Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong

6 reviews

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

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

“She wasn’t built to be the savior—she was only a girl afraid of the world, and then Orion had come along to pull her out of the pit she had dug herself.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, War, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

manaledi's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I'd liked the first half of this duology but then this one dragged on. Did we really have to follow three heterosexual couples figuring out that they love each other and that includes two pairs of siblings?? And maybe up to six different armed factions. I was rooting for them all, but not all the way invested anymore. And for a series with so much around the foreign sector and the Japanese imperialist threat, none of the geopolitics were particularly fleshed out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, War, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Deadnaming, Colonisation, Drug use, and Confinement

wet_towlette's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

CHLOE GONG THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE. bro I can’t believe the Shanghai series is over this is absurd. There is always something about Chloe’s second books that get me to my core. It was so fun and exciting and like an action movie but made for the squealing teenage girls like me. The ending was perfect. I loved her notes and the end I thought it was really well done. Even though there is a lot of perspectives in this book and for a bit I thought that would be a complaint, they actually turned out to be really engaging and interesting in their own right. Like for a while I really cared to read about Rosalind and Orion but then it all started to work together and the pieces were falling into place and ITS JUST ALL SO GOOD I SWEAR BRO THE CHLOE GONG SECOND BOOKS JUST HIT DIFFERENT 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Vomit

Minor: Transphobia

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

chronicacademia's review

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Ableism, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, War, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Torture, and Violence

taryn_g's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Death, War, and Murder

Moderate: Medical content, Racism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

Minor: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Deadnaming