for someone who finished OUR VIOLENT ENDS a firm rosalind hater, I’m shocked as all of you that I absolutely devoured and loved this one!! even more than the previous duology 😮‍💨😍

picking up five years after the events of OUR VIOLENT ENDS, rosalind is an undercover agent for the nationalists with more secrets than I can count 😇 and she’s still fighting battles against the communists and now the japanese alike to save her city 

the mystery and plot behind this story has only gotten twistier and better since chloe gong’s previous novels. she has perfected the art of misleading the reader and creating plot twists that have you screaming WTF but then realizing they totally make sense in the end 🤯 she got me good a few times!!!!

by combining some familiar faces with new characters, it was an easy transition from the life of juliette and roma to the life of orion and rosalind (and of course their own troops of friends). and I loved seeing each and every one of them adapt and harden throughout the brink of war! 

I honestly want to go back and re-read it immediately, which is always a good sign, and see how I could have missed ALL of those twists 🤯🧐 I cannot wait for the next installment because that ending killed me!!! 

also if I’m right about who JM is, I will scream!!!!!!

rating: 5 stars
wine pairing: junmai daiginjo sho une sake