I’m glad this is the first book in a trilogy, because I need so much more. We have a trio of fierce characters whose goals and motivations are deeply intertwined, yet not always aligned. The side characters also brought so much to the story, whether it was their own schemes or the intrigue from simply existing (looking at you, Otta Avia). I loved getting into each character’s head, and their dynamics were so entertaining. A personal favorite is Calla and August, there was just something special about their interactions.

There are definite The Hunger Games parallels to be made, but the games in Immortal Longings are more of a puzzle piece rather than the puzzle itself. From the threat of outside invasion to secret societies within San-Er, what made this book stand apart is the world it’s set in. Descriptions of the physical setting, and the magic. Jumping added intrigue both in terms of those who are good at it, and those who refuse, one of the many ways to wonder about the characters’ reasons for their actions and decisions.

In Immortal Longings, storylines are woven together to create chaos, each character fighting for their desires and beliefs. Whether the character was primary or secondary, they all contributed to the richness of the plot, which was a complicated mess in the best way. No objective could be accomplished as easily as expected. All of a sudden, the end had arrived, and it was truly a *gasp* moment; I fondly await book two.

Immortal Longings
Chloe Gong
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5

Before I start this review I’d like to give my thanks to Hodderscape, Chloe Gong and Netgalley for providing me with the e-ARC of ‘Immortal Longings.’ All opinions expressed in this review are my own, honest opinions of the book! There are no spoilers in this review!

I adored everything about this book- Chloe Gong never fails to exceed expectations! Immortal Longings is the first in her new adult series inspired by Anthony and Cleopatra with morally grey characters, competitions to the death, rivals to lovers, multiple POVs, a bit of spice and astonishing world building! Our main characters- Calla, Anton and August are all such fascinating and complex characters with their own unique voices so the multiple POVs worked really well. The POV switches made me so invested- none of the characters could be said to be reliable narrators and there is lots of scheming behind each others backs so it is impossible to decide who to trust. I loved the POVs from minor characters too because it built so much tension and really helped flesh out the world Chloe Gong has created.

All of the main characters were of the slightly unstable morally-grey variety and I was living for it! Calla was ruthless, intelligent and incredibly stubborn with an intriguing past that made you need to know more right from the very beginning. Her goals are moral and for the good of the kingdom but she is willing to murder and betray to achieve them. Calla cares for her kingdom more than anything and even abandons her own morals just for the chance to save it- she’s a truly unforgettable character. Anton on the other hand cares not for the kingdom but only about saving his childhood lover and he too will do anything including slaughter innocents to save her. Together Calla and Anton they make a near unstoppable team and their alliance soon turns into something more. August, to me, was definitely the most complex character. He is just like Calla in the sense that he wants the king off the throne and the kingdom to be a better place but his end goal is to have himself on the throne. His motives fluctuate from pure to selfish throughout the book and he is overall a very twisted man. I couldn’t decide whether he would truly improve the kingdom as the insisted he would or become corrupted by power the second the crown was put on his head. I loved Augusts chapters so much and his relationship with his bodyguard, Galipei, was so interesting- I can’t wait to see more of them in the second book.

Not only were the characters amazing, the world building was phenomenal too! For a fairly short book, we get so many details about the politics and history of the world and it fit into the story really naturally. The magic system in this book were also one of the most interesting magic systems I’ve ever read! It involves the jumping of a persons qi into other bodies and it’s honestly such an interesting concept I adored reading about it! The descriptions in this book were beautifully written and cinematic and the dialogue was well done and witty- I was a huge fan of Chloe Gong’s writing in the Secret Shanghai series but the prose in Immortal Longings is on another level, you can tell how much she’s developed as a writer! This is by far my favourite book this year and I’m already dying for the sequel- no spoilers but I SCREAMED at the ending. I was actually SHOOK, I did not expect such a major plot twist on the last page! Anyway, I can’t wait for everyone to read this and thank you again to Chloe Gong, Hodderscape and NetGalley for the ARC ❤️

<b>Immortal Longings</b> is Chloe Gong adult debut and I loved it.

Chloe has a special way to tell the story, and although the setting is dirty and dark, it is just impossible to not find her words beautiful.

Immortal longings is a dystopian urban fantasy told by 3 main different POV, and some extra ones to spice things up a bit.
All POV are working for more or less the same purpose, but with different results in mind. In a world as damaged and corrupted as the twin capital cities of San-Er, is it even possible to win?

<i> “There are no gods in this world. Only kings and tyrants</i>

I was hooked from the first page, and had my heart on my throat for the last 20% of the story. This book has everything I love in fantasy: high stakes, fast pace, interesting characters, foreshadowing and surprises.

The characters are deliciously grey and it is still unclear who are the heroes and the villains. Everything is told and woven in a way that demands our attention until we are feeling what they feel. I fell for Anton, cried for other minor characters, felt anxious for the mysteries going on, and was surprised several times.

<i> She stains his mind in vivid color, bright and burning and dangerous.</i>

Recommended for Chloe Gong fans, as well as urban fantasy readers. If you enjoyed Altered Carbon from Netflix you will love this book.

<i>I would like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I had no idea what to expect from my first Chloe Gong book but my god was I swept away in this story!

This series is an urban fantasy retelling of the story of Antony and Cleopatra, following a runaway princess Calla, exiled nobility Anton, and heir to the throne August as they navigate the yearly bloody trials in the city of San-Er. (There’s also a cute cat!)

The romance/alliance in this book is very reminiscent of The Hunger Games so if you liked that series as a kid you’ll love this story. (The spice is also VERY well written and that is coming from someone who often finds it cringe). If you like the trope of her putting a dagger to his throat this one is definitely for you.

The world-building was also incredible as you really get a feel for the different areas of San-Er which was the perfect setting for this story. It genuinely feels like you can hear the bustle of this city through the words on the page.

After reading this I cannot wait for the rest of the series and just HAVE to pick up Chloe Gong’s other books. This was perfect for her first adult fantasy venture!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an e-ARC edition to review. All thoughts are my own.

I chose to read this mostly because I enjoyed the author's previous series and writing style. With full transparency, I don't think this read was entirely for me. I'm not hugely fussed over deadly games/kill or be killed narratives, and so when I initially started this, I was frustrated with myself for applying for an ARC of something I wasn't going to thoroughly enjoy - in the past month, I've read a few darker fantasies with this theme to them and found they're not my style. This is my fault, and I have attempted to not diminish the rating because of reader error.

That being said, this world is well-crafted, as expected from Chloe Gong. I enjoyed the concept of body jumping, and the challenges and opportunities doing so presented. I liked how complicated it could seem to some characters, and to others, jumping was a natural occurrence that didn't make them stop and think about it. I also appreciated the level of layers to the main characters - what their goals were, what drove them to act in the way they did, and how they approached consequences and betrayals. The added issues of poverty and struggles for the kingdom, and the royal responses to this were highlighted well through the corrupt systems and dark machinations surrounding subplots and the game itself.

I really enjoyed the alliance that was built between Anton and Calla. Their love story, whilst a subplot, was weaved in naturally to their storyline, and thus, made believable. I liked that when it came to choices between their love and their goals, there was genuine regret or hesitation involved. Equally, I admired the author remaining true to the characters and how they developed from start to finish despite there being a romance or not.

The biggest thing for me was I didn't expect the plot twists along the way, which came as a pleasant surprise. I liked when they occurred and what that information did for the storyline. Whilst I assumed the ending might go in the way it did, it leaves the reader questioning what is to come next and how each character - both minor and main - will be utilised in continuing the story in book two.

The main issue I had was around the game itself. I started to find it rather pointless to the overall arc of the storyline. At times, it felt as if it was just there to give the characters something to do. The concept of the bracelets and chasing the competitors over the cities wasn't compelling enough to hold my attention, especially when it was just used to kill more people off from the game. I would have much preferred the second focus on the outside threat and illness that was spreading through the competitors to be at the forefront.

I also found that whilst this is meant to be Gong's adult debut, it still read younger to me. The characters are meant to be early to mid-twenties, but it wasn't very obvious this was an adult book. It honestly felt as if Gong made Calla a smoker just to ensure she looked more "adult". I think the tone lends more to the dark upper YA reads I've been having lately, New Adult at best.

Whilst this read wasn't entirely for my enjoyment, I did like the story Gong has written here and do recommend to readers who like the concept to pick this one up.

Chloe Gong continues to prove why shes ome of my favourite authors of all time, I love her writing style so much and whilst this is different from Secret Shanghai j loved every single moment of reading this book and will literally read every single thing she ever writes

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me this ARC book! Here I leave my honest review.

I read the blurb and I think I have a big expectation for this book. That’s why I was so excited when I got the book. People said in their review that this book has The Hunger Games vibes on it and I love both book and films of The Hunger Games, it increase my expectation to this book.

But sadly it all crumble now. I was so bored while reading this book. Even from the beginning. I can not connect with the world she trying to create. I can’t connect to the characters, I can’t sympathize with them and it got worst when the plot is so slow. Under 400 pages but I can’t finish book faster, I think I need more than 2 weeks to finish this book and it never happen with book less than 400 pages. Kind of disappoint while reading this book.

Calla is depicted as a character who strong, a princess who killed her parents and has a great skill on combat. She only has one purpose, to win the game and carry out her plan. I don’t know how I feeling with her. I think her reason to carry out her plan is not strong enough, maybe the author done a poor job to tell us more about Calla past and why suddenly she has that plan. I know we got a glimpse of real past of Calla but still I’m not sure it’s enough.

The book has so many POV. Even from the characters that I think didn’t have big impact to the plot. I’m not sure why I’m reading his/her character. It feels like the author just want to fill the books.
The games, the biggest event in the book, feel so weak and make no sense for me. It feels like a Hunger Games, we have contestants and now you have to kill each other until there are only two to combat each other directly. But the weird one is the place. They doing the game in open, near civilization when people can suddenly get into a battle. Just make no sense for me. No safety at all for the civilization. And ah I forget to mention about the jumping! One big factor that make this book unique is where some people can jump out from her/his body and take another body. I believe this is the reason why they did the game at open space but didn’t they say that this is Illegal? Another weird moments. The jumping part makes a big influence, it was a great “spice” for the plot.

I don’t really care about other characters beside Calla even for Prince August that has a potential will become the real enemy. But of course except Anton. He has a big job here in this book and become the love interest of Calla. You know from the blurb that Anton has childhood lover that he care and trying to keep her alive. But for the game he need Calla partnership, if the author want to make their partnership just like that I don’t have any objection. But suddenly Calla and Anton have a special place for each other? I don’t even remember that they have a great relationship at all. It feels flat and business only type of relationship. I don’t know how, when, and why their partnership change into relationship.

The only reason I gave this book 3 ⭐ when I want to give it below that that is because of the last 10% of the book. The story turn great and of course end with cliffhanger. I can guess the plot twist at the end and have a little expectation for the next book.

Chloe Gong has once again manages to gut me and tear apart my flesh with her bare hands, while also instilling hope that I too will have a love story as epic as this one. Definitely a must-read for fans of fantasy and dystopia!

I unfortunately didn’t get on with this book. I ended up putting it down at about 30%
It was just a lot of world info dumping at weird times so it didn’t go in and just made in between moments drag abit.

I do hope to give it another go in the future.

Netgalley requires a rating so have given it a mid star rating of 2.5 stars

chloe gong will always be one of my fave authors. she never misses. every plot she conjures up is delicious and every character has me in chokehold. 10/10 forever x

Chloe Gong is a well-known name in YA literature so I was excited to delve into her debut adult novel. Advertised as a blend of the Hunger Games and Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, my anticipation grew even more. However, upon reading, I couldn't help but notice the striking resemblance to the Hunger Games, with the addition of some still unclear magic system and a new setting.

The romantic interest in the story also felt all too familiar, reminiscent of a similar dynamic in the Hunger Games. Additionally, a particular death in the narrative evoked memories of Rue's death from the Hunger Games. While these similarities could have been overlooked, the major issue I encountered was the difficulty in engaging with the prose. The book was filled with excessive descriptions, to the point where, around 30% into the story, I found myself skimming paragraphs and envisioning the city according to my own imagination and not entirely based on her descriptions.

Furthermore, I felt the characters were very unnatural and underdeveloped. Despite my appreciation for strong and compelling heroines, the protagonist's sole motivation for seeking revenge felt bland and overused, making her the most interesting yet insufficiently explored character in the book.

I want to attribute these shortcomings to the author's transition from YA to Adult fiction, but it seemed that the entire novel suffered from an unnatural rushed pacing. Numerous crucial points were left unexplored and underdeveloped, leaving me yearning for a more thorough expansion of the key elements.

While this book may find its target audience, I personally did not have the mind-blowing experience I had anticipated. Nevertheless, I must confess the cover art is truly remarkable.

This I felt was good for a Chloe Gong novel. Her first foray into adult literature, and I can honestly say that she's trying her best.

The book follows characters from the tech-worshipping twin cities of San-Er, and we are thrown into the perspectives of three central characters: Calla, Anton, and August. The story follows the typical Battle Royale plotline, but has more in common with the Hunger Games, as it follows the same beats. Also do not think of this as an Anthony and Cleopatra retelling, it adds absolutely nothing the experience - this story is better without that marketing.

I liked the story, and I liked the idea of the world, I did not like how long it took to get to the actual plot and where the plot twists happen. I think it could have done with more character-building and less world-creating in the first 80% of the book. To be honest, I kind of have some issues with the world-building because it's not explained very well - maybe I'm just dumb and couldn't understand the magical system and its rules (as the rules tend to contradict the magical system at times???), but I don't understand how it works and I still don't understand the purpose of the games or how it works. It was hard to follow - it felt like Gong formed this world in her head and found it hard to translate into words; I understand the intention, but the execution was a little off. Also I could barely root for the characters until maybe the last 10 pages of the book, where the plot and the characters themselves actually start to pick up and the story doesn't repeat itself for the tenth time.

It's hard to make a Battle Royale book interesting, I know, but the first 20 chapters of this book could have been summarised into maybe 10 chapters and it would have been just as dense and confusing. I wish Gong focused more on the twists - she has great potential to just write good and original stories, but she needs to focus on her pacing, especially when it comes to fantasy. It would have been better if Gong wrote the twin cities of San-Er as its own character, giving us the city's perspective rather than it just being the backdrop of a story, an after thought, a background character if you will - I feel like San-Er didn't have enough time to shine despite being so integral to the plot.

I also think Gong needs to work on creating chemistry between her characters - it felt like they had nothing in common and they don't really trust each other, and it makes what happened to them fall flat. The twist was good though, I will give it that, I just wished I felt what Calla was feeling. Other than that, it's Hunger Games on crack.

But overall, I liked it, just didn't enjoy the pacing. I'm excited to read the next part of the story! I liked this more mature, dark, tone that Gong has taken - it really beats These Violent Delights duology for me. I'm looking forward to the next one!!

Ah, this book was SO hard to rate! It had flashes of brilliance with the odd part I didn’t much get into and then a plot twist would open up and I’d wonder where it was going but it’d bring me back round again and then I’d be hooked. It felt messy and scrappy and hectic but did help add to the frenzy of reading and wanting to know what would happen at the end.

It was an intriguing plot, with a dystopian, other worldly feel. It was a great set up with the concept of ‘jumping’ a clever one once you got into it.

The story with Calla was also an intriguing one and as you got to know more of her character, it was easier to get to like her. I continuously cycled through 3 to 4 back to 3 and then ended with a four star rating for that ending. I was unsure whether I’d follow anymore in this story but after how it concluded, it was almost written in a fashion where you wouldn’t be able to end it there. Having got this far, I kinda need to know how it’s going to follow up as it can no way end like that!!

A few days ago I finished Immortal Longings, the new Chloe Gong book, the author of These Violent Delights that will be released this July, and here I am talking about it with you!

Let's start by thanking Netgalley and the Publishing House so much for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review! A thousand thanks!

First of all I would like to start by saying that Immortal Longings was one of my most anticipated release of this year 2023, because I have been following every update since the first moments the author spoke to her audience about this new book, which was an Antonio and Cleopatra retelling. Now, follow me, I've read Antony and Cleopatra and I've lost my head...

"Calla Tuoleimi, Princess of Er. She couldn't do anything on a throne, but she can do everything with a sword in her hand."

Well, one thing is certain in this book, which is that you will find Chloe Gong in her writing, her style! The beginning and the introduction of the characters reminded me so much of These Violent Delights!
The plot of this book is very interesting: Every year, thousands flock to San-Er, the perilously dense twin capital of the Talin kingdom, where the palace hosts a series of deadly games. Those who are confident in their ability to switch between bodies can enter a fight to the death - for the chance to win unimaginable riches. Princess Calla Tuoleimi has been in hiding for five years, ever since she killed her parents to free the people of Talin from her tyrannical family. Only one person prevents her from finishing the job: her lonely uncle, King Kasa. However, she knows that she always congratulates the winner of the games. If she wins, she will finally have the chance to kill him. Enter Anton Makusa, whose childhood sweetheart has been in a coma since they were both kicked out of the palace. He's in deep debt trying to keep her alive. Which means her last chance to save her is to play the games and win. When Anton proposes an unexpected alliance with Calla, they quickly find their partnership turning into something all-consuming. But before the games are over, Calla must decide what she's playing for: her lover or her kingdom. No matter what, only one of them can make it out alive. . .

I think that from here you can already see how politics and a kind of Hunger Games intertwine.
Let's start from the first point. From this point of view it is very interesting because we know our Calla (who would be Cleopatra) is a princess who decided to end her privilege status and kill her parents, to bring down the tyranny they were carrying on - which goes wrong given that Uncle Kasa enters (I interpreted him as Cesare but I don't think it's confirmed) that at this point we can consider him the Villain of the situation. In fact if she wins these famous games she will be able to get close to him and thus finish him off ...
Well well well, what can I say.
Already here you can understand how I too actually found many, even too much, similarities with the Hunger Games: the game, the tyrannical power to be defeated but only by winning, the fact that to win you have to give up a great thing ... All elements that if only had they been changed a little I would have crooked my mouth less. Because let's say that the book follows this whole line, that I found myself at the end and I thought "let's see" and track, I found it. Let's say that when this happens it's not a great thing, because I want to be amazed by a book, not being able to predict every single thing!
This is a sci-fi fantasy (I don't know if it has been defined like that but given the setting and themes we'll call it that) in which there are very interesting fantasy elements (which I don't know if I can say because I don't know if it's a spoiler) that make this point of the unique plot and which also lead to some very nice reversals within the story.
If you can read between the lines you can spot some romance in this plot. Well there is. Little but there is. Personally for what I've seen for now I would have reduced it even more, because it's definitely not the focal point of the story, or at least for me it was.

"Better to draw blood before it can be drawn from you; better to exert power and hold control - to seize power and maintain control."

What more to say?
Overall I wasn't bored, but I didn't find it as amazing as I hoped it would be. Understand me, for me it had to be the book of the year, that's it! There are a lot of internal plot-twists (and no, the final one is nothing compared to another) that make the story interesting but for me it was missing that little pinch that made it unforgettable for me.
Then, in my opinion, there was also another factor: the story begins with a bang as a rhythm, then stops in the central part and then restarts at the end. I've noticed that a lot of Asian retelling books have this narrative dynamic, which I don't know if I appreciate, so it definitely slowed me down in reading.
What can I say, in the end I gave this book three stars, so without infamy and but also without praise, it entertained me but it wasn't a bomb for me. I think anyway, even if the final cliffhanger didn't make me hot or cold since it was predictable in my opinion, when it comes out I will read the sequel, because I loved Chloe in TVD and therefore I trust another good book!

I really wanted to love this book😭 unfortunately this is just a complete miss for me.. the execution just fell flat and the world building had me extremely confused.

I’m genuinely saddened that I didn’t enjoy this book, I had high hopes and was excited for it. Disappointed.

DNF at 36%. Yeah I’m not finishing this book. I tried for two months. I was mostly just really bored. The plot was so slow and I couldn’t care less about the characters. It’s just the same problem I have with many Chloe Gong characters, because she’s so obsessed with making them morally grey and badass that she forgets to make them actual people. The story’s also just very unoriginal. Yes, I realize that Suzanne Collins did not invent the battle royale trope, but the games in this book are too similar to the Hunger Games. An author can take inspiration from other books, but I want them to improve upon the ideas or use them with a twist. Gong takes a lot of ideas from other works in this book, but never really does anything with them. In the end it just wasn’t enjoyable to read so I stopped.

I wanted to like this so bad, and at the beginning I did. The premise is interesting and my friend is a huge Chloe Gong Fan so I wanted to give this a try although I DNFed these violent delights.
I think mainly it's her writing style that I can't get into, mainly the fact that she uses dialogue sparsely, and if she does there are several sentences between each character saying anything. I don't want to read half a page before getting the answer to a question.
Now to the story:
The games felt entirely too easy. Calla can kill anyone and Anton can jump into anyone, making them an unbeatable team, although Calla didn't even struggle once before teaming up with him. The only time the games were interesting was when they were chased in the hotel, otherwise it felt like the stakes were never high.
The romance...was I supposed to ship them? Why? Because Anton got an erection when Calla sat in his lap? I didn't feel any chemistry between them, there were a good team, but fighting together doesn't equal love. There was no bonding moment, nothing that would make me understand.
And lastly the monologues, so many...the amount of times I had different characters go one about what a shithole SanEr was felt infinite. If I wouldn't have skipped some parts I would've gone insane.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an e-arc copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first read of any of Chloe Gong’s books (I have them all, just not read yet 😂) and I’m so glad this was my first.

First of all, I loved this book and cannot wait for the second one. The ending really got me excited to see how this series is going to play out.

This story focuses on multiple POV’s of people living in a ‘twin city’ and their struggles of living through the yearly games. Every year the palace throws a set of games and in this competition eighty-eight people race to be the last one standing, either by killing
or eliminating other contestants in order to receive
unbelievable riches.
The main characters you focus on during this story is Calla - the cities ‘lost’ princess and August - the heir to the throne. You watch them try to figure o it how they can save their cities from the throne that crushes them.

I loved the ‘magic system’ throughout this book, where people with strong enough qi energy can ‘jump’ into someone else’s body - completely taking them over and pushing them into a corner of their own mind. This is shown only through a flash of light, and if the victim is pushed back for long enough they can fade and their body can become an empty vessel.

My main thought throughout the book was ‘this makes me think of the hunger games’ - it’s like hunger games but with more freedom I think as they are able to apply (even if most are doing it as they have no other option) rather than being forced. As Gong herself has said, it’s described as "Antony & Cleopatra meets Clove and Cato in a 90s Wong Kar-wai film”.

The first part of the book was a struggle for me, the pacing and the language were just a bit meh and it did take me a while to get into the book. However, the pace really did pick up towards the end of the book and I couldn’t put it down. The budding love sorry between Calla and Anton was such a good addition to the story. You get to see them as people using each other for their own gain, but slowly see them become obsessed with each other.

I cannot wait for the second book, and will have to occupy myself with reading anything else by Chloe Gong in the meantime.

Chloe Gongs books just get better and better, she has honed her craft to produce incredible books. This book is a triumph and I can hardly wait until the next episode.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

I loved Chloe Gong's These Violent Delights and Foul Lady Fortune series, so I was so excited to get this ARC! This is a very Hunger Games-esque retelling of Antony and Cleopatra with a lot of world-building to wrap your head around.

Like most of Gong's novels in my opinion, it's slow to start but once it gets going, it doesn't stop.

The absolute shock I felt at that Calla reveal was magnificent, and the ending reveal?? Oh my god. I am desperate for the next book and I'm so interested to see how this retelling turns out.

I feel weird about <spoiler> Calla and Anton having sex with him in someone else's body but I also get in this world, bodies are viewed very differently. I'm working through it. </spoiler> Also, <spoiler> at the end, couldn't they have just pulled their chips? Before they got to the coliseum anyway. They had an agreement and then were like "damn no way out of this" even though there clearly was. Oh well. </spoiler>

Please can I have the next book now. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.