Book Summary:

It's been five years since that fateful night when everything went to hell. Many people would say that Rosalind Lang was among the casualties, but they don't know better, now, do they? Having gone through a procedure that saved her life, Rosalind no longer needs to worry about sleeping or aging—or taking on mortal wounds, for that matter.

Due to her unique...circumstances, Rosalind has the potential to change the world, as far as her superiors are concerned. Normally used as an assassin, she'll soon be expected to go undercover to ensure the success of the most important of missions. This is not what Rosalind signed up for!

“She only wanted to be a girl who was deserving of the world.”

My Review:

Ahh! I can't believe we're getting a sequel (sort of). Foul Lady Fortune is set in the same world as These Violet Delights, and I am here for it! Though don't expect to see too many characters in common, as Rosalind is very much her own person here.

I may have kept a little secret out of my summary - Foul Lady Fortune has two perspectives, Rosalind's (duh) and Orion's. They are night and day, and I can absolutely see fans going nuts over these two. I have certainly been swept away!

There's a lot to love about this book, and since I don't want to keep readers here for ages, I'll just sum it up by saying this book is worth the read! Though if you haven't read the original duology, I would check that out first. The context will be crucial.

Highlights:
Historical Fiction/Fantasy
Forced Proximity
Larger world setting
LGBTQ Rep (demi, bi, trans, aro, ace)

Trigger Warnings:
Racism
Needles
Medical experimentation

CHLOE GONG DOES IT AGAIN!!

There’s something about her YA fantasy that reads almost like an adult fantasy - the plot lines are unique and I never know what to expect, and FLF was no different.

Assassin spy who can never die in a marriage of convenience with another fellow spy? Sign me UP. Rosalind and Orion’s constant back and forth would normally get old for me, but I found it endearing and a good lead up to their eventual love story 🥹

While marketed as a separate series from These Violent Delights, I’d HIGHLY recommend reading that duology first to decipher some of the Easter eggs Chloe leaves for us!

Chloe Gong is the queen in retelling Shakespeare's works. She just puts a better twist on them. She gives it to her all. It’s something to read. And Foul Lady Fortune was no different.

Foul Lady Fortune focuses on Rosalind after Our Violent Ends events. She still blames herself after what happened in Our Violent Ends, and it does not help that she can’t age anymore. She will always look the same. It’s kinda weird if you think about it. But she makes a perfect spy during those times.

I don’t know how I feel about Rosalind. I didn’t like her in These Violent Ends. And I still have mixed feelings about her in her book. She seems confused about her situation. She doesn’t know where she fits in the new world. And it’s going to become more challenging when there are shocking surprises and betrayals along the way.

I will read whatever Chloe writes at this point. This was the perfect follow-up to the first duology and I cannot wait for the novellas. IYKYL, but I'm going to lose my mind being reunited with some of my faves.

I absolutely love Chloe Gong, but I was wary about this book because I wasn't a fan of Rosalind's character when I read These Violent Delights. But Chloe really hit it out of the park with this one. Chloe really gave us a Shakespeare retelling set during Imperial Japan's expansion into China in the 1930s about two spies (one grumpy demisexual and the other manic train-wreck bisexual) in a marriage of convenience. It was everything. 10/10 no notes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing/Margaret K. McElderry Books for this eARC for review. All thoughts are my own.

5/5 stars!

I may be running (very very) behind on reading/writing eARC reviews, but OMG FLF was SO SO GREAT! I just read These Violent Delights and Our Violent ends this year (on audio), and very quickly became a huge fan of Chloe Gong and her writing style. She has a way of making historical fantasy so invigorating and captivating, and kept me thinking about the story at times when I wasn't able to keep reading. FLF was no different!

This story was delightfully fast paced, even in the parts of the story where no *action* was occurring, but the story was constantly developing and moving forward. All of the characters had distinct personalities, wants/needs, and their arcs felt full and completed by the end of the book. The amount of times I simultaneously swooned and gasped was probably not healthy, haha! I loved being able to see Rosalind's personal growth throughout the book, and I love how the monster/scientific experimental corruption gets so seamlessly integrated into the political intrigue and civil war. I truly also didn't anticipate loving Orion so much, or Sylas and Phoebe for that matter! And we can't forget my girl Celia!!! I'm so glad she gets to continue her story too, and I loved getting to see her with Oliver. I am so invested in this story, the ending was absolute torture! How are we supposed to wait for FLF2?! AND WE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH THAT ENDING NOTE, MISS GONG. THOSE INITIALS THOUGH.

PHENOMENAL! The whole book was well written, the characters had depth, and the relationships were flushed out and not rushed. AND THE TWIST!?!

Political intrigue in 1930's Orient with a mix of historical fiction and fantasy!

The prologue tells of a painful scientific experiment on a person that has been strapped down. Then the story starts as Rosalind is trapping a criminal who is a member of the group responsible for the death of her cousin Juliette during a past act gone awry. She’s exacting revenge on those who were part of it. Political intrigue, spies, agents, Communists and Nationalists describe the characters in this book. Her handler pairs her with another agent, Orion, who has family issues as well. The two of them have to pretend to be married so they can infiltrate the newspaper company and try to discover information on the serial killer murdering people with a toxic liquid in syringes. What they discover turns their lives around and, unbeknownst to Orion and Rosalind, the reader is given the true identity of a mysterious agent, Priest. The author’s notes on Oriental history during the 1930’s are fascinating. Well-written, complex, beloved characters build a fun historical fiction fantasy. 5 stars!

Likes/dislikes:
I enjoyed learning about the history of 1930’s Orient. The author’s notes give readers a glimpse into her research and what’s based on facts and what’s completely fiction in this story. Rosalind and Orion are characters with depth and I had fun getting to know them.
Swearing: PG for three swears, no f-bombs
Mature content: PG for lgbtq transgender character mentioned
Violence: PG-13 for killing by poison, shooting, bloody shooting, stabbing, bloody stabbing

I will literally read EVERYTHING Chloe Gong writes

The TVD duology is one of my favorites and so re-entering this world was so exciting. This book is more politics heavy than the duology and we saw a lot more mystery and suspense, which I was so here for. I've said before that Chloe is fantastic at working in our favorite tropes seamlessly and she did it again! I loved seeing more of Rosalind and Kathleen and I am SHOCKED at the ending (in true Chloe Gong fashion).

Only critique was I wanted a slower burn to the romance but I still love them ok

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing the ARC.

I 1000% will read anything the Chloe Gong publishes and I will not apologize for it.

This book is an amazing thrill ride set in the Republic of China. There is spying, political intrigue, tension, characters acting as double agents, and no one truly knows where anyone's loyalty lies. There are fantastical elements and a fake marriage to really tie things up into one crazy bow. Unraveling the plot in this book is just as engaging as the characters in it, and as someone who prides themselves on figuring things out ahead of time, my expectations for this book were completely subverted, and in the best way possible.

If you liked These Violent Delights, you'll love this. And if you haven't read it yet, please do yourself a favor and get on this Chloe Gong hype train as soon as possible.

Thank you, @netgalley, and @simonandschuster,for the eARC in return for an honest review.

My Thoughts:
It was recommended that you should read These Violent Delights series before reading this book. The book does reference a few characters and events but it doesn’t take away from the full story.

It took awhile to finish this book because it had a slow start, at least for me. 40 chapters in, it finally got interesting. Twist after twist really drew me in and I couldn’t stop reading. I can’t wait for the sequel.

I do love the buildup of the different characters. Made them endearing that you just want to root for them and there might be more than one love story.

God I'm so excited for my B&N preorder to ship... she looks so beautiful...

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for sending me an eARC of this book! I literally screamed when my request was approved. All opinions are my own.

It’s been four years since the collapse of the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers, but new factions have risen: the Kuomintang nationalists, the Communists, and the Japanese imperialists. Rosalind Lang has risen through the ranks of the covert Kuomintang branch under the codename “Fortune,” but a new mission marries her, literally, to Orion Hong, son of suspected Kuomintang traitor General Hong. Will she be able to succeed at the mission, keep an eye on Orion’s loyalties, and maintain the ruse of being married?

God. I just love everything that Chloe Gong writes. Foul Lady Fortune was probably my no. 1 anticipated release of 2022, and it did not disappoint. I finished it within 24 hours of starting it. That’s not to say it was perfect, hence the 4 star rating.

One thing I noticed while reading is that Gong’s plots tend to be very complicated and honestly, not that well explained. It took around a quarter of the book before I finally understood what Rosalind and Orion’s mission objective was, and even then, I kinda wish I had taken notes while reading because sometimes little details would come back in surprising ways, or I would just forget about major plot points because they wouldn’t be mentioned for pages on end. Once I figured the plot out, though, this book became very very engaging. I loved seeing the characters also figure out the mysteries, and there were two plot twists that I did not expect at all that literally had me gasping. That is not an exaggeration.

Aside from the plot, the romantic tension between Rosalind and Orion left me a little wanting. I love them both, both of stole easily into my heart, but their romantic development was kind of… nothing, and then all at once. I wish we got more moments of them just existing together, because the moments we *did* get were absolutely amazing. I just wish there were more of them, and that we got to see a bond grow between them.

One thing I loved all around in this book were the characters. Rosalind and Orion were amazing main characters, with well-rounded character developments and motivations, but my favorite character ever in this book has to be Celia. Celia stole the show for me in These Violent Delights, and I was ELATED to see her POV in Foul Lady Fortune. She and Oliver… stop, literally stop. I am awaiting FLF #2 and praying to GOD that they get closure. Their moments were literally so painful and so good… Silas and Phoebe were also amazing side characters, with Phoebe being Orion’s younger sister and Silas being his childhood friend turned Kuomintang triple agent prodigy spy. Also Alisa was back and!!!!!!! God it was so cool seeing her all grown up and smart and working as a Communist agent.

That’s another aspect of this book I loved: the time skip. I normally don’t like time skips in books, but I think that the four year time skip serves the characters really well. While we, the reader, do miss a lot of moments that happen during the time skip (Rosalind becoming immortal, for example. That really came out of nowhere), it was really nice to see how each character dealt with the loss of the gang structures that they had grown up in, and to see which faction they ended up working for. I don’t know much about Chinese history, but the struggle between the Communists, Kuomintang, and Japanese created so much political intrigue for me that I loved.

All this to say that I am eagerly eagerly awaiting FLF #2 and Last Violent Call because Chloe Gong could write literally anything and I would eat it up.

Rosalind (code name: Fortune) is an immortal assassin. She doesn’t sleep or age, and she can’t be killed. Rosalind works alone. So it comes as a shock when she is paired with another spy, Orion Hong.
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It’s 1930s Shanghai, five years after the events in These Violent Ends. When a series of murders cause a stir in Shanghai, Rosalind must pose as the wife of another spy to catch the killer. That spy is a rich arrogant playboy named Orion Hong. While Orion can be kind and charming, Rosalind is determined to keep all of her walls up and not fall for this scoundrel. The duo encounter numerous twists and turns while trying to uncover the truth. But will they finally catch the killer?
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Ok, give me a bulletproof lady assassin spy who walks around with poison on the tips of her hair pins any👏day👏of👏the👏week👏. I am 100% here for the antihero vibes 🖤. Throw in enemies-to-lovers and witty banter? I’m sold. I also loved the twist at the very end of the book. Definitely did not see that coming.
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Thank you to @netgalley and @simonandschuster for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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Foul Lady Fortune - Chloe Gong
4/5⭐️

This was the first book by Chloe Gong I've read, and now I totally get the hype. This was a thrilling spy story set amidst the backdrop of 1930's Shanghai. It had everything I could have wanted: intrigue, action, and plot twists galore. Every time I thought I had everything figured out, I was blown away by a new revelation. I loved all of the characters and found them to be well-developed and relatable. Rosalind was trying to atone for her past mistakes and remained guarded after giving her heart to someone only to have it broken and used. Orion and his siblings were dealing with some pretty juicy family drama after his brother defected to the Communists and their father was accused of working for the imperialist Japanese. When Orion and Rosalind were first thrown together, it was like putting oil and water together and expecting them to work well. As the story unfolded, their relationship deepened into a true working partnership with trust, as well as a tense slow-burn romance. So, if you enjoy enemies/rivals to lovers with plenty of forced proximity, you'll probably love this book. Their dynamic was a lot of fun to read, and the banter had me chuckling quite a bit as their different personalities clashed. I'd be remiss not to mention the commentary on imperialism and nationalism that this book provided. The story illustrated a fascinating cross-section of the political conflicts of China in the 1930's, specifically between the communist, nationalist, and imperialist Japanese factions. The characters also provided a window into the personal effects that Western imperialism had on the education, quality of life, and culture of the Chinese. All of these different layers came together to create a compelling story that I'm still trying to wrap my head around. There's so much more to say, but I don't want to spoil any of the numerous surprises. Overall, this story was a fun ride with three-dimensional characters, lots of twists, multi-layered conspiracies, and a tense enemies to lovers romance with great banter. I definitely recommend it and rate the book 5 out of 5 stars.

“For the sake of their country’s livelihood, she would work with him. She would play nice, let him into her apartment, feign a romance. But there was no possibility that she would let her guard down even for a second. Never again.”

Four years ago, Shanghai was rocked with a war in the streets, and the city is still recovering. Desperate for redemption for her part in the brutality, Rosalind Lang now uses her power that allows her to heal from any wound—given to her in an experiment that saved her life—as an assassin for her country. Her code name is Fortune, but Rosalind feels anything but fortunate. When a series of chemical murders begins causing unrest in Shanghai’s precarious peace and the invading Japanese Imperial Army is suspected, Rosalind is given new orders to infiltrate a business thought to hold vital information and identify who is behind the terror plot. To make matters worse, she’s assigned to work with—and pose as the wife of—another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong. With an uneasy alliance, secrets they’d both rather stay buried, and blossoming feelings, Rosalind and Orion must discover the truth and fight to stop the destruction—before it’s too late.

FOUL LADY FORTUNE is a wild ride full of one plot twist after another. I absolutely loved how author Chloe Gong brought the historical setting to life with rich and striking descriptions. The characters are fantastically well-rounded and real, with both flaws and strengths that let us see them truly as people. I also loved the building romance between Rosalind and Orion, as well as the one between Celia and Oliver. The action scenes had me at the edge of my seat, and the last 20% of the book ensured I couldn’t put it down until its thrilling conclusion. And now I am so ready for book two! Folks, Chloe Gong has done it again, and fans of THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS will absolutely love this continuation of Gong’s riveting world!

Content Warnings: Murder, self-harm, blood, human experimentation, some graphic descriptions of violence and gore, racism, needles, gun violence, amnesia, death of a loved one

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong is out now from Simon & Schuster. Heads-up that it does include spoilers for Chloe Gong’s duology, THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

After reading the These Violent Delights series by this author, it was a no-brainer to request her next book. I didn’t even need to read the description.

Main character Rosalind is a character from These Violent Delights, but let’s just say she wasn’t my favorite and leave it at that. This story is set four years after the end of that series. And she completely changed my mind about her. As an assassin for her country, Rosalind is trying to atone for her betrayal four years ago and find some kind of peace. After being brought back from the brink of death by unusual means, she’s not entirely human. She doesn’t sleep or age and can heal from any wound – a definite perk considering her line of work. Her new assignment places her in a fake marriage, and her “husband” may be more trouble than she expected.

1930s Shanghai is the perfect setting for this novel. It really gave me the whole cloak and dagger spy vibe. Complex politics, hidden motives, and double and triple spies just add to the atmosphere. Fake husband Orion might grate on Rosalind’s nerves, but with his humorous quips and the banter between them, I was instantly a fan of his. Shout out to his sister Phoebe, a wonderful supporting character. His protective big brother stance doesn’t work – she’s strong-willed and has a mind of her own.

This novel clocks in at over five hundred pages, but it sure didn’t feel like it. I plowed through it in a couple days and was delighted by the explosive plot twists toward the end. With its complex plot, it’s easily a crossover, and I guarantee this author will have a long line of readers waiting for the next book in the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Do not read this book if you have not read the author’s previous books These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends . It is a spinoff that takes place after these stories and will spoil things for those books plus be incredibly confusing if you haven’t read them.

As it is, it’s still rather confusing but that boils down to the writing and it’s a massive disappointment. In her first book, the writing is a decent bit tighter even though there’s still a lot of info that gets pushed at the reader. The thing about it is at least that was better written.

This is not written anywhere near as well as that first book. We’ve got info dumping, weird, sometimes bordering on bad dialogue, and really weird pacing.

I stopped and started this book because the beginning is so incredibly slow. And yet there are things happening with speed that still feel like they’re happening slowly. Then there’s the fact that there’s so much information to keep track of.

An alternate Shanghai with supernatural elements that still suffers from the real world issues that led to various skirmishes and conflicts. It is a lot of history to keep track of and it’s just dumped on the page.

Then there’s the characters. I couldn’t connect like I did to them in the first series. They were flat, didn’t jump off the page. Now the lgbtq+ representation is fantastic but that doesn’t make up for the fact that the book is just not a great read. It’s slow and disjointed in the beginning and in some areas tries to be fast but it’s a bumpy ride.

I really wanted to like this, I enjoyed her first books, well, the first one at least. But this? This needed more work, more editing and tightening.

I’m giving it a two (2) out of five (5).

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

i loved these violent delights and love Chloe gong as an author but unfortunately this one didn’t live up to my expectations. starting this book I was so excited and went into it with such high hopes just to get really bored and confused on the first chapter. this one was unfortunately a dnf at 20% as I just couldn’t connect with the story plus I felt like the writing for this book was a little confusing at times and not as well done as these violent delights and our violent ends. love chloe gong but this one wasn’t for me

Chloe Gong has another hit on her hands y’all’! I was going in to this one with HIGH hopes because of how much I loved TVD. I was not disappointed! Foul Lady Fortune brings us back to some of our favorite characters. This book is a spy mystery at its core and I loved it! The intrigue, the lies, the covert missions! Give it to me please! I’m always impressed with how Chloe Gong writes because I truly feel like I’m there. I kept picturing Orion and Rosalind because it was so descriptive. I can’t wait to read the next one in this duo!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Chloe Gong you've really outdone yourself this time. I've never come across a writer where every time I read one of their books I'm like "yes, this is the one. This is the favorite." This is the best book I've read all year, which is saying a lot because I've had many 5 star reads this year. I think it may be because we are already familiar with Rosalind (even though I didn't like her in the original duology) and the world. Lets also talk about the world building vs the action. There was such a fantastic blend of action in this one, and the world building just feels so natural.
I love Rosalind and Orion and their fake marriage but he still calls her beloved. They're so effing cute I was literally smiling during a fight scene because of their banter it felt so wrong but also so right ! LOVED IT LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT
I was straight up yelling at my book when I was finishing it last night because you really had me going Chloe! But HA I was right.
I want to reread it already. I wish it wasn't over.
I am late on posting this, but thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my fair and honest review. It was amazing and I didn't want it to end 😭 This title is available now!!!