Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong was released September 26th of this year, this marks the final installment of the These Violent Delights series. The book follows Rosalind Lang and Orion Hong, lovers and partners in crime as they struggle to survive during the political uprisings of 1930s Shanghai.
Lang is an immortal assassin for the Nationalists and Hong is a Nationalist agent. In the previous book, Orion was captured by his mother who is working for the Japanese, who have the power to control him. Rosalind’s identity as Lady Fortune, the assassin was revealed and she defected from the Nationalists to rescue Orion. She gets her sister, Celia and Orion’s siblings–Oliver and Phoebe, along with Juliette and Roma Mai, our leading couple from the first book, These Violent Delights. Others featured were Roma’s sister– Alisa Montagova, Silas Wu– Orion’s best friend, and Phoebe’s love interest.
This book serves as a satisfactory finale for the series, uniting all of the characters to embark on the mission to defeat Orion’s mother– Lady Hong. They must deter Lady Hong from refining the immortality formula she has dedicated decades of effort to, the Japanese seeked her out for her findings, wanting their soldiers to be invincible. One of my criticisms is how I found the characters behave immaturely, they are written like teenagers when in reality they are adult assassins and government spies. I thought the variety of couples all brought engaging chemistry and it was enjoyable to see the group bond, interact, and open up emotionally. I also felt that the sibling’s relationships were quite realistic and found it amusing to hear them bicker.
I felt that the characters reacted disproportionately to events that occured, certain side characters death’s weighed heavier than they should have been, compared to the main characters. There were several elements of the plot that weren’t fully developed, particularly with the scientific elements. Despite these flaws, the book is still a captivating read with a compelling setting; I would recommend it to those who are looking for entertainment who don’t mind a splash of frivolity.
