These Violent Delights

These Violent Delights Series, Book 1

By: Chloe Gong

Narrated by: Cindy Kay

Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is 18-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. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette's first love...and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. 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.

©2020 Chloe Gong (P)2021 Tantor

why does this narrator whisper the whole book?

it's kind of annoying. It story and writing are great though. can't wait it read the second one.

TERRIBLE Narration

This story has potential to be a captivating audiobook but the narrator ruined it. She makes everything sound whispered and completely ignored queues to how things should be read (such as whispering a line that the book says was shouted). Almost every line of dialog is read in a quiet, unemotional, aloof manner that prevents the listener from getting invested in the characters and story. I might not even finish this.

Fantastic Story

I enjoyed this book and the performance so much. The ser up for book 2 is well done.

Thrilling Romeo and Juliet Retelling

I tried to go into this book with no expectations despite the buzz I had heard around it. Now I understand the hype — These Violent Delights deserve every bit of praise it gets
I hate that I have to wait so long for the next book.

The narrator did a great job distinguishing each characters voice from the others so multiple perspectives or people speaking never got confusing

I LOVE this book

Just finished TVD and it is honestly one of my favorite stories, the voice acting was immersive, the story, setting, characters were all well done. I cannot wait for the next book!!!!

Great story, but the delivery leaves something to be desired

I’m a big fan of Chloe’s work, so I have no complaints about the story itself. I don’t hate the narrator’s voice, it’s actually quite pleasant and calming to listen to. But my problem with it is that her tone didn’t change along with the energy or emotion of the scene, and there were several pieces of the book (specifically in the dialogue) where she was just whispering the entire time, and at a time where the characters themselves were not whispering.

Pretty Okay

Now, I'm not always a fan of shakespeare retellings. But I love Alternate History retellings, so this had me curious from the beginning. My biggest complaint was the amount of whispering the narrator did. The story itself was great! I was fascinated and wanted to know more about what was going on. Again, the only complaint I really have is with the narrator. But I'm kinda picky when it comes to narrators.

Narrator kinda ruined it

The story was good, but started pretty slow before I figured out what the actual point of the story was. The narrator made it incredibly hard to finish the audio book. Her tone and inflection rarely matched the reading and she often whispered. Most male voice came across as seductive whispering and it made Roma unlikeable for most of the story.

One or my favorite books of all time.

I am reeling. it's been a day since I finished the book and I can't stop thinking about it. I am going to go crazy waiting until November.

Ending Wasn't Great

The first half of the book was totally engaging, but towards the end and the actual ending itself just drag, drag draaaaags. It just keeps going after way too many "twist" reveals. Overall I began to like the monster/sickness plot less and less - it started to feel awkward and unnecessary. A 1920s retelling of Romeo and Juliet in Shanghai is good enough, the monster mystery and secret twist villain just seemed so unneeded. I put the book down and weeks later it occurred to me that I didn't read the last two chapters - oops. I just lost interest.
The characters themselves are great, so is the setting, but the mystery and ending just unravel all that hard work.
Audiobook narrator is excellent for most voices! I love how soothing and Noir she sounds, except when characters are shouting - for some reason, she refuses to raise her voice and still speaks calmly... even during tense scenes. Very odd.