Item: Foul Heart Huntsman
Author: Dani Young

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong
Series: Foul Lady Fortune #2
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on 9/26/23
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Historical, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 560
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

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.

Short and Sweet Review

The worst thing has happened to Rosalind Lang as a national spy, her cover has been blown and now everyone knows she’s the infamous Lady Fortune. Orion is still under his mothers control and Rosalind thinks that the best thing to do is to go on a national tour and get him back. Of course the tour goes awry and now the only way to save Orion is with the help from a lot of unsuspecting characters.

The first book in this duology was amazing but I think this sequel takes the cake. Rosalinds world is crashing down, her identity is no longer a secret, and Orion is gone and has no memory of her. Rosalinds goal is to get Orion back and to do that she decides to go on a national tour which goes wrong and ends up meeting with the mysterious JM who sent her a message in the last book. Rosalind works with Celia, Oliver, Alisa, Phoebe, and Silas. My favorite thing was seeing characters from the These Violent Delights duology especially Juliette and Roma. The book takes a lot of twists and turns and the group may make plans but nothing is straight forward. We see a lot of character growth from Rosalind, she isn’t as cold as she was in the previous book and she’s also coming to terms with what she did in These Violent Delights and also realizing its okay to show her emotions. I did like the relationship between Rosalind and Orion, I loved how she was willing to fight to get him back and was even patient with him when he didn’t remember her. There’s still a lot of political things going on around the characters and it was interesting to see how it impacted things around them. I think Alisa was an amazing character and she may have been a side character but she has main character energy, she brings it and I wouldn’t mind a book that focused on her. Phoebe was also a good character, she had a secret identity but she was willing to save her brothers even if it meant crossing her mother.

Foul Heart Huntsman is a great ending to this series, I loved these characters and the plot of this book, my favorite thing was seeing current and past characters work together. Gong does an amazing job of writing characters you care for and can connect with. The Foul Lady Fortune duology has made its way into my favorite series list, I can’t wait to see what Gong releases next!

Filed Under: Reviews

FOUL LADY FORTUNE By Chloe Gong

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong
Series: Foul Lady Fortune #1
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on 9/27/22
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Historical, Mystery & Detective, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 525
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

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.

Code name: Fortune.

But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed.

To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanor infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.

Short and Sweet Review

Four years ago Rosalind was brought back from the brink of death and after an experiment Rosalind can’t die. After the things she’s done she’s looking for redemption so she uses her new abilities to act as an assassin for her country. The Japanese is beginning to march into Shanghai and people are being murdered by chemical attacks and that causes Rosalind’s mission to pivot. Now Rosalind has to infiltrate foreign society to find who is behind these murders, but to avoid suspicion Rosalind is teamed up with Orion and they have to pose as a married couple. The more these two unravel the layers to this mystery the more they realize that this mission isn’t as open and shut as it first seemed.

First of all, I love Chloe Gong’s writing. I loved the These Violent Delights Duology and it was interesting to see where some of the characters we know from that series ended up. Rosalind kind of reminds me of Black Widow, trying to get some redemption for mistakes made in the past. It was interesting that Rosalind was working for the Nationalists while Celia was a working for the Communists, they’re on opposite sides but I liked how they still looked out for each other. We also see Alisa, she’s a few years older and ends up running into Rosalind at the office building they’re both infiltrating but for the opposite sides. The partnership between Orion and Rosalind was great, they’re both obviously hiding things from each other. We have multiple POVs which I liked because it just added to how crazy everything going on was, and it was interesting to see how alliances shifted and who might be a double agent. We have some characters we recognize, but there’s also some new comers like Oliver and Phoebe, Orions siblings.

This book brings us back into a world we know and love but with something different. I loved the element of spies and traitors and a whole new era of panic in Shanghai. Orion and Rosalind did a good job at being undercover and investigating the people they worked with and also each other. The chemistry between these two just worked, Rosalind may have been annoyed with Orion at first but throughout the book you could feel the slow burn.

I wasn’t sure about following Rosalind’s story at first but she’s a badass and she makes you fall in love with her one page at a time. The ending was mind boggling and it just made me want the next book in my hand immediately, I can’t wait until Foul Heart Huntsman is released.