These Violent Delights

A deliciously dark twist on Romeo and Juliet that feels vibrant, modern, and wholly exciting. Gong's writing brims with energy. I was swept away to her dark Shanghai from the first page and never wanted to leave! * Natasha Ngan, New York Times bestselling author of Girls of Paper and Fire *
Heady, smart, and vicious, These Violent Delights strikes every note with precision, layering romance and politics into a roaring 20s Shanghai of both monsters and monstrous imperialism * Tessa Gratton, author of The Queens of Innis Lear *
Chloe Gong's These Violent Delights plants a Shakespearean classic in the rich soil of 1920s Shanghai, allowing her characters to grow, flourish, and steal your heart while warring against their own * Joan He, author of Descendant of the Crane *
Gong ensnares readers with a delicious tale of family rivalries and forbidden love all set against the glittering backdrop of 1920s Shanghai. Don't miss this dark and beautiful retelling of Romeo and Juliet! * Emiko Jean, author of Empress of All Seasons *
Full of glitter, suspense and gore, These Violent Delights takes readers into the perilous world of 1926 Shanghai . . . Chloe Gong's debut is a terrific, deliciously unputdownable read! * June Hur, author of The Silence of Bones *
These Violent Delights combines strong characterisation, skilfully interwoven political insight and an atmospheric portrayal of a Shanghai in the throes of change * Guardian *
A lush, wholly original debut that will satiate Shakespeare aficionados and draw those seeking an engrossing, multifaceted historical fantasy * Publishers Weekly, Starred Review *
A must-read with a conclusion that will leave readers craving more * Kirkus Starred Review *
The setting's brilliant, a city split by merchant colonies and divided into gang territories, in a country itself fractured politically and on the verge of revolution * SFX *
Filled with Gong's lush prose, These Violent Delights brings 1920s Shanghai to life, along with a romance that is weighed with history * BookRiot *
Stylish and engrossing * Popsugar *
A rip-roaring, magic-tinged epic of cabarets and speakeasies, dens and divas . . . Gong's vivid Shanghai is a place to get enjoyably lost in * Financial Times *
Gong's darkly seductive YA debut transplants Romeo and Juliet to 20s Shanghai for a gripping story of rival gangs, forbidden love and a plague that threatens to tear the city asunder * The i *
The Bard would surely approve * The New York Times, Book Review *
These Violent Delights is a phenomenal book and a wonder of a debut . . . Chloe has written star-crossed lovers/lovers-to-enemies like I've never read before, and if you love yearning, then trust me: you'll love These Violent Delights * The Quiet Pond *
This is the kind of book where I sort of just want to open my mouth and let the words expressing my love tumble out with abandon . . . I truly loved everything about this book * The Elven Warrior *
More than anything, These Violent Delights is a rich portrait of a seldom-depicted time and place * NPR *
An unforgettable reimagining of Romeo and Juliet * ALA Booklist, starred review *
These Violent Delights is a superior fantasy novel; multi-layered, diverse and reflective in its themes, whilst at the same time offering up the kind of darkness, romance and emotion that leaves you yearning for more - not just more of this particular story and its endearing, complex characters - which we've already been promised - but more from Chloe Gong beyond her star-crossed lovers too * Culturefly *
Chloe Gong does expertly what all the best retellings do. She doesn't simply transpose her source material into a new setting, she engages with the spirit of the original and in doing so crafts a story that is entirely and beautifully her own . . . I cannot recommend this book strongly enough * Chaipters *
Gong's debut is not to be missed. With a dazzling setting, a mysterious series of murders, and diverse, unapologetically criminal characters, this novel ranks with the greatest YA ­retellings * School Library Journal, starred review *
Top 10 fantasy reads: 'Reinvented and better than ever' * Belfast Telegraph *