This was fun.

Continuing the events of Foul Lady Fortune, Four Heart Huntsmen follows the story of Rosalind Lang, exposed and burned spy and assassin, as she races against time and 1930's political powers to save her country and the love of her life.

Taken at the end of the last instalment, Orion is being held captive and has been abandoned by the covert organization he was a part of. Rosalind is his only hope but, with her identity in the open, it's nearly impossible. And she's been cut off by the same spy organization....until she comes up with a seemingly brilliant political stunt; a publicity tour that could help all involved save face. When the tour goes sideways in a spectacular way, Rosalind and her friends work on the fly to take down an impending foreign invasion, stop a potential biological weapon held by a traitor all too familiar to them and save Orion.

The action in the one kept going. The politics played their role as one would expect in a Chloe Gong novel, I'm learning. But the highlight of it all was the characters and their relationships. The unlikely band of heroes, of different political affiliation and purpose, are such interesting characters and good friends, even as they struggle with their allegiances .

A satisfying conclusion to this duology for sure!

I’m officially a Chloe Gong fan. Give me all her books.

After being obsessed with Foul Lady Fortune, I jumped straight into the sequel. I needed to know what was going to happen with all these characters that I’ve become intrigued by and attached to.

This book was full of action and tension just like the first one was. There were also moments where I was going “What?!” out loud, because I had not seen the twist coming or had not expected that character to make the decision they did.

The ending did seem to wrap up really nicely really quickly, which doesn’t bother me. I just wanted to see all the characters safe and happy.

Now I need to go back and read the first two books in this world, because I need more!

Okay, this was really complex and there were so many storylines all converging in on each other - the characters were a little hard to follow, and there were double and triple and whatever agents. But, I loved them and I really enjoyed how they wrapped up!

Chloe Gong’s Foul Heart Huntsman is the most recent fantasy book I’ve finished, and I’m very excited to be talking about it so soon after finishing not only because everything is still fresh, but also because I really enjoyed the book and how it wrapped up not only the Foul Lady Fortune duology, but the prequel series—These Violent Delights—as well.

By the point where I dove into Foul Heart Huntsman, I had already spent extensive amounts of time with some of the core characters, and got to know the rest pretty well while reading the first book in the duology, Foul Lady Fortune. Some of the aspects I enjoyed most about this duology are tropes that I usually enjoy: pining, forced proximity, marriage of convenience.

What I also enjoyed was the characters in general, their development (inner development as well as how their relationships evolved with each other as the story progressed), as well as the banter (and dialogue as a whole). I also appreciated the novelty of the setting going hand-in-hand with some of the historical tidbits I was able to pick up (I know this is a work of fiction, but I know that it’s also based on some real historical events as well).

The pacing was great, and Foul Heart Huntsman was action packed. I think the pacing in this book was the most satisfying for me out of Gong’s novels so far—there wasn’t one dull moment. I was on the edge of my seat, figuratively and literally, for a good portion of the story. I really enjoyed this book, the duology as a whole, as well as the other series in this universe, and I hope that this isn’t the last I hear of these characters or the setting I got to know them in.

I had not been a huge fan of the These Violent Delights duology so I was skeptical going into this one since it’s set in the same world but I’m really glad I decided to give it a try!

Foul Heart Huntsman is such a fun, fast-paced adventure. I love the characters and their individual journeys that overlap. I can’t wait to read more by Chloe Gong!

Three years later, Chloe Gong wraps up her Secret Shanghai series with Foul Heart Huntsman. Despite having just read Foul Lady Fortune at the start of 2023, I was surprised by how quickly I was able to jump right back into its sequel. If you loved the first half of this duology, then you’ll love the conclusion even more! All the beloved characters, like Celia and Alisa, are back and ready for action. As all the players, and their relationships with each other, have been set up in Foul Lady Fortune, I was able to just sit back and enjoy seeing them do what they do best while working together. I was even able to better appreciate the Orion and Rosalind relationship as we get to see the depths of Rosalind’s feelings as she fights to get Orion back by any means possible. Overall, I’m obsessed with how darkly romantic the story, settings and characters were!

Rest of the review can be found at attached link.

I'm so sad its over!

This was such a great conclusion! This was a fast-paced and compelling read; I was hooked from the start. I loved the characters and it was really awesome to see all the entire gang back together again.

the epilogue was EVERYTHING! I AM IN TEARS RIGHT NOW ;(

Oh, I had such a fantastic time reading this series! We knew Rosalind from the first series, and Celia (who we had known as Kathleen, but this is the name that she wants, not assuming her sister's name) as well as Alisa, and it was so great to meet this new cast of characters as well!

There's a lot of politics going on in these books. The Nationals are in control of the country, but Japan is looking to take over. Finding out what's going on happens in Foul Lady Fortune, and dealing with what happened occurs in Foul Heart Huntsman!

There are two really great romances in this book. Rosalind and Orion, who were utterly fantastic! And Celia and Oliver, which was funny, that siblings ended up with siblings! They were just as consuming as Roma and Juliette! And then there was Phoebe and Silas, The Priest and the Shepherd, and their dynamics!

The short story and the novellas, were absolutely fantastic! To give this little piece of the puzzle with Phoebe and Silas, why they became who they did. And Last Violent Call gave us a look at Juliette and Roma in their new lives, and Benedikt and Marshall together, it was so great!

This series really deals with serums and such, with super soldiers, and the serum Rosalind was given. But it's a very valuable weapon, one that gives a lot of power to whoever wields it-so the race is on. I loved watching it play out, though the note about the real history of events, that sucks. But there was hope in this series that was great!

These were such great reads, and such a great end to the series and world!

Gorgeous cover but ultimately not the book for me. I've liked some of Chloe Gong's books in the past but this one was a little too long and I couldn't get into it like I wanted to. I ended up DNFing at about 25%. I may try again at a later time but it was a miss this go around. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Read if you like: historical YA fantasy, These Violent Delights duology
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This book and this series is amazing! I cannot get enough of these characters and the stories and I was fully engaged throughout the whole book! This novel picks up where the last one left off, and the journey that these characters go on is intense and thrilling. I honestly will read anything Chloe Gong writes at this point.

5 ✰

The finale to the Secret Shanghai universe, nobody speak to me I am unwell 🥲 Reading the last book in this universe hits different because I’ve been with these characters since These Violent Delights came out back in 2020. I feel like I grew with this series — the waiting and anticipation for the next book, the LETHAL cliffhangers, the pain, angst, sprinkled in with some light fluffy romance, was all worth it in the end knowing the characters got the endings they deserved. The range of emotions these books and characters will put you through is insane but we love the pain so we live laugh love that!

I hold this book near and dear to my heart. I think it was the perfect wrap up of everyone’s stories. We finally get to see Rosalind and Juliette together again where they properly talk about what happened back in Our Violent Ends five years ago. The guilt that Rosalind had been carrying with her over the years has finally been lifted and I’m just so proud of her for the growth she had. I love that my favs are finally good again :’)

“I betrayed you—“

“And I forgave you a long, long time ago. Even if I *were* dead, you made a mistake, and then you needed to pick yourself back up to live for me. What else is there to do? Do you expect to repent forever?”

“You’re going to make me start crying again.”

Juliette laughed, throwing her arms around her in a tight embrace. When Rosalind hugged her cousin and exhaled, it felt like she was breathing differently for the first time in five years.

Them making up was one of my favourite scenes ever, since they were my first two fav characters originally!!! Not to mention reading Alisa and Roma reuniting after five years too, I was bawling my eyes out, they are jus the cutest ☹️

I’m not usually a big fan of the amnesia trope but this one hit different. I had a blast reading the scenes when Orion would ask who Rosalind was, Rosalind and Alisa filling in a confused Orion, and watching Orion and Rosalind essentially fall in love again. I mean…the material though:

“You are nobody.”
“Excuse me? I am your wife.”

“Beloved?”
“That was what you called me. Not Rosalind. Beloved.”

“Then I still wish I could remember, because under different circumstances, if you told me you loved me, I would have kissed you.”

“Even if the memories never come back, I’m slowly going to love you again. I have decided to warn you in advance.”

I was crying…a lot. Even though Orion hadn’t remembered Rosalind at first, their dynamic was still the same, lots of banter, soft moments when it was just them two, extreme flirting on Orion’s side, Rosalind getting flustered, chefs kiss. They will always have a special place in my heart and I will miss reading them immensely. I’m afraid I’m too attached to them🥹🫶🏼

Of course, I was absolutely in love with the RomaJuliette and BenMarshall moments. I had so much fun reading them again and with all of the characters reuniting even if it was for a brief moment. I felt so nostalgic reading them, I was sad that they didn’t stay long, I’ll always want more of them😭

We got more of Celia and Oliver and Phoebe and Silas and I was jumping for joy — they ate! When Rosalind asked Celia if she was trying to compete with Rosalind to see who could marry into the family first SENT me 😭😭😭I honestly didn’t even realize until she said that.

My heart was PUMPING when we were nearing the end, like Rosalind getting shot then Orion then Orion losing so much blood only for Rosalind to give him her blood to save him, I was stressssssing lol. I mean it all worked out in the end but Chloe had to give us another jump-scare before giving us the fluffy ending they deserve 😌 The first epilogue was just the best (I’ve yet to read the bonus one!!), I mean Orion’s proposal, CeliaOliver ALSO proposing, AND ROMAJULIETTE BABYYYYY WE WERE FED!!! RomaJuliette entering their milf and dill era 🥹

With all that being said, I, of course, loved this book very much. I will forever miss this universe and characters and they will always have a special place in my heart ♡ Everybody better thank Chloe for bringing these characters to life, thanks! 😌

Wow, the Foul Heart Huntsman is the sequel to my new favourite two book series. I highly recommend reading the first book Foul Lady Fortune because Chloe Gong is building a world with layered characters. Don't let the fact that this is a YA novel deter you from reading. This is a book for lovers of spies, and historical fiction as well as historical fantasy. I wish that things hadn't been wrapped up so well because I think that this would be a fabulous ongoing series.

“ They were operatives, but they were also people. Just people-capable of selfishness and love, with the same instincts for preservation and group protection as the first wanderers who walked this earth.”

The Chloe Gong experience is like standing in line for a rollercoaster. The wait may span several decades, yet you insist on returning purely because the high experienced is so unparalleled that you neglect to consider the aftermath of pounding physical (in Chloe’s case, emotional) pain promised in the synopsis.

Chloe Gong has masterfully balanced the genres of historical fiction, fantasy, action, and a little sci-fi all in one dazzling bound book. A true quadruple threat.

Foul Heart Huntsman is the fast-paced, “all-hands on deck” conclusion that weaves in the loose ends of the Secret Shanghai series. The plot is heavily character involved. We see each member of our beloved crew driven by their own mission, duty, love, and loyalty. Their journeys are all inextricably linked in one glorious mess.

We, the audience, are reunited with the relentless city of Shanghai, as it greets yet another threat: Japanese invasion. The narrative perspective switches constantly, allowing Chloe to delve into the political tensions that shape the war as well.

As an Everlark fan, I’d like to thank Chloe for her service revamping the brainwashed trope, making amnesiac Orion the same golden-hearted flirt, memories intact or not. (In fact, I drew several parallels between Rosalind and Orion and Katniss and Peeta, specifically from Mockingjay.)

Can we talk about Phoebe and Alisa?! 😍 There’s something about trigger-happy little sisters embarking on covert missions and being more clever than their older brothers that just gets me (I am also a little sister).

I’ve always seen myself in Rosalind - in the parts of her that doubt her character and dwell over the bitterness and difficulty that seem ingrained in herself, like layers of sediment built up in a rock. It was rewarding to watch her redefine herself over the course of this duology. She finally is unburdened by her guilt, yet she remains undeviatingly righteous, all while fighting for both Nation and Love.

The reunions between certain characters in this novel were also immensely heartwarming. The casual humour and compassion exchanged with one another meant the world to me.

The fact that this novel coaxed silent tears and shameless giggles from me while under the eye of the public is truly all the encouragement you need to read it today. (my rating: 5/5 stars)

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review

What a lovely way to tie up this duology!!! I loved getting to see old faces show up. Orion and his beloved 🥰 Oliver declaring his feelings for Celia. Getting to see Celia and Rosalind together again. The world Chloe Gong has created is truly amazing. It captures you and makes you want to keep reading. Although I will say this did feel a tad long at times. And some parts I wish there was better clarification that we were switching scenes as it made it a little hard to follow at times. But what a great story. I'm sad to see this duology done. If Chloe writes it, I'm gonna read it

This conclusion to the duology also serves as the final installment in the Secret Shanghai universe (at least for now?). Chloe Gong skillfully wraps up the narrative, delivering an exhilarating, humorous, and heartfelt finale. I had a great time with the shenanigans and banter – there were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, and my concern for the characters grew with each page turn. Admittedly, the resolution may have been a tad too tidy in the end, but it ultimately left me with a sense of satisfaction.

4.5 stars

This was an absolutely fitting and perfect ending to the secret Shanghai universe! It was so nice seeing all our favourite characters together again and give them all a finished ending.
The action and suspense in this story were top notch and the interactions between characters in this story were among my favourite in the entire series.
Would highly recommend this series to all of you want an action packed adventure full of drama, suspense, tears, and laughs!
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review :)

This was a book that I was excited to read, but got confused at the beginning, just to be invested in the story shortly after.

This story takes place in Shanghai where Rosalind Lang’s identity had been exposed to the public and she was recognizable as a national spy. In her previous mission, she lost her partner, a false spouse. She couldn't forget about him and would do anything to find him. She presumed that he was caught by his mother called Lady Hong, the national traitor. As the only opportunity to find Orion, Rosalind volunteered for a national tour. The tour unexpectedly got complicated, and nothing worked the way Rosalind planned.

I jumped into this book without knowing it's the second book of the series. Reading the first book will help as I was confused about many characters and how they were tied to the story. Saying that, I liked the story and all unique and well developed characters of Hong family and those close to Rosalind. They were working in the opposite sides. Some were traitors, assassins, and even Priest. With many secrets and paths, finally they pulled together to fight for one of them. Nice story that fantasy fans will enjoy.

This was such a fantastic way to bring the entire Shanghai world to an end!

Full of action, twists, and tension, Foul Heart Hunstman was such a fun read!

I absolutely loved the appearance of past characters and to see the series come together as a whole.

It truly couldn’t have ended in a better way! I loved it so much!!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster CA for the chance to read and review :)

“You are nobody.”
“Excuse me?” A wave of irrational anger overrode the pain of her landing. “I am your wife.”

4.5 stars

The stakes are high at the beginning of this conclusion to the Secret Shanghai universe and I was on the edge of my, metaphorical, seat the entire time.

"If anyone played their hand wrong here, this was international war."

There were so many things going on, so many bad guys and plot lines, but I wasn’t confused so that shows how well everything was laid out in this book.

I loved Rosalind and Orion, Fortune and the Huntsman. Every time we learned more about the villain, I won’t say who because of spoilers for Foul Lady Fortune, I wanted to both strangle them and cry for Orion.

I loved Celia and Oliver, they were adorable, and Oliver’s sacrifice in the middle (not sacrifice as I’m dead though 😅), perfection. I think that was absolutely amazing and it showed Celia that she was wanted and loved.

Alisa, Phoebe, and Silas were also great characters, perfectly spy-worthy and drama filled. I would like a series on Alisa next please 🙏

So, if you like:

Murder and mayhem
Amnesia-ed MMC
Demisexual, Bi, & Trans reps
Spies and assassins
A country at war
Betrayal and twists ALL THE TIME
A love story that will push you off a cliff

Then read this book. I mean…don’t start with this book, start with These Violent Delights, but you’ll get here eventually AND THEN you can read this book!

There are also some long-awaited cameos in this book and yes, I loved every second of them.

💘Foul Heart Huntsman💘

When I was approved for an eARC of Foul Heart Huntsman I was ecstatic! I read Lady Foul Fortune at the beginning of the year and quite enjoyed it so I was excited to see how the story would end. Since this is a sequel I will keep this quite brief to avoid spoiling any of the series.

Foul Heart Huntsman had a lot of exciting moments but there were also parts of it that really dragged. It felt at times like a long book. However, I enjoyed spending more time with the characters of the Secret Shanghai gang and going along with them on their story full of twists and turns.

Thankfully I found a really detailed plot summary for Lady Foul Fortune because I forgot how much plot had been jammed into that book so it was a bit hard to follow FHH at times. I should have re-read LFF first but I just had no desire to at this time, especially so soon after my first read through. I sometimes felt like this duology had too many different plot points going. The conclusion of the series was quite satisfying. However, there was one minor epilogue eye roll, but it was a plot point I don’t particularly enjoy in any book.

Overall, it was an enjoyable and fun read. If you’ve been enjoying the Secret Shanghai series I would recommend picking this duology up. I think I personally preferred the original duology more.

A huge thank you to @netgalley and @simonschusterca for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Foul Heart Huntsman is out on September 26th!

⭐4/5 stars⭐