The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: Foul Lady Fortune

Series: Secret Shanghai #1

Author: Chloe Gong

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review:

The first book in a captivating new duology following an ill-matched pair of spies posing as a married couple to investigate a series of brutal murders in 1930s Shanghai.

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 from 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. – summary from Goodreads

Foul Lady Fortune was an amazing continuation of the Secret Shanghai series!

This story takes place four years after the ending of Our Violent Ends and follows Rosalind Lang. Rosalind was brought back from the edge of death four years ago, and it has left her changed. She doesn’t age and can heal in seconds.

Rosalind is trying to atone for everything she did in the past. She is doing this by being a Nationalist assassin. I enjoyed this part of the storyline. It built off of the original duology in a natural way but was still its own story. Rosalind carried a lot of guilt and grief after the events with Dimitri, and that was a very important part of the story and affected most of her decisions. I liked that it wasn’t forgotten and brushed away. I think what I am trying to say is that I liked how the old storylines were remembered and played a part.

This book also follows Celia, but to a lesser extent. Celia is settled with the Communists and has a solid missions partner, though their relationship is changing. I liked these parts of the story, but they didn’t hold my attention as much as Rosalind’s part of the story. It might have been that Celia really didn’t have that many chapters, or that more was going on with Rosalind.

This book was a lot more political than the previous books. I will say the other books held this chaos that I mentioned in those reviews. This book didn’t have that. It moved a lot slower though there was still a lot going on. It was a little confusing at times, but I loved it.

Instead of having rival gangs, there were the two political sides- Nationalists and Communists- though Imperialists were making their way in. Due to this there were a lot of spies. Rosalind and our other main character, Orion, were some of these spies.

I loved the spy storyline. It isn’t something that I see too often. It was intriguing, fun, and tense at times. It added a lot of depth to the story, and it allowed us to get to know the characters on a different level.

I loved Orion! And I loved Orion and Rosalind together! They had the best banter ever and I adored watching their relationship grow. This book had the fake marriage trope, which is another thing I don’t see too much of. They were just truly amazing together, and I loved their every interaction.

I especially loved how the way that Rosalind loves was described. I don’t see it too often that a character has no interest in physical characteristics, and really just wants to get to know a person. I also loved how Orion loves. He was so sweet and understanding, as well as fun and protective!

The reason these two characters were put together is because there is a killer on the loose in Shanghai using chemicals. It is suspected that these chemicals are coming out of a specific business that Orion and Rosalind infiltrate. I didn’t feel like the killings were the biggest part of the story. They were important but not talked about a whole lot. I could have done with it being more in the story, if that makes sense.

We also got to see Alisa again! She is now all grown up and she has become her own person. She hasn’t changed too much from the original series, and I really liked seeing her again. Some new characters included Phoebe and Silas, who are very intriguing. I am excited to see what happens next with all of these characters in the next book!

We got a lot of information for all the characters, as well as the new political climate of the world. At times it could be a little difficult to follow. All of it was intriguing and important, but still hard to follow.

This wasn’t a massive part of the story, but I enjoyed how Celia and Rosalind still care for each other. They are on two different side of the war, but they still love and care for each other and help the other out when they can. I just really loved that inclusion.

There was a big twist at the end that really changed the game. It was a huge surprise, and very dramatic, but in the best possible way. It only makes me more eager for the next installment.

Foul Lady Fortune was an amazing continuation of the adventures taking place in Shanghai. The characters were amazing, with political battles, spies, and fake marriages guiding the story!

Quotes

“Nation over everything. But not you, sweetheart. Never your life in exchange.”

“That Tolstoy was wrong when he said that every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. We’re all the same. Every single one of us. It’s always because something isn’t enough.”

“‘I’ve seen what love does. It’s powerful. It’s selfish. It will draw us away from the battlefield, and we can’t allow that.’

It would build a path away. It would make death something terrible, and then who would want to be a soldier marching into war? Who would want to risk leaving the world if they held something beautiful in their hands?”

“I allow this because I love you.”

“You accused me of being a philanderer, and suddenly I wanted to prove you wrong. You wanted daffodils at your wedding, and suddenly I wanted to be the one beside you at the alter watching you hold them. I wanted it to be real. I wanted it all to be real.”

“You cannot save the world. You can try to save one thing if you must, but it is enough if that one thing is yourself.”

“Your life is mine as mine is yours.”