The book is everything the premise offers — a supernatural Shanghai, dazzling and vivid — but oh boy did the protagonist’s voice not work for me. I kept thinking if there was a way to make her snark at least one step removed, by having the story be a 3rd person POV, it might have eased the journey. Basically if you are game for an old fashioned snarky voiceover that talks a mile a minute, go for it. It’s incredibly reminiscent of some paranormal urban romance voices from early 2000s, if that’s your jam — I just wished I could have the whole book minus that. Oh well.

This book was a blast! So fun and voicey, with a gorgeously rich world behind it, and a surprisingly tender heart. Lady Jing is a great character, dripping in snark but in some ways still child-like and seeing the awe in the world, and I loved watching her worldview develop through her adventures. This was a hugely fun read and a great addition to the growing canon of ESEA fantasy literature.

This was different and I really enjoyed this. I loved the story line and the characters. This was quite addictive and I found it highly entertaining.
I just reviewed Shanghai Immortal by A. Y. Chao. #ShanghaiImmortal #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

This was my first Netgalley arc, and i'm glad to have had a good experience with it.

Shanghai Immortal follows Lady Jing, a half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit, who resides in Hell's version of Shanghai, which was a premise that deeply intrigued me.

It did take me a while to get invested in the story. For the first ~30% of the book I was having trouble visualising anything. I also felt like Lady Jing was quite immature for the 100 year old protagonist of an adult fantasy book.

After this point (and especially the second half), the story really kicked off. The setting was rich and interesting and the characters started to make a lot more sense. There was a great romance plot, and a found family dynamic that I am excited to see progress in the sequel.

Overall this book was fun, and quite unique. I can't wait to see where this story goes.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review*

I dnf'd this book @ 30%. This wasn't my cup of tea unfortunately. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and some of them were way too immature. The word "fart" which I think is vulgar described pretty much everything. I hoped that it would be good, because it was one of my anticipated reads of the year but unfortunately it was a pretty huge disappointment.

2.5 stars
I am so disappointed by this book. The cover is gorgeous, and the blurb had me thinking it was going to be a magical Asian inspired fantasy adventure with Kitsune and vampires.

Instead it was an unfortunately paced mess with an uncouth spoiled brat of a heroine who misbehaves and sulks her way through 75% of the book before suddenly having a series of epiphanies in the last few chapters and spontaneously is a decent being?

If this weren't an ARC, I probably would have DNF'd by the end of the second chapter. The excessive use of bathroom language and crude innuendos at times made this book seem like it was written for or by a 9 year old boy. (I can't begin to count how many times the word fart was used as a descriptor)

I believe this is the first of a trilogy, but thankfully, the story arc wrapped well enough that I have no need to read further.

Came for the sass and humour and hijinks, did not expect it would become a new comfort book of mine to pick up when things are rough. There's a cinnamon roll of a LI, learning to open your eyes to the love around you in all its forms, healing from trauma, and all the Chinese puns thrown in for good measure.

I loved it, I loved it, I loved it.

Every so often, I hear about books that sound as though they're written according to my current interests and Shanghai Immortal really pushed a lot of my buttons. It's basically historical urban fantasy, set in 1930's Shanghai and it's Hell counterpart, with the requisite creatures and plotlines. Unfortunately, the book itself is a bit uneven in places and so I've definitely rounded up to 4 stars, as 3 felt a bit miserly.

Our protagonist is Lady Jing, who is half huli jing (fox spirit) and half vampire - no, it's never 100% explained how this worked out - who has grown up as the ward of the King of Hell. There's quite a heavy dose of Not Like Other Girls early on, which vexed me a little, though it evens out a bit as the plot progresses. The plot being that Lady Jing has discovered a plot against her adoptive father and investigates this, while also trying to keep a mortal who's come to Hell on an errand safe from harm. There's also a somewhat unnecessary and not massively well-fleshed out romance there, which again I found vexing.

As I said earlier, while the world-building is well done, the charaterisation and plotting is a bit uneven and is possibly a reflection of the fact this is a debut novel. Not sure if there's going to be further books with these characters but I would probably check them out if there were. Finally, kudos to whoever decided on that cover, it's really pretty.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Shanghai Immortal by A. Y. Chao is an adult fantasy set in 1920's Shanghai. The story revolves around Lady Jing a half-vampire and half fox-spirit who is a Ward to the King of Hell. One day, Jing overhears a plot to steal form the King, and she embarks on a quest. Along the way, she meets a mortal who she despises at first. But as the pair go on adventure after adventure, could their unlikely partnership turn into something more?

Here is a captivating excerpt from Chapter 1:

"The steaming Shanghai night drapes heavy over my bare shoulders. I lean against the door of a decrepit warehouse, gums aching, stomach grumbling, and wait on Big Wang's secret delivery. Cicadas scream all around me. With a title like Lady Jing of Mount Kunlun and ancestry that includes that great goddess Queen Mother of the West, running errands at 3 a.m. in this rotted heat might be considered below my station."

Overall, Shanghai Immortal is an adult fantasy that will appeal to fans of American Gods or These Violent Delights. One highlight of this book are the moments of humor. Another highlight of this book is the slow-burn romance. It was so slow-burn that at first, I wasn't sure there was going to be a romance. One last highlight of the book are the hidden Easter eggs for Chinese speakers, which I especially appreciated. For example, I loved how she named her sword Mafan. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of fantasy books in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in June!

In A. Y. Chao's Shanghai Immortal, we are brought to a lush and beautiful Studio Ghibli-esque world reminiscent of Spirited Away, where instead we find a magical version of 1900s Shanghai filled with spirits and immortals. I adored this part of the premise from the get-go. The descriptions are wonderful and whimsical, the kind of otherworldly that I love to read about and packed with references to Chinese mythology. The setting is probably my favorite part of this book! Here, we follow a half-hulijing (fox spirit), half-vampire named Jing, who is outcasted by many of the other immortals. She's seen as too rash, uncivilized, and worthless despite the high rank she was born with, and her criticisms aren't completely unfounded. Jing is immature and impulsive, which often leads her straight into trouble for herself and the people around her who are trying to care for her (and she experienced her own share of heartache at her predicament, as much as she pretends it is fine.) Over the course of the story, Jing has to overcome her past trauma and learn both to love and to be loved.

As much as I enjoyed the ideas though, I was terribly bored for the first half. It took me a while to get settled into the story and its characters, which may have something to do with the pacing. I needed things to happen besides watching Jing blunder around for so long. Though I felt for Jing and her struggles, she came across so childish and irritating that it was hard for me to care about her at first. She's supposed to be over 100 years old! I know she's considered 'young' for an immortal, but surely she would act with a little more maturity than a five year old. However, I did notice that whenever the story delved into Jing's character, it became much more interesting. I loved seeing her grow, and it's in the second half that we really see that happen. Similarly, all the other characters came across exaggerated at times. I understand this might be the intent however, to be overly fantastical and unbelievable with most of them being immortals, which can be fun or irritating depend on your preferences. (Mr. Lee is a sweetheart though. The romance between him and Jing was very cute.)

Another gripe is that the writing is more juvenile than I expected. It's geared toward comedy, which I generally don't enjoy, so that was something else I had needed to adjust to.

In the end, I left the story more positively than I began and had my fun. Though I had my problems with it, I'm sure many would enjoy this novel!

"Words aren't the only way people lie."
Shanghai Immortal includes many great quotes but this line cuts deep. And I think it describes this book quite well. Yes, we got vampires and hulijings, Chinese mythology, jazz-era Shanghai (the 30s to be accurate), the sassy main character, and humor, nevertheless, the story is mostly carried by dialog.
The MC Lady Jing is young, and inexperienced with the normal world and relationships, she is still finding herself. She uses sarcasm as her shield and doesn't trust anyone but in her heart, she is brave and strong. I love scenes when she gets tipsy and become walking sunshine. Her dialogues with Mr. Lee are interesting because we can see how she grows thanks to him.
I admire how A. Y. Chao combines sarcasm, humor, and a badass MC with poetry and politeness. It's a strange combination although it worked. I learned some new phrases and new words. As a non-native speaker, I sometimes struggled with words such as piss-fart and stink-eye. But it was fun. This book is a really good debut and I highly recommend it.

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder for this arc.

Intrigue, jazz age drama and a main character who is part vampire and part fox spirit? Sign me up! This was a fun and compelling debut novel.

Lady Jing is a funny and sarcastic character and she draws you in immediately. Her development throughout the novel was really great to experience and whilst she could be considered a bit unlikeable at the beginning by the end I was fully enjoying how outspoken and rebellious she is. The moments of vulnerability that she showed really hit me in the feels and I’m excited to continue following her growth.

Shanghai Immortal is a book full of superb world-building, fun trials, fascinating supporting characters and a refreshing setting in which to explore Chinese mythology - the nineteen thirties.

For me this book was a tale of two parts. The character development shown by our antagonist, Ling, means that - thankfully - her constant and repetitive cursing gave way to introspection, leading to an abandonment of that particular knee-jerk reaction. She is a very different person for the last half of the book. It was interesting to have such a rebellious, outspoken character, but I preferred when she taunted and teased the other characters - playfully and otherwise - compared to the grating swearing.

There was just the right amount of romance to suit, although I couldn’t quite reconcile the disgust felt towards one particular character with the sudden warmth shown seemingly pages later. As others have commented, it was nice to see a male love interest with a more quiet strength, who let Ling grow into the increasingly strong figure she becomes.

I loved the historical aspects and these were woven expertly within the story. The author made great use of numerous realms within mythology to highlight interesting social constructs, landscapes and historical events of the time. I enjoyed reading about this era from Ling’s point of view, where she becomes as new to it as we are.

It will be so interesting to see where - literally and figuratively Ling goes next and I will be looking forward to the next instalment.

With an incredibly strong female lead and a clumsy human side character this book contains mythology and mythological creatures from China that I’ve never read about and this story makes me want to read more!

Following Lady Jing, a half vampire, half fox spirit as she attempts to break free of the lowly position her mother has abandoned her in. Along with a male human, Tony Lee she tries to solve an ancient mystery.

The love they develop is snarky and so sweet it’s almost charming. But moreover, Lady Jing has so much power and autonomy within herself by the end of the novel, she’s a fantastic role model for women and she continues to question the oppressive system she lives under and always fights back for her rights.
It was unfortunately less engaging than I was hoping for and I didn’t find myself as immersed in the plot as I should have been. However, I do love the characters and I’m very excited to see where Lady Jing’s feisty attitude leads her next’

This book was such a unique story!
I loved the comedic parts of this as well as the more serious parts. Seeing Jing grow and realise the truth of the relationship around her was so satisfying, and made me feel so happy for her. I love her imperfections, I love her strengths. And I can’t wait to see how her story progresses through the next book/s. She was likeable and relatable all at the same time.
One of my favourite characters was actually Lord Black. I hope we get to see more of him in the next book!

I can't believe that this book is A.Y. Chao debut novel?! It was so good!
In a few words, we are immersed in 1930's Shanghai but make it ghost and shadow version. Think golden age, mahjong games, jazz, court drama, demons, and vampires. Vampires, you say? Yes! We're following the story of Lady Jing, half spirit fox and half vampire, sold by her mother with a dragon pearl to the King of Hell who is now his guardian.
Charged to guide a mortal on a visit to Hell, she meets Mr. Lee and the story unfolds both in Immortal Shanghai as well as in Mortal Shanghai.
I really loved the story, the world-building was absolutely gorgeous and made me travel. Lady Jing was quite the character, sassy, and entertaining, with very human-like reactions (sometimes childish) taking into consideration that she is half vampire and half spirit fox. Mr. Lee was a bit too watered down for me but it's okay since the focus of the story wasn't really on romance I believe. The secondary characters were all enjoyable, either be it her friend/not-friend Gigi, the King of Hell or even the antagonists.

Coming to the things I could have enjoyed more is definitely the pacing and the tone of the book. I felt it took quite a while for the story to pick up and the first 25% of the book felt quite slow. The tone also won't be for everyone. Lady Jing is very sarcastic and a bit annoying at times but that's what makes her personality. Aside from this, I would have liked to get a little glossary at the end of the book (or footnotes) to explain a bit some of the vocabulary related to Chinese mythology and culture, which I'm not super-well-versed in.

All in all, a great read that I enjoyed thoroughly.

After my read, I figured out that this was the first book of a trilogy, which I would have liked to know beforehand but well... another serie to add to my "keep an eye out" list.

Thanks Netgalley for providing me an eArc in exchange of my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the eARC; I really wanted to like this book, but I'm struggling to connect with the characters; while the concept is intriguing, there are some aspects that make me less eager to finish it, such as the confusing plot and the long overly dialogues. However, I hope to read more by the author in the future.

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to Net Galley, the author and the publisher for allowing this.

This book was so much fun! It’s fast, it doesn’t take itself too serious, it’s amusing. I had such a great time reading this book.

It’s also a wonderful blending of Chinese mythology and Jazz Age Shanghai. It’s such a rich and beautiful blend of subjects but in a way that never feels confusing.

Our protagonist Lady Jing is half vampire, half hulijing fox spirit and she’s just brilliant. I absolutely loved her sassy personality and I was so invested in seeing her succeed. She’s irreverent and raging against people around her, but as you learn more about her past, you really understand why and empathise with her. There is some sensitive content when we learn what happened to Lady Jing as a child and there is violence throughout the book. It is adult fantasy. I didn’t feel the violence was gratuitous and all the subject matter made sense within the narrative. I loved Lady Jing’s journey as she opens up, let’s down her shields and starts to understand more about the motives of others around her.

I just loved this book, I loved the setting, the fantasy elements, the characters, the pace and action of the story. This was a fascinating, fun and brilliant read. I’ll definitely buy it and I’ll be looking out for more by this author!

This debut novel by Chinese Canadian writer A.Y. Chao is the first in a projected trilogy. It unfolds in a version of the 1930s, set in a shadow world of immortals existing in parallel with mortal Shanghai. Shanghai, then known as the Paris of the East, was an open city, a place that would admit anyone without the need for passports or visas, a place of reinvention and excess, home to numerous refugee communities from aristocratic Russians to Jews fleeing Nazi Germany. Known for its hard drinking and gambling culture, it also attracted artists and writers like Isherwood and Noel Coward. Chao’s immortal Shanghai reflects the decadence of its mortal counterpart but is even more given to danger and intrigue, populated by Yaojing demons and spirits who are able to see through the veil shrouding human Shanghai.

Chao’s novel focuses on Lady Jing part spirit fox and part vampire, she was apparently sold by her mother to the King of Hell to pay for her parent’s expensive habits. The story follows Lady Jing as she attempts to break free from her lowly position and solve an ancient mystery, one which will bring her into close proximity with a human, Tony Lee. It’s a fascinating premise and the background is beautifully researched, grounded in historical fact and Chinese mythologies, but the narrative itself never quite took off for me, it starts incredibly slowly with a ton of exposition, and the numerous attempts to establish Jing as feisty and iconoclastic felt a little forced. There are some marvellous descriptions and atmospheric elements, and the world-building has great potential, but the plot’s often drowned out by the details, scenes could seem overly drawn out and the pace never quite evened out. So, for me, promising but nowhere near as engaging or entertaining as I’d hoped, although I’ll be interested to see where the next instalment leads.

As much as I want to give this book a higher rating, my rating truly saddens me. I had high hopes for this book, but I’m just glad I was able to finish it despite the lack of anything remotely interesting happening in it.

I was extremely excited going into this book and had high expectations for the fantasy and the intricate, vast, new world of fantasy set in Shanghai with the mythical celestial creatures that was promised. The setting was wonderful and the premise was very intriguing, but there was something disconcerting about it. When the initial allure of the stunning setting eventually faded, I lost interest in reading and hit a reading slump. The lack of logical plot elements made me gradually lose interest. The Rising Action was absent. The Climax was absent. I’d like to think that is only when we are in the final fifty pages of the book, did the plot moved inexorably toward where all the components of the climax and ending were contained. Neither was happening before those ending pages which was frustrating.

Normally, I was fine with stories that were character-driven and lacked a clear plot, but this time, it didn’t help because no one character was interesting or distinctive. Lady Jing is as annoying and naive as she can be. Although I can sympathize with her childhood trauma, I can’t stand her pointless blabbering of hurtful words, which makes me think of her as an insolent child. I can’t even begin to comprehend how she isn’t even able to consider cthe consequences before reacting or acting, especially given that there are reports of her makeshift teachers claiming that she is “supposedly” intelligent. Don’t even get me started on the forced romance plot that was unnecessary and that I didn’t enjoy in the slightest. The only character that somehow I found intriguing is Lord Black and it’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to see more of him.

Anyway, seeing as how it’s A.Y. Chao’s Debut book, it is acceptable to say that there are still improvements to be made in her writing. They only need to work on the execution because the setting and vibes were already immaculate. But a book doesn’t work when it’s all just pure vibes and no plot, and with obtsue characters, as well. I am looking forward to read her future works. I want to thank Hodder & Stoughton once more for this arc.