Chloe Gong is the bestselling author of the These Violent Delights duology, and is a recent graduate from the University of Pennsylvania where she majored in English and International Relations. Gong is famously known on BookTok, a group on Tik Tok for all things books, for her gripping, fantastical take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. At only 21 years of age, she became a New York Times best seller because of her sensational new duology that set the stage for the rest of her career.

Gong was born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, and is now currently located in the big apple, New York City. At the early age of 13, she began writing her own novels with her budding imagination fostered by the YA section of her local library. With the first book being published in November of 2020, readers were ecstatic to have a new immersive read during the pandemic. The excitement around her novel only grew and now many people from all over the world are fans of her new take on Romeo and Juliet.

With the second and final book in this duology, Our Violent Ends, being published in November of 2021, fans were over the moon to read the wrap up of this astonishing duology. Though many fans were left with bittersweet feelings, Gong recently released a spin-off, titled Foul Lady Fortune. This novel is about Juliet’s cousin, and a retelling of Shakespeare’s, As You Like It.

Within Gong’s books, she also includes LGBTQ+ representation. Mercutio and Benvolio, or Marshall and Benedikt in These Violent Delights have an ongoing love story throughout the duology.

While Gong has made it to the New York Times bestseller list, she still has many goals to reach. Gong wants her books to be published in every language possible so everyone can have the opportunity to read her work. As she tweeted in February of 2022, “the goal is to get a translation of every country that held extraterritoriality in 1920s Shanghai, oh how the turn tables”.

If you are interested in action packed and romantic stories with a dramatic plot, and a small element of fantastical beings, Chloe Gong´s books may be a good option for you to put on your TBR (to be read) if you haven’t thought about it already! Gong has a way with words that pulls people in and keeps them hooked, and on the edge of their seats as they read her astonishing books.