These Violent Delights

By: Chloe Gong

Narrated by: Cindy Kay

Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping New York Times best-selling debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.

In glittering Shanghai, a monster awakens....

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city in the grip of chaos. At its heart 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)2020 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critic reviews

"Heady, smart and vicious." (Tessa Gratton, author of The Queens of Innis Lear)

"Deliciously dark." (Natasha Ngan, New York Times best-selling author of Girls of Paper and Fire)

"Dark and beautiful." (Emiko Jean, author of Empress of All Seasons)

Bad narrator

Whispering is NOT changing voices, sometimes I couldn’t hear a thing…

The story overall is engaging

The setting is my favourite part!

Setting the story in this time was so interesting! I love this a bit more modern version of Romeo and Juliet!

Pleasant story

I enjoyed this book. It injects something interesting to Romeo and Juliet without reverting to silliness. The reveals are paced well, as it toys with expectation. I do wish there was a little more variation between character accents by the narrator. Overall a pleasant listen.

Very underwhelming

TLDR: inaccurate portrayals of character voices (emotions on text not matching with the emotion in the voice) and a predictable yet not very enjoyable plot (also almost no romance in a book that's supposed to be a retelling of R and J ??!!)

Long version: This applies to both the voice acting and the plot of the book. I liked the characters, liked the supporting cast but the plot didn't make much sense at one point (more below cuz spoiler). The voice acting is not bad, Cindy Kay reads well, however it made no sense that the voices for the characters 'whispered' at times when they should have been screaming

!!spoilers!!
Who the heck is Paul? Why was he even in love with Juliet?? He didn't really know her. We had like two interactions with him both exactly 2min long and then it was revealed that he was madly in love with her?? So in love he chose to save her but 10mim later tried to kill her SLOWLY. Like. Am I supposed to buy this? ALSO he is the main bad guy behind everything. Because I guess it was more convenient that way? No need to make up a new character...