Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Foul Lady Fortune

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

61 reviews

thebooklovingpanda's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I'm still in shock! It was hit after hit in the last quarter or so and the twists!

I'll admit it dipped a bit in pacing and intrigue around the middle - not that it truly dragged, but with so many details and characters it just felt more confusing and burdensome than it probably should have. The lead up to the end more than made up for it though and I'm raring to read 'Foul Heart Huntsman'! I even went straight to BUY the matching collectible (before I talked myself out of that impulse purchase), that's how strong the hold the ending had on me.

(I am getting the e-book though! I need to know what's next! And I am just dying to meet the oh-so-mysterious JM...)

Pre-review: Okay, I caved and pre-ordered the Waterstones special edition. I'm a sucker for foiling on hardbacks...especially when it's this pretty...

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melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

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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.

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emce821's review

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

I really enjoyed this story and the way the author revealed plot lines was very well done. I understand there was a lot of context that the author needed to give to the reader, but at times the jumping around became hard to follow (which may have been a result of me listening to the audiobook) and became slow paced at times. However, this was a great historical fiction work and I will certainly be reading its sequel.

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manaledi's review against another edition

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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.

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plsnotanotherdamselindistress's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense

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

4.0

I love when there are many plotlines in a book and the author sprinkles in information that doesn't get acknowledged as information because its importance for the story is not yet evident and then slowly plotlines start connecting and you're able to recognize the importance of some before sprinkled in information so you can start guessing possible plottwists that may come further on in the story making the tension build up steadily until the story reaches a crescendo.

I also really enjoyed the use of terms in multiple different languages and how important things were later on explained but other less important ones were like collecting trinkets if you could translate them.
They also helped build the setting as far as I can recognize it quite accurately of the past.
(Of course I am only referring to the setting and not the kind of sci-fi aspects of the story.)

"Advise":
- I would advise to read this book in your first language, because skimming over pages isn't a thing with this book
- this book is not primarily a romance story (though romantic relationships are a subplot but the book does not focus on them and personally I believe they are one of the weaker parts of the story)

And I am sorry but the reveal that Phoebe is Priest...I had considered her but as we also got her POV in certain situations it did not make sense anymore...
Either slightly leave out her thoughts in her POV or just don't mention certain things...

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prashiie's review against another edition

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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.

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ghostsversion's review against another edition

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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.

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jilljemmett's review against another edition

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5.0

Shanghai, 1931: Four years ago Rosalind Lang was brought back from the dead, with a drug that stops her from aging, sleeping, and allows her to heal quickly from any wound. She uses her new abilities to work as an assassin for the Nationalists under the code name Fortune. However, when there are a series of strange murders throughout the city, Rosalind’s mission changes. She must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong. Rosalind doesn’t trust him with her true identity, but she’s willing to work with him for the mission. As they investigate the murders, they discover they both have secrets that are connected to the bigger conspiracy happening in the city.

This book was an exciting beginning to this duology set in the world of These Violent Delights. I loved seeing the characters again. Rosalind and her sister Celia were intriguing in These Violent Delights but they weren’t the main characters, so I’m glad they get a larger role in this series. At the beginning, it was a little confusing to figure out who was on which side of the Nationalists and Communists, especially since there were many double agents with multiple identities. However, there were so many twists near the end of the story that I didn’t want it to end! I’m so excited to read the next book!

Foul Lady Fortune is another great story by Chloe Gong!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book!

Content warnings: death, stabbing, gun violence, death of sibling (mention), parental abandonment

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palmkd's review

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adventurous funny medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a great start to a new adventure set in the same world as These Violent Delights & Our Violent Ends. I strongly recommend you read the first duology before picking this one up as there are major spoilers for those books in this one.

This story takes place in 1930s Shanghai following the events of Our Violent Ends but with a focus on Juliette's cousins, especially Rosalind Lang who now goes by the codename Fortune. Curious what kind of shenanigans a former gang affiliate turned Nationalist spy might get up to? Now's your chance to find out because she's just got a new assignment and it's going to be her most challenging yet.
Full of some familiar faces but mostly new ones, this new duology hits the ground running and keeps on running.

After reading this one, I recommend reading Last Violent Call which contains 2 novellas, before continuing to Foul Heart Huntsman

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wet_towlette's review against another edition

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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.

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