Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong

4 reviews

aklovekorn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Gun violence, and Violence

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A good follow up to the Foul Lady Fortune book - we get more spies and assassin drama in 1930s Shanghai, romance (complicated by the spirit and assassin drama), some Easter eggs for fans of the first books Gong wrote, etc. it was a popcorny good action book that sped along despite being a long book. 

There was some lovely dialogue about found family, loyalty and love here too. Very quotable!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Xenophobia and Abandonment

Minor: Torture and Transphobia

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

This book was such a good conclusion to the series and these characters. I didn’t know how it would all work out for them, but it did and it makes sense without being too out there. I feel like you need to read the novellas to know how certain characters play a role in this book that don’t appear in the Foul Lady Fortune. I also feel like some really important plot points get resolved a little too quickly/without conflict considering how long this book is. This was a compelling read that I couldn’t put down and I am sad to leave this world!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, War, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Gun violence

Moderate: Torture, Medical content, Cursing, and Kidnapping

Minor: Abandonment, Classism, and Car accident

jenny_librarian's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

As good as the others! This last Secret Shanghai novel brings a beautiful end to the saga, with as many twists and turns as one can expect from Chloe Gong.

A lot happened in there, and I don’t mean only with the characters. Once again, the tense historical Chinese background blooms through and gives this story life. The setting is its own character and really elevates the whole thing from good to great.

I don’t usually love stories where everyone gets matched, but these couples have been in the work for two books, and some of the side characters have been together longer. So I can forgive it. And the demiromantic and trans rep included so smoothly makes it even better.

The last act might have required some suspension of disbelief (despite everything, I draw the line at that blood transfusion 🙈), but it doesn’t diminish my love for this series.

Thank you, Chloe Gong, for introducing me to early 20th century Shanghai and its many layers through a story that started as a Romeo & Juliet retelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Medical content, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, Classism, and Racism

Minor: Transphobia, Child death, Police brutality, Torture, and Sexism