Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC.

Shanghai Immortal was one of my most anticipated debuts of the year, but sadly, it ended up being the most disappointing one.
I tried to keep going for as long as I could because I had such high hopes, but ultimately, I DNFed at 32% because I just couldn't take the writing style and the FMC anymore.

On paper, this had everything I usually love, the world reminded me a bit of These Violent Delights meets Daughter of the Moon Goddess, two of my all-time favorites, there's lots of mythology, politics and power plays, and so many magical beings.
I have also been longing for a fantasy that reverses the dynamic of "mortal girl meets centuries-old powerful magical MMC', so I was excited when I realized this book had that.

Sadly, it all fell flat.
My main issue was the writing. It felt like this book was told by a 15-year-old high schooler trying to impress his friends by coming up with lots of colorful curses and swear words. There were parts when I thought the writing got better and when I found it almost atmospheric and captivating, only for a "piss-fart", "turd-egg" or "those bosom-heaving turd for brain bitches" to yank me out of the story.
There's a way to insert humor into a fantasy novel, but this is not it.
If this had been a YA book, I could have maybe looked past the writing, but this felt so juvenile and immature and just inappropriate for an adult novel.

My other issue which is very much intertwined with the writing was the FMC. Because of her usage of...creative language, it was quite hard to like her, especially because she also acted like a spoiled brat causing problems just for the sake of being difficult. She's half vampire, half fox spirit (which sounds so cool), she's a princess, and she's almost a century old, yet she acts exactly the way she talks, like a teenage high schooler. It was so frustrating to read because there was so much potential to her character, but no. She was rude, overly impulsive, immature and had sever anger management issues (a problem she's very much aware of, as is the reader because it is mentioned every few pages).

Overall, I am very sad that I have to leave this review with this rating. I had such high hopes for this book, the author seems lovely, and I just think it could have been an amazing story, but the writing and the behavior of the FMC made this impossible for me to enjoy.

An adult fantasy novel set in an immortal version of Shanghai where the FMC is half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit? Sign me up! Unfortunately, this is where the positives ended.

The FMC is one of the most immature characters I've ever read (this includes YA books where the characters are still literal children) and the writing is absolutely atrocious. The term "piss-fart" shows up no fewer than 12 times, "turd" shows up 25 (turd-eggs, turd-brained bitches, etc), and ta-ta' 13 times. I don't know anyone who speaks like this - let alone a century-old badass immortal.

Overall, this book gave me "brain porridge" and I do not recommend.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 4/5'5

This was a really fun read and I devoured it over a few days. I love a sarcastic main character and Lady Jing made me laugh throughout the entire book. Oftentimes it seems authors include sarcastic, arrogant characters without giving them any other personality and thankfully A.Y. Chao avoids that trap. Lady Jing is sarcastic but grows as a character in the book without losing her charm. I also quite liked her side characters with Horsey being my favourite.

Where this book really shines though, is the worldbuilding. We get to experience two really interesting settings- immortal Shanghai aka hell that is ruled by Lord Wang and abundant with mythology and real Shanghai in the 1930s. Mortal Shangai feels like a clash of cultures from both the West and East and was so fun to explore.

Where this book lost points for me was the constant bathroom humour and spitting. I don't think I came across the word "piss-fart" ever in a book, and the amount of times it's used gets annoying. There are other ways to make a character crude without being gross. I'm hoping with Lady Jing's development in the book, that hopefully this will die down in the next two in the series.

The book is set to be the first in a trilogy, but the first one can definitely be read as a stand-alone. I'll definitely be picking up the next two and can't wait to see

Shanghai Immortal, by A.Y. Chao, is an entertaining and fast-paced debut novel. The book has fascinating world-building that fully immersed me with its vivid depictions of mortal and immortal Shanghai and its rich exploration of Chinese mythology and legends.

Lady Jing is an interesting protagonist with a distinct voice that keeps the story light and entertaining. Despite this, I did find her immaturity and poor decision-making skills frustrating; at times, I found myself getting pulled out of the story, thinking, "how could she possibly think that was a good idea?” While I felt that Lady Jing's character development could have been stronger, I would be interested in seeing how her arc continues in a potential sequel.

Despite my frustration with Lady Jing's immaturity, the book has other elements that make it a worthwhile read. The side characters are often extremely well fleshed out and interesting to read about, and the world-building is truly wonderful, making it a worthwhile read for fans of urban fantasy and Chinese mythology.

However, the book ends abruptly, which left me wanting more closure, and the romance arc felt rushed and underdeveloped to me. If it had instead been a friendship arc, I think the payoff would have been more well-deserved, and the plot would have been better-served as well.

Despite these shortcomings, the book was still enjoyable and deserves a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

Overall, Shanghai Immortal is an impressive debut novel that successfully blends Chinese mythology with a captivating urban fantasy world. While marketed as an adult fantasy novel, I believe it would better appeal to a YA audience or more mature middle-grade readers, especially fans of Rick Riordan Presents Imprint. Despite its flaws, it’s a fun and engaging book that will keep you turning the pages.

I received this e-book ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I have to echo the sentiments of many other reviewers. This was not a pleasant read for me; I HATED Lady Jing. I love a good badass, irreverant FMC, but she was just... juvenile and kind of gross. I agree with someone else who said they had a difficult time getting past some of her catch phrases (i.e. tatas and "piss-fart"). Mr. Lee and Lady Jing have zero chemistry together, and were awkward and painful to read on page. I'm really disappointed because the cover is gorgeous, and the concept is great. I just can't get past the execution.

Interesting concept. Just did not feel connected to the story after a certain point and lost interest. I would still recommend if it is something that interests as the world building was unique.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton, @hodderbooks, for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This is a fast-paced story that follows the steps of Lady Jing, half-vampire and half-hulijing fox-spirit, who has spent the last ninety years as the ward of the King of Hell. When Lady Jing overhears a plan to steal from the King, she plans to expose them all. We are transported into immortal Shanghai, the hell realm, we get beautiful descriptions of this world that paints a vivid picture and the same is said for the mortal Shanghai. We get to see two very similar yet very different Shanghai’s, which is interesting. It’s fun to see Lady Jing in her element whilst in immortal Shanghai and then to see her out of her element in mortal Shanghai.

I thought perhaps it would mature as it went on. For a novel that is said to be a ‘richly told adult’ genre, it sure did feel juvenile, from certain word choices and the main character. I would not recommend this if anyone wanted something richly told and adult. There were times when the prose was beautiful then the author would throw in a word like piss-fart, turd-eggs or ta-ta’s and it would pull me right out of the book, if these words were said by a child perhaps I’d be able to overlook it yet they are said, often, by the main character and it becomes very tiresome, very quickly.

Lady Jing isn’t an easy main character to like, I do sympathize with her in a way though however it seems like her trauma is an excuse for her behaviour which comes across a lot like immaturity and brat-like. It is a shame because I do see the potential for her character to grow, it happened a little in the books but I believe that’s due to the romance and I would have preferred for her to have some personal growth through her own experience rather than it being linked with the romance in the story.

The romance feels very forced and rushed, it doesn’t have substance to it and feels very much like the instant love trope, I didn't care for it. I think taking the romance aspect away from the story would make it better. It might have made room for the chance to see more of other characters, like Old Zao and Lord Black for instance. It was a shame that we didn't get more of them, having finished the book I do understand the lack of Lord Black yet there were so many things that could have taken place instead of the instant love. I wish the author had explored that idea more.

If you are looking for a story with plot twists, this one will not be for you. There were no major plot twists, I figured out the main plot twist quite early on. I believe this is a series, I'm thankful for the way it ended because it means I don't need to pick up the next book in the series as it was wrapped up quite nicely and neatly.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

This wonderfully described adult fantasy debut features Chinese deities and devils frolicking in jazz age Shanghai. Lady Jing is half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit, and all sasshole, having been pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a youngster. As the King's ward, she has spent the past ninety years running errands, dodging the snide hulijing courtiers, and attempting - with varied degrees of success - to control her explosive temper. So, when Jing overhears the courtiers conspiring to steal the King's valuable dragon pearl, she seizes the opportunity to expose them once and for all.

Overall, the plot and history backgrounds were interesting and beautifully written. The characters were a lot but bearable to read. At some point the pacing was too slow and some fillers felt like irrelevant, but other than that, it was a good read overall.

This was so fun, Gosh, but I loved everything in this book.
Lady Jing is half fox spirit and half vampire, and she was apparently sold by her mother to the king of hell to buy diamonds.
I love how vulgar, unapologetic and stubborn Jing is. She is one of the most well built, interesting and real characters I've read. And she made me laugh so much, it also made my heart hurt with all she had lived and I felt the sentiments were very relatable, and connecting with her and loving her is so easy ❤️
This book has the perfect balance of romance and plot, of quiet fun and action and of irreverence and seriousness.
I couldn't put it down.
The ending is a little blunt, it suddenly ends and for a bit I thought my copy was missing pages. And to be honest, I am still unsure if it isn't. I am not a fan of large epilogues and lots of "after" details, but this one was a little too short and still with lots of things hanging, without being completely clear if there will be another book after. I Just hope the author will write the next one soon because I just need more about these characters

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read a really fun and magical debut.

Could be from all the CDramas that I've been watching, I see anything that sounds remotely like a Chinese drama I'm like 'gimme, gimme gimme'. So as I read I can picture it with all the current CDrama heartthrobs and girl crushes.

Shanghai Immortal has a really sassy, reluctant main character. Born of two worlds - vampire and nine tailed foxes - she is a bit of a unique one. That doesn't stop her or let any one else try to stop her. She has a mouth on her, a habit for eating (and eating blood) and likes to (or wishes to at first) to wear anything but the fashion set upon women in the 1920's.

She meets Mr. Lee, a man who is a mortal who is setting up banks for the undead / land of the dead. His client is our main character's master / boss. He is a bit of a timid thing but he has a heart of gold and you can see he is smitten with our main character pretty fast. Which leads them to some interesting run ins and crazy shenanigans.

The story is a bit of a mystery that focuses on a pearl that the main character's mother gave to her boss. Her grandmother is after it and is trying to steal it. Of course, our main character hates her grandmother (due to her being a disgrace to the family and that our main character has somewhat of a royal status that she has declined), and so she is looking to put a stop to this - but no one will believe her.

I liked the build up and I liked the world. For a debut book, I felt that the voice was strong enough, fun enough for me to follow. Her friends and people in her life are too. I liked Mr. Lee and his patience and kindness to her, followed by love and affection was nice to see. The ending gave me so many questions and a couple of new characters that I'd like to see more of. Chinese mythology and legends are so interesting and I hope the author continues to make use of them.

I liked this and I hope others like it too! I'm so glad it's gonna be a series.

I absolutely loved the beginning. It’s fun and a bit chaotic and full of action. It really does set the scene and mood for the rest of the story. We meet Jing, being her angry, feral self. And her opposite, Mr. Lee, who knows how to behave correctly with proper etiquette and is usually very collected. The two couldn’t be more different, but I think that’s what made the characters complement each other so well. I liked how their contrasts added to the story and gave it nuances and different perspectives. Not only to the story but to each other as well. Through each other, they both learned to see the world(s) with different eyes and grew from it.
Especially Lady Jing goes through a lot of character development.

I also enjoyed Jing’s friendship with Gigi a lot. They two are opposites in character, but neither of them wants to admit that they are friends. They insult each other, threaten each other but at the end of the day know that they can trust and rely on each other, too. Their dynamic was very fun to read.

But my favourite thing about Shanghai Immortal was the world building. Chao paints a vivid world that comes alive on the pages, atmospheric with vivid descriptions of the smells and tastes and what everything looks like. I could picture everything so well, the little details everywhere really painted a picture of the city and its inhabitants that was just there in my head. You know how when you paint with watercolours and use wet-in-wet technique and you tip the brush on wet paper and the colours bloom? That’s what A.Y. Chao’s descriptions did in my mind. Shanghai bloomed there.

While I enjoyed a lot in this book, the humor and the character relationships especially, I really had some trouble with the plot. It seemed to be all over the place, sometimes going in this direction, then it that in very short time and I felt like those directions weren’t connected and were lose ends. The plot didn’t feel like a body of water moving forward with purpose, but more like a stream with currents and waterfalls, chaotic yet interesting to look at. The whole book seemed to be a bit staccato, and the pacing just threw me off.
Same goes for details about the characters. Little things that were mentioned that seemed somehow important but never made another appearance which left me wondering about the sense of them.

I did enjoy Shanghai Immortal, though. It had beautiful, unique world building, fun dialogues and an interesting cast. It isn’t a favourite read but I’ll definitely continue reading the series to see where it goes!

I'm honest, what drew immediately my attention was the cover. It's really beautiful and I love the colors. Then I read the blurb and the story sounded interesting, so I wanted to give this book a chance. Unfortunately, it wasn't my cup of tea. The main problem was the characters, especially Lady Jing. She was the classic example of a sassy character taken to the extreme, and the end result was an annoying person. I honestly couldn't stand her. The only thing I liked was the worldbuilding and the setting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this Advanced Reader Copy of Shanghai Immortal.

Lady Jing, a half vampire and half fox spirit, is the ward of the King of Hell. After hearing about a plot to steal a priceless dragon pearl from the King, she teams up with a mortal man to stop the heist. The pair chases down intel from both Hell and mortal Shanghai, facing danger all the way.

The concept of this book intrigued me. A half fox spirit, half vampire woman who is trying to stop a heist? Count me in. I was so excited to read this book, but I truly struggled to enjoy my time reading it. The writing style was extremely juvenile, which normally I wouldn’t have much of a problem with. However, this book was described as an “adult fantasy” - the key word here being adult. From the get go, Lady Jing uses words like “ta-tas,” “piss-fart,” “egg-turd” and other variations. In my opinion, the word “fart” is used way too liberally for this to be an adult book. Honestly, I wouldn’t have picked this book up in the first place if I had known that the prose was going to be this childish.

I wish that I liked Lady Jing. I just didn’t. She was petulant, childish, and reckless. She makes her problems into everyone else’s problems, and she does things with no regard for the people around her. She was a huge pain in the butt for pretty much everyone, and she had such a bad victim complex. Was her situation the best? Absolutely not. But she certainly didn’t help in any way. For this being a supposed adult fantasy book, the main character sure did act like a big child. There was just nothing to like about her.

There was a small bit of romance in this book, if you could call it that. The characters felt like they didn’t have any chemistry, which is weird because A.Y. Chao literally created them. They were awkward together, and when the “lovers” part of “enemies to lovers” happened it was just meh. I honestly could have done without it completely. It probably would have made me like the book more, honestly.

The ending was… okay. It wrapped everything up nice and neat, but it wasn’t all that satisfying. Normally when I finish a fantasy book I’m left wanting more, but I just don’t want anything to do with this book anymore. The ending did everything it needed to do, but that was it. I wasn’t wow’d, I didn’t feel anything.

I didn’t care for this book, to put it nicely. The entire time I was reading it I was basically waiting for it to be over. I didn’t like any of the characters, and the writing style was too childish for this to be an adult book like I was expecting. Maybe if this was marketed as a middle grade, or even YA book I might have liked it more.

This was a great read. really liked it. The slightly winy (the world hates me and nobody's on my side) protagonist grated a bit - especially towards the end where its proven many times that much of the world is on her side, but it was still very good. Superb world building and great supporting cast.

Lady Jing is truly an exceptional MC in a downright entertaining book.
The author obviously enjoys the concept of mortal and immortal Shanghai existing side by side and even throws in Hell as another plane of existence. And so the story unravels throughout all of these realms, and you'd do good to just be along for the ride and enjoy it as well.
Lady Jing is a Celestial in the making (so to speak) und gets paired up (not entirely by accident 🤫) with a human who is the cinnamonest roll you can ever imagine. And their interactions do not annoy me at all (contrary to Lady Jing).
I couldn't help but root for these kids while totally despising the b****es that make their life miserable.
The author states that they're interested in exploring the interplay between self-perceived versus imposed identity and this is exactly what the book is about. And then throw in some dragons and you have a nearly perfect book.

4,5/5 stars
Thank you so much @netgalley and @hodderbooks for the eARC!

Lady Jing is half fox spirit and half vampire, and serves at the pleasure of the King of Hell. The world building in this book is fantastic, creating such a vibrant and clear fantasy world. Unfortunately though, I couldn't stand Lady Jing and of all the characters she drove me nuts. A shame, because otherwise I quite enjoyed the book! It's difficult to root for somebody who annoys you so much though.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC if this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wish I could say I liked this one. It had ALL the bones for something I would like. It was even being executed decently. But I had to DNF this book because I found the protagonist to be absolutely unbearable. I don't know if the point of the book was for the protagonist to go through some serious growth throughout the story, but her current state was too much for me to want to continue and find out.

A humorous and riveting character-driven debut fantasy! I loved how immersive both versions of Shanghai were - it was a portal into another time, but also the culture of the author. The narration and characters in this book were top notch. I absolutely adored Jing and loved seeing the world through her eyes and thoughts. The pacing was a bit off at times, but you get the full breadth of Jing’s growth as the novel progresses.

If you’re looking for a fun, character-driven, fantasy with beautifully interwoven cultural and historic elements, then I highly recommend Shanghai Immortal! I look forward to future stories from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Lady Jing is a fantastic heroine, in a tale wonderfully told. I really enjoyed this novel and would recommend it highly. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

Shanghai Immortal starts off with our main character, Lady Jing explaining what’s she’s doing waiting for a delivery at 3am in the morning. The story is told in first person so we find out straight away just how much of a sasshole she can be, but she does this mostly by describing who she is and how she came to live with the King of Hell, ‘Big Wang’ as she calls him.

The title ‘Shanghai Immortal‘ still fits, but it’s the hell version of Shanghai we’re first introduced to. Chao takes us on a little trip to ‘mortal Shanghai’ as well, which is basically 1930s Shanghai as it would have known historically. This worked really well in terms of helping to get engrossed in the story, as it was Jing’s first trip too, and Chao did a great job at describing the world; it’s clear a lot of research went into the story.

So, hell, the mortal world… and we also get to know the celestial lands! Home to the likes of Chang-e and dragon lords. This is just a little part of the large amount of world-building Chao has put into Shanghai Immortal, and everything fits together just so perfectly. I won’t delve into this element, but I absolutely loved how roosters were used in the overall world.

In terms of the characters, I love sassy characters. I love them because normally it’s an absolute front and there’s so much more to them, and Lady Jing was no exception to that! She spends her days as, what she thinks, is kind of more of a slave to Big Wang (he says differently to her, time and time again, but hey everyone has at least a little bit of self-doubt). He wants her to live up to her title, to wear nice dresses and excel in her lessons so she can take her place in court. Lady Jing has other plans though, she wants to wear trousers and be comfortable whilst avoiding the court for as long as possible!

Where Jing is a rule breaker who doesn’t really care for traditions, she’s tasked with taking care of a human in Hell, Tony Lee, who is pretty much the antithesis of Jing, at least for the most part. He’s a super sweet yet absolutely terrified person, but the blooming friendship between him and Jing is so endearing; especially during the times when he ends up chuckling at her.

Relationships, whether romantic, friendly or familial, play an important part in the story throughout and yet Jing can’t seem to shake those self-doubts. There’s a wonderful found family aspect to Shanghai Immortal and if you’re a fan of those kinds of stories then this will definitely be a book for you! Every one of the “good” characters has something incredibly endearing about them.

The story isn’t all sunsets and cocktails though, and with the time period of 1930s Shanghai Jing does come across some unsettling situations in mortal Shanghai. Added to that, the story revolves around her trying to stop the hulijing (fox-spirit) clan she’s part of from stealing something from Big Wang. It isn’t something Big Wang wants her to have any part of (hence having her whisked away to mortal Shanghai), but she wants to try and show her past abusers’ true nature to all.

In essence, I loved this. And I’ll be snapping up any further stories from A. Y. Chao as soon as I can!