Foul Lady Fortune-Review

Author: Chloe Gong
Genre: Fantasy, Historical, Retelling, Mystery
Page Count: 528 pages
Age Rating: YA 13+
Representation: Asian inspired setting and characters
Publication Date: 27th of September 2022 (UK)

I can’t wait for this duology!!

Thank you @netgalley @hodder&Stoughton for providing me with this e ARC before publication

Review;
This book captured me. I was originally anticipating this book because I heard it had an aspec lead which I love, and I was intrigued as Chloe is such a popular author. I loved the demisexual rep in this book with all my heart as well as the amazing trans rep.
Chloe Gong write characters in such a charming way you can’t help but love them. While there was time where the plot was slower I still mange to enjoy the book through the characters interaction. I tend not to read mystery book, but I adored this one especially the historical and political aspects as well because they linked in with These Violent delights duology.
The romantic subplot was skilfully incorporated and didn’t take from the rest of the book. This was also my first Fake Marriage trope read and so far, I’m a fan. The banter between the characters was top tier.

Now to the question of Do I need to read These violent delights first?
As a person who has read both books, I would say it’s not essential if you don’t mind spoilers however, I do think that having read These violent delights I had a better understanding of the politics within the book and the history between the characters.
Overall, I am impatiently waiting for the sequel especially after that ending!?

Rating;
4.75 stars

TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING
Graphic
Violence, Death, Murder
Moderate
Racism, Gore, Gun violence
Minor
Child death, Transphobia, Blood

ONE OF MY MOST ANTICIPATED 2022 READS AND IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. Chloe Gong has once again succeeded in creating a masterpiece which made me throw my kindle across my bed multiple times. Do the kids still say "I am shooketh" because I am very much so.

So let’s get one thing straight, I’m an idiot! I thought this was a standalone however it does follow on from These Violent Delights and therefore spoiled those books for myself without realising so, be warned!

Anyway off my stupidity and onto the book! Foul Lady Fortune is a spy thriller set in China with an ever encroaching Japan and main character Rosalind is recruited as an assassin turned spy along with a new fake husband. What more could you want?

As my first paragraph says I haven’t read the original duology so I appreciated the world building more than others might as it was my first foray into it. The story however did seem to take a while to get going and once there it was almost at the end of the book. I did enjoy randomly guessing who might have done what though so I would say the suspense was there.

I also enjoyed Rosalind and Orion’s banter, because there is nothing that will endear me more to a book couple than playful banter, that is my love language and will never change!

I think there were slightly too many POVs to keep track of, for my personal taste, but I understand why it was done. I also would have liked slightly more spy/thriller stuff and less angst but it’s YA so what you going to do?

Overall I enjoyed it, made me want to go back and read the original duology, and I will definitely keep an eye out for the sequel to find out how the story ends.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an Advanced readers copy to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review!

First of all, Chloe Gong, you are my hero and my enemy, please never stop and also stop writing incredible books with incredible cliffhangers. ALSO TELL IF ROMA AND JULIETTE ARE ALIVE I CAN'T HANDLE THESE TEENY HINTS PLEASE CONFIRM OR DENY I'M GOING TO SCREAM.

Okay, now that's over, I (obviously) really, really loved this book. It was so exciting to revisit characters and places from These Violent Delights, but with a brand-new Shanghai and Gong's own original story. She has really taken off on her own and crafted an intricate, exciting story within Shanghai's comple 1930's political landscape. I can't even imagine the amount of research that has gone into how atmospheric and alive historical Shanghai is in the book.

Rosalind is a great protagonist, and her introduction is shocking and exciting. Her and Celia's love for each other is so beautiful, and watching Rosalind begin to find herself worthy of loving again, as well as protecting her city was a great story.

And Orion. I love him, and I cannot believe what goes on with him. Obviously, he and Rosalind are a great team... maybe more... But a big romatic highlight was also the amazing relationship between Celia and Oliver! They are so wonderful together and their power as a covert team as well was awesome.

Once again, Gong has smacked me in the face with plot twists and cliffhangers and I loved every second of it. GIVE ME ANOTHER BOOK RIGHT NOW, CHLOE. I MEAN IT.

Five stars.

I have to be honest, I think I enjoyed this far more than I did Chloe Gong’s first duology. And I still quite liked that one. I’m not going to change my previous ratings, but this is on another level. The pacing here, for one, is excellent, Her actions scenes are so much fun and balance the mystery side of the plot well.. She has a real knack when it comes to atmosphere and setting and historical vibes (at least, when Shanghai in the 1930s is concerned) and the foreign language mentions were less in-your-face than in her previous stories (which, at some point, just felt unnecessary). There is no soap opera-esque melodramatic romance. The chemistry between Rosalind and Orion feels more like a refreshing side note instead of the main course and I am eating this up, because I actually want more of their slow burn now. While I did feel a bit lost with all the political shenanigans and I can’t remember anything from As You Like It (which I’m told was the inspiration for this), I know I really like Foul Lady Fortune and I do recommend it.

So far I've liked every book that Chloe Gong writes better than it's predecessor. And I did like These Violent Delights quite a lot already. What I'm saying is that I really, really liked this one and can't wait to read the sequel. My favourite book by Chloe Gong so far.

Foul Lady Fortune is a 1930s Spy-Novel first, Fantasy book second. And I have absolutely no problem with that.
It is, like the preceding Duology, set in Shanghai, a few years after the conclusion of Our Violent Ends. The city with it's different waring political factions makes for a great backdrop.

The Story itself is at the same time pretty simple (infiltrate anewspaper to find out if they are behind a series of murders) and a little to conveluted (I got a little confused with the sheer ammount of double/tripple agents towards the end) but if you pay attention it is a very satisfying read.

The best part of this book are definetely the characters. I like all of them, which is pretty rare. I will say that I did not care about Rosalind at all during the first two books but she grew on me really quickly in this one. I also like Orion and I was delighted to see more of Alisa.
The relationship between Rosalind and Orion was also really well written. It never felt rushed or overly drawn out.

Plus the LGBTQ+ rep is absolutely fantastic. We have a demisexual main character, a bisexual love interest and major bi, trans and aro/ace side characters.

And then the plot twists of course. Had me absolutely shook and were very satisfying.

I can not wait to start the sequel and this one gets 4.5/5 stars from me.

Chloe Gong has done it again, masterfully weaving together lush world-building, her signature gorgeous prose, slick political intrigue, shocking plot twists, and heart-wrenching romance. I'm still yet to recover from the ending.

foul lady fortune was an absolute joy to read. Definitely recommend reading TVD duology first to have a full understanding of what is going on.

I will start by saying that I have not read anything by this author before so I went into this blind and was pleasantly suprised. Full of intrigue and set in 1930's China amidst the threat of Japan invading Shanghai this story follows Rosalind as she is tasked a new mission very different than her usual. Orion will be her partner though I don't think either of them truly know what they are in for! It took a little longer than usual for me to get into this but I pushed through and find I truly enjoyed it and am ready for more!

It's 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue.

Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging - and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption for her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.

With Foul Lady Fortune, Gong weaves a sleek, action-packed spy thriller with a dash of romance against the backdrop of 1930s China and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

It's five years after the events of Our Violent Ends. Rosalind Lang has become a spy for the Nationalists after a cure for a fever left her immortal. Different factions are again vying for Shanghai - the Communists, the Japanese Empire and the Kuomintang, who have overtaken Shanghai. In the middle of that, someone is killing Chinese citizens by injecting them with strange chemicals. Since the Nationalists suspect the Japanese, Rosalind and agent Orion Hong are sent to investigate, posing as a married couple.

I had a lot of fun reading this. While I wasn't the biggest fan of Gong's previous duology, These Violent Delights, she truly blew it out of the water with this one.

Foul Lady Fortune is based on the Shakespeare play As You Like It, but I would say only the bare bones of the story are kept. Some character names and dynamics are similar, but that's it. The book is more akin to a spy thriller or historical fiction. I myself do not know all that much about Chinese history, but Gong did a great job of giving you enough information to figure out what's happening, while not info dumping.

At the beginning, the details of Rosalind's mission went a bit over my head, but around the halfway mark, I was fully invested in the story and couldn't stop reading. Gong is, again, at her best when she's describing atmosphere and setting. You were transported right into 1930s China from the very first scene. The cat-and-mouse game between the agents and the killer, and, to some extent, between Rosalind and Orion themselves, was thrilling to read about.

However, the exposition could have been smoother. The beginning suffered a bit from too much telling instead of showing when Gong introduced the new characters. For example, we are told that Orion is estranged from his family, which she could have also conveyed through dialogue instead. Moreover, I would have liked there to be more distinctive voices from the different POV characters. As it was, their narration sounded very similar. But these were pretty much my main gripes with the story and after the first quarter, the book improved vastly.

We see a lot of familiar faces in Foul Lady Fortune, like Celia and Alisa, which made me happy, but we also get to know some new characters. I loved Orion and his sister Phoebe a tremendous amount. Orion is charming and funny and his relationships with his siblings and Silas were extremely fun to read about. Orion was easily my favorite character in the book, he gave me Nikolai Lantsov vibes! Gong also connected the different storylines well. The book had far more direction than her previous works.

Rosalind's arc in this book was mainly about the consequence of her actions in Our Violent Ends and the guilt she carries from it. She chooses to work for the Kuomintang as an assassin, which she sees as her way to redemption. I gotta say, her job is really cool. Given the codename Fortune, she poisons leftover members of the White Rose and enemies of the state. Since that codename is secret, however, she has to keep both her real identity and her assassinations a secret from Orion during their mission. Shortly, there is a lot on her plate. While I didn't have an opinion on Rosalind's character in the first duology, I found her struggles here very relatable and I enjoyed reading from her point of view.

Another highlight of the book was the dynamic between Rosalind and Orion. Their banter was A++, I had so much fun reading the scenes of them bickering like an actual married couple. The two have electric chemistry, but even as they grow closer, the reader is wary of the layers upon layers of secrets between them. It was fun seeing spies in a fake marriage. It kind of reminded me of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, only better. The romance in this was a real step-up from These Violent Delights and shows how much Gong has grown as a writer. There were still some scenes that felt a bit trope-y and like she was writing scenes in for TikTok, but it wasn't so bad it took me out of the story.

While the book still has the overall vibes of These Violent Delights, Gong has grown vastly as a writer and her strengths shine through in this book. Her prose is far less clunky and her character work overall better. I'm definitely getting a physical copy of this book soon.

The ending of the book was explosive. Some of the plot twists had me shouting, gasping, crying. I'm only mad I can't read the next book immediately. I gave Foul Lady Fortune 4/5 stars and recommend it to fans of These Violent Delights.

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and held my attention. I will be reading more from this author :)

What a thrilling historical fantasy! Talk about mixing some of my favourite genres together 💖 I love how the author brought all this historical information, about spying and warfare that went on as the Nationalists, communists and imperialists tried to dominant China, into the modern western young adult world. I found there was also a bit of Shakespearean drama and some romance.

Going into this book I didn’t know that this took place after the book Our Violent Ends, which may ruin the first duology as there are some spoilers, as I read some other reviewers say! I didn’t know this before reading so just a heads up for anyone 🙌😅

3.5/5 🌟

THIS WAS SO GOOD!!!

i loved every single character, the plot was so damn interesting and the ending! oh, the ending! chloe gong has done it again: left me in shambles and aching for the sequel. you must absolutely read this if you like multiple povs, fun and morally grey characters and lots of queerness. i'm in love with every aspect of this book.

"your life is mine as mine is yours"


☆this will obviously have some potential spoilers about the tvd duology. so be careful ig??


if there's one thing to say about chloe gong, it is that her writing is one of the best things about the book itself. the way she chooses to describe things has a forever hold on my heart.


diving back into this world brought back a lot of emotions, especially pain. im talking about roma juliette(ikyk).
even a simple mention of juliette roma almost broke me😭 i miss my babies so much.
also i wanted so see more benmars??? there should have been more benmars?? the nostalgia was so real guys.

now lets talk about the characters in this duology.
ALISA WAS THE TRUE HERO OF THIS BOOK. I LOVED HER SO MUCH. AND SHE WAS SO GROWN UP TOO?? i felt so proud of her honestly. AND PHOEBE TOO!! alisa phoebe were definitely my fav thing about flf.
but that's not to say Rosalind and Orion were any behind. i didn't know what to make of them in the beginning, but i actually felt myself fall in love with both of these characters as the story progressed.
i definitely didn't see myself liking rosalind. but miss chloe proved me wrong again and somehow made Rosalind's character arc some of the best shit I've ever read.
Both of them OBVIOUSLY had chemistry together. AND SOME OF THEIR SCENES WERE SO CUTE MY GOD.
them always referring to each other as "my wife" and "my husband" brought me down to my KNEES

also the two characters that deserve a special mention, celia (the absolute loml) and oliver, HAVE to take the award for the best couple. i loved rosalind orion, but they cant beat celia oliver. I KEPT WAITING FOR THEIR SCENES TOGETHER.
truthfully?? they felt like the parent couple 😭 yk?? the couple that takes care of other couples, and gives advice?? yeah them. 💀


The best thing in this book was the plot twists. i NEVER saw them coming. well i figured out 1-2 twists but not in the way i thought. the plot was very very surprising. and well written!! though you never have to doubt about that in a chloe gong novel lmao.
i truly never knew what to expect, and was literally on the edge of my seat every fucking chapter.
i am thoroughly and entirely in love with this world. and waiting(with my whole heart) for the sequel.




ARC received from Netgalley and author/publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced in any way.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC for this book.

Staring this book I was unsure what to expect when turning to Gong’s world and characters. After really enjoying Our Violent Ends I’m glad that this addition did not disappoint. Foul Lady Fortune is a great time and a very enjoyable read. Gong’s prose is engaging but easy to read and the plot here was intriguing and over the course of the book I really started to enjoy the characters.

However I did have some issues which may be why I felt I didn’t fully connect to this story or it’s characters. The romance(s) here really did nothing for me, while the main couple did start to build towards the end of the novel their romantic interactions felt underwhelming throughout most of the book and in the beginning were almost frustrating, feeling like a needless break in the plot or character work.

Nevertheless I did really enjoy my time with these characters and Gong’s writing did justice to the engaging mystery and some of the character dynamics. I’d say that anyone who enjoyed Our Violent Ends will at the very least have some fun with this. Despite its sometime conflicting tone and some moments which left me wondering how the characters had even got to this point in their careers as agents, I couldn’t help but have fun, be shocked at the twists, and simply take in the glimpses of this moment in time in which the story is set. I will be reading the sequel!

the storytelling will definitely appeal to gong fans but i hadn't realised that this was a follow-up to the author's previous serious. the writing is way cringe, the characters are trying so hard to be edgy it is kind yikes. but, hey ho, like i said i am sure this will land with fans of the author or fans of historical fantasy ya featuring spies & rival gangs the likes.

I really liked the TVD duology and although she wasn't my favorite character, i was very curious about what would be Rosalind's redemption arc. And although I didn't fully loved it, it was very fun to read.

This book is more focus on history/political elements than anything else. I think it borrows a lot from the previous duology so i feel like reading These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends is a must before this one.

I started this book not liking Rosalind and finished it enjoying her as a character with her complexities and all. Orion... i was honestly indifferent with him at the beginning even though he did made me laugh and i like his interactions with some side characters, unfortunately i didnt liked him in the end. He felt bland and i feel like Rose deserved a better sidekick. I also think part of the problem is that I feel the main plot lost a bit of its focus with the subplots and in the end it made me not care enough about our two main leads. And that's a shame because some of those side plots weren't even well done so in the end it was kinda pointless.

However for me as it happened with TVD duology, the side characters stole the show. I adored Celia she was my favorite then and even more now. Oliver, Phoebe, Silas and Alisa were amazing too. Seeing them all grown up made so happy.

I like the dynamics between all of the characters yet I didn't like our main characters interactions. This was supposed to be part romance and I didn't feel anything for them. They didn't really have chemistry so it was very hard for me to root for a relationship I didn't believe and although there were some fun interactions and heartfelt moments between them, it wasn't enough.

Also, as with the previous duology, my favorite parts came from the last 25% of the book it was fun, intense and fast paced enough i couldn't put the book down. Those last two chapters were 🤌 amazing. So amazing I wished the rest of the book had the same pace and wasn't so much tell and not show because I think the book lacked that.

Overall this was fun and I'm very interested in finishing this duology mainly because of that last chapter and epilogue.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! This book takes place after the event of the These Violent Delight’s duology, so you might want to read that first if you are planning to read them. It starts off a little bit slower but then once you get into it, it really picks up! I love the world building and beautiful history that Chloe uses in her books. I thought the characters were great and I enjoyed the romance in this book! I can’t wait to read more books from this author!

Foul lady fortune by chloe gong

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to netgalley, Pan Macmillan and Chloe Gong for the opportunity to read this book.


I'm giving this 5 stars, heck it deserves 5 stars purely for that ending. Talk about a plot twist.

I really enjoyed seeing all the characters from the original duology making a comeback. I was especially living for the brief mentions of benedikt and Marshall. I hope they get a bigger role in the sequel. I love how easily the characters slip between the different languages and personnas they have access to

"Who did this to you?"..."I'll kill them." Such a classic enemies to lovers line. I swear every time orion said "don't touch my wife" my heart could not handle it. The romance in this one was a lot more subtle than the one between roma and juliette but I quite enjoyed that.

If you're looking for a fast paced book full of action and spy hijinks this is the book for you. I cannot wait for the next one and I'm glad I already have 2 special editions on their way to me. I highly suggest reading the authors statement in the back of the book too which goes into the research they did and the history that they added to the book.