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alliearendPublisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (November 17, 2020)
Length: 464 pages
ISBN13: 9781534457690
Grades: 9 and up
Length: 464 pages
ISBN13: 9781534457690
Grades: 9 and up
Chloe Gong’s These Violent Delights (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020), which is not to be confused with Victoria Namkung’s These Violent Delights, is an auspicious YA debut that riffs off of our favorite star-crossed Shakespearean Romance. For those of you attuned to the phrasing in Gong’s title, “these violent delights” also appears as a common refrain in HBO’s Westworld. In any case, let’s let the marketing description give us some context:
“The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery. A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-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.”
Those familiar with Romeo and Juliet will have to give Gong credit for her fun transformation of Elizabethan contexts. In 1926 Shanghai, you don’t have the Capulets and the Montagues, you instead have the Chinese gang, the Scarlet Flowers, who go by the surname Cai, against the Russian gang, the White Flowers, who go by the surname Montagov(a). Unfortunately for Gong, there wasn’t going to be an Asian last name that would approximate "Capulet," but she gets an A+ for effort here.
The novel takes a bit to get off the ground, but Gong throws in some interesting generic hybridity here. It’s not just a romance; there’s also a plague storyline AND a monster storyline to keep things interesting. The complications between Juliette and Roma are exacerbated by the political and economic dynamics of the time. Shanghai is becoming a major commercial hub. The rise of Communist influence increases tensions between the two gangs. And while Juliette and Roma dance around the fact that their gangs are rivals, they must also work together to figure out the cause of the deadly outbreak of disease.
The science fictional elements of this text were the biggest surprise for me, as Gong makes this particular narrative really reverberate alongside the COVID contexts we’re living in. The scientist for the White Flowers, a man by the name of Lourens, is Gong’s analogue for Friar Laurence—who, coincidentally, I channelled in high school in a dramatic monologue for extra credit. Gong’s Lourens is trying to figure out what the deal is with the infectious disease and how it operates. As the novel moves toward the conclusion, Juliette and Roma find a way to reconcile, while also realizing that their enemy may be more complicated than they thought. Gong’s novel benefits from juggling between both Juliette’s and Roma’s points of view, giving us a more expansive sense of what each of the gangs is up against.
“The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery. A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-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.”
Those familiar with Romeo and Juliet will have to give Gong credit for her fun transformation of Elizabethan contexts. In 1926 Shanghai, you don’t have the Capulets and the Montagues, you instead have the Chinese gang, the Scarlet Flowers, who go by the surname Cai, against the Russian gang, the White Flowers, who go by the surname Montagov(a). Unfortunately for Gong, there wasn’t going to be an Asian last name that would approximate "Capulet," but she gets an A+ for effort here.
The novel takes a bit to get off the ground, but Gong throws in some interesting generic hybridity here. It’s not just a romance; there’s also a plague storyline AND a monster storyline to keep things interesting. The complications between Juliette and Roma are exacerbated by the political and economic dynamics of the time. Shanghai is becoming a major commercial hub. The rise of Communist influence increases tensions between the two gangs. And while Juliette and Roma dance around the fact that their gangs are rivals, they must also work together to figure out the cause of the deadly outbreak of disease.
The science fictional elements of this text were the biggest surprise for me, as Gong makes this particular narrative really reverberate alongside the COVID contexts we’re living in. The scientist for the White Flowers, a man by the name of Lourens, is Gong’s analogue for Friar Laurence—who, coincidentally, I channelled in high school in a dramatic monologue for extra credit. Gong’s Lourens is trying to figure out what the deal is with the infectious disease and how it operates. As the novel moves toward the conclusion, Juliette and Roma find a way to reconcile, while also realizing that their enemy may be more complicated than they thought. Gong’s novel benefits from juggling between both Juliette’s and Roma’s points of view, giving us a more expansive sense of what each of the gangs is up against.
The set up for part two is certainly tantalizing, and I know we’ll be looking to review Gong’s second installment as soon as it arrives! A fun, speculative reimagining of the Shakespearean play that goes beyond the source material in its depiction of 1920s Shanghai!
Buy the book HERE.
Review by Stephen Hong Sohn
Edited by Allie Arend
Buy the book HERE.
Review by Stephen Hong Sohn
Edited by Allie Arend
