Chloe Gong, one of my favorite authors and also a favorite of countless other readers, announced that she would be releasing a new book super soon, and we haven’t been okay since then. Foul Lady Fortune, a spin-off duology to These Violent Delights, will be released this month. It’s a new fantasy book in the same YA historical fantasy setting as her previous books. These Violent Delights was a retelling of the classic Romeo & Juliette, and following her love for all things Shakespearean, this new book will be a retelling of As You Like It, written by Shakespeare. Foul Lady Fortune will be published by Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Chloe Gong is a New York Times bestselling author from New Zealand. She was a student at the University of Pennsylvania when she wrote her debut novel.
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Foul Lady Fortune
Following Rosalind Lang, Juliette’s cousin from These Violent Delights, this book is set in the 1930s. It’s 1931 in Shanghai now. Four years ago, Rosalind was brought back to life by an experiment that changed her. She can’t sleep, can’t age, and she can heal from any wound; therefore, she can’t die. After her traitorous past, she is desperate for redemption.
She uses her new abilities to help her country. She works as an assassin, and her code name is Fortune. However, when some things cause unrest in Shanghai, she is forced to pose as the wife of another spy, Orion Hong. As they try to work together, they realize the mystery behind the unrest is deeper than either could have imagined.
After that devastating ending in Our Violent Ends, I’d honestly read anything to get a glimpse of that universe again. However, the synopsis of Foul lady Fortune seems more than interesting. Rosalind had suffered a lot in these previous books, so it’d be nice to see her as the main character this time.
Apart from that, we will also get to see a new version of Rosalind as she has become invincible after that experiment. I am eagerly waiting for the book, and I am sure it will be amazing, a masterpiece again, just like her previous books. Additionally, the pink cover looks so beautiful, and it will compliment the covers of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends so well.
Chloe Gong
Chloe Gong is a fan of angst, romance, and Shakespearean drama, which we will be getting to see in abundance in her new book as well. Gong said in an interview that the seed of this spin-off was taking root even before she had finished writing her debut book. Rosalind made some terrible choices that she paid for, but she had to remain in the background since it wasn’t her story; it was Juliette’s and Roma’s story. However, now Rosalind will finally get her chance, her time in the spotlight, to love, fight and shine.
Gong, who is Chinese-born herself, has been applauded for bringing Asian and LGBTQ characters to the forefront in fantasy novels. In the previous books, Marshall and Benedict were seen as the boys who fell in love with each other. We’d love to see these boys getting a book of their own too. Chloe, if you are reading this, I am begging you. Please write a book separately, just about Marshall and Benedict, hopelessly in love.
Chloe Gong’s Successful Career
Every reader is waiting impatiently for Foul Lady Fortune, but BookTok is a different story altogether. BookTok is expected to send this new release souring up the bestseller lists like the first two books. It’s because Chloe, who started as a casual TikTok user, now has a huge fan following, with more than 180,000 followers following her currently on the platform.
However, her status on the social media platform wasn’t always like that. She had joined TikTok for the sense of community, not to promote her writing or market her books. She had written her duology pre-pandemic, and BookTok just happened to rise globally in 2020 with the lockdowns all around the world, adding to her books’ success.
Whether it was BookTok or Bookstagram that helped her books gain a spot on the best-selling list, it doesn’t matter because Chloe Gong knows what she is doing. She deserves the spots on every bestseller list, and it’s because her books are really good.
The world-building, the writing style, which is so poetic and beautiful that it will make you fall in love with her books, the plot, the characters, and tropes, everything is thought through perfectly and executed with such precision, it’s outstanding.
We know it’s too much pressure, but we can’t really wait anymore to read more of her books. Thankfully, after Foul Lady Fortune, which releases on 27th September 2022, we will be getting more Chloe Gong books! Last Violent Call, a novella, is expected to be published in 2023, and Chloe Gong is also working on an adult fantasy story. Next year is definitely going to be delightful for fantasy lovers.
Also Read: These Violent Delights Book Review: Convincing You To Read This Fantasy Book That Broke Me
