Two gangs, the Scarlets, and White Flowers control most of Shanghai in 1926. Amidst all the fighting, drugs, and wrongdoing, a strange madness, and rumors of a monster begin appearing in the city.
Juliette Cai and Roma Montogov (heirs to the rival gangs) must put aside their differences and join forces to save their people.
My Thoughts
This book was like the 1996 Romeo and Juliet movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, but with a monster and scary lice infestations that made people lose their minds. On a side note, that movie was my obsession in high school…I may have had a huge crush on Leo…
Obviously, this book is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A lot of these types of books tend to be too similar, but this one does not disappoint. The little hints back to the original story made me smile every time.
Juliette Cai, the heir to the Scarlett Gang, is nothing like the Juliet from the original. She is fierce, bossy, and will do whatever it takes to protect her people and family. After being sent to America for her safety, she feels as if she doesn’t belong. In America, she was too Eastern, and in Shanghai, too Western.
Roma Montogov is tough on the outside but a teddy bear on the inside. He longs to be free of the life he was born into but is too afraid to leave the protection and privileges it gives him.
I enjoyed reading this one and can’t wait to read the next book!
Favorite Quotes
“Memories were beastly little creatures, after all—they rose with the faintest whiff of nourishment.”
“She…hoped. And hope was dangerous. 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?”
Rating
4/5 stars
This review is of my own opinion.