights)

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Roma] ached with the knowledge that the softness of their youth was gone forever . . .” What is meant by this? When do you think people realize they are no longer children? Does everyone grow up at the same rate? Why or why not? What does “growing up” mean to you? Roma, on the other hand, has been hardened by the events of book one. He still thinks Juliette killed Marshall, and his rage and guilt are overwhelming. Benedikt, almost as furious with Roma as he is with Juliette, isn’t speaking to his cousin, and the schism is hurting both of them. Personally, I’d have liked to see more emphasis on the traitor storyline and less on the main characters’ relationship to the political side of things. I know not everyone will agree with me on this! But although I thought the citywide tensions helped to add texture to the plot and were interesting in abstract, I thought they overcomplicated the central story. Bringing the hunt for the spy forward in place of the more large-scale political side of things would, I think, have helped to keep the stakes more personal. I enjoyed Our Violent Ends, possibly even more than These Violent Delights

If the White Flowers were trying to get in on it too, then it had to be something big. Juliette made a note to ask for details as soon as she got home. Relax,” Juliette whispered. “What you’re about to watch came directly from its premiere in Manhattan. Quality entertainment.”It’s safer for Juliette to let Roma hate her, even if it hurts. She knows she needs to let him think the worst of her to protect him from the blood feud that consumes both their families. Our Violent Ends is the second book in the These Violent Delights series, written by Chloe Gong. It was published November 16th, 2021 by Margaret K. McElderry Books. But despite the heaviness of the plot, the characters still manage to shine through. Juliette and Roma’s star-crossed romance gets thrust even more into the spotlight in this one. Yes, even more so than in These Violent Delights! But we get to see them as more than lovers. Each of their individual chapters has a very strong voice, such that you can immediately tell who is narrating which chapter. We also get to know more about side characters: Marshall, Ben, Alisa, and of course Juliette’s formidable cousins Kathleen and Rosalind. Everything that makes a character good and relatable is so palpably present in this book.

Indeed, Roma appeared to be walking away from the merchant after a mere greeting, settling into an end seat two rows behind. This did not have to be a big deal. They did not need to engage in a confrontation. Juliette could quietly keep an eye on him from where she sat and make sure she approached the merchant first when intermission came. It was a surprise that she had even been sent after a merchant. The Scarlet Gang rarely chased after new clientele; they waited for clientele to come to them. But this merchant did not dabble in drugs like the rest of them. He had sailed into Shanghai last week carrying British technology—heavens knew what kind; her parents had not been specific in their briefing, save that it was some sort of weaponry and the Scarlet Gang wanted to acquire his inventory. Juliette was not frightened. If anything, she was only resentful—not at Roma, but at herself. At wanting to lean in even while Roma was actively trying to kill her. 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.

Better to speak none of it. Better to pretend and pretend until maybe, just maybe, there came some chance to salvage the fractured state this city had fallen into.

Juliette did not move. She must have hesitated for a fraction too long, because Roma’s expression morphed into a sneer. Juliette simply pointed. She watched as Kathleen followed the direction in which she was indicating, watched as the realization set in when they were both looking at one figure pushing his way through the crowd. Some of the characters around Roma and Juliette seemed not to be handled as well. The main one who felt off to me, particularly compared to the first book, was Rosalind. I felt like her character was all over the place, and the way she behaved towards Kathleen and Juliette was inconsistent. She seemed to be building up to some kind of conflict with them in book one, and this felt like it vanished into thin air in Our Violent Ends. The plot is a tangled, complex beastShe didn’t mean it. She knew Roma Montagov. He thought he wanted her dead, but the fact of the matter was that he never missed, and yet he had—all those bullets, embedded into the walls instead of Juliette’s head. The fact of the matter was that he had his hands around her throat and yet she could still breathe, could still inhale past the rot and the hate that his fingers tried to press into her skin. These Violent Delights ended on what felt like a big reveal. Although the immediate enemy was defeated, they had only unleashed a greater horror. The impression we were left with was that this new threat was immediately making itself known, so when Our Violent Ends started without reference to this, I was a little bemused. After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on a mission. 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.