Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong - HIGH

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong
, 528 pages. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022. $18

Language: PG (3 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: ; Violence: PG-13 (Killing by poison, shooting, bloody shooting and stabbings)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

The prologue tells of a painful scientific experiment on a person that has been strapped down. Then the story starts as Rosalind is trapping a criminal who is a member of the group responsible for the death of her cousin Juliette during a past act gone awry. She’s exacting revenge on those who were part of it. Political intrigue, spies, agents, Communists and Nationalists describe the characters in this book. Her handler pairs her with another agent, Orion, who has family issues as well. The two of them have to pretend to be married so they can infiltrate the newspaper company and try to discover information on the serial killer murdering people with a toxic liquid in syringes. What they discover turns their lives around and, unbeknownst to Orion and Rosalind, the reader is given the true identity of a mysterious agent, Priest. 

I enjoyed learning about the history of 1930’s China. The author’s notes give readers a glimpse into her research and what's based on facts and what’s completely fiction in this story. The author’s notes on Asian history during the 1930’s are fascinating. Rosalind and Orion are characters with depth and I had fun getting to know them. All of the characters or of Chinese descent. Mentions that one of the characters is transgender. 

LynnDell Watson, Delta High School Librarian

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