Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton for providing an arc in exchange for a review.

According to the palace, the traitor Princess Calla is dead. She was caught and killed in her attempted to escape, and San-Er can rest easy knowing no murderer princess hides in its streets.
But Calla is very much alive and has bided her time, driven to dispense her justice and kill King Kasa.

Strength is a conscious effort. First, you will be braver, and then you will be stronger.
They trained her for war. And she rose up to wage it on them.

She can put her plan in action in a Hunger Games-esque killing tournament where 88 participants are unleashed in the city to kill each other before the victor is left and can meet the King.

Put your name in the lottery, slaughter only eighty-seven of your fellow citizens, and be awarded with riches beyond your wildest dreams.

As proved by her previous books, Chloe Gong is the master of enemies-to-lovers and slow burn. Normally, I don’t get on with the overdone, unrealistic enemies-to-lovers, but I will devour whatever Chloe Gong writes apparently. She’s that good.

Maybe if couples these days went for matching bloodstains instead of wedding rings.

Finally, the amazing magic system? I don’t even know how to describe it simply for a review, but basically think Freaky Friday - some people owning a gene that allows them to jump from body to body if they have sufficient qi. It makes for a heck of an advantage in a killing tournament.
It also allows Gong to explore issues of identity, gender, and how people see themselves. She writes to impress.

I have one complaint - CHLOE GONG, WHAT WAS THAT END?! I now have to wait for the next release after that? My heart is ripped in two and then shredded into a thousand pieces, thanks.

If you liked The Hunger Games, Red Rising, or All of Us Villains, I promise you will love this!

Absolutely loved this hunger games esque story, I was hooked from start to finish. The story centres around 3 main characters, prince August, princess Calla and Anton.
Anton and Calla enter the games both intent on fighting to the death to win the prize, giving Calla access to the King in order to kill him and free the City, all with the help from her cousin August.
She teams up with Anton to eliminate players quicker. I enjoyed the enemy to lovers narrative, Calla is a very strong and determined character, right to the end!
Loved the ending and already dying to read book 2 in this series!

Immortal Longings is an absolute ambitious story to write, but sadly, CG failed to
deliver it. Disclaimer, l enjoyed her Secret Shanghai Series--not my fav series ever but enough to make anticipate her upcoming works. I really tried to enjoy IL but it’s just not appealing whatsoever.

This is CG’s adult debut about Antony & Cleopatra retelling in a setting inspired by Kowloon Walled City. It also mainly involving a deadly game inspired by The Hunger Games. Up to this point, it sounds amazing, right? But the thing is, the execution was terrible and made zero sense.

Let's talk about one thing at a time. Calla, the female main character, is the more feral & violent version of Juliette Cai. Anton, on the other hand, doesn't even have a solid personality. It’s giving “Barbie is everything, he’s just Ken”🙃 There's a LOT of side characters that instead of adding more layers to the story, they simply just make it more confusing. Also their names were so unmemorable, which is annoying for a complicated fantasy like this.

The concept of the magic system was actually cool but has a lot of flaws. There’s a “jumping” gene that allows the owner to invade and possess other person's body. The abandoned body would become "empty vessel" until someone inhabitate it again. And the possessed person would have no recollections of when their body was possessed. AND THE PALACE HAS NO STRICT RULE ABOUT THIS. I MEAN, ITS CLEARLY DANGEROUS. IMAGINE IF BAD GUYS HAS THIS GENE AND EXPLOIT IT???

Next, the "deadly game". It's straight The Hunger Games ripoff in a badly organized way. There's no rule, without specific arena (the arena is the whole city), the participants could still interact with non-participants, allowed to go anywhere, doing whatever they want. They could take a break from the game or quit if they don’t want to continue anymore. The only thing that important is that there will be only 1 victor who will instantly showered with wealth and that’s it. The whole concept is SO flimsy and messy😭

The info & descriptions were overwhelming, the plot was all over the place. The romance was bland and lacking in chemistry. On top of that, the ending wasn’t satisfying. You probably know that CG loves to write cliffhangers. But instead of giving me suspense and anticipation, it just annoyed me. A lot of things remain unclear. I guess thats for the next book’s problem to solve but at this point IDC about this series anymore😭

I wish I could give this more stars but I just didn’t find even a single thing that felt enjoyable. I practically dragged myself throughout the book bc of my stubbornness that prevented me to DNF. If you like complex and mysterious story like in the The Atlas Six but make it dystopian and bloody, you’d probably like this book!

Chloe Gong’s debut adult fantasy is an Anthony and Cleopatra retelling, set in the background of the games of the King as individuals compete in a fight to the death, hunger games style battle for the honour of being crowned victor. The only tricky part is… body jumping is possible, meaning kills have to be quick less you risk your opponent simply switching body. Each competitor has their reason for competing, none moreso than our two titular characters - Cella and Anton.

Cella, the former princess runaway long assumed dead, and Anton, a palace-born exile, are thrown into the games as a matter of circumstance; begin an intense, all consuming romance. Their relationship is a marvel to read - Chloe nails time and time again the angst-driven desire of two scorned people who, by no circumstances, should be together. The relationship was a joy to watch unfold, but the characterisation of both stood out without a doubt - you have a firm understanding of exactly who they are and what they wish to achieve.

I’ve read, and adored, everything Gong has published to date and yet I cannot help but feel this is her best work yet. The worldbuilding is exquisite, with a fast-paced, multifaceted plot and an entire ensemble of characters. She balances characterisation + plot development perfectly, the end had me experiencing almost every emotion possible for a human to experience. Absolutely ecstatic to continue reading this trilogy.

Immortal Longings is the exciting first book in Chloe Gongs debut adult fantasy series. I haven't read any other books by this author but I've heard great things so I had high expectations. I've always loved Antony and Cleopatra and thought this book was definitely a unique take on the classic. The writing style was lovely and flowed seamlessly.

I really like the characters, however I felt rather disconnected from the setting. The world building felt rushed and I found myself extremely confused at times.

Nevertheless, I think that Immortal Longings was a solid adult debut and I look forward to reading more by Chloe Gong.

I have questions.

About hues.

Immortal Longings is the first foray by Chloe Gong into Adult and it's a good one. In the twin cities of San-Er, body swapping and murder are the game.

It's a game I enjoyed because stabby implications.

And with all games, certain moves come out of left field. Twisty trickery afoot here.

I like Calla. And I like Antony. I liked their voices. How sharp Calla was to her own detriment. How determinedly ambitious Antony was to the point that he'll break his foundations to keep climbing higher.

I liked the allusion to a romantic thread in Anthony's life.

Calla, not so much. It didn't hit where it should have and that disappointing.

The city itself, I felt like it could have had more character. I didn't feel the claustrophobia that I wanted to experience. I get, that it was grim and way over cramped and that life and light are hard to find. But I didn't feel it.

WHAT I DID FEEL, HOWVER, WAS PUFE WHAT THE FUCKERY AT THE ENDING.

How actually dare you Ms. Gong. And, also, how??????

big thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher for this arc.

5. big. shiny. stars.

good fucking god dude she has done it AGAIN. NO MISSES. BANGER AFTER BANGER. it is no secret that i am actual trash for miss chloe gong's work, but TRULY. this was so good, again.

i've described this before as being a voluntary hunger games set within a big city that's way too overcrowded – eighty-eight players having to battle to the death to get to the finals. they all play for the large sum of money to be won, except for miss calla. she just wants to fix their kingdom. and dude i love her so much. AND ANTON. i love both of them.

the story, the characters, i might be biased but i don't care. i will be impatiently waiting for the next book.

AND I WILL ALSO BE SENDING MISS GONG MY THERAPY BILL. thank you very much. WHAT was that ending??? screaming crying throwing up.

anyways. i can't wait to see more of this world in the next book.

Immortal Longings took place in a kingdom called Talin with twin cities as its capitol, San-Er, and King Kasa at its head. The story began with the crown prince, August, conspiring with the long-believed-to-be-dead Princess Calla, after her bloodbath and petricide 5 years ago. The motive was none other than toppling down the king by becoming the winner of the survival 'game'. Yes, very much like what's happening in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, but make it less make sense, chaotic, and rule wise questionable.

Everyone with the gene, have the ability to 'jump' from one body to another. It's their Qi that's jumping, a body is a mere vessel. How about the target body? The ones being jumped to? Defeated. Unconscious until the one invading their bodies left. (I also found this very very concerning)

Confused yet? SAME.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND READ THE BOOK DESCRIPTION VERY CAREFULLY, Please.

It's actually sadden me that I didn't love this book the way I expected it to be:"(

It was overwhelming from the start. The world building was not one to be absorbed easily, at least by my brain capacity. One of the thing I regard highly from Gong's writing is how she made the setting alive. How the city breaths and strive. Sadly I didn't find it here in Immortal Longings.

Advertise as enemy to lovers, it may be there on page, but I couldn't really feel it. Their dynamic was good, but not that deep and devastating where it hurts you when they have to kill each other iykwim. They didn't burn and the feelings were surface level.

None of the characters are appealing enough to be rooted for. There are so many of them appeared at the first half, and gone in the second half without much effect to the reader and to the plot. Some of them started as a promising character but ended up quite disappointing.

Idek what to say about the plot. It scatters all around with no closure. I left with lots of guesses and much to clarify in the later book.

The premise was good, but it didn't well executed in the end.

I felt more irritation than suspense toward the cliffhangers.

Things I love: The FMC live up to the expectation as the skillful fighter. I love the bloody fighting scene.

It was quite engaging to follow only to find the answers.

If you're into dystopian retro setting, survival bloody game, political intricts dealing with toppling down kingdom, laced with betrayal and PLOT TWISTS give this book a go.

And if you're wondering whether it has the same vibe with Secret Shanghai series NO IT WAS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT 🤣👌👌

Thanks Netgalley and Hodderscape for the arc 💕

Summary:

Every year the kingdom of Talin host a competition where competitors can win untold riches - if they survive.

This year Princess Calla who has been disgraced by the kingdom and Anton Makusa an exiled aristocrat enter the competition secretly forming an unexpected alliance.

Their developing relationship causes Calla to question which is more important - love or her kingdom?

Review

The concept of this book is great, the magic is imaginative and unique. The description of the competition brings to light the scenes between the characters and the ruthlessness of the games.

But…I found it hard to feel any attachment to the main characters and ended up not really caring about what happened to them.

I found the characters and storyline confusing at times and felt the book would have benefited from more of a backstory being set out about them and the competition.

The pace was a bit slow and although the cliffhanger ending was good, I’m probably not going to continue the series.

An exhilarating start to a new series!

It’s hard not to liken this book to the Hunger Games, from the battle to death to the starving providences, but it’s also like a real life game of deadly assassin.

There’s lot of characters to get your head round in this book, but the key character is Calla, the Princess of Er, who is on a mission win the games and kill the king. The rest of the characters are those who want to help her, or hurt her.

As with any fantasy story, there’s a lot to get your head round in the first half of the book. From the world building to the magic system, you can feel a bit boggled. BUT, I can confirm you will finish this book with a mighty does of WTAF and a desire to get cracking on the next.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC.

I am always become big fans of reimage or unique retelling. And for years after The Hunger Games series, there is no other series dare to offer story with real high stakes and bloody competition. And this book gave me all of that in one one sitting.

This was my second read from the author and I absolutely love this version of her writing. The prose is darker and beautifully delivered, Descriptive and kinda repetitive for the world surrounding the characters. But it also help me as readers to absorb into our main characters's eyes. Actually the worldbuild, background historical, details setting and magic system seem so intriguing but kinda confusing. Maybe I need to reread later.

I am not fans of the characters names, it was too obviously butchering, too similar with the real one but I still enjoyed to peek their voices, their relationship and got heart sport when following their bloody feral actions. I absolute love this brutal, fast pace and intriguing story. I won't ruin other readers experience with too much details about the characters because I think Cala, Anton and August's ARC journey are the best gems that worth your time to explore.

Thank you Hodderscape from Hodder&Stoughton and Netgalley for provided my copy. My thoughts and opinions always become my own.

*4.5 stars

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.

miss chloe gong just cannot miss i fear. every single book she writes feels like a dagger to my heart. the only complain i have is having to wait for the second book because that ending got me screaming like phoebe bridgers at the end of i know the end for real.

𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!!

the complex world building and action in this book had me flying through the pages unable to put it down. I absolutely love Chloe Gong's writing because you really feel as if you are right there in the book experiencing everything with the characters as they do. unfortunately some of the characters didn't hold up with how they are originally portrayed and the beginning of the book and some of the magic system was a bit hard to wrap my head around but apart from that it was a really great read.

3.75/5 stars can't wait to see what happens next!!

This is my first book by Chloe Gong, and I'm really intrigued by her way of writing. It's colorful, fast-paced and mesmerizing.
Immortal Longings indeed is an adult book, showing the worst of humanity and getting bloody at times.
In a restrictive kingdom and its dark twin cities, people suffer and barely hang by a thread at times. Yet they all get entertained by the Games, where 88 contestants fight each other to the death until only one remains (yes, get your Hunger Games vibes up). Though they do get provided with weapons, the strongest one is based on a magic system called Jumping. Chosen people can transfer their qi to another body and such inhabit it for as long as they want. What sounds simple is quite complex when thinking it through and raises all kinds of questions. Some are answered in the book: Jumping does not provide immortality, because the qi fades out after 100 years, no matter the body you're in. Some questions are left open or anwered partially with too many loopholes, and some aren't properly touched upon. It's the last one that put me at unease while reading the book - when some people can just invade a body whenever they want, and do with that body whatever they want, then this is cruel abuse and transgression. Gong tries to establish the view that qi is everything, and the body is just a vessel, but it didn't lift my concerns about this.
The characters are really nicely morally grey, and you might find yourself loving and hating them at the same time. However, their motives are sometimes murky and I wished there had been more depth and explanations at times.
The end of the book is a real game changer and you'll want to keep reading after it.
All in all I enjoyed it very much, and had Gong chosen a different magic system, I'd rate it much higher.
3,5/5 stars
Thank you so much @netgalley and @hodderbooks for the eARC.
#ImmortalLongings

What the hell was that ending?!

***
Immortal Longings is Gong's adult debut; a retelling of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra with her signature speculative noir stylisms but with Hong Kong 90s gritty action-flick flare and dystopian undercurrents à la Hunger Games. Calla Tuoleimi is presumed dead, but has been lurking in the shadows of her bloodshed and her secrets as she readies for the endgame. Anton Makusa is desperate to save the past, his childhood lover, and will kill for victory in the games to keep her alive.

The good ole conflict of 'duty vs desire' strings the cast together as some are caught in an internal battle with a personal selfish desire and their (goshdarn) sense of righteousness and others swing towards opposite ends of the spectrum. It is made clear where the characters fall on the spectrum, and how the triumvirate of the cast influence each other. Another familiar theme, one seen before in Gong's previous series, is the enduring power of love; towards one's country, towards one's companion, towards one's self. But we do see times of self-loathing and doubt when characters waver and aloofness from others towards the concept, believing it to be beneath them. Identities and power are pretty interesting themes and topics to also consider, mainly with respect to FAFG's worldbuilding.

As someone who heard of but never examined the source of inspiration for this series and made some Google searches after finishing IL, I'd say Gong made great interpretations of the themes that have clear links to the play without being too elementary in her execution while avoiding the *relatively* (cough) outdated ideals that date Shakespeare's works.

With ends waiting to be tied up (and surely to play a bigger role in the sequel) and a cliffhanger to answer for, Immortal Longings paves a bloody road for the next instalment of Flesh and False Gods.

Thanks to Netgalley and (especially) Hodder & Stoughton (for always having my back regarding Chloe Gong's books) for providing me with the e-ARC/DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Entertaining from beginning to end and with a great setting, Immortal Longings will be perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and intense romances.

Chloe Gong is a genius, and with Immortal Longings, this thought of mine only solidifies more and more.

In the city of San-Er, thousands of people flock every year in order to face a series of games. These battles, unless one dies, assures them winnings equal to unimaginable riches.
After losing her parents, Calla's goal is to suppress the monarchy, and if she ever wins the games, she will have the chance to kill her uncle.
It was Calla's good fortune to meet Anton Makusa, the best jumper in the kingdom.
An alliance of sorts is formed, also enriched by the presence of King Kasa's adopted son August.

*Calla Tuoleimi , princess of Er. She could do nothing on a throne, but she can do everything with a sword in her hand.*

Immortal Longings is a real gem.
It managed to keep me glued to the pages of the book, undoubtedly an engaging and dynamic book.
Rich in events, the story is enriched by the absence of our main characters.
Calla, besides being a princess, is a born fighter. She has her goals clearly defined and is willing to do anything to win, until she meets Anton.
Well, he doesn't go short on strong character either.
The worldbuilding enriches the story and makes me fully immerse myself in the story.

In conclusion: read it!

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong is an exciting new series by one of my absolute favourite authors and it's a story of living in dilapidated cities, entering a bloodbath game for a better life that leads to the goal of bringing down an evil ruler. This book was confusing a lot of the time but once everything falls into place, it was so thrilling and nerve wracking.

I was all into this story and the author has once again outdone herself. I absolutely had no idea what to expect in this dystopian tale that reminds me so much of The Hunger Games but with a twist of having the ability to move between bodies with one's qi. Only the premise is similar but apart from that, it was totally at a course of its own.

I have to say the layout is weird as always if its an e-arc from netgalley but because this book has multiple povs, that was my main concern because it keeps changing and I have to give all my concentration towards it.

I am already well equipped by the author's plot twists yet this book still caught me by surprise. This alone is the reason why I'm such a huge fan of the author's works. And you know it's a Chloe Gong staple when the main character wields weapons the best and its just so badass I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel because that ending? Outrageous!

All in all, this is a very exhilarating read. One I definitely recommend you to read.

It's chloe gong. You know it was going to be good. And it is. A double plot-line that keeps you guessing and second guessing yourself the whole way though!? And the characters. I connected with them so quickly and really felt for their highs and lows. The setting was so detailed, I couldn't easily imagine myself there. The romance was a subtle background one which I loved, and let the power plays and politics really take forefront and it was worth it! Highly recommend and it shows the continuous improvement in her writing. Can't wait for book 2