IMMORTAL LONGINGS was Chloe Gong's first foray into the world of adult fantasy and it did not disappoint. Despite the pacing issues, and somewhat lackluster world building, Gong manages to hook readers from the very first page. I liked how the author was inspired by Hong Kong in terms of the Walled City in Kowloon which has since been demolished.

As for the characters, Calla (Cleopatra) and Anton (Antony), I liked how they were changed to suit her Asian-fantasy inspired setting. The plot was similar to the Hunger Games in terms of technology. However, I felt that majority of the time, it dragged and I honestly found the side-plots to be far more interesting.

In all, I rated this book 3.5 stars due to pacing and some parts of the world-building which I found difficult to grasp (jumping).

I want to start off by saying I had very high expectations for this book as being part of the Booktok community I know how much Chloe Gong's writing is loved. Immortal Longings neither wowed me nor disappointed me - I enjoyed many aspects of her writing and the story however I didn't really form strong attachments to the characters or the plot.

The story was medium-fast paced with action around each corner, this made the story easy to read and get lost in. However, I feel that the world-building needed a little more to it and the characters could have also used more substance.

Overall I enjoyed the read and will look forward to next instalment but thought the story could have been a little more polished.

Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Immortal Longings is a slick, smart, and sharp adult debut that pulls you into its dark and tangled web. Whether you escape or not, it will stay with you.

Something I have always loved about Chloe Gong’s work is how she draws inspiration from classic Shakespearean tales. You can identify the fingerprints of Shakespeare in the characters and overarching plotlines, but these are definitely Gong’s creations. There is always a twist, subversion, or challenge to these well-known narratives. Immortal Longings takes some inspiration from Antony and Cleopatra and for me, this was most evident in the sizzling passion and changing dynamics between Calla and Anton. These two could set the world on fire and would probably happily watch everything around them burn. This is a dynamic that you can never really pin down. Everything is a manipulation, a power play but there are also some feelings in there that catch sparks.

Juliette Cai officially has competition for my favourite Gong characters here in the complex Calla Tuoleimi. She is often cruel, but there are shimemrs of vulnerability and Gong ensures there is depth and layers to her character. She is driven by rage and revenge, going to any means necessary to achieve her goals. However, she is also driven by a deep desire to survive and some of the moments around that are genuinely heart-wrenching. Gong never lets you forget that this is a character whose hands are stained by blood though. She is a badass fighter, branded by her reputation. I also have to shout out Mr Mao Mao for being the only pure character in the entire book (as far as we currently know).

Gong has taken the beating heart of her YA series, tore it out and ramped everything up to eleven. This is a violent book, drenched in blood and death. The stakes are always rising higher, with new and intriguing players stepping onto the board at unexpected moments. She unleashes her trademark, cut-throat twists with some moments that made me want to throw the book across the room. If you thought her previous twists were awful, we have reached new levels of evil genius.

The entire concept of body switching is fascinating and connects to deeper ethical questions around identity and personhood. In this world, it is easy to lose sight of who you truly are and to keep running from the heinous actions you have taken. Also, as a literary device, it works as an excellent way to keep your readers on their toes and creates such a tense and paranoid atmosphere. When literally everyone around you could be an enemy in disguise, who can you truly trust?

As always, Gong’s writing is incredibly evocative. Her worldbuilding is incredibly vivid and rich. San-Er springs to life around you, until you can practically see the smoke and smell the scent of blood in the air. The balance of narrative perspectives is excellent, bringing together a variety of intriguing characters and giving us new insights into both past and present. As with Calla, Anton is given so much depth and complexity in his character. His perspective is one that I adored, filled with devious manipulation and desires. He almost callously ‘jumps’ from body to body with very little regard for those he has invaded.

Immortal Longings is a twisty, intense and vicious stab to the heart that you will absolutely adore.

Chloe Gong was born to write Shakespeare retellings. They are perfect every single time. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year.

This truly is the perfect mix between the Hunger Games and story of Antony and Cleopatra. The world-building and the magic system are very interesting and entrancingly built. I absolutely loved the concept of "jumping" between bodies. It's a great idea and I don't ever remembering reading about it in another book. Transfer of consciousness yes, but not willingly jumping from one body to the other. It was fascinating to learn more about it and how it works.

The protagonists Calla and Anton are the stars of this story and their chemistry is off the charts. I could practically feel it through the pages.

Calla is brilliant, intelligent, cunning and absolutely ruthless. She has a complicated history and, despite being a princess, her life is far from being easy. It was an absolute treat to be introduced to her and learning about her motivations and simply what makes her tick. One of the things I was particularly curious is how she refuses to “jump” between bodies, something that everyone in this world is capable of doing, particularly during the deadly game. The truth when revealed made me re-read the page a few times over to process it.

As for our male protagonist Anton, he’s a complete mystery in the beginning but no less charismatic and magnetic. He’s heavily in debt from keeping his childhood love Otta alive during her coma and is participating in the games in hopes to pay that he owes. Throughout the book, more details of him and his past are revealed, and I kept wanting to know more about what led him to end up with such a life. As the best “jumper” in the kingdom, his alliance to Calla makes sense, but the growing tension between them since they met just jumped off the pages. They complement each other perfectly and seeing them together is so alluring and addictive. I couldn’t stop reading.

I was on the edge of seat the whole time reading this book. Since I read the Gong’s previous duology These Violent Delights, I learned that no one is safe and twists and turns are definitely incoming. I was right.
I can’t wait to see how the story will progress in the next instalment, but this one I will remember for a very long time.

4.5/5

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC for this book.

Antony and Cleopatra is my all time favourite Shakespeare play, so from the moment I heard that this book was being written, I have been incredibly excited for it. Chloe Gong delivers an entertaining fantasy novel that stands out as it’s own story despite its clear inspiration.

At first I was a little disappointed with the retelling elements of this novel, as I expected the novel to more directly parallel the play - as Gong’s These Violent Delights duology did with Romeo and Juliet - however, this book follows its own plot while maintaining the feel and relationships between characters found in Antony and Cleopatra. This book seems to act more as set up for events that mirror the play, while this instalment follows a more original plot line.

Gong’s characters are immediately entertaining and I found myself getting invested in their stories quickly; they also maintain a similar flare and tone to the characters in Gong’s young adult work, so if you enjoyed the characters there, you most likely will here as well. I loved the development of Anton and Calla’s relationship and any time they were on page together was a highlight. Another highlight was the fascinating, body hopping magic system. Because of this, the action scenes here were always tense and demanded attention.

I vastly appreciate Gong’s prose and tight-pacing in this novel, as I read most of it in a single day. Gong has a talent for writing extremely readable stories and that is no different here; the entire novel held my attention for it’s entirety and was so fun and easy to read that I truly got lost in the story and my enjoyment of it.

However I was left wanting more from Immortal Longings. While many aspects of the book worked with the shift from young adult to adult, I do feel the book would’ve benefitted from a little higher page count and more exposition. The book relies heavily on its main event of the game, and while I understood why this existed for the narrative and themes it explores, I wish more details of the origins surrounding this event were explained to give it more of a firm grounding in this aesthetically, well-realised world. Additionally, as much as the book occupies itself with the politics of San-er, I feel a more thorough explanation of how this society functions would’ve been valuable.

Despite the few issues I had with this novel, I cannot deny that I had a great time reading it regardless. I cannot wait to see where this story is headed and find out what plot twists I will be confronted with next!

In the kingdom of Talin, in its capital twin cities of San-Er, games are hosted by the palace, in which participants fight to the death for immeasurable riches. Those who are good at jumping from body to body have the upper hand. Princess Calla wants to win for a chance to get near her reclusive uncle, King Kasa. She is in hiding after causing the massacre that killed her parents and wants to finish off Kasa too, to end the monarchy. She gains two unexpected allies: Anton Makusa, an exiled aristocrat who is trying to save his childhood love in a coma, and Kasa's adopted son, her cousin August who wants to make things better in Talin. But goals can change. Feelings can change.

The worldbuilding is ambitious, making my mind work overtime to 'see' what the author is envisioning. Talin is a tough, cruel place and hardship is prominent in this story. The chasm between the haves and have-nots, seemingly insurmountable. But hope weeds itself into the hearts of the deliciously flawed characters. It is hard to pick a favorite and their interactions are storytelling gold. Gong is always great at writing character relationships.

THe narrative is poignant and purrs like a great car engine with the author's imagination. Words come together in creative ways to gift us with vivid images that complement the evocative writing. The action scenes are thrilling, the fight scenes choreographed as thought badassery is abundant here. The more you read, the more the plot thickens with betrayals, doublecrosses, power grabs and the whatnot. It is properly Machiavellian and cutthroat. I enjoy its brutal honesty.

It took me a bit to really immerse myself, but the intrigue is potent from the start. There are plot threads which you don't know why they are there or where they are going that irk me sometimes. I wished for a clearer path. I wished a certain game changer happened earlier. Confusing at times, there is a lot going on and a lot to learn, therefore it does lose me at points and I have to immerse myself again, but it is overall quite interesting.

A study in human nature, it shows us how ferocious it can be. There is a fine line between determination and obsession. Does the end justify the means? Does the greater good validate steering far from moral behavior?

Like Hunger Games but with body jumping and Shakespearean undertones since it is inspired by Anthony and Cleopatra, this is delightfully unpredictable and a great start to a new series.

Immortal Longings is Chloe Gong's first dip on the fantasy genre and I found it surprising. Like with her preivous work, her writing style and prose stole the show. She has such a way with words that makes it impossible to look away from the page, but, in the same way as in her previous projects, some of the characters fell flat in the great scheme of the plot. I personally loved August more than Calla and Anton, though I enjoyed them too. The pacing was quick and filled with action, and the plot had me hooked from the very start.

For the not-so-good part of the book, I found a lot of plotholes throughout the book and the plottwist, while original, only helped to perpetuate them. The ending was good too, though I found the final reveal a bit innecessary and I would've liked to see what would've happened if that hadn't been on the table.

To finish this review, I'm very excited to see what Chloe does with the next book, and while some parts left me desiring more, Immortal Longings was a solid start for a brand new series and a brand new Chloe.

Immortal Longings is the adult debut of Chloe Gong, and is inspired by the story of Anthony and Cleopatra, with a dash of the Hunger Games thrown in for a little extra flavour.
Set in the mythical city of San - Er, the captial of Talin, where the deadly game hosted annually by the palace is about to begin, the book is written from three perspectives. Augustus is the next in line to the throne of King Kusa, but he is keen to ascend to power and hopes that by rigging the games he will be able to produce a winner that will do his dirty work for him and assassinate the king at the prize giving ceremony. The vital cog in his plan is Calla, formerly a princess who killed her own parents to try to free the people of Tain, before fleeing into exile. She is determined to emerge victorious from the games so that she will be able to finish the job and kill King Kusa, and reluctantly agrees to accept help from Augustus to ensure her victory. The spanner in the works is Anton Makusa, exiled from the palace and deeply in debt as he is paying for medical care for his girlfriend who has been in a coma for years since they were both caught fleeing the palace together, Winning the games would take care of the debts and would guarantee her care for the future, so Anton is not going to give up easily.
This is a fast paced action packed adventure of a book, with an interesting setting and compelling characters. One of the strongest features of the book was how well the setting is brought to life, the city feels real . Calla and Anton are easy to root for, and as the story progressed to the seeming inevitable conclusion I was really caught up by how this couple could resolve matters. The plot is sufficiently complex to keep the reader engaged and there were a few surprises along the way that I did not see coming. I will admit that I had hoped for more detail about the game itself, but I can appreciate that there are only so many pages to work with. The one thing that I really struggled with , especially the more I thought about it, was the ability that the characters had to jump between bodies. This is fundamental to the magic system that the author has developed and is key to the plot, but it left me feeling uncomfortable at the idea of people's bodies being taken over against their will, and those bodies being used for whatever purpose the jumper chooses or needs before being discarded. I really found that disturbing, especially when it was used in the spicy scenes in the book , it just felt a little icky. That being said it is a fantasy book, and if you roll with it you will certainly have a fun time reading,
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own .

Congratulations on making your adult debut Chloe! She started with a bang and ended with a bang! super excited for he next release!

I’m such a big fan of Chloe Gong’s previous books so was expecting to love this one too, and was really disappointed to not even be able to finish this one! I DNFed around 60% because I was actively putting off reading anymore and was generally just being pushed into the Worst reading slump. The world building makes little to no sense, and the whole concept of the games seems interesting, but moves far too slow. When anything did happen, it made no impact and just wasn’t exciting in any way. The characters were either annoying or downright unlikeable - the two main characters had no chemistry at. all. I feel like Chloe really hyped up all of their chemistry online before the book came out and then none of it made it into the book as far as I could tell. I’ll give this another go and try and finish it sometime, I just was too fed up with it this time around!

First off, I started reading this book as an eARC from Netgalley (thank you to both Netgalley and the publisher for the oppertunity!), and honestly, I struggled to get into it. So when my July adult Fairyloot turned up while I was only 5 chapters in, I decided to restart with a physical copy, and it was a lot better! The world Chloe Gong has created here is bustling, its constantly active, its a life force of its own, and this translated a lot better, became a lot more absorbing as a physical read!

The story is an Antony and Cleopatra retelling, but with major Hunger Games vibes! I loved Gong's adaptation on these two stories combined into a fantasy setting with an incredible and unique magic system of the characters being able to "jump" into another person's body and steal their appearance, therefore constantly adding a mystery to the games of who your opponents are.

Add to this the claustrophobic city setting, royalty, and secret political agendas, and you have a bloodthirsty, action-packed, and shocking story that constantly left me on the edge of my seat!

Calla's character was especially intriguing for me. She gave me constant kick-ass Mia Corvere vibes, with her own cat sidekick (this time a real cat rather than a shadow cat, but I'm sure if Mao Mao could talk, he would be as sassy and sarcastic as Mr Kindly). The constant bickering between her and Anton added all the slow burn suspense you needed to their relationship, making the final chapters in the book even more heart shattering!

The cliff-hanger ending just gave such a thrill to the story, with a major twist that I would not have expected! I can't wait for the sequel to see what these characters have to face next!

I have mixed feelings about this one.
A beautiful setting, but I didn’t gel with the lengthy exposition/world-building segments - personal preference, but it leans toward the voice of a writer who hasn’t quite settled into the skill of epic fantasy - expanding the world and environment for the reader gradually without info-dumping.
That being said, the plot was pacy and I think the concepts were fantastic. An interesting mix of characters - again, I think some of the characterisation leans towards YA (understandable, perhaps, given Chloe Gong’s previous works)
Many thanks for the opportunity to review!

Such a unique storyline, an amazing magic system, and easy to follow the plot. I love books that have a “hunger games” feel to it.

I really enjoyed Chloe Gong’s writing - this was my first book of hers I’ve read! Probably won’t be my last. Can’t wait to read book 2!

Thankyou to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape and Chloe Gong for an e-copy ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This has got to be one of the easiest 5 stars I have given this year and just cements Chloe Gong as an auto buy author for me.

We are following Calla and Anton as they compete in a city-wide killer event, literally a killer event. The romance is super cute, the deception is 😘. The magic system is insane and so well done, it wasn't confusing at all.

I cannot wait for book 2... I also cannot wait for my pre-ordered physical copy to come to annotate the HECK out of it.

This was a hard book to get into. Took me three attempts - the start was a bit clunky, lots of unfamiliar place names, people, families, POVs - but as the story unfolded, I got sucked further in.
Sort of The Hunger Games, mixed with Altered Carbon, and played off with Red Queen. Heavily influenced by Anthony and Cleopatra, the story is one full of political machination and a deeply unjust society with huge disparity between the rich and poor, the elite and the common folk. A true dystopia, the kingdom of Talin is not somewhere anybody wants to be. But, we're never exactly shown why. There are specific mentions of high hospital bills, squalid living conditions, high taxes, but there is a massive gulf between royalty and the people in San. For Er, it seems like a bit of a middle class neighbourhood - better conditions than San, more business workers, but really the economics of the city isnt well explained. Given the heavy descriptions in the first part of the book - I still don't think I have a clear depiction of how the cities of San-Er works, and why the economic gulf is so prevalent, or why the current royals are to blame.

Every character is traitorous. There is no loyalty, and at the end, I can't say I really know who I'm rooting for. I liked Anton and Calla - I really wanted them to pull an Everlark and find a way to both be victorious - maybe Chloe Gong has been extremely clever in subverting that expectation, but it actually just seems not hugely satisfactory for me. I thought the characters were infinitely better together than they were apart, and I really wanted them to form a cute little family unit with Eno. The ending left me wondering if anything about their relationship was true.
There are a hundred different threads of storyline dangled in front of us, and I have no idea which are going to come to fruition in a sequel, just that I have a million questions.....What does Otta know? Why did she awaken when the King died? What will happen with August? Is he a good guy or not? Was Leida truly behind the odd Qi usage? Where did she learn that? Are the Crescent Society going to play a bigger part? Is Galipei loyal to August? Did I imagine the romantic tension between them, or if their relationship more than Prince and Guard? Is the larger war just a red herring, or are we seeing outside manipulation of the characters? Will ANYONE actually be a good King, or does there need to be a larger revolution? Just a million questions, and no clue where the story is going. I'll definitely pick up book 2 to find some answers, but I'm not sure I'm as invested as I should be. I think I needed a hint of what was coming next, and instead I just feel lost. Hope it's not a huge wait for the continuation, as I won't be able to hold the different plot threads in my brain long term.

I do think this is going to be a very hit or miss book. For those who don't primarily read fantasy sci-fi, or perhaps not urban, it's going to be hard to get into and too much of a chore. But I've no doubt some will love it. I can't quite decide where I fall on the scale...

I’m a huge fan of Gong’s Secret Shanghai books, but Immortal Longings fell kinda flat. I was excited about the 80s/90s Kowloon Walled City-sequel setting, but it felt a little dry. In great fantasy books the setting, magic system and plot synergise to create an evocative reading experience, but these elements never fit together in my mind. Same with the protagonists and their “romance”/lust: I didn’t care why Calla committed the acts that left her in hiding by the start of the novel, and had no strong opinion about her hooking up with Anton beyond thinking…maybe this is a bad idea? Should I be yearning for them to get together?!

It’s a shame, because the concept sounded great. And I enjoyed most of the action scenes.

I received an advance copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

I NEED THE SECOND BOOK. RIGHT. NOW.

Immortal Longings is the first I've read by the author and let me tell you that I really liked it, even though it has some little things that didn't quite convince me.

Here we find a somewhat transformed and rethought version of The Hunger Games, in terms of the dynamics of the Games themselves. That, in some parts I was not very convinced but I did not feel like a copy or anything like that because there are many stories where there are games and people have to kill each other to be victorious and be recognized. That's why I liked it, and I didn't like it at the same time.

The characters that this story introduces us are TREMENDOUS. What I liked the most is the construction of the characters and how we get to know them so little by little that it despairs and at the same time makes you want to continue reading until 3 in the morning (not that I have done it... nono).
I admit that at the beginning I was a bit lost with so many characters and scenes, places, stories but little by little I came to remember everything. I didn't have to write down the names and their stories, so don't worry.

It has some very cool plot twists that I didn't see coming and that left me looking at the screen for several minutes with a face like: "I can't believe what I just read."

One point that I did not like at all is the forced romance that I had to read. I felt it was unnecessary and there are somewhat risqué scenes (nothing serious) that seemed out of place to me. It's like now it's the fashion for books to HAVE something of this and sometimes it remains... and other times it doesn't. I personally felt that they didn't fit well. But it's totally personal, mind you. That's why I say I loved the book! Because not for two scenes am I going to stop enjoying the story, the characters.

With a somewhat slow start, a totally addictive development, when I realized it I was finishing it and I needed to know what was next. And I only found the thanks.

Chloe, I need the second. Right now.

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton for this amazing opportunity to read the ARC through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This book was one of my favorite reads so far this year. It was bloody, well-paced and gut-wrenching, and I loved every second of it.

I won’t say it was unpredictable because most of the big plot twists were fairly predictable, but it was so well done that I was always excited to get to the reveal point and I still squealed like an idiot when they finally happened. That’s one of the things I actually liked most about this book: the anticipation. I knew the unfolding of this or that trope was coming and I couldn’t wait for it. The anticipation kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

If you know me, you know I like main characters who are not afraid to get their hands bloody, so in hindsight, the fact that I loved Calla’s story was not really a surprise. She’s fierce and efficient, I loved Anton almost as much as I loved her. I only wish that the angst of the tension between them had been more deeply delved into; when it finally really started to be obvious, the reader is told that it has been happening for a while, but the feelings were not mentioned or shown enough that I felt that tension build.

The world-building was great though, Chloe Gong is a very visual writer and you can easily picture everything she describes. I can only imagine that more will come on that front in the next two books.
I can’t wait for the sequel.

Immortal Longings is Anthony and Cleopatra meets Battle Royal/ the Hunger Games with some body swapping good times thrown in sounds complicated but it’s not once you get the hang of it. It took me a little bit to get fully immersed into this. There’s a lot of scene setting, world building and background history info dumping which is kind of necessary so that we understand all the politics and players in the game. Basically everyone wants to kill the king and to get to him they have to compete to be the last one standing in this city wide killing game and oh yeah they have powers that allow them to jump into other bodies. Calla is our renegade princess who refuses to jump and kills by skill alone she’s out for revenge, Anton is an outcast of the palace who has no permanent body he’s deep in debt paying medical bills of his lost love who languishes in a coma. Anton and Calla form a tentative alliance to come out on top. But only one of them can win. I really enjoyed this once I got used to the body jumping, it was good to have Calla as a still figure to latch onto even though she turns out to be just as complicated. I actually gasped out loud at the ending, it was delicious. Can’t wait for the next one I have so many questions.

Immortal Longings is an urban fantasy outing in an overcrowded, dirty and desperate city where a Princess-in-hiding, a banished noble and a Princeling are all plotting to kill a tyrant. Though they all have different motives and goals, they start working together in a deadly game.

This is Gong's first adult outing, and I must admit I was a bit confused about that for the first 2/3rds of the book as it has a very Hunger Games feel. An annual death-match which forms a large part of this text is a fairly wed-trod plot device in Young Adult and harks back to the hey-day of these dystopian books' popularity some years ago. In Immortal Longings, the game's entrants are chosen by lottery from voluntary nomination and after a free-for-all killing spree that rages across the city for weeks or months, the winner gets to keep their life (and some money which they all use to get out of the hell-hole that is San-Er). The "adult" part of the book becomes more evident as the killings progress as it's a very bloody gladiatorial circus that is played out in front of the city's security cameras and in full view of the public. There's also some sexy times on the page which I thought was pretty hot though the foreplay does involve a bit of violence and stabbing... For those who are fans, YES this book does have a "knife-to-the-throat" moment or two.

The most unique part of this book is the "magic" - some people are born with the ability to "jump" between bodies. Their "qi" energy suppresses the person in that body and takes it over. Nobody knows how it really works though and it's hand-waved off as a gift from the gods. I am hoping this is something that will be explored more in the later books. For now though, it allows characters like Anton to swap bodies like he's changing underwear, with only his unique eyes giving him away. Quite a few characters have unique eyes, a genetic trait of their family lines that assist in their identification when one's "birth body" may be long gone.

I liked the story and the world-building, though I did feel it was let down a bit by the characters. We don't spend a lot of time with any one of them and even though we are switching between the three POVs - Calla (the lost Princess), Anton (the banished noble) and August (the heir apparent) - we don't really get to know them that well. Their individual backstories unfold slowly and by the end we know where they came from and a bit about where they want to go, but not really much in between. There's also some inconsistencies - Calla is supposed to be a hard-nosed, unrepentant killer but she has a soft spot for the people she lets into her life. August is hell-bent on deposing his uncle the Evil King but doesn't think much beyond that, he's blind to the fact that he will just be replacing the figurehead of a very broken monarchical system.

The setting was also a tad confusing for me, given that it's a monarchy that is centered around one big urban city with lots of references to villages in outlying rural areas. In the city (or Twin Cities, as San and Er used once to be ruled by two royal families but are now merged under one King) there is electricity, internet, plumbing and phones. This infrastructure is crumbling and unreliable due to the overpopulation of the urban mass which is trapped inside a city wall and there's an almost Blade Runner feel to it, like what we thought the future would be like when we were looking forward from the 80s. But there are no guns or cars, and the rural villagers seem to exist in a quasi-medieval peasant state. It just felt a tad disjointed to me.

My biggest bone to pick with this book was the pacing - at 380 pages I should not have felt as if I was slogging through a high fantasy behemoth, but that how I felt in the middle of this book. I think this was due to the fact that this supposedly exciting killing match was played over days and weeks, and our heroes would go home to shower, eat noodles and sleep in between slicing each other up.

Lastly, I actually guessed the twist - and I NEVER guess the twist. So that means that it is fairly obvious. The ending leaves us with a logical conclusion to the death-match story arc with a small cliffhanger surprise that draws us towards the next book. I have no idea where this series will go, as I'm still not clear on what Gong is trying to say about her modern/medieval monarchical system and whether our heroes are meant to topple it, reform it or smash it into complete anarchy. I guess we will see.