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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
esme_t's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Gun violence, and Gore
Minor: Transphobia and Blood
caidyn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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? Yes
4.5
Damn, what a fantastic read. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and now I just need the sequel. And the reveal??? Amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
sarah_loves_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Blood, Gore, Violence, and Grief
lizgriffinwords's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.75
A truly masterful historical fiction retelling with just a *hint* of the supernatural. I think I liked this one even better than the These Violent Delights duology. Audiobook is superbly narrated by Emily Woo Zeller.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gun violence
Moderate: Gore and Murder
Minor: Transphobia
taroroot's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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
the beginning was slow and took me way too long to read so i'd lose interest and forget everything but once i got into it, it was a very enjoyable read. i look forward to seeing more of Rosalind & Orion <3
i have very high hopes for who the 'married couple' is. pls pls pls let me be right <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, War, and Gore
Minor: Grief
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
city_girl_writer's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment and Gore
Minor: Child death and Transphobia
sydneyluxford's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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? No
5.0
There is absolutely no way the book ended like that, and Chloe Gong just ALLOWED it??? I literally need the second book this instant. ”It’s a pleasure to meet you properly, Priest.” WHAT??????
The last 30% of this book was absolute carnage, oh my god. STUFF KEPT HAPPENING AND I JUST COULD NOT PREDICT IT.
Rosalind needs to find and save Orion ASAP, because I literally have no clue what it going to happen to him.
The way this book had me hooked from the first chapter, OMG. I loved it so much.
I KNEW JULIETTE AND ROMA WERE ALIVE. I KNEW THE WHOLE TIME. That letter addressed from “JM” was definitely Juliette, but she’s now a Montagov. BRO, THEY HAVE TO BE ALIVE!!!
Orion and Rosalind were so cute. And I loved that in this grumpy x sunshine, the girl was the grumpy one for once, because then I can finally relate. The way Orion just presented himself and spoke to Rosalind 🤭🤭🤭. Bro, and Rosalind. I have a fat crush on her. She could murder someone in front of me and I’d turn a blind eye TBH.
The last 30% of this book was absolute carnage, oh my god. STUFF KEPT HAPPENING AND I JUST COULD NOT PREDICT IT.
The way this book had me hooked from the first chapter, OMG. I loved it so much.
Orion and Rosalind were so cute. And I loved that in this grumpy x sunshine, the girl was the grumpy one for once, because then I can finally relate. The way Orion just presented himself and spoke to Rosalind 🤭🤭🤭. Bro, and Rosalind. I have a fat crush on her. She could murder someone in front of me and I’d turn a blind eye TBH.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Abandonment
khnleesi's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
i love love love the work Chloe did with ‘These Violent Delights’ and ‘Our Violent Ends’ and will never stop talking about how well-written and awesome those two novels are, but sadly i won’t be able to talk about her third child, ‘Foul Lady Fortune’ , with the same passion.
let’s start with the protagonist : Rosalind.
i think it’s safe to say that i was more infuriated by her acting the opposite as a (good) spy and revealing her real identity every 3 seconds to strangers she encounters than her betraying her family and gang in OVE !
i know that she has been trained as an assassin and not as a spy like Orion (we’ll talk about him later..) , but i didn’t even feel like she made any efforts to prove to her surroundings that she was worthy of the title, which she should’ve !! 🤷🏻♀️
there was a passage where coworkers of hers told her that they were going to a party that took place in the club that she used to work in, and she apparently needed to go to that party because ‘she and Orion needed information about those said coworkers’ BUT going to that party would most certainly ruin her cover since people would recognize her! and guess what? SHE WENT TO THAT PARTY ANYWAY , ruined her cover and had to kill someone because of it AND didn’t discover a-ny-thing suspicious about her coworkers!
so what was the point of this scene except confirm me that Rosalind is the biggest idiot of her family?
since i mentioned Orion earlier , as i liked most of the male characters from ‘TVD’ and ‘OVE’ i , therefore , expected him to be an interesting and fresh new character , but oh my should i have lowered my expectations because i found him more personalityless than a 10 months old baby and annoying in the worst sense of the word!
he kept saying ‘beloved’ like it was a ponctuation mark like-.. SIR how can you expect me to take you seriously if you’re talking like that?? is your vocabulary seriously that smal???? urgh.
what is there to know about him except that he is a pretentious philanderer who has a terrible relationship with his parents and who can’t stop teasing Phoebe ? i’m genuinely asking!
i will die on a hill saying that the ‘don’t touch my wife’ and ‘who did this to you? i’ll make them pay’ tropes are terrible and unnecessary ; i thought Chloe knew better than to use them but whatever..
one thing i enjoyed was seeing Alisa and Celia again! especially because we got to see them both 4 years older and so at a total different point in their lifes from where we left them in ‘OVE’ BUT it’s the same thing than with Orion : they lacked some depth that would have made their choices and position in the communist party much more coherent!
lastly i thought the plot to be quite predictable (apart from that final plot twist that i didn’t see coming at all) and the build-up waaaaay too slow.
and about the entire political side : i’m just going to leave this review here ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5073269827 ) because it perfectly summarizes my thoughts!
conclusion : i still intend on picking the sequel up next year because i care about this world and it’s characters (or at least the majority of them) but that’s the only reason..
i’m not mad because i know a lot of people liked this book , i’m just greatly disappointed :/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder