Reviews with content warning for War - Foul Lady Fortune

Reviews tagging 'War'

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

46 reviews

prashiie's review against another edition

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.

Content Warnings

lolarmoore's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious fast-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

4.5

Content Warnings

emilywemily6's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

jiao_li's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense medium-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

4.75

Content Warnings

wet_towlette's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

savanah's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

teddy_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

claireisagrisha's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful 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 met Chloe Gong in October 2022 and got to hear her discuss this book then. Fast forward to January, my mom and I started reading it. Due to busy schedules on both ends, we rarely read any. But now on summer break, we knocked it out!!

This book was amazing!!! I love Chloe Gong’s writing especially her use of imagery. She also makes her characters so charming and lovable. The little Taylor Swift references throughout were as some would say enchanting, hehe!!

I cannot wait for Foul Heart Huntsman!!

Orion and Rosalind …. I LOVE THEM!!! I loved their gradual love story. Chloe Gong, no words for that cliffhanger :/

Oliver was sus to me the whole time

Love Alisa and her getting some badass moments!!!

I did not expect who was the killer, behind the chemical experiments, Priest’s identity, and Dao Feng’a betrayal!!! I am still shook. I went back to read the beginning of the book and it was foreshadowed though.

Content Warnings

hannahcomer4d's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

This book was such a fun romp through a time period and place I know very little about. I enjoyed the characters, the pacing, and the themes. It's not just a spy thriller--it goes beyond the mission and into the reasons *why* people are making the choices they are.

A couple of downsides:

I wanted more Shakespeare references. So little related to *As You Like It* that it almost felt unnecessary to link the two stories.

Priest was built up as this big deal of a character, but then Priest seemed completely uninvolved in the plot. Did Priest ever really do much of anything?

Both of these things, though, could be easily resolved in the sequel. I'm eagerly awaiting more!

Content Warnings

jayisreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5

Chloe Gong returns with a new story in the same world as These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends, this time focusing on Rosalind Lang, the cousin of Juliette Cai. Unfortunately, I was not particularly invested in Foul Lady Fortune, though I didn’t feel that it was a slog to get through the book either due to good pacing (for the most part). I found that the plot and characters were fairly predictable (with one or two exceptions) because of Gong’s overuse of tropes. There’s nothing wrong with using them, of course, but I felt like there were a few too many that made this book a little boring for me. In addition, the way she structured the plot felt a little too similar to the previous books, right down to the politics (though I felt it was somewhat better handled in Foul Lady Fortune). I think if she fleshed the politics out a bit more and the characters’ involvement with different parties, it would have made the book a lot stronger and possibly less riddled with clichés.

I’m not sure if I want to read the next installment or not. On the one hand, I do want to see where Gong will take the story due to a couple plot twists. On the other hand, I’m not sure if I can handle another book full of tropes. I may actually have to pay attention to others’ reviews for once to make my decision.

Content Warnings

More...