Amazon Summary

The only way to win, is to survive.

Every year, thousands flock to San-Er, the dangerously dense capital twin cities of the kingdom of Talin, where the palace hosts a set of deadly games. Those confident in their ability to jump 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 murdered her parents to free the people of Talin from her tyrannical family. Only one person stands in her way of finishing the job: her reclusive uncle King Kasa. However, she knows he always greets the victor of the games. If she wins, she will finally get the chance to kill him.

Enter Anton Makusa, whose childhood love has lain in a coma since they were both ousted from the palace. He's deep in debt trying to keep her alive. Which means his last chance at saving her is entering the games and winning.

When Anton proposes an unexpected alliance with Calla, they quickly find their partnership spiraling into something all-consuming. But before the games close, Calla must decide what she's playing for - her lover or her kingdom. For no matter what, only one of them can walk out alive...

My Review
I really loved the sound of this book and it didn't disappoint!

The World building is really interesting and has a fantastic but slightly brutal magic system. I like the characters and all the action through out the story. I would recommend to any hunger games fans out there.

An Antony and Cleopatra retelling meets fantasy setting inspired by historic Hong Kong, then throw in some Hunger Games style killing games, and I called myself intrigued. Definitely enough to request an ARC, and despite some rocky aspects, I’m glad I did!

Immortal Longings follows the murderous Princess in hiding, Calla, who five years ago massacred her parents and brought down one half of the reigning monarchy. Now she plans to finish the job and to do that she needs to win the palace games. August, a manipulative royal heir, has the same goal and a fragile alliance is formed. What no one planned on was the exiled aristocrat, Anton, desperate to save his childhood sweetheart lying in a coma. To do that he needs money, which means, he needs to win the palace games.

There is a lot of info dumping to start off with and I often found myself, putting the book down and struggling to pick it up. Theres tons of political layers, rules about body jumping and previous character history you need to wade through from the start. Additionally, the emphasis on the setting and the morally grey climate of it all was overdone. I actually enjoyed exploring San-Er and having grown up in Hong Kong, hearing about the inspiration behind it, is interesting. But you do not need to continuously emphasis how common murder is, how no one can pay their bills and the fight for survival. It comes across as it is as we follow the characters through various situations.

I really enjoyed the characters and started to root for certain favourites (mainly Calla) and became interested in how each of their actions impacted each other and how the story unfolded, there were conspiracies to unfold and a few plot twists I didn’t see coming! Fair warning this is a series, and this first book does end on a cliff hanger you’ll be dying to pick up immediately. This book isn’t necessarily fast paced because of all the political tangles which take centre stage instead of the Hunger Games style palace games (and previously mentioned early on info dumping) but I still found myself reading speedily through the last thirty percent.

After finishing the book, I read that the inspiration from Antony and Cleopatra was intended to focus on an exploration of obsession, rather than a plot focused retelling. It made sense. I struggled while reading to see many original links apart from some vague romantic aspects and, of course, the concept of obsession. I think Chloe could have taken this further, especially romance wise, I loved Anton and Calla, but their romance/obsession intersection was a bit rushed at the end. However, I still really enjoyed their character/relationship ARC. Plus, the idea of power, and it’s overlap with obsession for August and Call in particular, was well integrated and thought out.

I went in having not read any of Gong’s previous books, so I was interested in seeing of Immortal Longings lived up to the hype and in many ways it did!

What to expect from Immortal Longings: Action, spicy romance, morally grey characters, so much blood, superhuman abilities, Hunger Games-type plot
No doubt, Chloe Gong is a talented author, and she writes the most interesting character dynamics. Readers who loved These Violent Delights will love this book, as it has the same sassy and fresh vibe that leaps off the page.
Unfortunately, for me, despite really wanting to like Chloe Gong’s writing, I felt Immortal Longing suffered the same shortcomings as her previous books and was bogged down by too much description, info dumping and purple prose. I took days to get through the chapters, pausing to take breaks in between to digest the vast amount of information.
Immortal Longing is a retelling of the Shakespeare classic, Anthony and Cleopatra. But, only the names were more or less adopted from the latter; the rest, such as the setting, plot and characters, are almost entirely their own. I wouldn't have known it was a retelling if it didn’t say so on the blurb.
Most of the plot reminds me of Hunger Games, there is a city-wide competition where players kill each other, and the sole victor will claim a massive pot of money for a lifetime of luxury. Of course, there is a broken monarchy and rebellious princes and princesses with the dream to ‘save the city’.
For me, the highlights are the characters. Chloe Gong really has a knack for creating these sassy, angsty and vibrant characters that are quite fresh in the YA genre. The dialogues between the characters are snappy and natural, and she creates these characters that are so wonderfully complicated. Though the main characters (Anton and Calla) did feel like copies of Roma and Juliette, it was still wildly fun to see the characters interact with each other.

CW: Sexual consent (also spoiler)

But with all that said, there was a part on sexual consent that was really disturbing and should be addressed by Chloe. Unsurprisingly, Calla and Anton fall in love and make it to the bedroom. But it was concerning that Anton was inhabiting another body while he was 'doing' Calla, and how is that right? There was no consent whatsoever from the person whose body was being invaded, and it is a rape of that person. What happens to this person whom Anton inhabited after Anton's qi has left? Will they get STIs? And what a gruesome invasion of bodily consent! Honestly, I was shocked to read that and in no way did Chloe address the severity of the lack of consent in the book.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-ARC of the book!

"They trained her for war. And she rose up to wage it on them"

When I first read the Blurb for Immortal Longings I was so excited to read it, it sounded like something that I could really sink my teeth into and really enjoy but the reality if it was very different.

The storyline should have been fantastic but it just fell flat , the writing for me didn't flow and was somewhat Chaotic. In all honesty this book I found hard to get through and very nearly became my first DNF I guess I was just bored, but I'm glad I did carry on because the ending was my favourite part, even if I did guess what was going to happen.

As with everything some will love it and others not so much, will I read the next? I'm not sure yet ,but the ending has left me intrigued about what will happen next.

I definitely took time getting into this book. It immersed you into the world without any preamble, but this had a slightly disorientating effect, especially when trying to get to grips with the technicalities of body jumping. The narration switched between different characters, most frequently between, Calla, Anton and August. For a good chunk of the story, I kept mistaking Anton for August and vice versa. What was even more confusing was when the point of view would change to a character outside of the main three. These felt unnecessary and jarring.

It wasn’t helpful that I didn’t feel a connection to Calla, Anton and August. I neither sympathised with them, nor found myself supporting their motives and missions. They often came across self-entitled and arrogant. Amidst a bloodthirsty story like this, I needed to have someone to root for.

Despite the lack of emotional connection I had to the story, I was intrigued by the grander scheme at play. The book threw in a good few twists and reveals that I didn’t see coming. I was expecting both visceral action and an epic romance. Unfortunately, I got neither. The action sequences lacked jeopardy – Calla and Anton were too overpowered when compared against their competitors. If anything, the author made the excessive killing seem mundane, even when innocent bystanders were dying. The disregard for the tertiary characters left me with an uncomfortable feeling. I was also let down by the romance. I knew Calla and Anton were meant to have some sort of passionate, forbidden love affair amidst all the fighting, but their relationship failed to engage me. It wasn’t given proper development to make me feel invested.

Genuinely unsure how to rate this so it may change. I lowered it from three stars to two because I realised how angry it made me.

Childish plotting and character arcs (none, really). Cinder meets Altered Carbon but if both of them were terrible.

I have a lot of thoughts and things I didn’t like but I enjoyed it enough that I finished it.

The novel is set in a city that used to have two royal families and when one of them was wiped out the other side decided to just make it a one man show instead.

Okay so the novel follows three characters with povs

August - the adoptive heir to the throne as the kings wife died. His parents and sisters were killed in an insurrection and he was brought to the palace. He has a slightly maybe homoerotic relationship with his bodyguard but it is never actually clear if they’re a couple or if august is in love with him or what. He want the king dead so he can take over and make the country a better place.

Calla - formerly the crown princess of her country she murdered her parents and their attendants in cold blood five years ago and didn’t manage to kill her uncle as well. She’s been hiding out in the city with two of her former attendants waiting for a way to get back to see the king and kill him. She decides the way to do this is to enter the hunger games type competition they have in her city.

Anton - he’s another royal family hang around who has been exiled from his birth body apparently? That’s never really explained. He was in love with August’s half sister and they were caught trying to run away from the palace and she contracted an illness that has left her in a coma for seven years. He wants to enter that competition so he can pay for her medical bills.

Essentially a large part of this novel doesn’t make much sense. The game that people involve themselves in is like the hunger games - but the prize itself is also quite unclear exactly what it is and how it works. You have to kill the 87 other contestants but the game takes places where civilians are trying to live their lives. Factor in that people can also jump their consciousness from body to body and it becomes more baffling that you’d have this just across a city. Some people can’t jump but all the main characters can. Calla is the only one who refuses to jump the entire game and people think she is weird for this.

However, when you body jump the other person is still in there and they just have no idea what is happening. Imagine you go missing for ten days and your family don’t know what happened or what you did and nor do you?
There’s also no consent. Later in the book there is a sex scene and this is so briefly addressed I feel it wasn’t truly thought through and added as an afterthought. Bodies are just bodies so people use them however. The character has sex with someone while they’re not in their own body so the person they did that with doesn’t know they had sex with someone - firstly stds anyone? Condoms etc are never mentioned. Guess it’s no biggie when it’s not your body?
Secondly, that person has had sex with someone they didn’t consent to and maybe they have a partner or whatever. Very much gave me the ick.

I also can’t get over Gong’s lack of originality with character names. I found out this is meant to be a retelling of Anthony and Cleopatra. Firstly, gives me the ick to retell something about real people. Secondly, Anton and Calla is so close to the original much like Roma and Juliet it’s kind of almost embarrassing? Like a 13 yo tried to rewrite a famous book and hoped no one would notice they’re called Axel River instead.

There’s also the thing of chi. Chi transfers from body to body and so everything is based on identification numbers. People can tell you’re not you because your eyes change colour based on your chi heritage ie your family tree. So…one major plot twist is completely blown out of the water by this small fact and never addressed how it works.

This is a BIG SPOILER







Calla is not actually Calla but a girl from the provinces who accidentally jumped into Calla and has inhabited that body for the last 15 years. This is why she won’t jump as she’s scared the original Calla is still inside. However, if she’s meant to have the royal eyes and they say she does and this is only due to her chi how is that possible? I’ll tell you, it’s not and makes no sense unless she is somehow related to another member of the royal family. Like being Anton’s missing sister except 1. Incest and 2. We know he has black eyes.

Finally let’s just think about the fact that Anton managed to jump into August the crown prince instead of dying and no one noticed his eyes are different now too? Okay.

While I enjoyed my time reading this, it was ultimately more and more obvious to me that this author is probably not for me. Maybe I’ll try the second one but all the plot twists were obvious and plot threads kind of dangled and introduced so many random characters for little to no reason.

Final gripe, after banging on about how Anton could have removed his chip so they didn’t have to fight, calla doesn’t think it’s an option when they’re fighting to tell him to remove it when he says he doesn’t want to kill her? Are y’all stupid? Also no one noticed August’s eyes have changed.

eARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dive into this immensely brutal and immersive world full of power, politics and poverty. Rich with atmospheric world-building and character development.

Mainly following three characters throughout, we are dropped into other POVs to enhance the world and storytelling which took the immersion deeper. The world felt influenced by cyberpunk and had grungy dystopian vibes, although some of it wasn’t far off from current situations.

The romance/lust felt mostly off-page but we did get to see how it influences the character’s behaviour, finding an unexpected connection with someone when you feel only built to be an assassin can change you.

SPOILERS – The jumping was well explained, with the eyes showing who was truly within so why were Calla’s eyes royal yellow??

Overall a good base for the start of a new series, I’m excited to dive into this world again.

This book is the perfect mix of adventure, danger, and romance. The stakes are so incredibly high and I just loved the arc that the main character went through. I did not see the betrayal coming at all though. Plot twists really are one of Gong’s greatest strengths

(Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

Chloe Gong has done it again, she is incapable of writing a bad book. I loved every aspect of this book, from the characters to the plot and the setting. The plot gave me hunger games vibes and was full of action, plot twists but also sweet moments too. Chloe Gong always gets the balance right between being action-packed and fast-paced but also leaving room to connect with characters.

The fantasy/magic element was super interesting and also helped create a dynamic and unique world. I’m excited to see where the whole body jumping thing is taken in the next books as there were some hints that not everything is known about the ability which would be super interesting to delve into. Also, the ending!!! I have so many questions and need the second book in my hands right now! This really was one of those books where I just wanted to sit and read the whole series at once (so you can bet I will be reading the next two as soon as they come out).

This book was a slog to get through.

The setting, San-Er, had a lot of potential to be interesting, as did the games. However, constant repetition and info-dumping, combined with a weird lack of tension and emphasis on the games themselves meant that the book ended up being a bit of a let-down. Considering they were the main plot of the book, the games were weirdly under-emphasised, which made it impossible to care about them (and the characters) and made the whole book feel low-stakes.

The power/idea of jumping also seemed really interesting, however I feel like the author completely ignored any philosophical or moral issues related to jumping, and instead just kind of used it as a superpower.

Overall: the characters were flat, the writing was repetitive and the plot was pretty boring, so I wouldn’t recommend this one.

I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't live up to the grand expectations the description set up. While the magic system and characters were very interesting in theory, Gong was not able to exectute her vision to the extent that I had hoped she would. The characters and plot felt very surface level, with the romance being way too underdeveloped for my liking. I will say though that I did really enjoy the twist at the end, and there's enough mystery that will bring me back to this series when the next book comes out.

Immortal Longings is a thrilling adult fantasy story that deals with power - both authoritative and magical, love and loyalty.

The setting kind of reminds you of The Hunger Games but it's better and more anxiety inducing here (in a good way!). The games call for ruthless contestants and Calla is anything but kind. She is a powerful badass FMC, driven by her motives, and does not let anything get in her way. Anton, our MMC, does not make it easy for her so when they decide to form an alliance, they become unstoppable. And I loved everything that their alliance brought out in the story.

I understand that it's pretty unfair to read a copy of an unpublished book and immediately go "where is the next book? I need to know the rest!", but that was my exact thought after finishing this one. I'm the cat that curiosity gets & I don't really know how to sit still & wait for the next book. A total 5 star read for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Chloe Gong for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Chloe Gong's "Immortal Longings" is an absolute triumph, showcasing the author's storytelling prowess and ability to craft a dark fantasy that delves into complex themes and morally grey characters. Set in the atmospheric and treacherous city of San-Er, the novel follows Princess Calla Tuoleimi and Anton Makusa, two individuals with their own motivations and secrets, as they enter a deadly competition with high stakes and unimaginable consequences. Gong's world-building is nothing short of astounding, blending elements of urban fantasy, dystopia, and historical retellings, creating a unique and immersive setting that captivates readers from the very first page. The romance between Calla and Anton is both passionate and fraught with tension, adding an emotional depth to the plot that keeps readers invested in their journey. Overall, "Immortal Longings" is an unputdownable tale of ambition, sacrifice, and the pursuit of power, and Chloe Gong once again proves herself as a master of the genre.

4.5*

In Immortal Longings we follow Calla and Anton as they team up as partners in a deadly game that neither of them can afford to lose, Calla because winning will let her free the people from the king's tyrannical rule, Anton because winning will mean saving his childhood love. It's dark and romantic, and apparently also a Antony and Cleopatra retelling, which I didn't know until I was about halfway through, because I don't know my Shakespeare and hence not my retellings.

I really enjoyed the setting, this sad dystopian city, as well as the idea of the games. The plot is probably the strongest part, though, it's fast paced and intense with lots of action and plot twists that I truly did not see coming. It would definitely make a sick movie, that's for sure. The ending was less strong, a bit confusing, but there are so many loose ends I'm still intrigued about where the story will go in the sequel. Also *checks notes* it's third person present (and if you wrote that on a wishing well and came there at night with a flashlight and looked down, I'd be in there), and the cat's name is Mao Mao, which is clearly great but also made me think about communism a weird amount. I think that's all I have for you.

What I'm missing from Immortal Longings is complexity. The characters were a bit flat, the world building and political aspect could have been (and would have benefitted from being) significantly more fleshed out, and the romance was absolutely not as toxic and obsessive as I expected. We are constantly being told how dark and bad everything is in this city, but very few things actually happen to show this uncomfortable atmosphere. The book is just not at all the dark and dramatic adult fantasy it is advertised as. I would like to compare it to Jade City, as I feel like the goal was a similar vibe, but Immortal Longings unfortunately doesn't even get close to that level of intricacy.

I didn't really like this. I had to dnf at around a quarter into it, because it just didn't grip me. I think the writing style played a big part in this. Everytime when I was invested a bit, there was a sentence where I stumbled upon a sentence that sounded weird to me or a word that didn't quite fit. It might sound picky, but it slowed down my reading. Also the characters pov sounded all the same to me. Two characters had a name with A and I couldn't remember who was who - but that was at a time when I already thought about dnf'ing, so probably you are able to keep them apart if you like the story and read mindful - not like me with my thoughts aleady somewhere else.
What was really strange to me was the magic - the jumping from one person to the next. At first it sounded like fun, but then a grown up man jumped into a kid and had access to their whole body - I'm sure the author intended nothing bad there, but it felt wrong to me, sorry.
The only thing that sounded great was the world building. The whole time I had a vivid picture in my mind about the setting. If I would have liked the chatacters at least I would have keep going. But... It just wasn't for me.

I really did not enjoy anything I read fromt his book.
Yes, I had to dnf it after I just couldn't find a way to connect to the characters, undertsand the plot or the world and was bombarded with inof-dumping.

So, I loved Chloe Gong's Secret Shanghai series and was really excited for this original-fantasy world but the more I read, the more confused I got. The narration jumps back and forth between characters and I never quite grasped what was going on due to us being thrown into a scene, then there were paragraphs on paragraphs of info about the world, the magic, the games. Then we went back into action and I was left confused, there was no time to grasp any of what was told. All of this while being so slow paced.

It was truly demotivating and I forced myself to pick it up a few times until ultimately dnf-ing it.

This did not give me Hunger Games vibes at all.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton and Chloe Gong for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Reading up about this book, it’s Chloe Gong’s first ‘adult’ book. However I am unable to comment as despite having all of Chloe Gong’s books - my TBR is so long I haven’t had a chance to read them. However, reading this will definitely make me read them a little quicker.

The story is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra. And for the most part it’s enjoyable. I feel the book got better from just over half way, and I wanted to see what happened. That said, the premise of the book is similar to the Hunger Games - warriors fighting to win the prize of the King. However this seems to take a significant backseat in the story with the author almost seeming to sporadically remember this is part of the plot and add it in in spurts here and there. There’s no real definition of the characters, even those involved in the game apart from a very small handful and then they’re not mentioned again for most of the book. The characters we do get to know are lacking depth - even the MC isn’t very likeable because we aren’t told much about her. Instead she’s as much an enigma to us as she is to the characters in the book.

Despite all this criticism I was compelled to finish it and see what happened. The end was a relatively good ending - it ended how I wanted (although was slightly anticlimactic) and I am still looking for a second one when it pops up. I’m somewhere on a 3.75 rating I think so 4* for me. Still enjoyable but needs much more depth for me to feel entranced.

I’ve been actively avoiding picking this up for over a week so I think it’s time to DNF it - and I’m gutted about it.

I adore the cover, the premise is so fun and the setting is brilliant - I genuinely loved the setting from the few chapters that I read - but I just don’t think that Chloe Gong’s writing style is for me. In this book, at least.

I do think this is just a suitability and me thing and I wouldn’t hesitate to suggest to others who respond to this style and I would still like to try others of Gong’s books - I have These Violent Delights which still really intrigues me.

Yes yes yes yes!!!!!

Honestly, I was a little nervous going into this book despite loving the synopsis to this book. I think because I've heard this book be described with a Hunger Games sort of vibe, that was where the apprehension was. With certain sci-fi or dystopian-ess books, I often struggle to get into the writing or understand the world, but with this book, I did not have that issue.

Right from the beginning I was immersed with these characters and what their motive was for winning the competition. I just really enjoyed everything there was to offer from this book. The prose was incredibly beautiful and at times really hit me in my emotions. I can not wait to see where Chloe Gong will go next with this series, I am seriosuly invested in it.

Also super excited to hear Chloe talk about her books in person on her UK tour soon, so excited!

I am slightly disappointed with this one. This was my first Chloe Gong read - yes, I still haven't read These Violent Delights, I'm slacking I know - but the hype led me to believe this was going to be amazing. The thing is, it was, but just partially.

The plot was defenitely there, the story made sense, the worldbuilding was great and very different to every other fantasy story, the stakes couldn't be higher... we had everything for this to be amazing. Except the characters.

Having finished the book, I still don't know who these people really are. I feel like they were portrayed as too cold and guarded for the reader to be drawn in and connect with them; and we didn't get much on their backstories either. I mean, I have questions:

Why has Anton been risking his life for Otta all this time? How can he have anything with Calla if he can't let Otta go? Where did that never-ending love even come from? Why couldn't Calla win and just give Anton the money? Why weren't we shown anything about what the Crescents were doing? How did Anton manage that one jump? Why does Calla still have yellow yes? How has Calla survived these past years? What is the relationship between August and Galipei like? What is life at the palace like for them? I could go on, but I'm gonna stop.

Basically, the story had all the typical tropes but they were done in a way that felt fresh and new. I could 100% get behind the story but, unfortunately, it doesn't matter how high the stakes are if you don't care one bit about the characters. I mean, even Galipei was such a lost opportunity. He could have been like Fenrys in Throne of Glass but instead he was just there.

3.5 stars all for the plot.