These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

The book is based off of Romeo and Juliet, and is set in Shanghai, China in the 1920s. The book is written in third person, so it follows multiple people, like Juliette, Roma, or even Kathleen. Juliet is the heir of the Scarlet gang and Roma is the heir of the White Roses gang. There is a blood feud that had been going on for centuries, but Roma and Juliette had fallen in love anyways, at least until Roma betrayed Juliette. Juliette was shipped off to the U.S and then comes back to China after a couple of years. The story begins there. There was a plague going on that was killing people from both gangs, and Roma and Juliette had to work together to find out what it was.

I really loved this book, because I had been reading multiple series, but since this was a stand-alone, it was much shorter. There were a lot of plot twists, and it actually made me think about who did what and why, and when I finally thought I got it right, it proved otherwise. Anyone who likes reading about gangs would love this book. I would recommend this to people who like to read young adult books because it is the perfect stand-alone. I really look up to the author, Chloe Gong, because she was only 19 when she published it, and as an aspiring author, it really is impressive.

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Reviewed by Anonymous, Grade 8

Casa Verdugo Library