Reviews with content warning for Grief - Foul Lady Fortune

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

19 reviews

thebooklovingpanda's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm still in shock! It was hit after hit in the last quarter or so and the twists!

I'll admit it dipped a bit in pacing and intrigue around the middle - not that it truly dragged, but with so many details and characters it just felt more confusing and burdensome than it probably should have. The lead up to the end more than made up for it though and I'm raring to read 'Foul Heart Huntsman'! I even went straight to BUY the matching collectible (before I talked myself out of that impulse purchase), that's how strong the hold the ending had on me.

(I am getting the e-book though! I need to know what's next! And I am just dying to meet the oh-so-mysterious JM...)

Pre-review: Okay, I caved and pre-ordered the Waterstones special edition. I'm a sucker for foiling on hardbacks...especially when it's this pretty...

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melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I gave Our Violent Ends 5 stars and to be followed by this book just solidified that Chloe Gong is officially an auto-buy author for me, bc this book did not disappoint one bit. This universe and its storyline’s are so interesting to read about especially when we get to see different characters perspectives on what’s going on politically and personally. I love that this book was more action packed than the previous duology bc I loved the spy + double agent arcs since you can never be too convinced about one’s loyalty in this ‘kill or be killed’ world. Don’t even get me started on the slow burn romance between Rosalind & Orion bc they legit had me blushing and kicking my feet from cute and intimate their interactions were especially since they aren’t physically intimate. The prolonged eye contact, them dancing and him putting on her necklace while looking at her in the mirror? Him literally beating up the man that attacked her screaming “Don’t touch my wife!” LORDDDDD I eat that shit up every fucking time and I love it 😫 One might say I loved these two a bit more than Roma and Juliette but don’t tell them that 🫣 PLUS the romantically intimate scenes from the side characters like Oliver and Celia *swoooooon*. I cannot wait to start Last Violent Call bc the ending had me screaming‼️ If the note is from who I think it is, I will cry :’) I must continue reading this series if it’s the last thing I do.

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leonaskye's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ameydireads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Trauma doesn't have to lead to destruction. Trauma can be the guiding point into something better, something stronger.”

First of all, the historical aspect of this book is really interesting. The previous books focused on the Kuomintang and the Communists. Now, the Kuomintang took over and the communists are also on the down-low. The political tension is still higher than ever due to the imminent danger of Japanese invasion.

The main character is Rosalind. I wasn’t particularly invested in her in ‘These Violent Delights’ and ‘Our Violent Ends’, but that really changed with this book. She’s such an interesting character mainly because of her internal struggles. And this girl can run whilst wearing heels?! Meanwhile here I am struggling to walk on heels. The fantasy part of this story is great too. Rosalind is supposed to be dead so she now lives her life as Janie Mead. She is also Lady Fortune, an immortal assassin working with the Kuomintang to save her city and to right her wrongs. A side effect of being immortal is that she doesn’t have to sleep anymore. Imagine not having to sleep and being able to read all night long, that’s the dream…

Anyway, Rosalind knows she made some bad decisions in the past and regrets it deeply. After someone she loved and trusted betrayed her, she finds it hard to put her trust in someone again, let alone love someone again. She gets paired with Orion for an undercover mission. They have to pose as a couple and so they get married. Orion is easygoing and very social. Rosalind on the other hand is very reserved and panics as soon as he gets a little too close. The trauma is still fresh, even after all these years. Enough to say that it’s definitely not love at first sight.

“All her love seemed to emerge in an identical manner. It wasn't that it would be absent one day and then present the next. It would move in without her notice and get comfortable and conquer more and more space, and she wouldn't even know that there was a new occupant in her heart until she started wondering where all this furniture had come from and love flashed its dazzling grin at her to say hello.”

But their love story is definitely blooming and it’s indescribably cute.

“She was his guiding saint, the Polaris of his heart.”

“Your life is mine as mine is yours.”

I’m loving it!

But let’s not forget about Celia! She has been a favourite of mine from the start and one thing she mentions really resonates with me.

“Celia had never been very good at making demands. Something about it had always felt fundamentally wrong to her, she could never rid herself of the feeling that being difficult would drive people away.”

The ending though… Even if it wasn’t completely unexpected, I was a little shocked to find out who was responsible for all the misery.

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ghostsversion's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I… I have no words. I mean I won’t go so far as to say this was perfect but then again compared to the other duology this was such an improvement (no hate to the OG gang). Honestly I think I liked the fact we weren’t infodumped as much as before. Like, there was actually some build-up to the ending, in my opinion at least. Also spies (cue to the theme from “Spies are Forever”). And the main couple were also much more interesting to me, as their romance was developed with the story. So yeah now I am very excited to continue this series.

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Chloe Gong does it again. This book was such a joy to read and did not feel like an 18 hour read. While I predicted a few things that the characters learned throughout the book, but there were so many plot twists and so many details that were woven together expertly. While Rosalind didn’t seem like a good spy, I understand why she had a hard time with that. I loved the deeper motivations of these characters and the large cast of characters in general. I am so excited to see what happens in the next book!! I’m so glad that it’s already come out, I will be starting it asap.

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palmkd's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was a great start to a new adventure set in the same world as These Violent Delights & Our Violent Ends. I strongly recommend you read the first duology before picking this one up as there are major spoilers for those books in this one.

This story takes place in 1930s Shanghai following the events of Our Violent Ends but with a focus on Juliette's cousins, especially Rosalind Lang who now goes by the codename Fortune. Curious what kind of shenanigans a former gang affiliate turned Nationalist spy might get up to? Now's your chance to find out because she's just got a new assignment and it's going to be her most challenging yet.
Full of some familiar faces but mostly new ones, this new duology hits the ground running and keeps on running.

After reading this one, I recommend reading Last Violent Call which contains 2 novellas, before continuing to Foul Heart Huntsman

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wet_towlette's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I didn't love the first half. Nothing wrong with it, just wasn't really that invested. The last half was much better and really picked up the excitement.

Orion didn't know her true identity for sooo long. then it had a bit of dramatic lead-up to the reveal and I thought that that would also mean there would be a confrontation but there wasn't. I just really wanted to see that scene cause it felt like it was working up to it and it didn't happen.

Also a lot of character moments felt like they were cut short. There was almost always an interruption, if not for the characters then for the readers with an abrupt chapter change. it just feels like some moments should've just been left to play out, in my opinion. But if Chloe Gongs’ other works have taught me anything it's that the second book is going to go crazy so I'm very excited to read it.

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chronicacademia's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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teddy_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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