I think I had too high of expectations on this one. I was told it was a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, but it felt like the romance was very sparse and only showed in some moments. I wish there was more character development with both Juliette and Roma. It almost feels like we only scratched the surface with them in regards to their relationship with each other. It was a little confusing with them talking about their romance all the time from 4 years ago and we only get little snippets of memories. I wish we were able to read about those times. It just felt like their were a lot of holes in their histories and characterizations. It just left me with a lot of questions, especially with their past. I'm hoping that gets cleared up in the sequel. The writing was pretty good though and I enjoyed that. 

I did love the setting of the book, which was 1920s Shanghai occupied by gangs. The plot itself just never really grabbed me until maybe the last few chapters.

I was pretty much able to predict that the monster was the assistant way before it was revealed although I didn't predict the merchant being the mastermind. I think that took away some of the suspense for me in general.

. The cliffhanger at the end is definitely pretty big, and the next book isn't out until November 2021. I think I really wanted to like this book, and it wasn't what was I expected. 

Altogether, it was a decent read but I wouldn't call it a favorite retelling. I will still be reading the sequel because I like the uniqueness of these books regardless of the above criticism.