Hunger games meets Anthony and Cleopatra in this wonderful and compelling story, filled with love and dangers, death and cunning.

I have to thank the publisher for sending me in advance this copy in exchange of an honest review.
And since I have to be honest... I really wished to love this book, and I was very curious about it since I've read the plot and all the praise this author received for her previous works. Unfortunately Immortal Longings is excessively full of informations that yes, can be useful regarding the world building and the related politics, but it ended to be boring, with too few action moments and flat characters. I couldn't relate with them and that didn't help my reading.
I'm really disappointed.

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stars

My love for ms Chloe Gong is never ending. Each time she releases a book I can't help but to read it asap. Immortal Longings is Ms Gong's first non - YA book and she absolutely ATE and devoured. I cannot get enough of her colourful and expressive writing that is almost lyrical. Her ability to portray emotions and draw out such fleshed-out characters is mind-blowing. Each page I'm full of tension and anticipation and I literally can never put her books down. Although Immortal longings was sometimes confusing and required a few re-reads to understand the world building (or maybe I just needed more coffee) this is a fast paced fantasy that absolutely tore my heart out and is sprinkled with just the right amount of romance. This book left me craving for the sequel and I truly cannot wait to request for an ARC.

Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Chloe Gong, I am forever grateful for this ARC, thank you !! 5 stars

I am going to be completely honest. This is my second time trying to read a book by Chloe Gong and it might be my last. I'm not sure if it is because her books get overhyped or because her writing really does not work for me but I didn't enjoy this. Felt like it needed a few more rounds of reviews, and I know it is an ARC, but I think it shouldn't feel this much like a first draft. I was not interested in the characters, at all, and felt the plot was not good either, so there was nothing pulling me forward...
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.

Sadly this wasn't for me! This sounded perfect for me but I just couldn't connect with the characters and there was so much info dumping that I could not force myself to read anymore. I found that whilst there was so much detail about certain aspects of the world, the body jumping wasn't explored critically. The lack conversation around consent made this very uncomfortable to read at points and I just didn't feel this was investing in.

This one just didn't work for me. The world had potential but it wasn't fully utilised in my opinion. I couldn't connect with the characters and the body swapping concept made me a little uncomfortable.

when I first heard that Chloe Gong was writing her first adult book based on Antony and Cleopatra I'll admit that I was pumped for the former and a little skeptical of the latter. This was an amazing adventure! Calla was such an interesting heroine, she was sassy, capable, just overall great and this world was fascinating. I can't wait to see where this goes next!

‘Every year, thousands flock to San-Er, the dangerously dense capital twin cities of the kingdom of Talin, where the palace hosts a set of deadly games. Those confident in their ability to jump between bodies can enter a fight to the death - for the chance to win unimaginable riches.

Princess Calla Tuoleimi has been in hiding for five years, ever since she murdered her parents to free the people of Talin from her tyrannical family. Only one person left: her reclusive uncle King Kasa. If she wins, she will finally get the chance to kill him.’

I was really looking forward to this book as I have a soft spot for a book about deadly games. The world building was a lot of the first 25% of the book which I don’t mind as long as there is some action as well. There was but it was sporadic considering the games seemed to be the central point of the story.

I also need to get my biggest ICK out of the way: the body jumping…whilst I understand it, there is a love scene in this book and they are both in borrowed bodies! Not only that but we know that the people can be conscious of what’s happening as well so this is Wonder Woman 84 levels of inappropriate lack of consent.

I did enjoy the female main character and happy she had a hard edge to her as well as a soft side in her few friends. Anton’s motives seem slightly stalkerish for me but when you have a book about fighting to the death I guess that doesn’t matter as much?

Whilst I was happy to go along for the ride this was a long book that could have been edited down, I wanted to enjoy it more than I actually did and I am in two minds whether to complete the series.

I did like the book and if you can stick with it the second half is much better than the first.

Yeah so this is definitely not for me. I think I'm coming to realize that Chloe Gong's writing is perhaps not meant for me. I loved the TVD duology but looking back I think I did because I binged both books in a day and then promptly forgot about them in a short while. I haven't really liked any of her work much post that. Not to say it's not good, but it's just not too appealing to me.

I really wanted to love this book but for some reason I just couldn’t get into it.
I didn’t care about the characters at all and the plot felt rather convoluted and confusing especially at the beginning. I cannot judge whether this got better because I dnf this book at 30% as I had no desire to continue reading and was not going to force myself through a story I didn’t enjoy but at the same time I feel like that’s fair because at 30% the story should have started to grip me which sadly didn’t happen.

Chloe Gong's books do not disappoint. Loved the magic system.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

I've previously really enjoyed Chloe Gong's books and Immortal Longings did not disappoint. It was gripping with phenomenal World building and wonderful characters. Would definitely recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for this e-arc. I have requested it because I really wanted to try a Chloe Gong book and the synopsis for this one sounded incredible. The story and world building were interesting enough to keep me reading, but unfortunately the characters were not my favourite. I have mixed feelings about this book, but I still think it is worth reading. I will keep this in mind for when vol 2 comes out, depending on my reading mood I might pick it up.

This was overall a good book and I liked it.

I was confused by all the different POVs and it threw me off a little. I really liked the worldbuilding and magic system!

I don't know what it was about this book that didn't quite work for me, but unfortunately, it just didn't. The writing was great, with an immediacy to it that I really liked. The plot was simple but well constructed. The characters were interesting and the world building was good. For some reason however, the sum of these parts didn't connect with me, but I am quite sure that there are many people who will eat this book up - I just wish I was one of them!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Incredible as always with Chloe Gong !

I really loved the "These violent Delights" serie and I was so excited to finally discover her new adult one.
And I loved it ! Chloe is kind of Shhakespeare retailling queen at this point. All is extremely well done in this book. The characters and storyline are impressive to me and I'm even more impress by the atmosphere which is depaint here and all this universe.

A hit for sure !

This is the first Gong book that I have really embraced and enjoyed every second and perhaps that's due to the target audience change, I'm unsure - But I was very much into this!

The action in this was spot on, I loved the sarcasm and wit of the characters and we gots all the fire in this one! I enjoyed the romance element and we got a bit of a 'Whoa there Nelly!' at the end! I'm confident I'd jump feet first into book two and I look forward to seeing how the st

I felt like this was just lacking in everything. The world building, the characters, the politics, magic and the plot all just missed any depth - and that's even with all the massive amounts of info dumping that Chloe Gong provides to try and set up this city.

I read a lot of fantasy, and it's really, really obvious when an author just doesn't spend time finessing their world. Immortal Longings just felt a bit amateurish in execution, with clunky dialogue and prose. The games that are promised in the summary failed to invite any kind of tension to the plot, and the romance just wasn't interesting or developed.

Disappointing, but you can tell Gong has promise with big ideas and an epic imagination. She just needs time to develop her craft.

DNF at 45%
The characters barely have any personality, the info dump is insane. I have no idea what's happening and I don't care