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acequeen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Death of parent and Death
karcitis's review against another edition
- 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
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
jessiereads98's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Confinement, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Torture
bailey63's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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.”
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Drug use
Moderate: War and Colonisation
maiadunleavy's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Gun violence
Moderate: Colonisation and War
Minor: War
tahsintries's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Colonisation, Genocide, Gore, Medical content, Confinement, Gun violence, and War
clarelisabeth's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, and Colonisation
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Torture
kdailyreads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Torture, War, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Colonisation, Gun violence, Medical content, Classism, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
Minor: Cursing, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Child death