Chloe Gong

Our Violent Ends

Aimee :)

There will be hatred. There will be war. The country will fight itself to pieces. It will starve its people, ravage its land, poison its breath.

Shanghai will fall and break and cry. But alongside everything, there has to be love-eternal, undying, enduring. Burn through vengeance and terror and warfare. Burn through everything that fuels the human heart and sears it red, burn through everything that covers the outside with hard muscle and tough sinew. Cut down deep and grab what beats beneath, and it is love that will survive after everything else has perished.

They speak of Roma Montagov and Juliette Cai as the ones who had dared to dream. And for that, in a city consumed by nightmares, they were cut down without mercy.

"In this life and the next," Roma returned, "for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours."

Juliette squeezed his hand. In that action, she tried to communicate everything she couldn't put into words, everything that didn't have a spoken form other than I love you. I love you. I love you.

When Dimitri stepped forward, when the monsters finally approached within good range, Juliette turned the spark wheel on her lighter.

And with Roma's nod, she threw the burning flame onto the bags of highly flammable vaccine.

"Even death cannot part us," she echoed fiercely.

"Juliette is dead," he whispered. "Dead by her own hand."

Tyler touched his chest, where a bloom of red was starting, flowing faster and faster. Roma took a step back, his eyes widening, searching the scene before him.

Because he had not made the illegal shot.

He was trembling with his fury. "I hate you."

 And when Juliette didn't recoil, Roma kissed her.

elle 

“Because even if you hate me, Roma Montagov, I still love you.”

📚Nerd📚

"For however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours."

Renita Peter

Not a soldier, but the beating heart of resistance

Emily McMeans

“To have and to hold, where even death cannot part us. In this life and the next, for however long our souls remain. Mine will always find yours. Those are my vows to you.”

Roma Montagov kicks a chair. “God—“ 

“—dammit," Juliette Cai finishes with a whisper, far across the city.

Emily Klo

Marshall clasped his hands around Benedikt's neck and kissed him. The moment their lips pressed together, Benedikt was hit with the same rush of a gunfight, of a high-octane chase, of the thrill that came with hiding in an alleyway when the pursuit came to an end. He hadn't ever thought much about the act of kissing, hadn't much cared no matter who was on the other end of it. He had never craved it, had only thought about it like an abstract concept, but then Marshall leaned into him and his veins lit on fire, and he realized it wasn't that he did not care. It was only that it had to be Marshall. It had always been Marshall. When Bencdikt reached up and sank his fingers into Marshall's hair and Marshall made a noise at the base of his throat, all that Benedikt could think was this was what it meant to be holy,

Dann

because ordinary things happen to ordinary pcople, and and ordinary people settle for something that satisfies them, never knowing if there would have been greater happiness in another life.

Revenge on disposable parts was not revenge at all, but cowardice. And maybe he was a coward. He was a coward who couldn't stop loving a wicked thing.

Because I cannot bear to see you hurt, even when I am the one hurting you the most. 

Julia <3

"I have loved him so long that I do not remnember him as a stranger," Juliette answered. "I loved him long before we were told to work together in spite of the hate betwcen our families. I will love him long after you tear us apart merely because you pick and choose when it is convenient to partake in the blood feud." 

"Ill say it however many times you want. I’ll romance you until you get sick of me. I am horrendously, horrendously in love with your dreadful face, and we need to go, now.”

“Because I love you!" Benedikt shouted. 

stop i kept reading this in the voice of the guy from jane the virgin

 "Juliette is dead," he whispered. “Dead by her own hand.”

 “I would rather the two of you not burn the world d down cach time you choose each other."

“No," Roma finally said. “Then we would not have met. Then I would have lived an ordinary life, pining for some great love I would never find, because ordinary things happen to ordinary people, and ordinary people settle for something that satisfies them, never knowing if there would have been greater happiness in another life." His voice was rough, but it was certain. “I will fight this war to love you, Juliette Cai. I will fight this feud to have you, because it was this feud that gave you to me, twisted as it is, and now I will take you away from it.”

"For crying out loud," she said darkly, shaking his grip loose so that his fingers entwined with hers instead, blood mixing on skin. pulling him away from the mouth of the alley. “You are so dramatic." 

Shanghai is under siege in this captivating and searingly romantic sequel to These Violent Delights, which New York Times bestselling author Natasha Ngan calls “deliciously dark.” The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution. After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. 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. Roma is still reeling from Marshall’s death, and his cousin Benedikt will barely speak to him. Roma knows it’s his fault for letting the ruthless Juliette back into his life, and he’s determined to set things right—even if that means killing the girl he hates and loves with equal measure. Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city, and though secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation if they are to end this threat once and for all. Shanghai is already at a boiling point: The Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war brew louder every day, and gangster rule faces complete annihilation. Roma and Juliette must put aside their differences to combat monsters and politics, but they aren’t prepared for the biggest threat of all: protecting their hearts from each other.

My favorite Romeo and Juliet retelling. I wasn't sure how I felt about this book at first, but the ending had me in tears. 

I did not expect it to be this good honestly. The first book was phenomenal and i thought the second one would let me down but Chloe did it again. I considered lowering the rating to 4.5 ⭐ but i just couldn't. It was a bit slow paced for my liking and i could definitely predict who Rosalind's lover is. Even though i knew how Romeo and Juliet ends, I hoped Roma and Juliette would not die. I guess we'll never know. The writing is beautiful, the story interesting and i think that every side character was there for a reason. I couldn't help falling in love with Marshall and Benedikt and Alisa. If you like politics, Romeo and Juliet and stories about gangs, definitely give this one a go. 100% would recommend 

And they all lived happily ever after and no one died. The end. 

amelia <3

Kiran Aftab

3.5/5: most of this felt like a fever dream

kelsey

** spoiler alert **
           *3.5 stars 

tbh i’m just glad that benmars made it out alive

I did find this book to be very interesting at the start however it got even more boring during the rest. However, i was still able to enjoy the story and the characters relationships, don’t get me wrong there were parts that got me excited again but the plot wasn’t that interesting. I loved the characters, however i still don’t find myself liking the ones i disliked in the very first book. The ending, oh my god, it was so good. This book was so emotional and had me in tears.

i know this is a romeo and Juliet retelling, so when they died at the end of the book i was praying it wasn’t true and they would suddenly pop up, i honestly cried. I needed to know so bad they were alive that i googled it, and i’m so relieved in what i found to be the answer.

I did find this book to be very interesting at the start however it got even more boring during the rest. However, i was still able to enjoy the story and the characters relationships, don’t get me wrong there were parts that got me excited again but the plot wasn’t that interesting. I loved the characters, however i still don’t find myself liking the ones i disliked in the very first book. The ending, oh my god, it was so good. This book was so emotional and had me in tears.

spoilers 

i know this is a romeo and Juliet retelling, so when they died at the end of the book i was praying it wasn’t true and they would suddenly pop up, i honestly cried. I needed to know so bad they were alive that i googled it, and i’m so relieved in what i found to be the answer.

 no spoilers

Ellie M.

If I could give a book an oscar, this would be it. definitely a masterpiece in every angle, from the the build up of the plot, the storytelling (gosh i could perfectly picture everything it was soooo good!!!), the writing of the morally-grey characters we all love, the world-building, and the politics. chloe NEVER missed. this was perfection in every page. it hit every emotion i could ever feel. i laughed (hey, people who commit murder and crave violence can be funny too!!😎), the kilig ??? YES, because the romance was too fucking good 😭🦋✨ (lovers to enemies??? idiots/bestfriends to lovers?? AND THE SLOWBURN MAN WHAT THE FUCK). i got scared, i screamed, i threw the book in frustration (many times, i might add) and i cried too, soooo much, because i honestly didn’t know what i expected here. a happy ending for everyone, perhaps? a romeo and juliette retelling was never going to end well and i knew that. but i’ve had time to think, and i don’t know who shakespeare is, because this was sooo much better 🥹 it surpasses the classic we all know, and i never thought a book could be written in a way you’d understand how beautiful yet a wicked, deadly thing love is. i am dead inside, not mad, but utterly devastated. i am still grieving, and probably always will cry for these two people who fell in love in the wrong lifetime. they deserved all the time in the world, and if the multiverse exists, there’s a version of romajuliette where they weren’t divided by a city that thrives in bloodshed. now, i don’t think i’ll recover from this anguish, but i’ve attached myself to this world, and i keep this wonderful story to my heart. but chloe gong, i suggest sleeping with one eye open because you need to pay for all the emotional damages you caused.

Helena Herruzo

ghost girl in satin

I'm so disappointed??? 
Roma and Juliette's story was incredibly boring. I don't care about the will-they-won't-they dynamic, and themselves felt so clichés I wanted to slap them in the face and tell them to stop being so freaking melodramatic aaargh.
Where were the monsters and the action? 
The one star is for Kathleen, Marshall and Benedikt. 
I really wanted to appreciate that book since I enjoyed the first one but... this is life.

Megan

I really really wanted to like this book, but ultimately it left me unsatisfied. The conflict is all over the place and Gong head hops so much that the characters feel super underdeveloped. I honestly don’t care that much about Roma and Juliette’s romance because of how much they’re both lacking personality or depth. They make more stupid decisions in this book, and I was honestly excited for it to be over so I could read something else. There were some redeeming qualities, but overall, Our Violent Ends was too messy for me.

Hannah Bauer

This sequel was pretty long and has a lot more politics, but I still very much enjoyed the relationships between the characters. I am still processing the ending, but when one reads a Romeo and Juliet retelling, can one really complain? Anyways I AM A MARSHALL AND BENEDIKT STAN

river

this ending is only canon to those who lack imagination

Isabella 

Pain. All I know is pain. I couldn't stop reading this book; I finished it in one sitting. This book is amazing. I didn't enjoy These Violent Delights that much, but this book pulled through. SO BEAUTIFUL. The plot kept me on my toes, and the changes Chloe did was fitted so well. I love everything about it. I love the characters so much. The grip Roma, Juliette, Ben, Marshall, and Alisa has on me is so strong. I need time to heal. What a way to end this year. Definitely one of my favorite books this year. Chloe Gong, you need to pay for my therapy sessions. I am emotionally unstable.

i read these violent delights almost exactly a year ago and despite loving it, i was too scared to read the sequel as i am aware of what this series was inspired by. feeling very brave for finishing it now and i will be sobbing for the next 500 business days thank you very much

With a book's worth of build up there's a palpable history and everything LANDS. The history, politics, and most of all the driving force of daring to love and to hope in the midst of a world determined to cling to its violence--exquisite.

The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution. 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. Roma is still reeling from Marshall's death, and his cousin Benedikt will barely speak to him. Roma knows it's his fault for letting the ruthless Juliette back into his life, and he's determined to set things right--even if that means killing the girl he hates and loves with equal measure. Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city, and though secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma's cooperation if they are to end this threat once and for all. Shanghai is already at a boiling point: The Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war brew louder every day, and gangster rule faces complete annihilation. Roma and Juliette must put aside their differences to combat monsters and politics, but they aren't prepared for the biggest threat of all: protecting their hearts from each other.

Such an exhilarating end to Gong’s duology. I loved that the political climate was based on real life history. 

Alexandria New

“It was this city, divided by names and colors and turfs, but somehow bleeding the exact same shade of violence.”
--------------------
A story of hate and love, loyalty and rebellion, hope and betrayal, set to the background of the dark, alluring Shanghai of the 1920s, teeming with danger and opulence.
A city and a story that is so beautiful and so messy that it is difficult to look away from.

I had missed the rich, decadent writing style of Chloe Gong.

The second and final book of the series, Our Violent Ends is written with such delicacy that it balances just the right amount of winks to the original text and a fresh breath of original twists to the story, creating the prefect mix of retelling, historical fiction, and fantasy. 

I can honestly say that it is one of the best retellings of a classic I have ever read. I am impressed above and beyond any of my expectations. Much recommended.

“But alongside everything, there has to be love – eternal, undying, enduring. Burn through vengeance and terror and warfare. Burn through everything that fuels the human heart and sears it red, burn through everything that covers the outside with hard muscle and tough sinew. Cut down deep and grab what beats beneath, and it is love that will survive after everything else has perished.”

Sheryl

4 stars

AKSJKSA I DON'T KNOW HOW TO REVIEW IT. I'll say that I enjoy the story so much, I couldn't put the book down because it was just so gripping!! I adore the characters sm. 

And I live for benmars moments 😼. Also I think romajuliette is so dramatically romantic to each other it really fits the original romeo & juliet (but better)

like, every time romajuliette have some romantic moments or smth I'd either:

*squeal*

or

 *roll eyes* "That's so dramatic." "I love it."

so yeah. just a thought. 

to clarify further i love romajuliette and...the ending...yeah I refuse to believe that.

Tatiana

RTC - first book I’ve finished in a LONG TIME!! Such a fantastic conclusion to the Duology and I’m excited for what’s next!

thank you, romajuliette, for the mental illness.

nina 

I'm very interested to see where this spin off goes.

Wawa

Got me bawling my eyes out. Don’t ask me anything about this book, just read it.

Our Violent Ends

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