I was kindly gifted a copy of this ebook by Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So thank you so so much!When I initially heard about These Violent Delights, all I knew was that it was a Romeo and Juliet retelling set in a 1920’s Shanghai. For me that was enough to get excited and immediately pre-order. I have always been a huge fan of the forbidden romance/enemies to romance tropes, so Romeo and Juliet was always up my street.I didn’t know much more about this one until I received the ARC, so I was extremely pleased to find that not only was it an R&J retelling but also containing a murder mystery, monsters, and gangsters.The thing that really captured me was the writing style. I was immediately drawn in to the 1920’s Shanghai and politics surrounding the story itself. I found it informative without even realising, with the rich descriptions I felt as if I were there myself at times.In regards to the story I really enjoyed it, it dived right into the action and was easy to follow, there was little hidden in regards to the gory deaths and that made it all the more exciting. Although we immediately knew the cause of these deaths it was still surrounded in mystery and remained that way until the very last page, being 464 pages (according to Goodreads) the expectation would be that we would get an early reveal or after some time it would become a little predictable or even dare I say it a bit boring. But I was still as hooked as I was when I first started. The one thing I love about the mystery's is trying to predict the killer, but I had no chance with this one. Characters were introduced so intricately that you didn’t question their motives until everything became clear at the end.Throughout the book various plot holes arise, mentions of the past we do not know about but so desperately want to, they are revealed neatly at the end in a way which fits the story, rather than simply info dumping.I loved the ending, it was suspenseful, everything came to together and set up book 2 perfectly. My only issue is that by reading this ARC I now have even longer to wait for the sequel!I liked being able to recognise the characters from the play, being such a big family on both sides I found it easier to keep track of each one and their relevance to the plot. I felt we saw more of the Cai’s rather than the Montagov’s, so although I feel I have a pretty good idea of Juliette’s family with Roma I still feel a little unsure. But I am hoping this is something that can be looked into more in the sequel. However I do have to say that this replicates their relations to their family perfectly.We become immediately aware that although both are in line to take over from their family only one is more comfortable doing so. Only Juliette was trying to fit into the role which was almost being taken from her, whereas with Roma, I can’t recall more than a single instance that he was actually at his family home, unstinting to continue on with the reigns being passed onto him.Speaking of characters, I enjoyed the diversity. I will admit I did get a little confused with Kathleen’s past, when they spoke about the death of a sister, I assumed it referred to Kathleen in her being transgender. However when another sister was mentioned I did get a bit lost. I am planning to re-read this once the book is released, and since I have a physical copy I think it will make it easier to keep track of what may have happened.I loved the closeness of both families, Roma with his cousin and friend, and their slow building romance between them. And also Juliette and her cousins. Aside from Roma and Juliette I think Marshall and Benedikt’s relationship was a big favourite of mine, I loved the friendship and the banter they had, but also when it was suggested there was more to it.Ultimately the build up between Roma and Juliette was so frustrating, but at the same time I don’t think it could have happened any other way. I loved how long it took for them to trust each other fully again, with the combination of not knowing what had happened between made it all the more interesting to read on.Overall I loved the book, I felt it was executed perfectly and was more than I was hoping for in every way. I do have some theory regarding book 2, there was a mention of a traitor but nothing more was said so I am hoping this is going to be a bit plot point in the sequel. I have an idea on who I think it may be, so time will tell!My only issue that I had, and it was a relatively small one considering was with the bugs. Naturally we don’t know a lot about the bugs however, I wanted to know how they knew that by killing the host the bugs would also die. There was a lot of talk of killing this monster to save everyone (which was pretty important) but no one really thought about what they would do if the bugs weren’t affected, or even if they couldn’t kill it.Again its not a bit issue at all, I am pretty hopeful we will find out more in book 2!