Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for giving me an e- arc of this book. However this book might not have been it for me. I can appreciate the world building and the levels op spice, but this is not something ill be likely reading again, and I love Chloe's books. This is just not very well done and if she'd taken more time this story couldve been so much more!

Having enjoyed Chloe Gong's YA books, I was excited for her adult debut - and I wasn't disappointed. Immortal Longings is a hunger games style dystopian adult fantasy. It's a retelling of Anthony and Cleopatra. I'll admit that since I have not read the Shakespearean original, I probably didn't fully appreciate the references to the source story.

The world Gong created is rich and jumps of the page - San-Er offers an urban setting, a crowded and impoverished, bustling city, where eighty-eight contestants fight to the death for the chance at riches and a better life.
The two main characters, Cella, the former princess who has long been assumed dead, and Anton, a palace born exile, find themselves among the contestants. They quickly form an alliance to eliminate other contestants faster, which develops into a romance. But it wouldn't be an Anthony and Cleopatra retelling without politics and betrayal.

I loved that the politics and action took centre stage, and the relationship between Cella and Anton was woven into the background in a perfect mix of character development and plot.

Another element I enjoyed was the concept of body jumping and all the moral questions this raised. What of the bystanders that got killed while their body was possessed? But also, how did I feel about the idea of loving someone for who they are, completely detached from a physical body?

While the initial part of the book moved a bit slowly, once the story hit its stride, it was a fast-paced page turner. I loved the plot twists and the ending left me impatient for the next installment in this trilogy.

This was very interesting, the premise sounded really good and I have enjoyed Chloe's work before. This was definitely a unique retelling, but I just expected more from it. I felt like the games were lacking a bit, and the action scenes were very 'she killed him super fast'. It was a fun read though and I'd like to read book 2.The ending was great!

I received this book as an arc by Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton / Hodderscape in exchange for an honest review. Thank you again for this opportunity.

«  It doesn’t take a blade to carve open a heart. It only takes a soft glance. »

One overall sentence of the feel of the book / my feeling on the book

(Tropes)
🌸 Family feud
🌸 Villain mc
🌸 Enemies/rivals to lovers
🌸 Graphic scenes

Rating: 4⭐️
Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance
Format: Ebook / Physical
Pages: 392
Spice:🌶️ one detailed on-page scene
POV: third pov with multiple povs
S/S: Flesh and False Gods #1
Check trigger warnings for any book

thoughts:

Wow. I think this is by far my favorite Chloe Gong novel this far. The world-building is tedious, but it is so well done. You are in San-Er, you can smell the air, hear the eery sounds… The immersion in the world is very easy. Though the description can be a bit dense at times, or a bit repetitive as the book went on.

The characters? Immaculate. They have so much depth, so much goodness, rawness, and selfishness. The way they interact was addictive.

The plot itself? Very intriguing. The whole Hunger Games-ism of the San-Er games was well done. The bloodlust, the bloodshed, the desperation, and the hatred. All could be felt.

The lore of the jumping gene? How cool is that!!!! I wish we had even more history on it, as well as what was evolving with that gene. This led the so curious!

And that ending? That final paragraph??? I gasped audibly. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW MISS CHLOE GONG??

I am now awaiting the sequel. Too many questions, too many things are going to happen and I just NEED TO KNOW!!

Leena - Leena.reader review - xoxo

"Immortal Longings" by Chloe Gong takes readers on a thrilling journey into a world where power, love, and sacrifice collide amidst a deadly competition. Set in the dangerous and dense capital twin cities of the kingdom of Talin, this novel weaves a tale of danger, secrets, and the price of ambition.

The heart of the story centers around the annual deadly games hosted by the palace, where those capable of jumping between bodies fight to the death for the promise of unimaginable wealth. Princess Calla Tuoleimi, who has been in hiding for years after committing a heinous act, plans to use the games to exact her revenge against her reclusive uncle, King Kasa. However, her path becomes intertwined with that of Anton Makusa, a man seeking to save his comatose childhood love by winning the games.

Gong masterfully crafts a world that is both richly imaginative and ruthlessly unforgiving. The intricate political landscape of the kingdom and the pulse-pounding action of the games draw readers in from the start. The author's ability to create vivid descriptions and tension-filled scenes contributes to an immersive reading experience that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

The characters are multi-dimensional, with motivations that are complex and relatable. Calla is a fierce and determined protagonist, driven by her desire to liberate her kingdom from her own family's tyranny. Anton's unwavering love and sacrifice for his comatose love bring a sense of heart-wrenching authenticity to the story. Their unexpected alliance evolves into a captivating partnership, rife with tension and genuine emotions that leap off the page.

Gong excels in depicting the moral dilemmas faced by her characters. The stakes are high, and the choices they make are both heartbreaking and compelling. The story raises thought-provoking questions about the true cost of power and the sacrifices one must make for the greater good.

At its core, "Immortal Longings" is a tale of love, loyalty, and the pursuit of justice. The novel's pacing is well-crafted, with suspense building steadily as the games approach their climax. The author's writing style effortlessly alternates between action-packed sequences and introspective moments, allowing readers to connect deeply with the characters' inner struggles.

It felt at times like the author had a word count to fulfil, which led to unnecessary repetition and prolonged scenes. The constant repetition of character's full names disrupted the flow of the story, was redundant, and frustrating at times.

World building was lacking, felt sparse, and not very well thought through.

I love Chloe Gong's book! This is her first adult-fantasy and I was very excited to read it. I loved her worldbuilding and the character-development was spot on - didn't disappoint!

You best believe Calla and Anton are living RENT FREE in my head since the moment I finished Immortal Longings. No one writes star-crossed lovers like Chloe Gong does and Immortal Longings has definitely solidified her place as one of my top all time favourite authors. This book was addictive. The kind that has you up at the middle of the night wondering what will happen.

I’m already asking myself how soon is too soon to reread… 👀 it’s going to be a painful wait for book two after that ending!

Chloe Gong never dissappoint, I really loved this book. Even though, it took me longer than it should have to know which character's who, this book was really enjoyable to read. I really loved all of the characters and I'm excited for book 2

I think that this will be my last attempt to get into Gong’s work. I really wanted to get onto the hype train for this, but unfortunately I was once again unable to connect with the characters or the prose!

This was my first dip into Chloe Gong's work and instantly I can't wait for more. I was apprehensive about this, partly due to my unfamiliarity with the author, however that dissipated immediately as I started reading, The book itself gives hunger games vibes, which instantly drew me in, it is compelling, with easy to follow world building and complex but lovable characters. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the characters develop, and was consistently surprised by the plot twists, especially towards the ending. I can't wait for more.

I always enjoy Chloe Gong's writing style and, although she is now entering the NA genre, that remains true with Immortal Longings. Chloe Gong also continues her theme of East Asian inspired settings, except in this book she takes it further with immersive and descriptive world building to create an enjoyable fantasy world.

This book does have more dark themes than her previous books, but the characters lacked depth and the info dumping (which I've seen that some other people also have problems with) made it hard to get into the story so I do prefer These Violent Delights to Immortal Longings.

Overall it was enjoyable, but I struggled to stay immersed in the plot and engaged with the characters.

At first I was liking this a lot. Even as my enjoyment declined, the aesthetics of the setting kept me reading because it felt quite unique and interesting, and I really wanted to love it.

My main reason for stopping was that I was getting increasingly uncomfortable with the concept of body jumping without any discussion or even acknowledgment of consent - something I'd expect from an adult novel. Reading other reviews, it looks like this gets worse and is continually not addressed. Including - (view spoiler). I'm not saying the text has to sanitise this aspect as it's clearly meant to be an edgy and gritty novel, but I would expect SOME discussion of consent. It made me feel yucky.

Other than that, the continuous info dumping became too much for me. At first I could cope with it, but it became so much I just got bored. It needed another round of edits so bad, because despite things happening and getting nearly half way through, it felt like nothing happened. And despite the info-dumping, I still had so many unanswered questions about the worldbuilding that it distracted me nearly every page.

I also heard about a huge plothole from @sophiareads_ on TikTok and I can't go on whilst knowing about it.

Oh also - it's a choice to make all of your protagonists rich/royal/privileged when it seems like the major theme of this poverty? In fact, the way Gong wrote the whole poverty thing really screamed of privilege, it was mostly 'these people are poor. that means they are hungry'. It was like reading about poverty from someone rich who hasn't even taken a cursory glance at what it's like to live in poverty. They took it as a backdrop but didn't explore what it's actually like, which made it all seem very two-dimensional.

This book is one of those books that if you look too closely things start falling apart. Once you question one thing it leads you to 15 more things and then suddenly you're confused and lost and not enjoying yourself anymore

I saw someone else describe this book as dark and twisty and I have to agree!

Chloe Gong’s writing is immersive - the characters’ motivations make sense and the world building is easy to follow.

And that twist at the end!!!! I need a squeal immediately.

It's the first grim-dark set in a far-eastern-like world I read and it was very good.
Dark, twisty, fast paced and action packed,
Great characters and excellent storytelling.
I can't wait to read the next in this series
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

When I first found out that Chloe Gong was releasing a NA fantasy with a competition element at the heart of the plot, I instantly put it on my TBR. From the books I’ve read, I’ve always enjoyed Chloe Gong’s writing style and that continued in Immortal Longings.

The worldbuilding was immersive and visceral, but probably could have been woven in more to avoid large chunks of info-dumping. The mix of urban fantasy and noir in this dark and gritty world was absorbing, and the magically genetic ability to jump bodies was a fascinating concept in theory, although there were ethical issues that probably required deeper discourse. I found the game not as interesting as hoped because the tension I was expecting from this sort of setup was tepid.

Although the motivations and wants of the characters were clear, they’re also lacked substance within the grand scheme of the story, as there wasn’t much insight into why the King was terrible and to blame for the systemic issues in Sar-Er, so their motivations for killing him to solve the issues lacked power, especially at times when it felt as if the characters seemed disinterested in the people they professed to wanting to save (for example, Calla who thought killing the king would instantly fix things and August didn’t exactly seem to be a better alternative to the king). With Anton, the relationship with his childhood friend/lover was also lacking that his motivations felt thin, and seemed to wane relatively quickly after meeting Calla. As time went on, I unfortunately wasn’t invested enough in the characters to be engaged with the story as they never really seemed to develop past what we learnt about them in the first few chapters. Some of the descriptions were also superficial, such as people of lower economic or social status to the main characters being described by their physical features rather than addressing the systems that have affected them in order to provide more complexity to the story..

Even though there were fun and intriguing elements, overall, I felt as if I was constantly waiting for more depth and so I was never fully drawn into the story.

Every year people in the kingdom of Talin will flock to the capital gain cities San-Er where the palace hosts a set of games where competitors right to the death to win unimaginable riches in a world of poverty and disease some have no alternative than to risk their lives for the chance to survive.
Ok, this book has a very slow start with confusing world building that is brilliantly explained. I almost DNF this one, but I am so glad I kept going. The first 1/3 is a bit of a slog, but after that, I just flew through it and stayed up till 1 am to finish. It is very Hunger games gives but with magic. This had potential to be 5 stars, but the first 1/3 just let's it down. It's definitely worth getting through that, though it pays off in the end.
Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder and Stoughton Chloe Gong for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this was quite a ride. We have body jumping, a fight to the death and plots to end the monarchy.

- Meet Calla, the former princess of Er. In hiding after a crime and entering the games to kill her uncle, the King of the United San-Er.
- August, the King's adopted son and Calla's inside man. He has form for plotting to end the monarchy.
-And we have Anton, a former friend to the Palace and entrant in the games to win the prize money and pay off his debts caused by keeping his love alive in the hospital.

Let me just say the last 20% of this book had some great plot twists. It really got me excited to continue the series.

The idea with the games gives hunger games if the arena was a city with an entire civilian population in it. I enjoyed this aspect of the book. It gave me some good action moments. There is also a rebellion (or I guess several) going on, but it's not hugely touched on.

I also enjoyed the interactions between Calla and Anton, but I do think the romance could have done with a bit more development. They were friends, and there was slight chemistry, and then suddenly they're in love despite antons' entire motivation being paying to keep his girlfriend alive.

I do think that the book could have done with developing things a bit more. It took a while to fully understand the characters' motivations (except anton his was pretty clear), and the POVs outside of the main 3 didn't add much to the story for me. We have the crescent society, but I'm still unclear on what they're doing. Are they trying to take down the throne, or are they experimenting on people?

Also, it's mentioned several times that jumping is illegal outside of the games, but it doesn't seem to be enforced at all. It took me a while to grasp the whole jumping thing and the idea that you can take someone's body and them still be in there, but also there can be bodies that are just empty vessels. What was cool, though, is that if you jump before your body dies, it will heal itself, and you can jump back in later.

Overall, I've decided to give it 4 stars because the last 20% pulled it back for me since questions started to be answered. I'm excited for the next book and hopefully a bit more development for the romance and motivations.

I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, Chloe Gong, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Same author, same inspiration (although a different play!), same ridiculously brilliant writing! Chloe Going has done it again - sheet brilliance!!

So I hadn’t read any of C. Gong’s previous books so went into this one without any preconceptions other than how popular they are!
It was there latter half of the book that really kept me gripped, prior to this I found myself reading it in short bursts.
If you love enemies to lovers, fantasy, and EXQUISITE world building then you’ll love this!