The vibes of this book are impeccable, and I was chuckling when any character that appeared or was already known from other carnivals (understand these carnivals as These Violent Delights), or later on was revealed as a spy for one of the parties, is the same energy as watching a British series: you arrive expecting to see about 20 familiar faces. Those who came back from the other duology are Rosalind Lang, Celia Lang and Alisa, and because of their different points of view, I trusted theirs right away and went with the flow when reading Foul Lady Fortune.

Rosalind gave me a little stress in Our Violent Delights, but at no time did I have problems following her journey, she is the grumpy of the grumpy x sunshine romance cliché rolling around, but I still felt a lot of charisma rolling in and the cloths were always ready to be passed on to her, as she is an assassin with her priorities and loyalties in the right places.

Foul Lady Fortune is a perfect example of the right book at the right time, because the anime Spy x Family left me thirsty for more stories with spies and the release of Chloe Gong being one left me jumping for joy, because in addition to spies I would also receive characters deliciously ridiculous and a lot of historical bullshit in an East Asian setting.

Full review at: https://deiumjeito.blogspot.com/2022/09/review-foul-lady-fortune-chloe-gong.html

Her code name: Fortune. Her purpose: atonement.

A captivating story about an ill-matched pair of spies, a fake Marriage, a thrilling investigation into a series of brutal murders (with the backdrop of events surrounding Imperial Japan's expansion into China in the 1930s).

If you enjoyed the ‘These Violent Delights’ duology, then you will love this. It has the same vibes but very different too. With Chloe Gong’s writing is absolutely stunning (the vivid descriptions of Shanghai, the use of prose; the fabulous dynamic characters) a brilliant, refreshing plot, I was hooked from start to finish.

Rosalind really impressed me in this book. Her characters arc really developed and shone. And I adored the fake marriage aspect - the banter, the nemesis to lovers chemistry was on point. (The perfect grumpy demisexual x energetic, sunshine bisexual).


‘Rosalind had broken the city; she wouldn’t be happy until she fixed it.’

4.7 stars ⭐️

**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review**

3.5 ⭐️

After reading the beautiful These Violent Delights duology, I just couldn't wait to read the next instalment in this universe. Unfortunately, due to a persistent reading slump, it took me two months to finish this book. But don't let that time frame fool you; I really really liked this book.

This is set four years after the ending of Our Violent Ends and follows Rosalind as she enters an undercover mission for the Nationalists and is assigned a partner, Orion.

First of all, I knew that this was a kind of coworker-to-lovers kind of romance (if you view spies and assassins working together as coworkers) so I was of course down to read that, but in my opinion, it kind of is a grumpy vs sunshine situation and I really liked that!! Rosalind is a very stubborn character who's been hurt in love before and won't trust easily, whereas Orion is this bubbly flirty man willing to tear down her wall of secrets.
They're not the only characters; of course, we see some fan favourites make their return and meet three new adorable persons, Silas, Phoebe, and Oliver. I really enjoyed Silas and Phoebe's interaction and Phoebe as a character as well, and I think we might be seeing more of her in the future, so I'm thrilled!
Continuing on the romance aspect, has anyone counted the amount of "beloved" said? because I have and it's a lot and I loved it. It's such a sweet endearment term, and I'm a sucker for those.

Now, regarding the plot. Overall, it was way slower than the previous duology, which is not a bad thing, but if you're worried about it, it does pick up pace in the end. Despite this relative slowness, the novel is very interesting, but I would advise reading it more quickly than I to not have trouble getting back into it :') I feel like if I had read this in a week, I would have enjoyed it more because I would have stayed in the loop. But a slump is a slump, and it cannot be helped.

Also?? So many quotes to highlight omg, Chloe Gong did it again !!

I have some theories about the next book and I'm going to think about them a lot while we wait for the second volume of the Foul Lady Fortune duology.

In the end, I would recommend this book, except maybe to readers who like a bit more of an action-packed novel.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Foul Lady Fortune is a companion book to These Violent Delights. It takes place four years later and we follow Rosalind, who is an assassin and spy.

“Lady Fortune, you play foul.”

I have loved reading These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends a lot and had a hard time getting over the ending, even though it hadn’t come as a surprise. Knowing we would get to revisit Shanghai and some of the characters made me so excited! At first, I thought Alisa would be the main character haha. I was surprised it was Rosalind, but super eager to start reading the story as soon as possible!

The story starts in 1931, four years after the events which led to the deaths of many in Shanghai. A major backbone for the story is the political instability present in Shanghai and the different parties, Nationalist, Communists and the Japanese being major players in the civil war brewing. In the beginning it was a little difficult to follow along all the politics and different parties, but it didn’t take away from the story itself.

The plot was very fun to be honest, even though it was grim as well. It is a bit similar to These Violent Delights, with killings happening and two people trying to figure out why. A difference is that Rosalind and Orion are on the same side and not opposites haha. Those from the other side are closely connected to them though, so we see characters from both sides.

I really liked the characters, both known and new! Rosalind seemed a bit more subdued than before, but that also isn’t surprising when you know what she’s gone through. I loved seeing her coming more out of her shell when around Orion. Guarded as she was, it was super sweet seeing him break through the walls she put up. Orion as well is a character with layers. I loved his mannerism and how he went about the whole operation.

I loved the chemistry between Rosalind and Orion! While they started off bickering a lot, I sometimes missed a bit of humor or something at the start. Nonetheless, they were very amusing and sweet as the story progressed. I loved how slow and real their relationship grew. From the little sweet conversations they had when they opened up more, to the scheme they had to keep up where the lines between real and fake blurred more and more.
It might’ve also been just me, but I honestly took so long to finally connect the Oliver from Celia to Oliver from Orion…

The plot twist and the end, while fully anticipating one coming, still blew me away! The same with the ending! I love the way Chloe writes her books in a way that is super engaging and addicting to read! With the way she ends them as well! I so want to read the sequel, and not even its title is currently known… I am also super intrigued by who -JM is! My BTS loving mind jumped to Jimin hahahaha, but that is kinda impossible. My second guess went to Juliette! I honestly don’t think they would be in the books even if they were alive, but if she and Roma married and she took his name, that would be her initials! I guess we’ll find out next year.

Overall, an intriguing, fun book which was a blast to read! I loved the characters, their development and the overall plot.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved 'These Violent Delights' and 'Our Violent Ends' so you can imagine my excitement when the release of 'Foul Lady Fortune' was announced.

'Foul Lady Fortune' takes place four years after the events of the first duology. Shanghai is no longer controlled by the Scarlet and White Flower gangs. The remaining members have scattered amongst the political factions. And whilst the Nationalists and communists battle for power - the Japanese Imperial Army threatens to invade. People are being murdered in the streets and the Japanese are the prime suspects. Rosalind Lang – forever changed by a strange experiment – is pulled into a Nationalist spy operation. Her mission is to unravel the terror plot and identify those responsible for the murders. But to evade suspicion she must pretend to be the wife of her fellow agent - Orion Hong.

Chloe Gong’s writing just keeps getting better and better. I am truly in awe of how real this world and its characters feel. I love spy stories and 'Foul Lady Fortune' is a brilliant one. It is an intriguing mystery, full of exciting fast-paced action and shocking plot twists. I found myself rapidly turning each page – desperate for more. I loved trying to piece together the mystery as the characters picked up various clues. But even so, the ending was completely unexpected and breathtaking, living up to the tension that gradually built throughout the story.

Chloe Gong always finds a way to pull on our heartstrings. Amongst the excitement, there are soft, quiet moments in the book where the characters take center stage and we explore their innermost thoughts and vulnerabilities.

“Trauma doesn't have to lead to destruction. Trauma can be the guiding point to something better, something stronger”

Chloe Gong gives us a character that is familiar but also massively changed. Rosalind is haunted by her past and struggles to find a place in this dangerous world. It is so interesting to see her growth. Even if you did not like Rosalind from the first duology (note: I did) - 'Foul lady Fortune' offers a side to her that is hard not to love.

Orion Hong. I have to admit it took me a while to fall in love with him. But before long I found myself addicted to the grumpy/sunshine dynamic between him and Rosalind – their conversations added a much-needed lightness to this dark story. Behind his playboy persona, Orion is also tormented. Seeing the pair work through their issues together gave their relationship so much power. Their love (and friendship) was tangible. Their scenes together were my favorite parts of the book.

Overall, 'Foul Lady Fortune' completely surpassed my expectations. I do not read as much YA as I used to but I will always be here for these books. I will be counting down the days until the second book releases! Chloe Gong is such a wonderful talent in the YA genre – we are lucky to have her.

If Chloe Gong is going to finish this series like this violent delights I’m gonna scream for an entire day. I really loved all the new characters, especially the sweet sweet Orion who is already in my top 10 of favorite bookish boyfriends. Rosalind was a character with enormous potential that here is realized in its fullness. I got attached to her immediately, especially because I see myself in her. Her trust issues are so real after what she went through in Our Violent Ends, and only a cinnamon roll like Orion could’ve breached her armor. Plus, her relationship with Celia is so true and pure, even if they are on opposite sides, family is stronger and they know how to protect each other. The plot is quite intricate and there are some plot twists that really let me speechless. It’s incredible how bad I need the sequel even if I literally just finished it. Let’s pray all together for a happy ending this time!

When I saw that I got accepted to read this eARC, I was super excited. I really enjoyed Gong’s These Violent Delights (TVD) duology but I must say that Foul Lady Fortune is possibly my favourite.

I devoured the first part of this book. Maybe because my last read was Our Violent Ends, I found it much easier to get into Foul Lady Fortune. I also found the politics to be easier to understand as there weren’t as many political players like there were in TVD.

When I first found out that this duology was going to be centered around a character from TVD, I really hoped that it would be Celia. However, I really enjoyed Rosalind’s POV. In TVD, she wasn’t my favourite character but I was won over really quickly. I really liked her love interest, Orion, but I wish we saw a little bit more of their relationship as it was developing.

Even though Celia isn’t our main character, I loved that we still got her POV here and there. I liked her character in the TVD series but I loved her character in this book. She’s loyal and true to herself. Those few tender moments between her and Oliver made my heart happy. I am all for a novella about how these two met!

I honestly did not see the twists at the end of the book coming and the reveal right at the end really blew my mind. I’m super excited for book 2 and to see how this story progresses.

I do feel that you really need to read TVD before you read this book. It’s super important to understand the back story of some of the characters who were from the previous series and also to understand the political setting of the book as it’s a continuation from the previous series. I also found that I enjoyed picking up certain clues and hints that will be missed if you haven’t read TVD.

Thank you to Hodder Books, Hodder Publicity, Netgalley and Chloe Gong for this eARC.

A review for Foul Lady Fortune will be posted on Instagram on my @mysisterstolemybook bookstagram account on the book’s release day on the 27th of September.

I am in awe. This book was everything and I may in fact love it more than the first series These Violent Delights. I loved the characters, Orion and Rosalind were amazing, as were Celia, Oliver, Alisa, Silas and Phoebe. This book honestly pulled me out of my reading slump as I had no doubt it would!! The story was flawless and so well thought out and the plot twists dropping every five seconds were crazy! I’m really looking forward to book 2. I can’t believe I’ll have to wait so long but Chloe Gong’s writing will always be my favourite. She can really weave a story together and it’s so inspirational honestly. Definitely recommend everyone to read this if they read TVD and OVE.

This is a sort of spin-off of These Violent Delights duology and the start of a new one. Chloe Gong introduce us to a new strong and clever heroine.
There's a mix of historical fiction and fantasy. i love the world building and loved Rosalind.
This author is a talented storyteller and I look forward to the second book in this duology.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Firstly I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC 😍🥰

Foul Lady Fortune is set four years after the events of Our Violent Ends, the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers have almost dispersed and in the wake of the Communist, Nationalist and the Japanese all vying to take over Shanghai and China. Rosalind Lang is an assassin working for the Nationalists under the codename Fortune. Several murders have happened in Shanghai and everyone wants to get to the bottom of them including Rosalind. She’s assigned a new partner Orion and together they are tasked with working out what’s going on. With Orion’s friend Silas and sister Pheobe as well as Rosilinds sister Celia, Orion’s brother Oliver and former White Flower Alisa Montagova (who are working with the communists), they all intermingle to find out who the killer is…

Foul Lady Fortune was one of my most anticipated breeds of the year and it really did not disappoint. It did take a little bit longer for me to get into than These Violent Delights but it was well worth it. Rosalind and Oliver are incredible MCs, Rosalind is strong, fiery and resilient. She’s just amazing!! Orion came across as a really caring character which to me was really lovely, he was heroic and supportive of Rosalind even when he found out her secrets so the ending was quite shocking and upsetting for me (I’m a crier not going to lie) but what I love about Chloe Gong is that she surprises us even when we know the story (this is a retelling of As You Like It).
I am so excited to see where the it’s going to go in the next one…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First of all, thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the arc of my one of my most anticipated reads of the year! The TVD series has been one of my favorite reads I've discovered in the past 2 years, and so Foul Lady Fortune was high up on that anticipating list.

I don't think I'm capable of disliking a Chloe Gong book. Foul Lady Fortune is not my favorite out of the three, but it's certainly still up there with them. I've always loved Chloe's writing and how she creates her storyline and I think based on the pacing, this one definitely improved a lot. I loved reuniting with the old characters that I love so much (while also crying over any mention of romajuliette because I'm still traumatized) and also meeting the new ones as well. I also did not see those plot twists coming so kuddos to Chloe as well.

I'm not ashamed to say that the reason why I was highly anticipating this was because of the romance. Roma and Juliette were my favorite and there's just something about the angst that Chloe always do right. The fact that this one is a marriage-for-convenience is also a plus. And thankfully it did not disappoint! I loved getting to know Rosalind and Orion and seeing their romance blossom in these pages was just so cute:(. Their tension and banter are also A++++. One of my favorite things about them is the fact that he's the sunshine and she's the grump and AHHH<333 The only thing that lacked for me was Oliver and Celia's story because there's such a contrast to their relationship and I feel like Rosalind and Orion really overshadowed them. I just think it could've been developed or introduced better. I would honestly love to see their romance get more developed and also their characters to have more exploration in the second one!

Also that ending.... Chloe Gong needs to pay for my therapy. In retrospect, I should've seen it coming because I don't think I was ever happy by a Chloe Gong ending before. I will definitely be reading that next book.

Foul Lady Fortune is the start to a new duology by Chloe Gong, and set in the same world as The Violent Delights duology. While the author says you can read this book without having read the previous duology, I'm not sure I agree.

Rosalind was a character in the original duology and now the main character in this duology. There is a lot to be found about who Rosalind used to be bofere she becomes Fortune in the previous duology. I think you need that to understand her better.

I have to say that in the first few 100 pages I struggled with Rosalind as a main character. Knowing what she did in the previous duology, I didn't think to kindly to her as a character. But as the story progresses we see that she has learned from that time. About who she is and what she cares about. I still think there isn't enough build to her initial betrayal in the original duology but at least she seems to have grown from that.

Owen has a secondary character next to Rosalind was interesting as he was much more open. Or he seems to be. He has a very different style to being a spy, using his charm to get things. But there is a lot about him that is hidden beneath the surface.

As the story continued I became much more interested in the mystery of who was killing these people on the street and what that had to do with this newspaper. Seeing Celia, her partner, Alisa, meething Phoebe and Silas. They all added to this story by their abbilities and personalities.

And now I am looking forward to the next book.

Chloe never fails to impress. I enjoyed These Violent Delights duet and this book as her debut into the “adult” genre is just chef kiss. I can’t wait for the next book!

Chloe Gong has outdone herself. This is SO much better than her previous duology.

This book was set several years after the ending of Our Violent Ends, and even though I remembered CG said that readers don't need to read TVD & OVE in order to read FLF, I think It would help the overall reading experiences if ones already read those duology because the references in FLF were a LOT. But I can confirm that the conflict and background are different and not exactly related.

In this time of event, Shanghai was teetering in the brink of civil war between the Nationalist and the Communist AND there's also Japanese Army who's been ready to take over the city. Spies and assassins are common jobs and they're literally everywhere. Rosalind was originally a Nationalist's assassin but one day her handler paired her with a spy in a fake marriage to avoid unnecessary suspicions. Familiar with the pairing? yeah it reminds me of Loid and Yor Forger from Spy x Family lmao. But on way more serious level.

I liked how the narrative was not as stiff as CG/s previous duology (sorry). The jokes are on point and the character dynamics seemed natural. Each of the character has strong and distinct personality. The plot was engaging from the very beginning--it went straight to action--probably because the setting was already set from previous duology (this is why I recommend you to read them first). Every scene made me wonder who's behind this and what would happen after that but my guesses turned out all wrong so congrats Chloe for successfully fooled me. There's also a badly dysfunctional family that made me want to personally adopt some of the member out of pity. Another plus point if you're a Swiftie: there's a lot of Taylor song/lyric references and its fun to recognize them hehe<3

There's still some things that could be developed but overall it's enjoyable. I couldn't stop thinking about the ending (spoiler alert: it's a cliffhanger) for a couple of days. Can't wait for the sequel

I absolutely ADORE These Violent Delights duology, so of course I had to tune in for this one. My only fear, though, was that Rosalind was my least favorite character out of all TVD cast, and I didn't know how I would feel about reading her as the protagonist.
I shouldn't have worried! Rosalind is a formidable main character. The guilt following the events of TVD followed her around; those things weren't forgotten, she will have to work through them. And the fake marriage trope, God bless! Her love interest, Orion, is my favorite character BY FAR. He's such a bi disaster with daddy issues and damn, I love him.
Celia remains perfect and the voice of reason; I'm so happy she has a love interest of her own; they exhale girlboss x malewife energy. And Alisa!!! I KNEW she would grow up and become such a smart little thing. She's also one of the best characters.
The plot doesn't really beat TVD for me, but with so many amazing characters (always the best part of Chloe's books), it didn't have to – the author manages to create enough mystery to make you keep turning the page. I can't wait to read the next one!

Chloe Gong truly never misses and never fails to make me cry so that's fun - I will read absolutely anything she writes

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this arc - I genuinely could not have been happier as FLF has been at the top of my most anticipated releases of 2022 ever since it got announced.

Well, miss Chloe Gong, you've done it again! After reading These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends, I had high expectations going into this, after all, who on earth could possibly match star crossed lovers who commit arson together? Two undercover spies in a fake marriage trying to solve a mystery using their cool spyiness. That's what.

I loved this book no matter how much that ending destroyed me (yes I need the second book even before the first has been released). There wasn't a single moment I can think of where I wasn't anticipating turning the next page. The atmosphere Foul Lady Fortune created was gripping, the backdrop, once again 20th century Shanghai never disappoints with the vividness and imagery in which it's described is beautiful. Don't even get me started on the characters.
Rosalind Lang? gorgeous, showstopping never seen before. I think it was especially interesting how we see her portrayed in this book especially after the ending in Our Violent Ends, especially from her pov and how she handles the immense guilt she feels. The way she was unapologetically her, doing these badass scenes and her code name 'Fortune'? *chefs kiss* Her character never disappointed!
Now Orion Hong... I can't even lie and say that I wasn't prepared to fall in love with him even before I picked this book up - the description was enough to let me know all I needed. But when I tell you this man exceeded everything. It wasn't just his demeanour of that well-known 'play-boy' attitude he adopts but times when you can really see how deeply his loyalties lie to the people he cares about..

I can't wait for people to start getting their hands on this once it releases and I will be 100% be waiting in anticipation for the novella and the second book!!

I will be completely honest and say it took me a while to get into this, but once I did I was hooked. Foul Lady Fortune began with high action and from this, I assumed the whole book would be this way, that was not the case. To start with everything was a little too slow-moving for me and for the majority of the book it seemed like not a lot was happening.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t love this though, I really did. Rosalind was one of my favourite characters from These Violent Delights and it was great to get to know her even better. I do have to admit that I still haven’t read Our Violent Ends yet, so there were a few minor spoilers in this, but if you know the story of Romeo and Juliet (on which These Violent Delights is based) then you can already guess how it ends.

So many of the characters were instantly loveable, Orion has to take the prize as my favourite. He was so charismatic and the growing relationship between him and Rosalind (which is not necessarily romantic so not a spoiler) was completely endearing. I was rooting for them from the beginning so you know it was done well.

Although slow to get moving I really enjoyed the storyline and the mystery they were trying to solve. Throughout the book, there are so many tiny hints at later plot points and personally, I think everything was laid out perfectly. There were even some callbacks to the start of the book and once I connected the dots I don’t know how I didn’t figure it out sooner. Well very done.

If you enjoyed These Violent Delights then you will 100% love Foul Lady Fortune. With returning characters and connecting mysteries, it’s really interesting to see how the series work together.

I usually struggle with books over 500 pages but once I got into Foul Lady Fortune the pages flew by. The action really gets ramped up near the end and you’ll find you can’t turn the pages quick enough.

This is actually my first Chloe Gong book, and I was not disappointed at all. As a Chinese, I can relate to the words and understand the context of the book. I really liked how we can see from different characters perspectives, and yes, I must say the book has really changed my viewpoint of historical fiction - in a lovely manner. There are huge, carefully planned plot twists, so watch out and have fun reading;) 5 STARS
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plot development ☆☆☆☆☆
character development ☆☆☆☆☆

I received this book as an E-ARC for an honest review via Netgallery, many thanks as I enjoyed this book A LOT.
To start there was great chemistry between the main characters….then there was lots of character development alongside this! I don’t want to say much, I think you should read for yourself.
The book felt original and different to other thriller/spy/action reads.
4 ⭐️