Hey everyone! Here is a quick review of these two books I've read today.
The first is Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong. It came out last year, but I held off on reading it til now. I have read the series that took place before this book, These Violent Delights, and though that took me a bit to get into, I absolutely loved that duology. I was a bit hesitant to start this duology because of Rosalind Lang. I didn't like her at the end of Our Violent Ends since she had been a part of the madness even though she was manipulated.
When I began reading this book, I felt like I could see things from her perspective a bit more, but I ultimately didn't feel too connected to her character still, and that lasted all throughout this book.
However, I did love seeing what happened to other characters that I knew from the last series, like Alisa and Celia, and I did enjoy the newly introduced ones as well, like Phoebe and Oliver. I particularly enjoyed the glimpses between Celia and Oliver and their feelings for one another.
As for Phoebe, I did not see the plot twist coming at the end where she was Priest. I did find it strange that she was seemingly not committed to any side throughout this book, considering her family connections, so I had some suspicions of her doing something secret, but nonetheless, I did not picture her as the infamous agent.
Regarding Orion, I do tend to have a soft spot for characters like him who philander around but have a good heart so I immediately felt for him. I also really like how he didn't kind of ambush or confront Rosalind after he learned her identity. He totally had the right to but the way it came out was really smooth and sincere. I almost didn't catch it with everything else going on but Rosalind did. And as for him being the killer they were looking for, I wasn't totally surprised but I also wasn't expecting that either... if that makes sense. I felt really bad for him when he's feeling so ashamed and he kept staring at his hands and then later when we discover what his parents, specifically his mom did to him. In addition, all the book tropes that occurred like "who did this to you?" and more were really cool to see; I shouldn't be surprised since Chloe Gong is an amazing writer.
The overall pace of the book was kind of eh. I wasn't bored but I wasn't that excited or enraptured either. It kind of reminds me of how I felt at the beginning of These Violent Delights. So, overall, I would give the book a 3 out of 5 stars because I felt kind of eh about it.
Now, I also read Last Violent Call which included my favorite characters from These Violent Delights like Roma, Mars, Benedikt, and Juliette. I absolutely loved this little novella and I thought that it was really interesting to see what was going on with these couples.
Roma and Juliette living together as a domestic couple in the middle of nowhere was soooo cute to see and I was here for all the little moments between them like Juliette insisting they need to fight, them comforting each other about their nightmares, and even the fact that they are basically still doing gang things with their underground weapons ring. I also loved that they included how when they told Benedikt and Marshall they were still alive, Ben yelled at them for faking their death more.
Their run-ins with their little mystery was interesting to see because in Foul Lady Fortune they focused on Shanghai and there were now looking at murders through the chemicals in Zhouzhuang. I also liked all the connections between Foul Lady Fortune and this novella with Juliette having sent that letter to Rosalind and signing it Juliette Montagova.
The transition to Marshall and Benedikt carrying out their part was really smooth and I loved all the insight into their relationship and how they were doing as art teachers.
I also enjoyed them playing at detectives on the train and saying that their background meant they were qualified. For some reason, I really didn't expect Ben to cover it up as an accidental suicide but it all made sense at the last bit. I don't know why but I didn't realize it was Milyena on the train until after they had explained everything.
Anyways, I give this novella a 5/5. I really enjoyed it and it was really cool to see my favorite characters/couples together and doing little mysteries.
Anyways, thanks for reading, and comment below with your thoughts if you've read these books and let's chat in the comments!