Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Foul Heart Huntsman

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong

16 reviews

ramunepocky's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

“It’s easier to save the world, actually. Easier than saving myself. Easier than trying to save you.”

this review is not spoiler free

Even though I only first read Foul Lady Fortune a few months ago, it felt like I’ve waited an absolute age for this book after that ending, but it was worth every second of waiting because this book was absolutely P H E N O M E N A L. It was everything I wanted it to be. It was so incredibly stressful, it had me sobbing my heart out, it had me laughing and grinning my head off, and terrified for their well-beings. It was everything to me. AND WE GOT OUR HAPPY ENDING. EVERYONE LIVED. EVERYONE GOT TO BE HAPPY. DESPITE THE ODDS. It’s what I needed. It healed my soul.

“Sometimes I feel as though you forget that you don’t have to take pain just because you can.”

When I read These Violent Delights/Our Violent Ends, I was very unsure about Rosalind, especially after learning about her betrayal and the part she played as a spy for Dimitri. Reading Foul Lady Fortune changed all of that. Because I love her so GODDAMN much and it broke my heart knowing how much Dimitri used her, betrayed her and took advantage of her, and seeing her open her heart again, after all of that hurt, to Orion, only for him to be taken from her too, emotionally destroyed me. Seeing her suffer without him at the beginning of this book was so incredibly painful. I just needed them to be around each other again. Rosalind is so badass; she is so ruthless when she needs to be and so strong. She feels like she has to make things right for all of her past mistakes, and she is weighed down by her own guilt and won’t forgive herself for being used, and for then, after all of that, after she’d started to find peace again, having to leave Orion too. It was nice to see her find some forgiveness in this book, both from herself and knowing that one of the big things she blamed herself for – the death of her cousin and her cousin’s husband – was actually not her fault and that they had lived and were thriving. The complete contrast between Rosalind freaking out and Juliette acting like it was the most normal thing in the world in that scene had me laughing and sobbing so hard. Also, like the whole thing about her immortality being a ticking timb bomb that would kill her stressed me out sm, but it all worked out in the end, and Orion ensured she got her cure, and became mortal again. The fact that she got her happy ending and that she didn’t have to lose anyone else makes me happy sob even as I type this. She deserved to be truly happy and to forgive herself and find some peace.

“You are nothing.” “Excuse me, I am your wife.”

I love Rosalind and Orion’s dynamic with everything I have to give. It stressed me out so much how Rosalind was trying to bait Orion’s mother to her so she had the chance to steal him back, and when she did and him being injected with a cure, him losing him memories. This book was a stressful ride for the two of them. Rosalind fighting to get him back. Orion without his memories. Orion’s mind a ticking time bomb until he tried to kill everyone again. Having a cure from the mind control and getting his memories back, but the war breaking out. Getting STABBED????? And then Orion, stupid, loving Orion, injecting Rosalind instead. Wanting to cure her. The whole stress of Rosalind desperately trying to patch him up and making herself mortal to be able to give him a blood tansfusion??? Jesus. Christ. It was the most stressful ride of my life. But they got their happiness in the end and they both deserve it so much. Orion’s actual proposal in the epilogue had me happy sobbing. It was so sweet, bless him. I just love Orion so much. He is such a lil shit, but his personality compliments Rosalind’s so perfectly. He was also so precious without his memories. The way that even though he didn’t remember Rosalind, he was still determined to love her again because he knew she was someone important to him killed me.

“How could I be a sharpshooter when my aim is shit? You never taught me.”

My favourite character (asides from ofc Benedikt, who we got to briefly see and I loved every second of it) was absolutely, without a doubt, Alisa!! To put it bluntly, she is such a little shit, and I love that about her. She is so smart and crafty, and cocky enough too to rub it in her enemies’ faces that she is evading them by staying just out of reach and taunting them with it. The comments she makes just make me laugh so much, especially when she says things at entirely the wrong time. Everyone will be so serious and she just makes light of the situation. And the fact that when she was captured, she’d freed herself days prior, but just stuck around because she figured Rosalind would be coming that way anyway??? PLEASE I love her so much. I’ve loved her from TVD, but seeing her grown and the lil shit she’s grown into just made me love her so so so much more. ALSO, that bit when she reunited with Roma FINALLY after all those years had me sobbing so hard. The fact that she knew they were alive, but was afraid that she’d find out the opposite thing if she actually investigated it and would rather hold onto the hope instead broke my heart, but knowing she finally got to see and terrorise her brother again was just so beautiful. I KNOW she makes their lives hell and I KNOW they love every second of it.

“Then again, if she had to fight with a knife, the only person she would be stabbing was herself.”

I love Celia with absolutely everything I have to give. I love seeing her be the strong, kind woman that she is, and actually getting to live as herself. I love her dynamic with Oliver, and how she simultaneously cares for him so much and wants him to trust her but is afraid of being responsible for anything bad happening to him. Which ofc, does. Him giving himself up so that they wouldn’t find Celia too broke me. But she would never leave him to suffer alone, and ofc, she didn’t. I actually sobbed sm when they went to rescue Oliver and got him out alive, and Celia forcing Oliver to not do anything strenuous when they were fighting at the end was so sweet and like damn right, because that boy does too much and he needs to not be front and centre when he was legit bleeding out 24 hours beforehand.

“I will love you if I please. I will make you my altar, I’ll put you above everything else in this world, I’ll revel in every morsel you are made of. It’s simple – just tell me you don’t feel the same, and I’ll let you go.”

I love Oliver so much and I absolutely adore his dynamic with Celia, even if I can’t read the endearment “sweetheart” without thinking of it as sarcasm. Oliver stressed me out sm with the way he’d carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and not talk to anyone, but when he finally opened up to Celia and spoke to her, I was so proud of him. They both deserve each other and all the happiness in the world, and it makes me so happy that they got it.

“I am furious.’ Not at him. At the world, for closing her into this lifelong charade where she wasn’t allowed to be furious.”

I was very on the fence about Phoebe in Foul Lady Fortune because I did like her, but I was just a bit unsure of her, but this book changed that, and I grew to really love her. The extent she goes to just to try and keep her brothers safe, even though she’s the youngest, and protect them from each other, the opposing side of the civil war, and anyone who would try to hurt them, had me sobbing. The way that she uses her appearance and leans into people’s expectations of her as a way of covering her own back and ensuring that no-one suspects her is just so damn smart. She really played a risky game in this book, especially when it came to trying to free Oliver. She knew that she, as Priest, was the bait, and she went along with it regardless to keep her brother and her friends safe. She is badass.

“Let him lose everything else in the world, and he wouldn’t mind. Let the world think of him as discardable or frail or cowardly, he wouldn’t care. All Silas needed was the people he cared about, whole and well in front of him.”

I’ve always really loved Silas and his comments in particular always make me laugh. I adore his friendship with Orion, and his dynamic with Phoebe is both funny and sweet. The way he talked about Orion when Orion was gone had me sobbing so hard because he cares for his best friend so much and would truly do anything for him. So I felt so goddamn betrayed in that brief instant when I thought he’d betrayed them all. I was so gobsmacked. But ofc. Ofc he’d been corrupting the blood so that Lady Hong couldn’t use it. I just wish that Oliver hadn’t still had to suffer his blood being taken, but I know Silas was just trying to do the best he could to get his best friend back and I do doubt that Lady Hong would have been so willing to just let Orion go if it hadn’t been for the vial being “destroyed” and Silas’ “deal” with her. I also think it's so funny that even after he discovered Phoebe was Priest, he still professionally keeps up the cat and mouse game with her whilst trying to throw the Nationalists off the scent. PLS

“Hello. Any reason you’re in the middle of the road.”

AHHHH IT MADE ME SO HAPPY GETTING TO SEE MY TVD KIDS AGAIN. I LVOE THEM SO SOSO SOSOSOOSOSOSOO MUCH. It’s just so nice to see them all thriving and happy and teasing each other and I just love them so much. I’m so glad we got to see all four of them again, however briefly, it made my heart so happy.

The plot was SO!!! Stressful!! But so interesting too. Like with the experiments and how Lady Hong had had the foresight to inject herself with this formula to then genetically pass it on to her kids and to be able to use their blood to continue her research, no matter how cruel that is and how she stopped treating them as her kids and more as tools, even as she claimed she was doing it in their best interest, it was very clever. I didn’t particularly like Lady Hong and she had a lot of flaws, but I think she gained some of her humanity back in the end by wanting to save Orion, even if stupid, selfish Orion ensured she injected Rosalind instead to save her, and protecting Phoebe too so no-one would suspect why she was at a crime scene or work out that she was involved.

The ongoing war was extremely stressful too, both the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists, and the external war too with the Japanese invading. Especially because so many of our beloved siblings are operatives on opposite sides of the civil war, but it worked out for all of them in the end, and they all got positions where they were no longer endangering each other and could keep in regular contact without having to betray their “side”.

My favourite aspect of this book is absolutely the character dynamics because even in the most serious of moments, there’s an interaction – be it a snide or sarcastic comment, or something the character does – that has me giggling even when I’m bawling my eyes out. Also just Alisa. Literally every single scene she was, she made me laugh. She’s so funny and she’s such a lil shit.

Overall, absolutely ADORE the book and I have no clue which book in Secret Shanghai Universe is my fave bc I love all four of them so so so much and this was just the perfect finale. I already cannot wait to reread this book again soon!!

Content Warnings

luchikreads's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

jessicaludden's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

“The country is good enough for us to die for. Why wouldn’t you be?”

This was my Endgame. I’m so sad this is over. I love these characters. I love this story and I’ll miss it so much.

Content Warnings

btwnprintedpgs's review

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adventurous funny informative 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? No

5.0

Content Warnings

chronicacademia's review

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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

Content Warnings

taryn_g's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful 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

Content Warnings

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