Review - Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights, #2) by Chloe Gong

 

 

Title: Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights, #2)

Author: Chloe Gong

Pages: 513

Publisher: Hodderscape

Release Date: 16th November 2021

Blurb from Goodreads:

The heartstopping follow up to These Violent Delights, an imaginative, alluring retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai.

 

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 My Review:

 -Contains spoilers for book one, These Violent Delights-

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley*

Roma and Juliette haven't seen each other since saving Shanghai from the monster and its madness. Roma saw Juliette murder Marshall, his friend, and wants revenge. He doesn't know that Marshall is actually alive and well, and that Juliette orchestrated the scene to save Roma being killed himself.

Juliette's position as heir of the Scarlet Gang is still precarious, with her cousin Tyler ready and eager to take over the moment Juliette makes a wrong move.

When a new monster appears in the city, Roma and Juliette will need to work together to save their home from the risk of further madness as well as the Nationalist threat inching closer - that is, if they don't kill each other first.

Having enjoyed the first book, I was intrigued to see what would happen next, especially given that it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger.

Juliette was a complex protagonist - she was relatable and wanted to protect her friends, family and home, but she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. I did feel sorry for her given that she'd had to sacrifice her relationship with Roma, and that she constantly had the threat of Tyler waiting for her to mess up so he could take over as heir.

While I did like Roma, I didn't feel that I connected with him. I liked a lot of the side characters, including Kathleen, Alisa, Marshall and Benedikt. Tyler was an interesting character who, while I didn't like him, I understood his motivation. I would have liked to have seen Dimitri fleshed out more, as he felt very two dimensional to me.

The politics were interesting, as was the setting of 1920s Shanghai.

The plot was mostly enjoyable, but the pacing was off for me and around 70% through I did start to lose interest, which meant that I became less invested in what happened, and I wasn't as emotionally impacted by certain scenes as I should have been. There were several things that I didn't see coming, but because I wasn't gripped, I wasn't very shocked by them. I felt that the book could have been at least 100 pages shorter as there was some two-ing and fro-ing that seemed unnecessary.

I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall this was a mixed read.

 

 

Review - Green Rising by Lauren James

 

 

 

 Title: Green Rising

Author: Lauren James

Pages: 432

Publisher: Walker Books

Release Date: 2nd September 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

Set in a near-future world on the brink of ecological catastrophe, Lauren James’ novel is a gripping, witty and romantic call to arms.

Gabrielle is a climate-change activist who shoots to fame when she becomes the first teenager to display a supernatural ability to grow plants from her skin. Hester is the millionaire daughter of an oil tycoon and the face of the family business. Theo comes from a long line of fishermen, but his parents are struggling to make ends meet.

On the face of it, the three have very little in common. Yet when Hester and Theo join Gabrielle and legions of other teenagers around the world in developing the strange new “Greenfingers” power, it becomes clear that to use their ability for good, they’ll need to learn to work together. But in a time of widespread corruption and greed, there are plenty of profit-hungry organizations who want to use the Greenfingers for their own ends. And not everyone would like to see the Earth saved…

As they navigate first love and family expectations, can the three teenagers pull off the ultimate heist and bring about a green rising? 

 

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My Review:

 *I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Walker Books and NetGalley*

The world changes forever when some teenagers develop the ability to grow plants. They become known as Greenfingers, but not everyone will use their new powers to help others or the planet.

Gabrielle, the first teen to exhibit the ability, is a climate-change activist, and is willing to do anything to get the governments of the world to take climate-change seriously.

Hester is the daughter of the CEO of one of the biggest oil companies in the world and tries to use the new Greenfingers phenomenon to help the company.

Theo comes from a fishing family and will do everything he can to help his parents with their money troubles.

Gabrielle, Hester and Theo are all very different, but can they work together to save the planet?

Having been a fan of the author for a long time, I was interested to read their latest release. However, having not enjoyed their last few books as much as earlier ones, I was also a bit unsure how much I would like this.

Gabrielle, Hester and Theo were all likeable and relatable protagonists. I admired Gabrielle's determination, Hester's drive and Theo's love for his parents. Hester was my favourite of the three and I enjoyed reading as she grew as a character. None of the side characters particularly stood out to me, apart from Theo's parents.

One of my favourite parts of the book was the diversity.

The science in the book and concept of the Greenfingers were really interesting. The author thought of consequences and ideas that I hadn't or wouldn't have.

The plot was interesting overall, but I wasn't gripped or shocked by anything that happened. I don't feel that I was overly invested in what happened to the characters.

The writing style was easy to follow and I found the book quite fast to read.

While I didn't enjoy this quite as much as I hoped I would, I enjoyed it overall and thought the messages in it were very important and relevant.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

 

Review - Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

 

 

 

 Title: Certain Dark Things

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Pages: 274

Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books

Release Date: 7th September 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Domingo, a lonely garbage-collecting street kid, is just trying to survive its heavily policed streets when a jaded vampire on the run swoops into his life. Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood-drinkers, is smart and beautiful - and very dangerous. Domingo is mesmerised.

Atl needs to escape the city quickly, to get far away from the rival narco-vampire clan relentlessly pursuing her. Her plan doesn't include Domingo, but little by little, she finds herself warming up to the scrappy young man and his undeniable charm. As the trail of corpses stretches behind her, local cops and crime bosses both start closing in.

Vampires, humans, cops, and criminals collide in the dark streets of Mexico City. Atl and Domingo stand little chance at all of making it out alive before the city devours them all - but they are determined to try . . .

 

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My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley*

Domingo lives in Mexico City, collecting garbage to get by.

His life changes when he meets Atl, a vampire descended from a line dating back to the Aztecs.

Atl's on the run from a rival vampire clan who want her dead, and Domingo quickly agrees to help her.

Atl reluctantly accepts Domingo's aid, and they will have to work together to get Atl out of the anti-vampire city, avoiding enemy vampires and humans along the way.

The premise for this book really intrigued me, and as a fan of the author's other work, I was excited to read this.

Domingo and Atl were both likeable and interesting characters who I enjoyed finding out more about. I felt sorry for them both for different reasons.

The concept of the different vampire subspecies was really interesting, and I liked how unique/different they were to anything I had read before.

The plot was interesting and held my attention throughout, but I wasn't gripped and didn't feel as invested as I perhaps could have been. Some things did happen that I wasn't expecting, but nothing particularly shocked me.

The writing style was easy to follow and I like how versatile the author is.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.