i usually avoid romeo and juliette…

These Violent Delights – Chloe Gong 

Retelling, Romeo and Juliet, the 1920s, shanghai, gang wars, young adult, fiction. 

Rating 9/10

Juliette returns to Shanghai to take over the gang, named Scarlets. However, what is noticed is this new mysterious pandemic of individuals clawing themselves to death. She suspects it’s the Russians. Roma suspects that it is the Scarlets. Roma goes to confront Juliette and realized that this is an actual monster. He proposes that the two works together and set aside their differences to find what is killing people. 

I usually don’t like to read any form of Romeo and Juliet. Yet alone to be caught dead reading a retelling. I always hated Shakespeare especially because of Romeo and Juliet. Anyways, this novel had kept popping up everywhere and was recommended to me. I found that I loved this novel. It had very thrilling writing and world-building as well as action with romance. There was serious tension between Roma and Juliette that felt surreal. I enjoyed this novel and found it immersive as well. The way the author transports the reader into the world was extraordinary.

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kids fighting in space?!

Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card

Wars, military, training, children, Science fiction.

Rating 8/10

Ender lives in a world where being a Third born child is frowned upon, but he is still treated like everyone else, including having a monitor installed. These monitors keep track of families discreetly. Graff was interested in Ender and decided to test Ender to see if he is proven to be a worthy leader. After the test, Ender had his monitor removed. Graff comes to make an offer to Ender, either come join or be a burden on the family. Ender considers the future and decides to go with Graff to go receive training to become a leader. Graff was given permission to do what ever he sees fit into molding Ender. No matter the cost. Ender endures the trainings and was placed right into war. Ender won’t be able to cope with what he was molded to do.

I sort of liked this book. The book was slow for me, but it quickly picked up the pace. A lot of science fiction but mostly focused on space travel and space wars. I had some trouble coming to terms with the whole idea of children being trained but logically makes sense. I felt bad for Ender because children shouldn’t have to feel like they are a burden. There are more books in this series that I might read in the future. I would have to most likely reread this novel before reading the rest of the series but right now this is what’s accessible due to the corona virus pandemic. Not saying that I felt forced reading this novel. I saved this book and the rest of the series for a “rainy” day. Overall, if one is into science fiction that’s focused on wars and military, this is up that alley.