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A review by vinireadsbooks
Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
5.0
“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.”
(to quote taylor swift: “screaming, crying”)
Our Violent Ends picks up a few months after the end of These Violent Delights. The rival gangs of the Scarlet Gang and White Flowers are locked in a fight to the death, with the blood feud even stronger than ever.
(Tried my best to keep this review spoiler-free for both this book and These Violent Delights)
I've only recently read These Violent Delights, and I fell in love with it. It's probably one of my favorite reads of the year (I still have to figure out my list), and it's one of the best YA fantasies I've read all year.
This series is a Romeo & Juliet retelling, so going into it, you already know that it's probably not going to end well for anyone, and because of that, I've been so nervous to read this finale.
I've said this in my review of the first one, and I will say it again, this is one of the best retellings I've ever read. Chloe Gong takes the original story beats of R&J, but they never unfold in a way that you expect. It honors the source material without being a copy-paste recreation of the story.
The characters continue to be one of my favorite aspects of this story. Juliette Cai is now one of my favorite YA protagonists. She is compassionate but at the same time ruthless, which is what makes her so complex and intriguing to read about.
But in this book, I feel like the side characters all get to shine a lot more than in the first one. Every single one of them gets some amazing character development.
I only wanted more scenes between Marshall and Benedikt because I LOVE THEM!!!
And the ending? Being super vague, I think it's not going to be for everyone, but I really loved it! I had a feeling where it was going to go by the halfway point, and I was right, but I feel like it makes a lot of sense to this story.
Also!! I found out that there's going to be a spin-off duology (called Foul Lady Fortune) with espionage and fake marriage, and the ending of this book makes it pretty clear who is going to be the main character of this next series. I really didn't expect it, but I'm excited!!
(to quote taylor swift: “screaming, crying”)
Our Violent Ends picks up a few months after the end of These Violent Delights. The rival gangs of the Scarlet Gang and White Flowers are locked in a fight to the death, with the blood feud even stronger than ever.
(Tried my best to keep this review spoiler-free for both this book and These Violent Delights)
I've only recently read These Violent Delights, and I fell in love with it. It's probably one of my favorite reads of the year (I still have to figure out my list), and it's one of the best YA fantasies I've read all year.
This series is a Romeo & Juliet retelling, so going into it, you already know that it's probably not going to end well for anyone, and because of that, I've been so nervous to read this finale.
I've said this in my review of the first one, and I will say it again, this is one of the best retellings I've ever read. Chloe Gong takes the original story beats of R&J, but they never unfold in a way that you expect. It honors the source material without being a copy-paste recreation of the story.
The characters continue to be one of my favorite aspects of this story. Juliette Cai is now one of my favorite YA protagonists. She is compassionate but at the same time ruthless, which is what makes her so complex and intriguing to read about.
But in this book, I feel like the side characters all get to shine a lot more than in the first one. Every single one of them gets some amazing character development.
I only wanted more scenes between Marshall and Benedikt because I LOVE THEM!!!
And the ending? Being super vague, I think it's not going to be for everyone, but I really loved it! I had a feeling where it was going to go by the halfway point, and I was right, but I feel like it makes a lot of sense to this story.
Also!! I found out that there's going to be a spin-off duology (called Foul Lady Fortune) with espionage and fake marriage, and the ending of this book makes it pretty clear who is going to be the main character of this next series. I really didn't expect it, but I'm excited!!