Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

12 reviews

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, War, Blood, Abandonment, Confinement, Murder, Colonisation, Grief, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Police brutality

manaledi's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I wasn't a huge fan of her previous works, but she keeps getting good reviews so I gave this series a go as well. This is more of a mystery than anything else, with some dashes of romance and scifi (I don't know why it's labeled fantasy particularly) and historical fiction. I feel like the historical setting and context wasn't that well done here - it felt like you were supposed to remember all the players from These Violent Delights. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, War, Murder, Violence, Colonisation, Gun violence, Abandonment, Blood, Drug use, and Gore

Minor: Car accident

ghostsversion's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Car accident, Blood, Grief, Confinement, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Biphobia

_azure76's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Murder

jessiereads98's review against another edition

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

3.0

This book is decent to fine. I enjoyed the story and characters well enough that I’ll probably pick up the sequel if I remember. I do wish it had been rooted more firmly in the time period in terms of the vibes of the 1930s and with more references to the dance halls of that era or the decor or fashions. I think I probably would’ve enjoyed this more had I read the Violent Delights duet prior to going into this for more context and world building but I didn’t realize that would be necessary. I also found this very tropey to the extent I was rolling my eyes at moments that were so obviously inserted in order to fulfill a trope. The characters all also seemed to act very young compared to their age. The timeline seemed to me like while yes Rosalind was frozen at 19, all the older characters at this point would be in their early to mid 20s but were all acting like they were still 17-19. While I didn’t entirely expect the solution to the main mystery, the final reveal of the book was very predictable. 

UPDATE: I read the These Violent Delights duology then read this again. It is better after reading that. However, I still feel that the setting and atmosphere in this book are lacking, even in comparison to the These Violent Delights duology. It seemed like Chloe Gong decided that rather than expanding on that, and the changing political climate, she would handwave world-building for this one. The tropeyness irked me less on reread. The characters do still read a little young for what their ages seem to be, but not as harshly as I originally thought. It especially makes sense when these are young people caught up in large, shifting politics and underworlds, and that’s a theme Chloe Gong is clearly exploring in both duologies. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Colonisation, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Death, Grief, Torture, Transphobia, and War

btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

dark funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Medical content, Torture, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Self harm

Moderate: Murder, Car accident, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Drug use and Kidnapping

bailey63's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Xenophobia, Murder, and Medical trauma

Minor: Car accident, Grief, Colonisation, Death, Confinement, Drug use, and Panic attacks/disorders

matilda_holroyd_'s review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Stunning a story of great spender Chloe Gong you’ve hooked me in and I’m here for good.
This story is about 2 spies who are forced into working a mission together posing as a married couple to try and discover who is behind Shanghai’s chemical killings. This book is based in true Chinese events fictionalised for the readers pleasure. It’s a fantastic idea and Gong’s execution of prose topped my wildest expectations. Honestly adored this and will be picking up all future work. 
“He had gone beyond getting attached to her. She was his guiding saint, the polaris of his heart.”

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Drug use

Moderate: War and Colonisation

lqvekanej's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense 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? Yes

5.0

What a beautifully written first read of the year. Chloe continues to be the master of plottwists and surprises that I never saw coming. Everything about this book is so beautifully written, I would reread it over and over. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Gun violence, Drug use, and Violence

Minor: Transphobia

thecourtofreading's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

the cover of this is genuinely the most beautiful thing i've ever seen. the book itself was good too, and i would read the sequel, although i'm really not sure how chloe gong is going to tackle it because the stakes are very high

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Gore, Drug use, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death and Transphobia