Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

9 reviews

evarinya's review against another edition

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Got too convoluted for me at some point, so I looked up the plot to figure out what was going on (I tend to have a better time reading mystery/thriller books that start bothering me halfway through once I know about the mystery) - well, turns out it was a good thing to spoil myself - I would have absolutely hated the reveal at the end, so I'm going to jump ship now. 
A pity, for the premise was interesting, if confusing, and I liked the Rosalind/Orion chemistry and how things developed, but... yeah. No, thank you.

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nclausel25's review against another edition

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dark informative 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? No

5.0


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aklovekorn's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-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


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cadereading's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


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karcitis's review against another edition

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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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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

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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


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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

5.0

I loved every minute of FOUL LADY FORTUNE. The narration is a perfect blend of banter and introspection, with each character deep in their own plans and intrigues, punctuated by moments of tension and violence as death stalks Shanghai.

The worldbuilding is a mix of new details and brief references to relevant events in the earlier duology. There’s just enough detail to provide some updates on characters from THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS and OUR VIOLENT ENDS who don’t appear in FOUL LADY FORTUNE, without spoiling too many events from before. There are enough characters for the cast to feel full, but the focus stays on each narrator long enough to be immersive in their perspective before showing a different set of events. Rosalind and Orion's relationship in particular looks very different from each of their viewpoints, with Orion bemusedly accepting how hard he's fallen for Rosalind (without even knowing her name isn't Janie). 

The resolution of the mystery creates a satisfying end point to the novel while also setting up what promises to be a fascinating sequel. I'm very excited to read what comes next.

*Updating with the sequel check now that this has been recharacterized as the third book in a series rather than the first in a duology.

As the third book in a series, FOUL LADY FORTUNE builds on events in the first two books by following Rosalind Lang after her earlier intrigues and betrayal. She is functionally immortal and generally impervious, physically stuck at nineteen, even as the rest of the world moves on. She's been using her talents as an assassin, but now is ordered to team up with Orion on a spy mission, all while pretending to be someone else who's pretending to be someone else, none of whom are herself, Rosalind Lang. It wraps up some things left hanging, with details about what happened to some characters from the first two books, as well as specifically showing what Rosalind, Alisa, and Celia are up to. There's a new storyline which can mostly stand alone (so much that this was originally listed as the first book in a duology), related to a series of attacks in the city, and the spy mission for Rosalind and Orion. There are several major things introduced, but generally there's more information about them without completely resolving them (as the next book is expected to do so). This isn't the last book and it ends with some very specific things left for later. 

Enough of the story might make sense on its own for someone to have a good reading experience if they start here without having read THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS nor OUR VIOLENT ENDS, but the experience will be more meaningful if this is treated as the third book in a series.

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bailey63's review against another edition

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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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clarelisabeth's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

She is the moment, stunning, perfect

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