I don’t think I’ve read such a satisfying sequel in a while. This book gave all that I had hoped for and more. It scaled up all the emotions, tension, stakes, angst and intrigue of the first book.
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Table of Contents
Synopsis
Book Info
Review
About the Author
Book Info
Publishing date- 26 September 2023
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Age range: 13+
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Content Warnings:
Rep: Chinese MCs, Bi MC,
Synopsis
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends comes the second book in the captivating Foul Lady Fortune duology following an immortal assassin in 1930s Shanghai as she races to save her country and her love.
Winter is drawing thick in 1932 Shanghai, as is the ever-nearing threat of a Japanese invasion.
Rosalind Lang has suffered the worst possible fate for a national spy: she’s been exposed. With the media storm camped outside her apartment for the infamous Lady Fortune, she’s barely left her bedroom in weeks, plotting her next course of action after Orion was taken and his memories of Rosalind wiped. Though their marriage might have been a sham, his absence hurts her more than any physical wound. She won’t rest until she gets him back.
But with her identity in the open, the task is near impossible. The only way to leave the city and rescue Orion is under the guise of a national tour. It’s easy to convince her superiors that the countryside needs unity more than ever, and who better than an immortal girl to stir pride and strength into the people?
When the tour goes wrong, however, everything Rosalind once knew is thrown up in the air. Taking refuge outside Shanghai, old ghosts come into the open and adversaries turn to allies. To save Orion, they must find a cure to his mother’s traitorous invention and take this dangerous chemical weapon away from impending foreign invasion—but the clock is ticking, and if Rosalind fails, it’s not only Orion she loses, but her nation itself.
My Review
WRITING
Another interesting addition were third-person Interludes from the perspective of Shanghai the city, on the brink of Japanese invasion- a city that is desperate and furious and itching for blood.
Written in sharp, elegant prose, it gives you a glimpse and almost humanises the city, tying yet another of our heart strings to the story.
"They had chosen to push Shanghai, so Shanghai pushes back."
CHARACTERS
It felt so good to be back with all these characters that I love so much. I was instantly attached to Rosalind and Orion, and then Silas because I love his nerdy, obsessive and genius personality. I was mildly interested by Celia and Oliver in relation to their siblings and the plot, but it was only in this second book that I really got to know them. They got more page time.
One thing I would like put out there without any caveats is that Foul Hearts Huntsman delivered in spades all the romantic and cute and intense moments, all the wholesome and hilarious moments of camaraderie that healed my heart.
There is incredible character development, especially in the case of Phoebe. It’s no ordinary feat how Chloe Gong managed to juggle so many characters, so many perspectives and how all of them were scattered in different location doing different things. I mean, it’s not uncommon for vast adult fantasy books, but for Chloe Gong managed to make it accessible for a younger audience, and not feel disconnected with any of the plotlines happening.
Rosalind- One of the elements that I loved the most, and something that I foresee being underrated, is the emphasis on Rosalind’s mental health. With so much action, scheming and betrayals set in place, I wasn’t expecting so much time to be given to exploring the toll that the loss of her husband, as well as her handler- both of whom she trusted immensely, and the sudden notoriety that she’s been thrust into- has taken on Rosalind. Her vulnerability, her confusion, her loss of purpose and her rage- knowing all of that has given such a complex layer to her character. Love that.
"Patience lived paper-thin insider her these days, always one wrong folds from scrunching to something unsightly. Her anger it he's to turn ugly, begged to be released at the slightest provocation."
"Here was something else Rosalind Lang has forgotten: she was a born performer. Before she was an agent, she had been a dancer. Before she had been an assassin, the stage had been hers."
The only, ONLY fib that I may have with this book is that I had hoped for so many more warm moments between Oliver and Orion. I’m a sucker for sibling reconciliation (I’m a first born, sue me), so even though we did get some good moments, we didn’t go as deep as I wanted. The ending left us with the hope that the relationship between the brothers is healing, but I just wish we could’ve seen more of it.
We don't get much insight into Oliver's psyche, which I was looking forward to.
Lady Hong is a fascinating antagonist.
A mad scientist with a twisted heart. She has no moral compass, and even her love for her children is wrought with poison, crippled and blinded by her ambition. She’s a very dangerous woman on the power of her intellect alone. And the complexity she brings to the story- she was a villain forged by the suffocating Chinese society that refused to acknowledge the power of her mind, the world that asked her to stifle herself and underestimated her. So she decides to shed all loyalty and attachments and brings squabbling governments and imperialist forces to her beck and call with the sheer miracle she created in a small vial.
There was so much to this this story that went beyond just a fun, adventurous action + romance story.
PACING
The pacing is great. There are tumultuous, high stakes scenes when all that the characters can do is take a gun, shoot and run. Then there are stretches where they need to hide in dark corners or sit around a table and plan.
Every flip of the page is highly entertaining and engaging. I, in full transparency, didn’t much effort into predicting the plot, but to me all the revelations and turns that the plot took were a complete surprise.
Only then Alisa could feel at home in her own city. To disappear as well as to partake in her surroundings, to understand it's rhythm and reasons and instead of hiding and hoping she wasn't seen as an ill-fitting intrusion. It was moving from township to township while a whole unit of Nationalists was after her...
QUOTES
1. “You are bound to me in matrimony. If you break it and descend into another plane of existence, I will chase after you and snatch you back.”
2. “Of course I was committed to her beyond what was acceptable for the mission. I was so fascinated because I could see the parts of you in her. I've loved you this whole time, just split in two.”
3. “I would have found you anywhere.” He reached forward. Tugged that piece of her hair, then tucked the curl behind her ear. “Across the world and under it. No matter how well you hide. It doesn’t matter where you go. I’ll always find you. Understand?”
BOOK RECS if you loved this book :
Stardust Thief
Engines of Empire
Only a Monster
Vicious/ This Savage Song
Allow of Law - a type of gunpowder fantasy
Six of Crows
Foundryside
About the Author
Chloe Gong is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Secret Shanghai novels, as well as the Flesh and False Gods trilogy. Her books have been published in over twenty countries and have been featured in The New York Times, People, Forbes, and more. She is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she double-majored in English and international relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Chloe is now located in New York City, pretending to be a real adult.