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A review by heyitsjude
Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
I will be honest I had high hopes for Foul Lady Fortune and I’m not sure if it met my expectations. I don’t know if it’s the right book at the wrong time or I feel conflicted because everyone I know is giving this book 4 stars and higher. Foul Lady Fortune follows Rosalind Lang and takes place four years after the events of TVD. When this book was first announced and Chloe Gong was hinting that it would follow one of the characters of TVD I was really hoping it would follow Celia or Alisa. I found them to be the most interesting characters out of the supporting characters in TVD. As I continued to read Rosalind’s character grew on me and I began to sympathize with her and understood where she was coming from.
In the FLF we find out that Rosalind has gained what one would consider to be immortality. She can heal from wounds quickly, doesn’t sleep, and doesn’t age. She uses these skills and becomes the infamous assassin known as Fortune. She begins working for the Nationalists and is paired with agent, Orion Hong under the guise of a married couple. At first, I didn’t see their chemistry. And I didn’t like that some of their interactions felt fanservicey for lack of better word. Or like it was written for tiktok:
”ORION!” Rosalind screamed.
“I AM DOING MY BEST, BELOVED.”
“YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE ME A HERNIA.”
Despite this, I did enjoy their grumpy x sunshine dynamic they had going on. It made for some witty banter and fun moments throughout the book. But I think what made me invested in Orion and Rosalind as a couple were these scenes:
“Isn’t it strange how we say sorry in Chinese? In every other language it’s some version of “pardon” or distress. But ‘duì bù qǐ…’ We’re saying we don’t match up. Sorry I didn’t do what was expected. Sorry I let you down. Sorry you expected me to save you from harm, and I didn’t—I didn’t.”“Rosalind,” Orion said.
He had to admit—ever since he’d learned her real name, he’d been obsessed with the sound of it on his tongue. It suited her far better than Janie Mead did.
“You don’t mean to say that you’re trying to save the whole city from harm. You’ll spend your whole life trying, and you’ll still fail. There is a reason why duì bù qǐ is duì bù qǐ. We’re only human. We will never match up to what everything could be.”
///
“Your life is mine as mine is yours.” It was an echo of her statement from days earlier, but now it was ringing with an entirely different caliber. “If I promise to save myself, can you promise to forgive yourself? Can we make an exchange?”
I can’t, he thought, only the words halted at his throat. She was looking at him with such earnestness that he could not bear to strike her down.
“I’ll try,” he answered instead. He would promise to wander the ends of the earth and find where the sky began if it meant she would keep her hand there, if it meant he could drown out the rest of his frantic fears by focusing on the sound of her voice. He had gone beyond getting attached to her. She was his guiding saint, the Polaris of his heart.”
MY HEART 💔💔 Those two scenes got me, and they turned me into a High Tide shipper. Unfortunately, these two moments weren’t until near the end of the book. More than 60+% into it. And that’s my whole issue with FLF I enjoyed it. I liked it a lot, but I didn’t love it the way I had hoped. And that’s because there’s a lot going on. On one hand, there’s Rosalind and Orion spies pretending to be married in order to find out the cause of chemical killings around Shanghai. Meanwhile, the Nationalists and Communists are at war and on the side of the Communists are Celia Lang and Orion Hong. And all of this is set against the historical events of when Japan was invading.
MY HEART 💔💔 Those two scenes got me, and they turned me into a High Tide shipper. Unfortunately, these two moments weren’t until near the end of the book. More than 60+% into it. And that’s my whole issue with FLF I enjoyed it. I liked it a lot, but I didn’t love it the way I had hoped. And that’s because there’s a lot going on. On one hand, there’s Rosalind and Orion spies pretending to be married in order to find out the cause of chemical killings around Shanghai. Meanwhile, the Nationalists and Communists are at war and on the side of the Communists are Celia Lang and Orion Hong. And all of this is set against the historical events of when Japan was invading.
Did I mention there’s also a subplot of Priest. A high ranking communist assassin and no one knows who Priest is until the end of the book?!
Not only is the plot in this book a lot, but all the reveals that occur are overwhelming, but I guess that’s what big reveals are meant for. From the identity of the killer, to the cause for the killings, and the identity of Priest.
So much happened near the end of this book or past the halfway point that during the first half I felt like I was waiting for something to happen the whole time. Though I did enjoy the book and all its surprises I just wasn’t a fan of the pacing of it all.
I think what I enjoyed most out of FLF was the new characters. Chloe Gong is amazing when it comes to writing characters I get attached to them so easily lol. I was a fan of all the side characters they brought such life to the story especially with their fun dynamics like Phoebe and Silas.
The ending of FLF was definitely something. It had me on the edge of my seat. I will be seated for Foul Heart Huntsman.