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These Violent Delights

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These Violent Delights

By: Chloe Gong
Narrated by: Cindy Kay
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About this listen

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping New York Times best-selling debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.

In glittering Shanghai, a monster awakens....

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city in the grip of chaos. At its heart is 18-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang - a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette's first love...and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns - and grudges - aside and work together, for if they can't stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

©2020 Chloe Gong (P)2020 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Fantasy Fiction Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Heartfelt China

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Critic reviews

"Heady, smart and vicious." (Tessa Gratton, author of The Queens of Innis Lear)

"Deliciously dark." (Natasha Ngan, New York Times best-selling author of Girls of Paper and Fire)

"Dark and beautiful." (Emiko Jean, author of Empress of All Seasons)

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Most relevant  
Oh my...I am so in love with this book and these characters, but I need more! I am now so excited and so hungry for the sequel.

I Need More!

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Oh my goodness... I absolutely loved this book!

This is a fantastic twist on a well known tragic love story (Romeo and Juilette) we have two gangster families sworn enemies and always at gunpoint with one another, but within the chaos our main characters Juilette and Roma are doing their best to stop devastation take over shanghai and keep their hearts separate from the task at hand.

Dark and beautiful this book has everything from mystery and heartache, set in roaring 20s I truly felt like I was transported back in time and was experiencing everything beside these two brilliant characters.

THAT ENDING WAS... HOW DARE THAT ENDING HAPPEN.. 😂

Would I suggest reading this book... Hell Yes!!

Brilliant Adaptation

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the book is so good and nicely narrated. Would recommend for fiction lovers. really good

so good

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Was looking for something a little different, very engaging and enjoyable read. Happy to recommend.

Well narrated debut novel

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This is my first experience with a narrator who whispers throughout the whole book. Why is everybody whispering? No range of voices either. Incredibly frustrating. Saved by the story though.

Frustrating

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It is so slow to start that I really couldn't stand 2 thirds of the book but, the last third had me gripped rhe whole way through

Very slow

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Chloe Gong has a talent for enviable descriptive prose which wholly suits the bawdy hedonism of 1920s Shanghai and draws the reader in to the story. As a lover of the original "Romeo and Juliet" whilst simultaneously having little patience for stories based on the premise, I only picked this story up because it was a precursor to "Foul Lady Fortune". It didn't help that the MC names lacked a stunning degree of imagination!
That said, Ms Gong's writing is irresistible, and the story is surprisingly original in its own right, the supernatural tone just right for its far Eastern sertting. Even though she used the term "boy" to describe some of the Montagov central characters once or twice, it wasn't clear whether it was Ms Gong's intention to layer in that these were still really just kids at only around the age of 18. It coloured their every word and deed, yet they never gave themselves a break because of it. Roma barely did so when admitting acritical decision made at the age of 15...
There were also unexplained questions around the Lang sisters, particularly Kathleen, like how she managed to do what she did in the story. Maybe the next instalment will clear it up a bit? "Foul Lady Fortune" is all about Rosalind and Celia in the 1930s.
Ms Kay, on the whole, gives a quality vocal performance, creating believable male voices and accents of varying stripes. But, for some reason, she only allows the entire cast to whisper or murmur in low voices, despite then clearly narrating the writers intention of having them express emotion or change intonation (like saying LOL without actually laughing or smiling at someone's joke/antics)! It gave an emotionless, weirdly modern cast to the voices she gave them. Maybe Ms Kays American accent was a little overpowering, but I really liked that her pronunciations were very believable.
In my opinion, it's really only James Marsters of The Dresden Files (Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer) is THE Jedi Master of Vocal Performance, and no one else comes close.

Vivid and engrossing

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Interesting premise with a predictable plot. If the narrator read everything without whispering, I'd have liked the book better.
The different voices were hard to understand very often. Many climactic moments weren't narrated as such. I'm very sad for this review but truthfully, my experience with this book was poor because of the narration.

The narrator didn't meet half of my expectations.

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This book makes you hold your breath in anticipation from the get go. Everything about it is so goddamn well done that I implore everyone to read/listen to this book immediately. I loved it so much, I cannot wait for the sequel.

ABSOLUTELY INSANELY GOOD

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Amazing book?! Why I haven’t read it sooner?! I loved all the characters! Now onto the next one!!!

Amazing!

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