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. This book ruined me for all others. I'm just living in a reading slump now, thinking about Roma and Juliette and the promises book 2 holds. Seriously. I need book 2 right now. These Violent Delights was one of the most talked-about books of 2020, and I'm pleased to say it more than lives up to the hype. There is no novel more deserving of praise, and I'm putting Chloe Gong on my auto-buy list now. Everything was so vivid--I don't want to say lifelike, because the book honestly did feel like art more than anything else. Each sentence was carefully crafted, and Gong is smart about how she uses narrative parallels to draw up the Romeo & Juliet story without making TVD feel derivative. This book sparks of originality (and sparks of romance, but we'll get to that point later). I relished in the lush environment of 1920s Shanghai, replete with warring factions and lit-up nightclubs. Finally, the bulk of this review. *deep breath in* Let's talk about Juliette and Roma!! My knife-wielding, gun-toting, enemy-killing-wait-no-enemy-loving??? children. I AM IN LOVE WITH THEM. 10/10 would stab someone for Juliette, I have such loyalty to her character even after just one book. This is what we like to see! The enemies-to-childhood-friends-to-enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies dynamic is really strong here. Gong does an excellent job of creating stakes for her characters and getting readers to invest in their goals. This is helped by the fact that Roma and Juliette are mortal enemies who have to work together to save their city: they end up on the same side in a believable fashion but Gong doesn't let that stop them from torturing each other emotionally, with things left unsaid. R&J has an important supporting cast, as does TVD. I especially loved Juliette's cousin, Kathleen, and Roma's fellow White Flower, Marshall. Most of the cast is tied to the gangs, so we get a little bit of that enmity elsewhere from our main pair, a nice thematic consistency. If they're not in the sequel I will riot. Honorable mention to Tyler Cai for being possibly the most irritating minor villain I've ever encountered. In the play, Romeo kills Tybalt, so hope springs eternal for my innermost desire. Important mention: TVD is also sort of a mystery? There's a mysterious plague infecting Shanghai, and Roma and Juliette are on the case. I loved the way this was handled. The city became as much a character as any of the people. We get to know the different factions that fight for control over the citizens, and the history of modernization and opposing Western imperialism that reveal Gong's deep commitment to research and realism even in a fantasy book. Her dedication is crystal clear. I loved how Shanghai's culture was woven into the story without bonking readers over the head: I hate when authors of color are forced to turn their stories into textbooks to educate white readers, so grateful that didn't happen here. It honestly makes for a better reading experience. The ENDING. I tell you I have never wanted more to throw a book (except when I read Empire of Storms and actually did throw the book). Just... give me the sequel right now. Give it to me early. Our Violent Ends is going to be the book I long for all year, and then in December I'm absolutely going to stay up the whole night reading it and cry when the series is over. Of course I'll do that, because I can't help but fall in love with these characters and this setting from the very first page. I want to give These Violent Delights alllll of the stars, but I'm limited by availability, so I'll just say: 5/5. Buy this book. I've had my eye on this one since the deal announcement, and I was so sad that The Valley and the Flood was pushed to February because that meant I couldn't get my hands on it sooner. Fortunately for me, February will be here soon enough and I cannot wait for my copy to come in the mail. Out February 23rd from Razorbill. Rose Colter is almost home, but she can't go back there yet. When her car breaks down in the Nevada desert, the silence of the night is broken by a radio broadcast of a voicemail message from her best friend, Gaby. A message Rose has listened to countless times over the past year. The last one Gaby left before she died. So Rose follows the lights from the closest radio tower to Lotus Valley, a small town where prophets are a dime a dozen, secrets lurk in every shadow, and the diner pie is legendary. And according to Cassie Cyrene, the town's third most accurate prophet, they've been waiting for her. Because Rose's arrival is part of a looming prophecy, one that says a flood will destroy Lotus Valley in just three days' time. Rose believes if the prophecy comes true then it will confirm her worst fear--the PTSD she was diagnosed with after Gaby's death has changed her in ways she can't face. So with help from new friends, Rose sets out to stop the flood, but her connection to it, and to this strange little town, runs deeper than she could've imagined. My Owlcrate came yesterday! I love subscription boxes because I can skip books I'm not interested in and acquire the ones I am, along with a fun set of goodies. Yesterday's January box was incredible, and I'm so happy with all of it. I actually have a review coming up for the book, but don't worry, I won't spoil the box for you. When the middle of February rolls around and I can post a full unboxing, I'll do a little item analysis. I'm not sure if Owlcrate is going to have overstock for this box, but if they do, I'd highly recommend snagging one!
In case you missed it on my Instagram stories, I've also been doing a fair bit of cooking lately! I usually do fresh fruit and a simple lunch, but on Friday I made myself pasta, and on Saturday there were homemade dumplings! Not so bad for a newbie to the kitchen such as myself, eh? I'm not afraid to cook, but I do have a perfectionist streak that doesn't lend well to frequent failure, something that can happen very fast when cooking. This is one of the book community's hottest 2021 releases, so of course I have to name Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo as one of my to-read books of the year! Hitting just before the Netflix Grishaverse show (*cue incessant screaming*) it concludes the King of Scars duology centering Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina. Out March 30th from Imprint. The wolves are circling and a young king will face his greatest challenge in the explosive finale of the instant #1 New York Times-bestselling King of Scars Duology. The Demon King. As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king's gift for the impossible. The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost. The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart. King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall. Next up on my release radar is The Knockout! One of the first South Asian releases of this year, I'm so excited to read this story (and in fact I've just preordered it!) so I hope you'll all give it a chance as well. Out January 26th from Flux Publishing. A rising star in Muay Thai figures out what (and who) is worth fighting for in this #ownvoices YA debut full of heart. If seventeen-year-old Kareena Thakkar is going to alienate herself from the entire Indian community, she might as well do it gloriously. She’s landed the chance of a lifetime, an invitation to the US Muay Thai Open, which could lead to a spot on the first-ever Olympic team. If only her sport wasn’t seen as something too rough for girls, something she’s afraid to share with anyone outside of her family. Despite pleasing her parents, exceling at school, and making plans to get her family out of debt, Kareena’s never felt quite Indian enough, and her training is only making it worse. Which is inconvenient, since she’s starting to fall for Amit Patel, who just might be the world’s most perfect Indian. Admitting her feelings for Amit will cost Kareena more than just her pride–she’ll have to face his parents’ disapproval, battle her own insecurities, and remain focused for the big fight. Kareena’s bid for the Olympics could very well make history–if she has the courage to go for it. You may have noticed my new feature, 2021 Release Radar... interested in the blogger secrets behind that series? Read on! This year, I'm determined to stay on top of new releases by doing what I do best... data! I've compiled a spreadsheet of all my anticipated books of 2021 and I'm ready to share it with you. This list has been assembled through a couple of methods: first, subscribing to Publishers Weekly's Kids Bookshelf newsletter, where they post deal reports months or years in advance for newly acquired books. This allows me to track upcoming books and know what I should be watching for in coming years, although this is the first year I can do so with any accuracy, having only been a subscriber since late 2019. Secondly, the Goodreads YA Releases of "____" Month lists are, if not entirely accurate, fairly complete repositories of upcoming releases. I'm also considering scouring Edelweiss listings and publisher's catalogs for some of the fall months, which are looking a little sparse elsewhere. As for my data categories, I've attached a photo of my headers, but I'll describe them in more detail below. Title, author name, publisher, and release date are all for convenience. I typically sort my list in chronological order by date, but occasionally if I want to know which titles I plan on requesting, I'll make use of the filter system I have set up. Google Sheets allows me to create views of the sheet that filter by publisher, so I can see them individually.
Then, I have some variable categories. Each book gets assigned to one of these, and the Total in column K assures me that I've categorized them all. As of right now, I see there's two books I haven't sorted. To Buy, Library, and Book Box let me know how I'm going to read. Certain authors are on my autobuy list, some books I want to try before committing to, and some have been chosen as Owlcrate books--the only book box I subscribe to. All ARCs automatically get listed as Library, even if the author would usually be on my auto-buy list, because I want to ensure I review the book before buying it. Have ARC and To Request are blog-oriented categories that don't have any bearing on the Total, and so aren't part of that cell's function. Briefly: the colors in column 1 help me know which month a release is. I like to use alternating highlights to help me read digitally, so I can't code the whole row by month, but having the little color boxes help me differentiate between the end of one month and the start of another when all the titles start to run together. I read around 150 books in 2020, so I'm sure you've noticed that I'm definitely not going to make it through this whole list in 2021. I do aspire to try most of it, but of course I also prioritize backlist reads, so we'll see how I do. Hopefully this spreadsheet helps me keep track of this year's blog features and new reads, even if I don't make it through the whole list. I'll spare you my entire set of books to watch, but again, I'll attach a few photos if you want to see how the filters work. Furthermore, any current newsletter subscribers will receive a free copy of this sheet (as well as my Shelf Index, for tracking the books you own) in my next monthly newsletter! If you're interested in subscribing, go ahead and reload this blog in a new tab, or email me at [email protected] with the subject line "newsletter." Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoy this Blogging Mechanics post! On Inauguration Day 2021, here's a queer book about elections! I'm super hyped for this release, and I already know I'll be ordering my copy ASAP. Watch out for it on my upcoming rec list of the hottest queer books of 2021 as soon as I've assembled that. Out June 1st from Katherine Tegen. Red, White, & Royal Blue meets The West Wing in Jasper Sanchez’s electric and insightful #ownvoices YA debut, chronicling a transmasculine student’s foray into a no-holds-barred student body president election against the wishes of his politician father. Optics can make or break an election. Everything Mark knows about politics, he learned from his father, the Congressman who still pretends he has a daughter and not a son. Mark has promised to keep his past hidden and pretend to be the cis guy everyone assumes he is. But when he sees a manipulatively charming candidate for student body president inflame dangerous rhetoric, Mark risks his low profile to become a political challenger. The problem? No one really knows Mark. He didn’t grow up in this town, and his few friends are all nerds. Still, thanks to Scandal and The West Wing, they know where to start: from campaign stops to voter polling to a fashion makeover. Soon Mark feels emboldened to engage with voters—and even start a new romance. But with an investigative journalist digging into his past, a father trying to silence him, and the bully frontrunner standing in his way, Mark will have to decide which matters most: perception or truth, when both are just as dangerous. President Joe Biden's inauguration is tomorrow, and that is basically all I can think about right now. I proudly voted for him back in November, and I can't wait for truth, empathy, and ethics to have a place in our government again. I love my country, but I see ways we need to change, and I know he and Vice President Kamala Harris (so excited to have our first female, Black & Asian-American VP by the way) will put their best efforts towards that work every day. And if they don't... we know how to protest. The world is watching us. Let us never have another fascist in office again. Let us rise above white nationalism and domestic terrorism and become inclusive, reasonable, and kind. Now, that had nothing to do with either books or my life, but I wanted to get political on here just so you know that I stand up for my values (and that I have values in the first place).
The other thing on my mind is finals season. I'm so tired. The first week of January, I read so many books! These past couple of weeks, from the 11th to now... not so much. I'm working through an ARC I've received for a blog tour, Hot British Boyfriend by Kristy Boyce, so check back in early February for that review and extra content. Otherwise, mostly studying and preparing presentations. I'm going to read and review a bunch of books over my upcoming academic break (saying it here to manifest this reality for myself) so that I can raise my Netgalley ratio and scream about some amazing 2020/2021 reads. Happy Tuesday, everyone! I was lucky enough to score an ARC of The Project and it's one of my most anticipated reads! I love mysteries, so this cult YA from Sadie phenomenon Courtney Summers will surely be up my alley. Out February 2nd from Wednesday Books. Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died, Lo's sister, Bea, joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their great aunt. Thanks to its extensive charitable work and community outreach, The Unity Project has won the hearts and minds of most in the Upstate New York region, but Lo knows there's more to the group than meets the eye. She's spent the last six years of her life trying—and failing—to prove it. When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with Bea once and for all. When her investigation puts her in the direct path of its leader, Lev Warren and as Lo delves deeper into The Project, the lives of its members it upends everything she thought she knew about her sister, herself, cults, and the world around her—to the point she can no longer tell what's real or true. Lo never thought she could afford to believe in Lev Warren . . . but now she doesn't know if she can afford not to. |
The BaronessHey, I'm Shreya! I love to read, write, travel, and drink tea. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and I will earn a small commission if you click the above link and make a purchase.
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