Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

9 reviews

mary_trot's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Blood

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and War

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Misogyny, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Gun violence, War, Toxic relationship, Torture, Infidelity, and Death of parent

readsbymoonlight's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

jenny_librarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

These books are heavy on the political, but SO good! I love how Chloe Gong can drop us in the middle of early-20th century China and make us feel how it is while keeping up with incredibly diverse characters (a rarity in historical novels) and unraveling plots that involve tiny bits of fantasy elements.

I was surprised by most of the revelations in this book. There were enough red-herrings that I was led astray until the very end, yet it made almost perfect sense. Almost, because I’m still not 100% sure about Priest.

The only reason I’m not giving this 5 stars (apart from the Priest thing) is that there wasn’t enough of Oliver/Celia for me, and that the short story at the end didn’t feel like much explanation.

Again, I’ll be looking forward to the next release in this incredible series. In the meantime, I’ll just have to read the short stories (which are also absolutely GORGEOUS! All those books are so pretty 😍) and catch up with other favourite characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, and Murder

Minor: Chronic illness, Torture, and Genocide

karcitis's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Colonisation, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, and Death

Minor: Homophobia, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Transphobia, and Car accident

rachelelsya's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I need to gather my thoughts to describe what I feel and my review lol. Gonna change this soon🫠

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Violence, and Death

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Torture

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Xenophobia, Murder, and Medical trauma

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

caitlin033's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Homophobia, War, and Transphobia

jessicaludden's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

“You life is mine as mine is yours.”

This was everything I wanted it to be and more. I loved every single one of the characters. They were all so unique and complex, but I also loved the different pairings we got and the interactions between them. It’s actually impossible for me to pick a favorite character or favorite pairing. The plot was so engaging. It kept me on my toes. Every time I thought I knew what was about to happen, Chloe gave us plot twist after plot twist after plot twist. I loved all the politics. Keeping up with all of the groups, what they stood for, who was loyal to who, and who was undercover as what was so entertaining. Difficult? Yes, but so so worth it. Overall, if Chloe writes it, I read it. This was amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Deadnaming, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Abandonment