by Damla
“This place hums to the tune of debauchery. This city is filthy and deep in the thrall of unending sin, so saturated with the kiss of decadence that the sky threatens to buckle and crush all those living vivaciously beneath it in punishment.”
1920’s Shanghai, glowing with unabashed decadence, balancing on the edge of a knife between the mounting tensions of the colonizing foreigners and gang feuds, the social balance ready to tip over at the slightest exhale.
A beautifully ominous, rich writing that is as decadent as the decade, weaving a web of superstition, politics, hunger for power, love, hate, betrayal, and suspicion.
The result is an incredible debut that translates to a bittersweet love letter to the city; a hopeless love that burns bright despite its sharp edges, its ugly entanglements, dark corners, and darker abusers. Chloe Gong has succeeded in writing an inspired Romeo & Juliet retelling that perfectly captures a city and a story that is so beautiful and so messy that it is difficult to look away from. I was immediately swept up into the story from the first sentence, and did not breathe until I reached the end. And if you need further encouragement to pick this one up, keep in mind that it is the first book in a duology whose sequel is just as wonderful (and heart-wrenching) as the first.
“Hope was the most vicious evil of them all, the thing that had managed to thrive in Pandora’s box among misery, and disease, and sadness—and what could endure alongside others with such teeth if it didn’t have ghastly claws of its own?”
Definitely recommended!
