Our Violent Ends Book Review

When I first started reading Chloe Gong's first book (These Violent Delights - previous blog post with a book review on that), I did so because I wanted more Asian representation on my bookshelf, and surprisingly enough, I found myself wanting more. So when I saw her second book, a sequel to the first one that left me on a darn cliffhanger, the first thing I did was snatch it from its resting place on one of the bookshelves at a favorite bookstore in the heart of Nolita. This sequel to These Violent Delights will dazzle you with its action-packed retelling of Romeo and Juliet and the Shanghai Massacre of 1927. It's filled with mystery, political intrigue, and romance, so this one will keep you reading all the way to the end, quite literally, this is the end.

Our Violent Ends Book Summary

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.

Our Violent Ends Book Review

I read the first book not too long ago so it was pretty fresh in my mind and made the experience for this one even richer. I loved the first book already, so I felt like this one would've matched up to my expectations even more, and of course, it did. This sequel was absolutely flawless (I'm probably biased because I adored the first one so much and overlooked some smaller issues, but not all of us readers read the same, so personally, it really blew me away).

The characters were a huge part of why I loved this book. Roma and Juliette, of course, were so interesting and very different from each other. Roma is more of a lover than a fighter but has no problems with pulling the trigger when needed. Juliette is always fighting for approval as a female heir to one of the biggest gangs in Shanghai, so she tries to keep a pretty stern air about her. But I love that you see all of that change for both of the characters throughout the second book. They grow and change into the people they’re supposed to be, which I loved reading throughout the process.

I think another surprising set of characters was Marshall and Benedikt. I loved seeing their friendship grow over time and although I don’t want to spoil anything, the book definitely dives further into that for you. And I think my favorite character of all was Alisa. In the first book, there wasn’t much about her. She was more the naive younger sister who was infected by the bugs, but in this book, she grows exponentially.

Finally, the bugs aka the sci-fi element in the story were the part that drew me to the book in the first place. It felt like it took a backseat in the second book and didn’t play as big of a role as it did in the first book. My anxiety thanks Chloe Gong for that. However, I think she did a good job incorporating it into the story and making it a part of the bigger plot. I loved that the bugs formed a riff in power within Shanghai and subsequently led to the people wanting to move away from gang rule, but aside from that, I like that she kept the bugs to a minimum (because I genuinely felt my head itch after reading the first book).

Overall, I absolutely loved this ending. The story wrapped up beautifully, surprised me all the time, and really captured the tragedy of the massacre days before it happened. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better sequel.