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4.33 AVERAGE
4.33 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The end of my beloved seriesss!!! Gong’s narration of China’s history during WWII is atmospheric, through fiction, we see how espionage influenced different character povs which led to ideologies clash, ESPECIALLY within the Langs and Hongs, it clashes them all on vv personal lvls. So the book made me root for everyone to survive regardless of their roles.
This book definitely went harder on romance than FLF. rosalindorion delivered slow-burnnn. She’s been nervous to lay her feelings, especially afterOrion’s memory loss of her and everyone GONE (biggest hater to this plot!!!) . My AWW moment was the Paris theatre, their actual first encounter before working together.
Next, celiaoliver HITS on sacrifice. Oliver protecting Celia was one of the most breathtaking moments,Oliver’s confession is THE BEST (men take notes).
Now, phoebesilas granted strengths on each of their own accord BUT TOGETHER?? #POWERCOUPLE. Silas’ obsession with Priest, their dynamic through humor and banters are my favv.
A plot that engaged me was when Rosalind accused Lady Hong’s concoction to give to the Japanese for ruling China.BUT Lady Hong is just selfish, so the Japanese funding is for her own research, NOT the invasion . To me, it’s a vv clever way to show how propaganda moves in wartime.
Overall, FHH impressed me with both the politics and intimate relationships. The bonds that build a foundation family isso fun to readd.(i hope for phoebesilas spinoff books, maybe even alisa’s own adventuree in the future plisss <3).
This book definitely went harder on romance than FLF. rosalindorion delivered slow-burnnn. She’s been nervous to lay her feelings, especially after
Next, celiaoliver HITS on sacrifice. Oliver protecting Celia was one of the most breathtaking moments,
Now, phoebesilas granted strengths on each of their own accord BUT TOGETHER?? #POWERCOUPLE. Silas’ obsession with Priest, their dynamic through humor and banters are my favv.
A plot that engaged me was when Rosalind accused Lady Hong’s concoction to give to the Japanese for ruling China.
Overall, FHH impressed me with both the politics and intimate relationships. The bonds that build a foundation family isso fun to readd.(i hope for phoebesilas spinoff books, maybe even alisa’s own adventuree in the future plisss <3).
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A good conclusion to the duology. This story should be a movie. It could be exciting and beautifully done.
3.5. i didn’t really care for the characters that much and the plot was confusing at times but the ending was so cute
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
"People can be capable of terrible things and hold love in their hearts at the same time. That's the complexity of mankind."
I think this quote summarises the book pretty well. It's also the quote that has been constantly swimming in my head throughout the whole book, surfacing every now and then. It could be applied to every single character in this book, and I think that's one of the reasons I absolutely adored it.
Chloe Gong's writing, in general, is absolutely beautiful to me. The thing that stands out about it the most to me is how well she handles internal conflict/monologue. Only through her books have I realised how few authors actually do this, how few authors sit and write about how the character is feeling and the internal conflict they have. It is my favourite part of her books, reading an action-packed scene or a conversation where there are long paragraphs in between about their thoughts, because that's how humans are.
The flaws of the characters were also handled SO well, it actually made me shiver and recoil from excitement and other emotions a few times. Like whenSilas 'betrayed' them, using Oliver as leverage and bait to make Lady Hong let Orion go. Because at the end of the day, he cares more about Orion, his friend, someone who gave him purpose and a place in life. "Orion was comfort" THEY'RE LITERALLY BREAKING ME STOP.
I absolutely loved the complexity and the characterisation of Lady Hong.She's, in my opinion, such an interesting character, just as flawed as the rest, with a loving heart of a mother, yet bad actions and way of showing it. She did care for her children, she did think she was helping them by making not just her sacrifice, but making them sacrifice something for her idea of life they could have. I loved it, I love the way she was handled.
Another thing I really liked is the way she manipulated real historical events into the book, gave it a pretty good insight into it and was close to accurate about how it was. She treated that part so carefully and structured it so perfectly that it does deserve a congratulations. The events and the plot flowed nicely, and I enjoyed that as well.
There were times when I felt like the dialogue was too cliche, heard before, or simply not my cup of tea. But putting that aside, everything about this was perfect. I love and adore the Secret Shanghai series, and my review can be applied to and viewed as one for the other books in it as well. This series has corrupted my life, and I can't even complain.
I think this quote summarises the book pretty well. It's also the quote that has been constantly swimming in my head throughout the whole book, surfacing every now and then. It could be applied to every single character in this book, and I think that's one of the reasons I absolutely adored it.
Chloe Gong's writing, in general, is absolutely beautiful to me. The thing that stands out about it the most to me is how well she handles internal conflict/monologue. Only through her books have I realised how few authors actually do this, how few authors sit and write about how the character is feeling and the internal conflict they have. It is my favourite part of her books, reading an action-packed scene or a conversation where there are long paragraphs in between about their thoughts, because that's how humans are.
The flaws of the characters were also handled SO well, it actually made me shiver and recoil from excitement and other emotions a few times. Like when
I absolutely loved the complexity and the characterisation of Lady Hong.
Another thing I really liked is the way she manipulated real historical events into the book, gave it a pretty good insight into it and was close to accurate about how it was. She treated that part so carefully and structured it so perfectly that it does deserve a congratulations. The events and the plot flowed nicely, and I enjoyed that as well.
There were times when I felt like the dialogue was too cliche, heard before, or simply not my cup of tea. But putting that aside, everything about this was perfect. I love and adore the Secret Shanghai series, and my review can be applied to and viewed as one for the other books in it as well. This series has corrupted my life, and I can't even complain.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
oh yea that was not very good... like there's too much to put in this small space but the writing was repetitive and weak the plot was convulted and too tropey at times, i dint like how many storylines there were, specifically the priest storyline, wanted more juliet/roma + marshall/benedict and i just did nottt have a good time reading this i couldn't wait for it to end
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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