I have been a fan of Chloe Gong’s writing for a few years, since her first book came out, so reading something new and different from her other books has been so exciting and I am proud of seeing how far she has come.

Immortal Longings is a complex and thrilling book with an unique fantasy element that keeps you constantly guessing what is going to happen next. It is tense, twisting and addictive, I might have actually shouted as if Chloe Gong could hear me because I now I’ll have to wait for the sequel which I so desperately need.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this book.

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong is a Shakespeare retelling of Antony and Cleopatra, targeting an adult audience this time. I have to admit I didn’t really like her YA retelling of Romeo and Juliet, but an adult retelling of a play I actually do like (I cannot emphasize how much I hate Romeo and Juliet), I have to say I was very interested in reading that.

The beginning was so strong, I loved the setting of a twin city, very grim and dark and reminiscent of Hong Kong. The fantasy element was there in the form of body jumping, like you can take over another person’s body. Enter Hunger Games like gladiator games and add some just as deadly politics to it and it gets very, very interesting. Until it didn’t. I have absolutely no idea how I can be bored with such a competition going on, high stakes for everyone, with so much happening, yet I didn’t care. The characters were all very morally grey, and I couldn’t care less for them. The body count was staggering, and I just felt sorry for all those civilians caught up into this.

The love story of Anton and Calla felt a bit weird to me, as it is a very destructive relationship and it is a bit sudden. It should’ve been epic and to be honest it was very much epic at the end – the end is really what makes this book shine! But the middle just fell flat for me and I wished I could skim a few pages but as this is an arc I didn’t. The world was not big enough for me I guess, we had very similar monologues about the inner workings of the city, but it didn’t go deep and they felt repetitive with no new information. The body jumping is still a bit of a mystery for me, it could’ve been explained better, and the action scenes were fast and gruesome but no more than that. We did get a lot of info on the palace and how the main characters and the crown prince grew up together, but we didn’t really get what was going on right now except the struggle between the king and his heir, only from the heir’s perspective. I have to admit there were a few plot twists that were AMAZING and I didn’t see coming at all, but for me it’s not enough to overpower the overall meh feeling this book gave me, nor did it make me care about the two main characters.

I received an e-arc through Netgalley but it hasn't influenced my opinions.

I've read some of Chloe Gong's previous books and really enjoyed those. But this adult book of hers I loved. I love a book with a competition element, but with the added body jumping magic some players had made it even better. Fast paced action all the way through. I hope Chloe Gong write more adult books in the future because I couldn't put this one down!

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong is a captivating adult epic fantasy. In Talin's perilous capital twin cities, lethal games draw thousands of players. Princess Calla Tuoleimi, hidden for years after killing her oppressive parents, views the games as her chance to slay her distant uncle, King Kasa. Anton Makusa, anxious to save his paralysed childhood sweetheart, enters the games to win. When Calla and Anton create an unexpected alliance, their relationship blossoms into an intense and devouring connection. Inspired by Antony and Cleopatra, Gong's debut novel combines power conflicts, bloodshed, and romance to keep readers on the edge of their seats until the finish.

Conclusion: Chloe Gong's adult epic fantasy Immortal Longings is superb. For genre aficionados, this work is a must-read. Shakespearean themes give complexity and mystery to Gong's debut, making it memorable. Immortal Longings is an addictive page-turner.

4/5 Stars from me.

***A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.***

The world-building was intense but still hard to get a grip on and the 'jumping' whilst clever didn't really make a lot of sense to me. I kept trying to imagine having a relationship with someone whose body changed day by day. I'm probably over-thinking the whole thing but these thoughts prevented me from getting completely immersed in the story. The twists were very good but not enough to lift the book out of the ordinary.

4.5/5 Stars

I haven't had this much fun reading a Romantasy in a WHILE. I want to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Immortal Longings is a story set in the crowded city San-Er, capital of the world Talin. In it, the king hosts a dangerous game in which players fight for their life for a chance to win riches. With most players capable of jumping between human bodies, chaos and danger alike is assured. Princess Calla Tuoleimi and Royal Exile Anton Makusa enter these games with different motives, but one thing is sure - they will clash, and one of them will win.

Look, I read this as someone who 1. has never read anything by Chloe Gong before and 2. does not know Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra, which this story is supposed to be inspired by. And let me tell you - I had so much fun. It felt a little overly complicated at times with the introduction of the concept of "body jumping", but I was glad that I could enjoy this as an oblivious peasant.

Both prose and romance were likely what stood out to me in this story. Gong caught me off-guard with her stunning prose and the way I was highlighting half of some of these chapters. I totally understand why fans of writers like V.E. Schwab or Naomi Novik would love her writing. And the romance? Look, I'm by no means a romance reader but there is something about obsessive, terrible "love" that I can't help but be intrigued by. Anton and Calla reminded me of Olivie Blake's Alone With You in the Ether in the best and most awful way possible - this for sure ain't a nice love story. Both them and the other characters were all morally gray in a formidable way and it made this so much more fun!

One last honorable mention about this book is that it talks about (gender) identity and representation in a way that I personally enjoyed and found refreshing to read. It was integrated into the theme of jumping between bodies and using them as "accessories" rather than permanent residences, and the writing around it sure was intriguing. The topic was very current in an unexpected way that left me almost wanting more.

All in all, I feel so lucky to have read this before the release date and I will sure be recommending it to fellow readers!

This book is dirty, dark and moody. It is ferral and gory and different to anything I have ever read before. Which is why I think I enjoyed reading it.

Chloe Gong chose (the maximum level of) violence in Immortal Longings. In many ways. The plots were so carefully planned and expertly carried out that they held me captive from beginning to end. The heart pounding action never ceased and the Hunger Games influence fitted the plot nicely. The plot twists were outstanding and thoroughly astounding. The world building was so impressive, the social structure, the politics, and the lore were all intricately intertwined. San-Er is a desolate and alluring city, full of hunger and want and the magic system was so extensive and felt so alive and real. Calla Tuoleimi, the banished princess with a bloody and tragic past, I immediately adored her for but not limited to her intelligence and sarcasm. I was moved and rooting for her so hard for her tenacity in holding onto what she feels is right, her tremendous wrath for the world and circumstances she lives in and her unbridled drive to leave her mark. She is possessed of unquenchable ambition, murderous bloodlust and an extreme prowess for weaponry. She sacrifices everything to free San-Er from its oppressive rulers, even as the city withers away in front of her. She is altruistic and commits murder and lies but for all the right reasons. Anton is endearing, clever and another incredibly complex character. It goes without saying that I loved the romance development between Calla and Anton. Since their initial meeting, their chemistry and tension have been blatantly apparent and palpable. Due to the fact that they are both competing in a fatal game where only one person can survive, they are rivals-turned-lovers, which makes their flirtatious banter even more seductive, their partnership was as strong as it was because their talent and intelligence are profoundly equal.

I think this had lots of potential, but sadly it wasn't really realized. The concept was really cool, I liked the worldbuilding apart from the occasional info dumping and I thought the game was quite entertaining and I was definitely interested in what was happening.

I didn't really love the characters, they were pretty two-dimensional and pretty similar to other characters the author wrote in the past. The romance was very trope-y and didn't really work for me, towards the end things got so rushed and it didn't really fit the tone of the story. The writing was also very difficult for me, I didn't like the constant metaphors which often didn't make sense, and the endless descriptions of things that weren't important to the scene.

The ending was predictable and kind of a letdown, I enjoyed the story until then but everything suddenly happened so fast after the rest of the book was pretty slow. The cliffhanger did make me interested to read the next one though, and I am still intrigued to see where this story will go next.

Thank you to the publisher for the arc.

I have a quite a few thoughts on this book and while I cannot say how it compares to her previous work as this is my first Chloe Gong read, I am sorry to say that it was quite the disappointing read.

First things first: The Hunger Games style premise. The fact that the author dared to choose this premise when an epic like THG exists, itself acts as a double-edged sword. It got me excited as well as worried. Unfortunately, it seems I was right to worry because the games in this book failed to pack a punch and did nothing new or subversive.
The World-Building: I was intrigued in the beginning, but many chapters later I was still wondering how this body jumping thing works. No matter how much of "suspension of disbelief" is exercised, some things just cannot be ignored like the many dangerous possibilities that such a power entails. To me, it seems such a power would essentially render a society non-functional, let alone the amount of mental, physical and emotional violence that could be inflicted on people. Trust me, in a society where bodies can be invaded so easily, revenge and palace intrigue would be much lower on people's priority lists. Definitely a very problematic decision on the author's part and evidently not enough thought was put into it.

Loopholes in the plot: Honestly, there were many; and main characters were just very conveniently able to overcome all kinds of obstacles just because main character armour✨✨✨. I will limit myself to mentioning just one which happens in one of the first chapters ( to save readers from spoilers): the unique identity codes that are meant to protect people from body jumpers do practically nothing. Anton is able to breach this security system so easily that it is not even explained how he does it, he just does. So yes, one other problem is that there's a lot of telling and not enough showing.

The Characters: I personally had a hard time connecting with any of the characters. The problem with multiple POVs is that there's a lot of switch between characters, so by the time the reader has begun to invest in one character, it's already the next character's turn. Maybe, if the POVs were longer and I had more time to spend in one character's mind, the characters would feel more real.

Bottom-line: It's, of course, not all bad. The descriptions of the setting, for instance, were remarkable but hardly enough material to save the novel from its other glaring problems.

The only way to win, is to survive

This book was utterly delectable, throughly feral, and a complete thrill from start to finish.

The Hunger Games x 90s Asian Noir x Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. RUN DON'T WALK to pre-order this bad boy, trust me you need it in your life.

I am going to wait to post a full in-depth review until the book is out, but in the meantime if you hear rabid screeching from the direction of New Zealand, it's me thinking about this book.

Chloe Gong, as always does no wrong. I loved this story and the plot twists. I wasnt a big fan of the amount of info dumping throughout, and the characters reminded me of the characters in the Shanghai story a little too much. However I did really enjoy!

It pains me to give this book such a low rating.

After loving the Shangai series, I was sure I was going to love this one as well. Alas, I was wrong.
Immortal Longings was very confusing, with a lot of info-dumping and concepts not sufficiently explained. The worldbuilding was heavy, and sometimes beyond my comprehension. More than once I skimmed through the pages because I was bored to death. Even the characters couldn't hold my attention nor I could connect with them. I'm so sad because I love TVD and its characters with all my heart.

4.7/5

Chloe has done it again! I adore her Secret Shanghai universe, so I had high hopes for her adult debut. Let me tell you, it was absolutely incredible.

But first, I want to thank Holder and Stoughton for providing me with an early e-copy!

Immortal Longings is a retelling of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, but with a sprinkle of The Hunger Games. It follows Calla, a princess who went into hiding after killing her parents and now trying to end her uncle's life (who's the King), and Anton who's trying to get enough money to repay his debts, as they compete in the yearly games and eventually become allies. The problem is, there can only be one winner.

The world was very well crafted, with characters having powers unlike those in any books I've read before - they can jump from body to body (though it isn't as simple as that, of course). I really enjoyed the political aspect of this book as well, since I am a HUGE fan of fantasy politics. You couldn't always know which side a character is on, and yet you saw why they have done what they did, even if you know that they weren't right. Though to be fair everyone is so morally ambiguous that nothing can be seen as "right", just the lesser of evils.

Speaking of, I absolutely loved all the characters. They were very well written and had incredibly complex backstories and motivations. Chloe managed to make me care about them from the first few chapters, which almost never happens. This is also the first time I see my gender reflected accurately in a character, no less the main character. It feels like the author just reached into my head, took the feeling, and put into words. ahhhhh THANK YOU SO MUCH MISS CHLOE<33333

There were so many plot twists! Whenever you think you know where the story is going, you either get proven wrong immediately, or you are lead to think that you got it right only for the story to take a 180 degree turn. I can guarantee that some of the plot twists you will never see coming. And the ending- let's just say I will not know peace until I have book 2. Actually, no, scratch that. I will not know peace with this series, periodt, since I know some of the things happening in Antony and Cleopatra.

The only thing I didn't enjoy as. much was the romance. It happened waaaay too quickly for my liking. The characters definitely do have chemistry, but their "love"/obsession needed more than a few weeks (with only a handful of meetings) to develop, as it felt they knew almost nothing about each other. I understand how it makes sense plot-wise, just wish that they spent more time together. I also want to mention that this book is adult, and that there is a NSFW scene, as well as quite a lot of violence and gore.

Overall, I really enjoyed Immortal Longings and would definitely recommend it to urban fantasy/sci-fi lovers! just make sure to check content warnings:)

It seems an odd comment to make about such a bloodthirsty author, but Chloe Gong's writing makes me feel so calm. I'm a fire sign, though, maybe that's just the insanity jumping out...Some authors you just vibe with across all their books/genres, etc, and Chloe Gong is absolutely one of my most recent favourites. She always has a flair for drama, blood and the ability to make you REALLY angry about a good cliffhanger.

Marketed as an Antony and Cleopatra-style Hunger Games, Immortal Longings certainly takes root in betrayal, deadly games as entertainment, and the goal to topple a corrupt ruler. It made me want to also compare it to Mad Max: Fury Road, Marie Lu's books, and those parts of Shakespeare's works where everyone is screaming dramatically and covered in blood. It was fast-paced, full of tension, and had some great dialogue moments that make you pause and glance around to check no one saw or heard you react to a fictional ship fighting each other.

Throughout, I had a few minor criticisms but these were VERY PICKY because I'm obsessed with the author's works. For example, some lines felt a bit too on the nose, or clearly written to be included in ship fanart and black-and-white Tumblr edits. I also didn't fall completely in love with any character, though I liked them all a great deal; I objectively think this is because of the sheer nature of the plot's fast pace not allowing time for you to dive deep into any character. So I look forwards to seeing more depth of everyone in the sequel, of which I am already DYING FOR.

~thank you hodder and stoughton and netgalley for a review copy of this book
5 ⭐️
~i have loved all of chloe gongs books so i knew i would love this one as well but it was so much better than I could have ever expected!! I didn’t really know how the plot would play out or what would happen but the plot was so amazing!! This book follows a deadly game where 88 players fight across the city of San-Er until only one remains. The plot twist at the end of this book had me GASPING I am now desperate to read the next book. I loved the world this book is set in, the whole city has been setup so brilliantly that the whole place seems so vivid!! This is one of my favourite books I have read so far this year!! (a must read for any chloe gong or any fantasy lovers!!)

Chloe Gong has only gone and done it again! This book was everything, I wanted and from more! Whilst it’s definitely not similar to the world of These Violent Delights and Foul Lady Fortune, this still kept the classic Chloe Gong writing style which I adore as well as the twist an turns that become more gut wrenching as you go along - my jaw literally dropped a few times.

The romance is peak enemies to lovers with a lil bit of slow burn in there and a massive helping of betrayal ✨ultimate chefs kisses✨. At this point Chloe Gong might as well be crowded queen of enemies to lovers cause it is spectacular! Note that with it being 1/3 there is obviously alot more going to happen between the two!

Whilst the story very much is centred around Calla we also get the POVs of August and Anton, all of which grew up in the palace but with very different experiences which created some interesting dynamics between the three characters and leaves you never really knowing who to trust.

The world of Talin and city of San-Er was such an interesting concept that I can’t wait to see more of in the coming books! It’s pretty hard to go into any of the details without any spoilers but the politics are super interesting and I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of this in the future! The main competition also took a really refreshing twist on what most people (including myself before reading) would assume is a Hunger Games-esque style plot but turned out to be really different!

I literally can’t wait for this book to publish.. also when get an I get the sequel?

Thank you Hodderscape, and Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

Imagine the Hunger Games set in a sci-fi technological dystopia

In the dystopian capital of San-Er, King Kasa holds an annual games to the death for the chance to win riches.

Princess Calla Tuoleimi has been considered dead for years, and only Prince August lifts a brow when she enters into the lottery for the games. Together, they use their skill of jumping bodies to ensure Calla’s succession in the games so that she can get closer to King Kasa.

Enter Anton Makusa, another talented jumper also set on winning the games to save his childhood love.

This story is an interesting spin on a world that relies on technology almost as much as food and water. There’s such a wide array of characters; but Calla, Anton and August truly steal the show here.

The tension between Calla and Anton was deliciously dangerous. I loved all the twists and reveals in the story. I will in fact be needing time off to recover from this book because it has emotionally wrecked me.

I have unfortunately decided to dnf this book despite my adoration for this author, because the overwhelming info-dumping in this book is alarming and unbearable to read.

It seriously took me weeks to get into it, and even then it wasn’t out of my own free will and enjoyment, more so the fact I was just kinda sick of it looming over my head and wanted to be done with it.

I’m really disappointed that I didn’t enjoy this but the lack of elegance when it came to providing information for the readers to understand the world building was insufferable. I literally didn’t have a clue what was going on nor could I keep up with anything. I wanted to love this so badly since Chloe’s YA books are some of my favourites but this didn’t work for me at all!

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

Inmortal Longings is the first book in an adult epic fantasy trilogy (The Flesh and False Gods) inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, told from multiple povs and packed with action, a deadly game setting and an enemies-to-lovers romance between a princess murderer seeking revenge and an exiled noble.

When I found out I was given an e-arc of this book I almost fainted (yes, I'm not kidding). This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I love The Secret Shanghai series with all my heart and I was very excited to pick up this book, because the premise sounded very good and Chloe Gong writes the best enemies-to-lovers relationships.

I'm going to start with what I enjoyed the most about the book:
- The worldbuilding: I loved how complex and well-defined it was. The concept of body-jumping interested me from the beginning and, even though I was very confused and overwhelmed until I hit the first 20% of the book, I think it was very clever.
- The writing: I'm such a fan of the writing, it was beautiful, vivid and immersive.
- The different perspectives: sometimes, when a book has multiple povs it gets hard for me to follow the story or to be interested enough in each of the characters. This was not the case here. I liked every pov and thought each one was interesting and necessary for the plot.
- The plot twists: there's one in particular that I didn't see coming and had me screaming !!! Can't say more, because of spoilers, but it has to do with a certain main character and their backstory.
- The grayness of the main characters: look, I love people who are good and do everything out of kindness, but give me morally gray characters plus a tragic backstory and I'm yours for the rest of my existence.

Now, the things that weren't my cup of tea:
- The romance: although I liked Calla and Anton, I'm not a big fan of how their relationship developed. It felt a bit flat. The enemies-to-lovers bit was there and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I wasn't really invested. However, I enjoyed the banter and the involvement of knives.
- The pace: it took me a while to get into the story mainly because the pace was a bit off in my opinion.
- The games: this was what annoyed me the most. I expected to be very engaged in the competition, because it had a lot of potential but, in the end, I didn't really care. I didn't feel like the characters were at real risk most of the time and this was supposed to be deadly. There were deaths, of course, and lots of blood and very graphic scenes, but, I don't know, something was lacking. I wasn't suffering for Anton and Calla and they weren't afraid either, or at least I didn't feel they were.
- Calla: don't get me wrong, I adored this murderous princess, she could step on me for all I care. However, I found myself thinking of Juliette from These Violent Delights more than once during the reading, I think these two characters have very similar personalities.

Overall, the book didn't meet my high expectations, it had its ups and downs, but was enjoyable. I'll be picking up the next book, mostly because I liked the ending and am curious about where the story is going.

TW: blood, violence (very graphic)

*Thank you NetGalley for sending me a digital copy of Immortal Longings in exchange for an honest review