Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

Abstract

Reviewed by: Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor Gong, Chloe Our Violent Ends. McElderry, 2021 [512p] (These Violent Delights) Trade ed. ISBN 9781534457720 $19.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781534457744 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 9-12 After killing the monster that was literally plaguing Shanghai (These Violent Delights, BCCB 11/20), Juliette Cai has spent the last four months in a delicate balancing act, maintaining her tenuous position as the heir to the Scarlet Gang, keeping Roma Montagov, her ex-lover and heir to the rival White Flowers, at an arm’s distance, and hiding his presumed dead friend to keep the peace and keep Roma alive. If that wasn’t enough, the Communists, the Nationalists, and other foreigners are competing for control of the city, and the monster has reared its ugly head again, threatening any attempts at order with another infectious outbreak. Juliette and Roma are forced together by their scheming parents to hunt down a cure for the illness and consolidate power in the two gangs, but they both know an ambush when they see one and realize that they’ll have to choose between each other and their families. In lesser hands, the sheer number of moving parts here could have become a clunky mess, but Gong keeps them all ticking along smoothly, anchoring the shifts among violence, horror, and political intrigue with deeply nuanced characterizations of Juliette and Roma. Their roles have switched here from the previous title, with Roma furious, heartbroken, and out for revenge, and Juliette weaving a complicated web of lies to keep Roma safe; neither is innocent in the [End Page 58] bloodbaths that have resulted from their families’ rivalry but each is hopeful that they’ll be able to save everyone, even if they must sacrifice themselves. This is a Shakespearean tragedy to the bitter end, and the final events might be inevitable but are nonetheless heartbreaking. Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois