I wanna say this is more like a 3.25 lol. I’m kinda conflicted on this!! Some parts were great - Juliette is such an amazing character, the side characters are delightful, and the themes literally take what was already there and make it so much better!

But!

Other parts of this were iffier for me. I thought this would be a more straightforward retelling - Romeo and Juliet but set in 1920s Shanghai with crime families - but like, there was a whole other plot? And like sure it was cool but i came her for the angst and yearning? Which only showed up in the last 25% but didn’t really do it for me, because:
1. It wasn’t even on the forefront. How are you gonna make the romance in ROMEO AND JULIET a subplot
2. Roma is so bland. Juliette is so cool and like what does Roma bring to the table? He’s “secretly soft”? No he’s not lol he just has no personality. He’s hot and that’s it

Also please let dead characters stay dead. I know I said I liked the side characters but like again this is Romeo and Juliet. If there aren’t death WITH ACTUAL CONSEQUENCES in the sequel I’m gonna riot.

But anyway I’m still excited for the sequel