4.5/5

For fans of: Romeo and Juliet-inspired stories, forbidden love, rival gangs, complicated enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, Shanghai, 1920s, political unrest, Communist Revolution, monsters

Synopsis: Juliette Cai, bloody heir to the Scarlet Gang that rules half of Chinese-controlled Shanghai, has returned home from four is in the U.S. Unbeknownst to her, something else has arrived at the city’s shores: a monster and a madness. The city she loves has changed with foreigners taking territory and Communism taking hearts. When death and madness affect members of her gang, her investigation leads Juliette straight to the one person she never wishes to see ever again and the cause of her broken heart: Roma, the heir of the rival White Flowers gang and her former lover.

Review: Within in the first chapter, this book lives up to its title. Blood, brutal, and heartbreaking, These Violent Delights takes you by the throat and never let’s go. Juliette Cai is a broken young woman trying to find her place in a world she thought she was going to change. Both she and Roma are not what you expect from a world of gang rule. It took a while to get into this story with unfamiliar settings and cultures, but I was never once bored or felt overwhelmed. The plot is well paced and the soft moments between characters were so heart wrenching. I am so glad I waited to read this book since now I only have to wait a few months for the sequel!