I decided to pick Shanghai Immortal up after reading an excerpt from the first chapter. I was intrigued and wanted to know more. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations and I decided to DNF around the 27% mark. Now, I don't take DNFs likely, especially when it's an ARC, but I have to be honest with myself - I didn't enjoy it and it would have been a bit of a struggle to force myself to continue. I was already eyeing up another book and that's never a good sign.

Since I didn't get very far into the book, this will be just a short review. I liked the general idea of two Shanghais - one for mortals and one for the ghosts and beings living behind the veil. How the living's offerings affect the afterlife, how there are different types of ghosts, and that they can work on their karma before they move on to their next life. The idea of the Mahjong Council where every political decision is made over the mahjong tables. That the king of Hell (who is not really as powerful because he needs to work with other, much older and more powerful beings) decides that they need a Bank and asks a mortal banker to help. It took the better part of this 27% to get myself familiarised with terms and to keep all the names and characters straight in my head as we get introduced a lot. And yet, while we get a lot of names dropped and quite a lot of info besides, I still felt that it was lacking in descriptions. I didn't get a sense of the city itself from what little was provided. Then again, this well could change as the story progresses, because I left Lady Jing and Tony Lee wandering.

That said, worldbuilding was not the reason I stopped reading. It was the MC, Lady Jing. I just couldn't stand her any longer. Now, I get it she is considered to be like a teenager at her nearly 100 years of age among her peers. And I also get that she was abused and unloved as a child - that is until she became the ward of Big Wang - but hell did I want to slap her constantly. She is immature, selfish (even if she is kind of motivated by wanting to help Big Wang, who explicitly asks her not to worry about the pearl), and doesn't give a fuck to what everyone else tells her. Her inner monologues were irritating more than not and the way she treated everyone else like they were below her was just too much. I can't even imagine how she is supposed to get close to the mortal Tony Lee. I just can't see it happening.

I think Shanghai Immortal tried too hard to be funny and edgy and ended up being neither. A shame, because it had the potential to be a fun romp with a cool world and intrigue if it was written better. But alas, we weren't meant to be.

Many thanks to Hodderscape for my gifted advanced reader copy through Netgalley! This has no influence on the honesty of this review.

5 stars

Oh My God ! That was a fun one with a prickly and sassy heroine!

When the synopsis depicts Lady Jing or Jing as “half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit and all sassh0le”it’s exactly our heroine!

So we have Lady Jing, an immortal of soon to be hundred years and considered as a child not so long ago (the aging and adulting of immortals are different I guess).
We learn early on that her mother “pawned” her to the king of Hell, Big Wang and she had the audacity to die soon after, leaving Jing in Hell.
And Hell is what Jing will raise. As I wrote in my notes early on: “Jing is prickly, abrasive insolent and has anger management issues”. But honestly, as many sees her as a “mongrel” and treat her as an outcast, I guess she wants to give them a run for their money! She was all alone and so often humiliated. My heart hurt for her.

It’s too bad I can’t quote some parts of the book, as this is an ARC because there are priceless quips from Jing that had me snickering!
Jing lives in Yin Shanghai, the Shanghai for deities and half demons, mirror of Yang Shanghai. The mortal Shanghai.
And the king of Hell wants to establish a bank, hence enrolling the aid of a mortal specialized in finance: Mr Lee.

From the moment Jing will be charged to retrieve Mr Lee in a mad dash around Yin Shanghai because of a faulty talisman, she’ll describe the human as having “doe eyes”. He even reminds her of an overgrown puppy. What a pair these two will form in that’s story! She certainly was the grumpy to his sunshine! She was a little minx and loved ruffling Mr Lee’s feathers, leaving him all flustered! That was so good to read!

Accustomed to being lied to, being humiliated especially by her grandmother’s handmaiden , Jing didn’t know what to do with Mr Lee and his kindness. His sweetness was disarming.

And we’ll see that slowly but surely, Jing will mellow thanks to Mr Lee and other acquaintances that will prove being her friends, to Jing’s utter astonishment.

Jing’s growth was very interesting to witness but I also loved how the author mixed Chinese folklore and deities with the “modern” Shanghai from the 1930ies. It was clever to have Jing keeping her calm thanks to too see rolls and caramels, discover saxophone in a nightclub but also realize all the foreigners who wanted to claim Shanghai.
Said deities were also very quirky characters, with a dragon loving to talk cryptically, bodyguards dead set on teaching Jing some decency since her childhood, the conniving Lady Soo… every character had his own personality and painted a very colorful and vivid story.

And of course, let’s not forget that I wanted to know if the plot against Big Wang would be stopped and the villains punished!

Jinx was an irreverent character and her story certainly entertained me a lot!

A wonderful book based on Chinese mythology! If you're a fan of urban fantasy, Shanghai Immortal is a must read.

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Shanghai Immortal
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Possible trilogy
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): A. Y. Chao
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fantasy
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 1st June 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 9th May 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3.75/5

”Embrace the Cosmos, and you become embraced. Nurture the Cosmos, and you become nurtured. Accept the Cosmos, and you become accepted. Clear your vision, and you will see. Open your heart, and you will be loved. Easy.”

I think I expected to like this more than I did, the premise is so promising and the writing itself is exceptional, so it comes as a great disappointment to me that I wasn’t fawning over this like Lady Jing and salted caramel.

This was a mixed bag for me and I find myself consumed with feelings of mild disappointment but also wanting to read further?

Anyway, fox spirits are my literal favourite Chinese myth, and ever since reading the interpretation of this mythology in Annette Marie’s Red Winter trilogy, I have been looking for more fox spirit stories to sate my appetite! The main character in Shanghai Immortal is part vampire, part fox spirit, so I was really excited to read about this beautiful mythology once again. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really used as a plot in this book but rather used as a representation of dichotomized identity. Whether the author expands on it further I’m excited to see.

It took me a very long time to warm to the main character, Lady Jing. She was extremely immature, self destructive, and so incredibly angry. The anger is justified in this book but, to an extent, as she’s literally nasty to anyone and everyone who shows her a semblance of kindness. She was described as ”prickly” by a (friendly) character in the book but this seems far too gentle a description for Lady Jing.

As an extent to that, a lot of the dialogue used by Lady Jing is a weird, vulgar language such as ”pissfart” and ”turd eggs”. I know I must seem very prim and proper right now but the use was constant and so damn jarring to the setting of 1930s Shanghai.

However, after everything, the ending saved this book for me. I loved the ending of this so much because it was so satisfyingly heartwarming and karmic. All the cruelty inflicted upon Lady Jing and the explosive anger she regularly lets dictate her thoughts and actions felt worth it for that wonderful ending. I’d definitely read the next installment in this series.

—Kayleigh🤍
@ Welsh Book Fairy🧚‍♀️✨

Shanghai Immortal is a truly immersive debut! Set between a Yin (hell) and Yang (mortal) version of a 1920s Shanghai, we follow Lady Jing, half fox spirit and half vampire who lives as an indentured servant of the King of Hell, Big Wang. The book leads us through a mystery of her heritage, alongside a human, Tony Lee, as we suffer through Lady Jing's delight at annoying everyone she comes into contact with through her immaturity and abrasive personality.

First of all, I must stress who delight the world building within the novel is. The way the author has blended Chinese mythology so perfectly into the decadence of the time period and the cosmopolitan aspect of Shanghai is pure immersive magic! Don't get me wrong, the first 30% was slow while we learnt all the history and connections within this world, but I didn't mind, as I was so fascinated with learning as much as possible about this world and characters within the many courts it contains.

Lady Jing is an insufferable character! I really couldn't stand her brash personality, and her quick temper really made it difficult for myself to feel drawn to her. However, as her character slowly grows as she learns more about herself and her heritage, and as she grows in fondness for Mr Lee, I found myself more drawn to her. This takes a lot of the novel, but it was definitely worth the journey through her eyes, especially as you begin to establish how her behaviour could place her autistically coded. Her little quips towards other characters always made me smile and laugh to myself, no matter what stage of development her character was in, as I constantly became intrigued to see how else she could annoy someone new she came into contact with.

The writing felt a little YA to start off with, as it follows these coming of age themes, but this picked up as Lady Jing's character continued to develop. The sarcastic, sassy tone throughout the narrative was enjoyable, but some of the choices of curse phrases felt a little disjointed for an adult novel. This could be a simple cultural-linguistic misunderstanding on my part, but there are only so many "turd-egg"s and "piss-fart"s an adult can read before they long for some straight forward adult cussing!

Overall, I loved this book and cannot wait to have a physical copy in my hands, I just felt it followed a more new adult market.

I really wanted to like this one, but from the get-go, it was kind of hard for me to enjoy following the POV of Lady Jing, the FMC. This felt more like a coming of age story, which is something I wasn't expecting with the premise. There's nothing wrong with that, but with the super strong sassines coupled with her personality, it just made it hard to connect with her. Again, nothing wrong with an emotional (and slightly immature) character, but it was just jarring to see her reactions to things compared to other characters, especially when the main plot, imo, didn't quite move forward until about 35-40% in.

I wish that we got more with tone and vibes in the environment and the setting, as I personally feel that's lacking as we follow the cast through hell and mortal Shanghai. I was kind of expecting a Baccano-esque jazzy vibes, but I didn't get it here in the tone nor the writing. While we get some worldbuilding and politics in the beginning, I also really wanted more exploration there that didn't just revolve around Lady Jing's past and her grievances around the characters there.

The humor and sass didn't quite work for me either since despite being 99 years old, she often throws tantrums and gets really emotional and angry when things don't go her way or when people aren't on her side. It can be relatable sometimes (like wanting to wear pants instead of a dress when needing to fight), but it's jarring when the entire rest of the cast are not really like her. There are some catty females, and it's funny to see how Chang'e is depicted here, but it would've been more nice to have more buildup. I don't mind an angry and immature character who goes through growth, but she has repeatedly been like "No one's on my side/believes me!!" and even stomped her foot, etc. and angry cried when she had to apologize to someone for almost half the book. The growth just came too late for me.

Regarding the romance with Mr. Lee, buildup seems slow (which isn't bad -- I LOVE slowburn), but it feels kind forced, and things are awkward and distant in a way as we don't really learn much about him until the latter half. It takes a while for him to be more fleshed out as a lead, and to me stayed one-dimensional for too long as he was very formal. There was also an early scene where MMC's face slapped against her ass when she threw him over her back, and I think that's supposed to build up tension and add humor. Didn't work for me though, and I wanted more tension build-up rather than just jealousy.

Diction-wise, in the dialogue, it feels like it's super literal in translation from Chinese. I don't speak Mandarin/Cantonese, but there's definitely flowery words that is brought up very often that the characters straight up go like "please speak plainly", which is fine BUT characters say "speak plainly" SO often that I wish there would be different approaches to this. There's also literal translations of some insults which can be kind of jarring for some like "piss fart" or "turd-eggs". That part actually was more than fine for me because it added to the Shanghai vibes. It's just that she also then says "ta-tas", lol... which I expect was supposed to add to the sass and the time period, but just didn't work for me.

Overall, I really wanted to connect more with the writing and the characters, but unfortunately didn't even by the end, and felt that there could've been more expansion on the vampirism and magic throughout the book, as well as more worldbuilding with setting up the environment rather than the bits that we did get. I did like some scenes with Jing and Mr. Lee in Shanghai, but didn't feel invested in the characters to want to continue the story, assuming there is a sequel.

This is Chao’s first book.
The flow of the prose could use work.
It was choppy in certain parts.
Lady Jing was sorta crass and the beginning but she didn’t really show much development until the end.

I think character development and relationships were not design very well.

The idea was there but execution fell a little flat. And in the end the conflict was one dimensional too.

This novel by Chinese Canadian author A.Y Chao is a strong and promising debut. Set in hells version (and the human version) of 1930’s Shanghai, it blends chinese mythology with the cosmopolitan decadence of the period. Lady Jing is part fox spirt, part vampire growing up as a ward/presumed indentured servant of the Hell demon Big Wao, struggling with perception of her mixed heritage and annoying everyone with her quite frankly immature and abrasive personality. The book follows her trying to solve a mystery linked with her heritage, with a human, Tony Lee in tow. It is a high fantasy with more than a smattering of romance and very meticulously researched.

The first 20 percent went very slowly for me and it felt very YA, but then around the 30 percent mark it picked up. It is very definitely New Adult, covering coming of age themes but also things like drinking and allusions to sex (but no actual sex scenes). The protagonist was frustrating, but once I decided that she was autistic coded and therefore that was the explanation for her not understanding a single social cue, it made it a lot easier to sympathise with her. I liked the sarcastic, sassy tone of the narrative, but was pulled out of the setting often with some of the annoying phrases used such as ‘piss-fart’ and ‘egg-turd’. Maybe this is one of those cultural-linguistic things I do not understand and these are common chinese insults that just don’t translate well, but it made Lady Ji seem very immature and as a marketed adult book the readers can cope with more adult cussing!

That said, apart from the first 20 percent which was mainly world building, I found this a very quick paced enjoyable read. The fantasy world was fascinating and I particularly enjoy books that deal more in interpersonal relationships across courts. I was left wanting to know more about the world in general and although the book could be read as a standalone because it had a satisfying conclusion, I did immediately look up whether there were going to be sequels set in the same world. I feel some of the supporting characters could also have their moment in the limelight, particularly Lady Gigi. I would hope as well in subsequent books that romantic relationships could be built on and there be more mature romantic scenes.

4.5 stars, I will be ordering a physical copy.

I want to thank NetGalley, Houder and Stought, and A.Y. Chao for allowing me to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

When I first dove into this book I read some preliminary reviews but nothing to deep. I have been in a book slump so I was really looking for something short and sweet. Boy did I find something short… But I would never describe Lady Jing as sweet. She would probably kill me if I did.
Lady Jing is the main character of this story and she is half vampire half fox spirit. She is a celestial being and a royal. Her life has been extremely difficult and she has suffered through many traumas. She is hardened, irrational, stubborn, childish, and lonely. She embarks on a three day adventure prior to her 100th birthday where she meets a mortal man and experiences the real Shanghai.
I really did not know what to do with Lady Jing when I started this novel and truthfully was unsure where the plot was going. By the end, I was happy crying to Jing and loved her so much. Her character growth was so beyond beautiful and the she was so witty and wanted to be loved so badly. Her world view was so skewed and she needed to see that there were people who loved her and were proud of her.
This novel was so heartfelt and I loved it in the end, I struggled the first thirty percent but after that I was entrenched and stayed up into the late hours wanting to know the ending. This take on asian fantasy was beautiful and I loved seeing Shanghai through another eyes and writing.

This is a amazing devout novel, the world , the connections to the Chinese culture, definitely one to have your eyes on , totally worth it and i can wait to have a physical copy on my hands.

I'll be honest here: I almost DNF'd this. If I hadn't received the e-arc, I'm pretty sure I would have. There are a few reasons for this. One, Lady Jing is a protagonist that is very, very hard to like. Some of it is because she's painfully immature and kind of a brat. This does get resolved, and I did grow to find some measure of fondness for her, but man did it take a while. The other part that it difficult for me to like her was that her inner dialogue is just... taxing to read through. I'm not the biggest fan of bodily humor, so the constant mentions of turd-eggs and other phrases like that just grated on me. It felt just this side of Too Much. (Also, I never want to see the word ta-tas again..) I'm always really picky about what kinds of 1st-person POVs I like and this one didn't work for me, entirely. The other thing that really grated on me was that, at times, Lady Jing felt <i>very</i> much like one of those "not like other girls" girls. Like, in the same vein as those fanfics where the main girl hates all other women (who are so pretty, but like... totally bitchy), but she's secretly so cool and she gets the popular guy. Like, all the hulijing are bitchy women with huge tits who <i>hate</i> her and it's just... sigh. I don't know. It feels tired. Even the explanation of her being half-vampire just seemed not entirely fleshed out. Lady Jing does befriend Lady Gigi, but it, again, doesn't feel like something that was fully fleshed out (even though their friendship had the potential to be really cute).

I will say that there were some moments that I did appreciate. I think her relationship with Mr. Lee was cute, if slightly underdeveloped. And when Lady Jing was being introspective, there were some moments of great imagery.

I think, after having read the whole thing, there's just a big problem with pacing. Both too much happens while simultaneously not enough happens to propel the story into a satisfying conclusion. The chapter breaks, too, also feel a bit too choppy. Honestly, I feel like there are the bones of an interesting story here, but it needed more editing and more time.

Shanghai Immortal is its vivid depiction of a futuristic world that is both highly advanced and deeply flawed. Chao's writing is evocative and detailed, with a strong sense of place and atmosphere that transports the reader to the bustling streets of 22nd-century Shanghai.

The novel also explores a number of thought-provoking themes, including the ethics of genetic engineering, the nature of power and corruption, and the relationship between technology and humanity.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a review!

I was looking forward to this read: I'd heard nothing but good about it, and seen it selected for several special editions. Unfortunately, I did not love this book as much as I'd hoped.

First, I would like to say the things that I liked: the setting, the worldbuilding, the use of legends, and that there explicitly was a nonbinary character.
Unfortunately, the main character was. . . very not it for me. Advertised as a "sasshole", this is true-to-the-book. She's snarky and rude to many people, including passerby, and those who have done very little to her. There are some scenes that seem to be there for sake for #girlbossedginess, and her insults to other women are mostly on either their looks, their "turdbrains", or the way their chests are displayed in their outfits. Many insults are similarly juvenile, which would work far better if this wasn't an adult book, and the protagonist wasn't roughly a century.
It did not read as an adult book to me (much more YA, with the rebellious princess who doesn't want her power) though this may change for later books. Genuinely, I could not see what her love interest saw in her, as she was extremely rude to him: vulnerability later is no true reason for me.

I hope this will be far more loved by others than it was by me.

I ended up DNFing this one around 25%, but I could tell from page 1 the tone of this book wasn't for me. It reads very much like the sassy urban fantasy/paranormal romances of the 2000's, which I'm not a big fan of - however, if you are, this will probably be very much up your alley. I was intrigued by the premise and appreciate the expanded representation we are getting lately in terms of Asian mythology, so if that sounds interesting to you and you wouldn't be turned off by a very "I'm modern and hip and cool" tone, then I would still recommend checking this out.

This was so imaginative and so engaging. The MC felt very real and relatable. I loved that she was allowed to be herself on the page and wasn't constricted by how a "girl MC" is supposed to act. The world was so rich, and I loved the mechanics of the world-building. I will definitely be keeping this in my arsenal of books I recommend to aspiring writers.

Also, it has VAMPIRES!

An adventurous and funny read. Interesting take on a fantasy based on Chinese mythology! Delivered exactly what it promised - magic, humor and surprisingly heartfelt.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Hodderscape for providing an early arc in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me.

I wanted to love this book and had high hopes for it after I saw the cover and read the blurb. The problem for me is the personality of this book just doesn't fit my own. The humor is not something I find enjoyable and so it was hard to get into the book because of that. If I were to have finished the book my review wouldn't have given the book justice.

I do think that this book will do well with the right audience though!

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a complimentary earc to review! All opinions are my own.</i>

I was so looking forward to this book because the premise sounded so cool, but unfortunately, it missed the mark.

The MC Jing was incredibly immature and unlikable. She acted like a bratty teenager with no respect for others, despite being nearly one hundred years old.
Also, her language and insults were very childlike.

The world building left much to be desired - it was almost as if the reader was already supposed to know what Shanghai looks like to envision anything. No descriptions were really given to help visualize what the city looked like.

All in all, a disappointing read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Absolutely adored the idea of vampires and demons set within Asia!
I adored our MC Lady Jing and the amount of Chinese mythology that was weaved throughout the book!
This is definitely a book that I’m going to need to re-read to be able to fully appreciate!
Absolutely cannot wait for the rest of the books on the trilogy!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not what I thought it was going to be in a delightfully unexpected way. It is full of humor and mischief.

Our protagonist, Lady Jing, is a fiery, quick-tempered, half-vampire/demon and half-hulijing fox spirit. She was traded by her mother to the King of Hell when she was young and is now living in immortal Shanghai, running menial errands for the king.

The book centers around her journey to seeking the truth about a plot to steal a highly coveted dragon pearl from the king. Through her adventures, she finds friendships, love, and herself.

To me this book was a cozy fantasy with low stakes. You will love the story if you’re a fan of the found family troupe. I enjoyed reading Jing’s character journey and felt she had a lot of growth from the beginning to the end. She also has a unique voice and says a lot of quirky things that may not be for everyone’s tastes, but I liked it. The love story was unexpected and endearing, and I loved the friendship she formed with the character of Gigi.

I don’t have much to critique. If anything, I would say this book came off to me more in the YA genre, but this could be just Jing’s character quirks giving off that energy. I also thought the ending, while satisfying, felt a little abrupt, and I was left wanting more, so hopefully there is a sequel. Other than that, I didn’t have much to critique, and I enjoyed my reading experience.