For some students, winter break is a time for rest. For me, it means tearing through as many books as possible before the spring semester begins and steals away my precious reading time.
One of the books on my winter break roster was “These Violent Delights” by Chloe Gong. The novel was described to me as a young adult, action-packed romance and I hoped it would start my 2026 reading on a high note. Unfortunately, “These Violent Delights” did not meet my expectations.
“These Violent Delights” is Gong’s debut novel, which takes Shakespeare’s famous tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” and gives it a new spin. Rather than the classic Italian city of Verona, the novel is set in Shanghai in 1926. This places the story at the center of a major historical moment, as Shanghai’s politics and culture rapidly shifted with the turn of the century. New political parties are rising, foreign powers are encroaching further into the city and tensions between warring gangs are reaching an all-time high.
At the heart of the novel are Juliette and Roma, two former lovers with a bitter past who stand on opposite sides of a long, bloody history between their respective gangs. When mysterious, supernatural deaths begin to pile up, the two are forced to work together to find the culprit before the monsters roaming the city destroy them all. “These Violent Delights” takes the well-known story of star-crossed lovers and weaves in political intrigue, action and fantastical elements.
The plot itself is compelling and takes what could have been a dull retelling and makes it feel new and unique. Overall, the suspense is strong, but the book struggles in a few major areas, including with its characters.
There are simply too many characters and too few are given fully fleshed-out arcs or genuinely interesting motivations. Juliette and Roma are strong protagonists and their dynamic as scorned ex-lovers is filled with tension, but most of the characters surrounding them fall flat.
This becomes an issue because, although the story centers on its main characters, the side characters receive a significant amount of page time. It feels as though Gong aimed to create a large ensemble cast, but the plot is too complex for that approach to work. Readers are already asked to track multiple narrative threads and the addition of side characters’ individual backstories and arcs feels overwhelming. As a result, characters outside of the main couple often read as background noise rather than meaningful contributors to the story.
Another major issue lies in how the novel handles its adaptation of Shakespeare’s original work. While the setting is rich and well developed, the addition of supernatural murders and intricate political scheming makes an already complex story feel oversized. The plot barely resembles “Romeo and Juliet”, particularly because Juliette and Roma already share a past and are portrayed as hardened killers rather than idealistic teenagers.
This divergence would not have bothered me as much if the book had not leaned so heavily on Shakespeare’s original language and character names. Several moments directly quote lines from the play and most characters retain their original names, or similar ones, despite the drastic change in setting and tone.
This creates confusion about the book’s identity. Is it a loose adaptation? A story borrowing Shakespearean conventions? Or a direct transposition of the original characters into a new setting? The novel appears to be attempting all three at once, which weakens its strongest moments and leaves the story feeling uncertain of what it wants to be.
Despite these flaws, the book is engaging and well-written. Gong excels at building suspense and the dynamic between Roma and Juliette is particularly strong, with sharp banter and palpable tension. I would have enjoyed the novel more if it had committed to a clearer vision of what kind of Romeo and Juliet story it wanted to tell.
I am a Shakespeare enthusiast and the adaptation issues that detracted from my experience may not bother other readers. Credit is still due. “These Violent Delights” offers a unique premise and handles its political tensions in a way that feels both satisfying and realistic.
Overall, I would recommend the book to readers willing to overlook its heavy-handed Shakespeare references in favor of a solid story featuring complex romance, high stakes and fast-paced action.