I had so many issues with this book that I barely know where to begin. The world was an illogical mishmash, the characters were cardboard cutouts, and there was no plot, just random events.

The premise made no sense. There was no need for Calla to attend the weird death match. The palace and king were poorly protected. She could’ve walked in every time she wanted, even if she didn’t want to jump and change bodies. At 30% mark, Calla and Anton hadn’t even met. August seemed to be the most important character. He was definitely most interesting.

This was supposed to be Anthony and Cleopatra retelling. It explains the weird names, but Shakespeare it ain’t. I would’ve DNFd this, but had to persevere to the end to find out if it ends like the play. Spoiler: it doesn’t. It might have been better if it did—definitely unexpected in YA—but there’s always the sequel. I won’t be reading it.

This is an imaginative fantasy retelling of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. The author doesn’t follow the play very closely but uses it brilliantly as a springboard for her own plot and world.
I loved the world and magic system although the body swapping felt very uncomfortable to me. I cannot imagine a world where bodies are treated as just another set of clothes but I really enjoyed the creativity of the idea. The setting of the city of San-Er is fantastic. It’s a grim place to live where there is not enough space for all its inhabitants and yet people still flock to live there because it’s better there than anywhere else.
The three main characters are all completely ruthless and will stop at almost nothing to achieve what they want. I enjoyed the dynamics between them although I would like to have seen a bit more of August. I imagine that his story arc will be developed more in the next book. The plot is intriguing and kept me wanting to read just one more chapter while the ending set things up beautifully for the next book.
There were issues with the pacing of the novel in my opinion. There was a lot of info dumping in the early part of the book and the author seemed to repeat herself quite a bit. I felt that Calla and Anton were a bit two dimensional and was actually more interested in some of the side characters and would have liked to see more of them.
For me, this was definitely an improvement on Chloe Gong’s previous work and I’m looking forward to reading the next instalment.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers Hodder and Stoughton for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thankyou to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape for a free e-arc in exchange of an honest review!

I initially tried to read this without audio but found it quite difficult to get into. I went back once the audio was available to tandem read and found it much more digestible!
Chloe Gongs stories have been hit or miss for me but mainly because political aspects of the stories
(just not my kind of thing) however this story wasnt too politics heavy and have a really interesting magic system to the world (definitely more fantastical in my opinion than here previous stories)

I was undecided whether the book was going to be a 3.5 or 4 star book untill the end blew me away!
Looking forward and now waiting impatiently for the second book!

I went into this book with really high hopes, having heard nothing but good things about Chloe’s other books and with the concept of this one sounding right up my street. Unfortunately it didn’t match up to my expectations at all, and whilst enjoyed the elements that felt reminiscent of books like the Hunger Games, I feel like the potential the plot had was wasted on poor writing and flat characters. The narrative voice wasn’t very engaging, and at times I lost interest in what was happening because I just couldn’t connect to the world or the characters. Additionally the romance wasn’t very convincing, it felt too trope-y for me and as that became a bigger part of the plot I just found myself cringing more and more.
I wish the romance between two of the more side characters had been explored more, as that felt a lot more genuine and like their relationship was built on more than just how much they loved to hate each other. Overall, it feels like the author could have just spent a bit more time padding out her characters instead of being overly ambitious with the world building and the confusing political system.

2,5/5 stars

Ah. This had such an interesting premise… But the execution was too meh for me.

The world building is slow, repetitive and gets almost annoying. There was such potential in the twin cities of San-Er and in the magic system of Talin, unfortunately Gong goes on and on about the same things every three pages which makes it all very hard to get through.

Moreover, the characters could have been so interesting but it all goes from 0 to 100 in about 3 pages and it’s such a shame! Same thing for the romance that was not very well introduced (no tension whatsoever for 60% of the book and then they rip each other’s clothes apart and say I love you?? Please)

I honestly don’t know if I’ll read the sequel as I’m just very disappointed by what could have been a brilliant book.

OMG, Chloe Gong totally nailed it again with this book!! Seriously, it's been one of my absolute faves this year. Think Hunger Games meets the epic love story of Antony and Cleopatra, all set in this super cool world with an awesome magic system where people can "jump" between bodies. The suspense in this book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time, and those unexpected twists, just like in These Violent Delights, kept me hooked. The world-building is so immersive, and the romance, though subtle, is sooo good! Calla and Anton's chemistry is off the charts and makes their characters absolutely irresistible.

Calla is a total boss - she's brilliant, ruthless, and her past is seriously complex. And get this, she refuses to "jump," which adds a crazy intriguing twist to the story. Anton, on the other hand, starts off as a bit of a mystery, but damn, he's got that charm and magnetism that draws you in. Their dynamic is fire!

Chloe Gong's writing just keeps getting better, and I'm dying for the next book. If you're into plots that keep you guessing and characters you can't help but connect with, trust me, you need to read this book. It's an epic journey you won't forget!

Thrilling!

A body-swapping romp through a fantasy world with a Shakespeare retelling plot! I did like this more than the violent delights series, and I feel like Gong's writing has improved immensely. This read like an adult novel, and the world building was pretty great. I loved the characters and the plot, and I'm excited for book 2!

I had really high hopes for this – as I have read and really enjoyed These Violent Delights, and this is inspired by Anthony and Cleopatra – but I left feeling conflicted in the end. I started off really invested and interested, but as the story progressed that started to decline.

The vibes and worldbuilding started off strong, and it felt vibrant and unique, inspired by the real Kowloon Walled City. I also liked our characters – though, even if Calla and Anton are the leads, I felt much more interested in August and I wish we followed him and Galipei around more. I felt that we could have gotten a lot deeper as far as history, every day life, as well as palace life, as we get told a lot but not necessarily shown a lot. This was very much a first book in a series, so perhaps this will be expanded on in next books. Some people talk about infodumping a lot, but for me it didn’t feel too overwhelming.

As far as the plot is concerned, while it started out with quite high tension and rapid sequences of events, it turned quite repetitive and it slowed down significantly. Despite being in a high stakes deadly game, the level of threat waned and most of the actual kills happened off screen, so to speak. There was a reveal that came out of nowhere, and as far as the climax that the contest builds towards – it got rushed in the last stages, and the actual event was over in about three pages, which was disappointing.

I did feel awkward following a developing relationship between two characters where one of them was constantly in someone else’s body. The narration does address that using other bodies for this is assumed almost normal, as it’s a world where this is something that happens frequently. However, reading about it I kept feeling more uncomfortable, especially as we are repeatedly confronted with the people these bodies belong to when they get left behind, and it must be horrible. It made it difficult to root for them, or get excited as things progress, which was tricky anyway as they both make some questionable decisions but that isn’t as much as a dealbreaker for me as the possible consent concerns.

Overall, I guess there are just different things I wished we’d spent more time on, but I am still interested in picking up the sequel when it comes out – in the version I ended up getting there was an footnoted (that’s word, right?) chapter in the back, and there were quite a few hints that the world will be expanded upon, and I’m intrigued to see where that will go.

The blurb was really interesting, hence why I made a request for the ARC. However, it didn't worked for me : I couldn't like the characters, the story itself was slow and predictable, and I didn't liked the writing style (that's a very personal reason, but still).

First of, main characters are 21 (August), 23 (Calla) and 25 (Anton) years old, so it feels more toward New Adult than Adult to me, even with such violence, but I understand why it's marked as Adult.
There were multiple 3rd person POV and that's generally what I prefer in my books, but it turned out that it felt more like I was watching what was happening, without having more feelings and conviction, which means I couldn't get attached to any of the characters : the ending was supposed to be touching, but I actually did not felt anything at all because of that.

If you know even a little bit of what happens with Anthony and Cleopatra's story, then you kinda guess the ending. The "game" was interesting but the story went everywhere and nowhere and it was just confusing - the game happens on a long period but it still feels like there were too much going on everywhere except for the game. The plot twists and the ending was predictable, so no surprise here.

I liked the body jumping / qi story tho, even if it was hella disturbing and I had a really hard time getting used to the fact that to them, a body is like a piece of clothing. It still feels wrong, even now, about invading someone's body without their consent or them knowing, doing things with their body, even having sex with someone else's body (let's not even talk here about orientation because I got myself mad just by thinking "what if he's having sex with a woman but that body's true owner is gay???").... Like, I totally get that "body is disposable" thinking for those who have the jumping gene if they do so within themselves and empty vessels. But those who don't have the gene don't think that way and that's a big no.

Anyway lol I really thought about DNF'ing at around 40% because nothing happened, but I kept on reading because it's an ARC. Then FINALLY Calla and Anton met (yes, that far in the book) and I just had enough interest to keep reading. But I won't be reading the next book. Sad, because on the blurb it just felt like a book ment for me...

Immortal Longings is the first Chloe Gong book I've read and I really enjoyed it.
In Immortal Longings people have the ability to jump between different bodies and once a year the people of Talin flock to the Capital to watch the desperate souls with these abilities compete in a series of deadly games.
Two of the competitors Anton and Calla, end up in an unexpected alliance, the relationship and banter between these 2 is the highlight of the book and a fun way to explore the enemies to lovers trope.
There were some parts of the world building that I struggled with and because the games are over several weeks i felt the pacing was off sometimes.
However if you want an urban fantasy with some dark and violent moments mixed with an enemies to lovers romance this is one for you

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an e-arc copy of Immortal Longings, in exchange for an honest review.

THOUGHTS:

- The plot was what sold this book to me: a hunger games-esque battle royale with body-jumpers, in a setting inspired by the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong? Count me in.
- The action sequences and especially the scenes in the games were great, and Calla was definitely my favourite POV to read from (we get a lot of POVs in this book).
- I enjoyed how fleshed out the world was, and you can clearly tell how much thought Chloe Gong has put into the concept of body-jumpers and the histories of San-Er. Although I like to feel like I understand the structure and history of the fantasy worlds I read about, the amount of info-dropping in this book, especially in the first half, was somewhat tiresome and it was often hard to remember what was actually happening in the plot as it would go off on a tangent about something completely unrelated to what was actually happening in the scene, or something that it didn't make sense for the character to be thinking about at that time. It also meant it took me a while to begin to get a feel of each character's personalities, as so much of the narrative was explaining contexts and histories.
- On top of this, despite all of the back-story explaining body-jumpers, there were still some things that didn't make sense to me. In particular one plot point that I won't explain further for spoiler reasons leaves a gaping hole in the logic of being able to identify persons by the colour of their eyes rather than the bodies they wear, and I have no idea whether this is intentionally left unexplained because it will be revisited in the next book, or whether it was unintentional.
- Having said all that, I really did enjoy the plot of the book, and overall loved the idea of body-jumpers and the action of the games. After that ending, I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series!
- If you enjoy any kind of deadly trials in your books, I think you would enjoy this one.

Looking at the reviews Immortal Longings is a love it or hate it kinda book and I’m firmly in the ‘love it’ camp.
Compelling characters, gripping story, strong world building, interesting magical system with the hint of more to unfold- what’s not to love? And not to forget that cliffhanger of an ending - can’t believe we’ve got to wait until Summer 2024 for the next instalment.

Flesh and False Gods trilogy you are on my (ever growing) book list. Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Highly recommended.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lots of people were talking about this one, and even though the author's first book wasn't for me, I gave this one a try. Sadly, this one wasn't for me, either.

The writing was beautiful, and the author is very talented, but it just didn't click with me. It was very wordy and descriptive in the beginning, which is understandable since the world building must be introduced. But I felt nothing much happened in the first half of the book except a thing or two. I started caring about the plot around 65%. I also didn't care much about the characters. I didn't know much about them for the greater deal of the book except that they're ruthless and very good at killing. The world-building was original; though not without loopholes. Calla and Anton entered this tournament to win (for different reasons) but at some point in the book it says that the people don't believe in the crown and that they'll receive the prizes even if they do win. That made me wonder why someone would enter at all? It does say that the number of participants has gone down dramatically, but it made me feel like we were on a dead-end? I also didn't get a full grasp on the genetic makeup of the people, and we didn't get to interact much with the world besides the descriptions.

I'm sure that this book will find its audience and I'm sad that I didn't like it more. But I did like and admire the original worldbuilding! It's so refreshing with inventive new worlds.

Immortal Longings is my first Chloe Gong book and I enjoyed reading it! I have been enjoying adult fantasies more than YA nowadays, so I wanted to jump into Chloe's books with her debut adult fantasy! Admittedly, the pacing and world-building felt a bit flat at times, but I guess that's fine given that this was the author's debut. I am so impressed with her writing style though, it is SO.VERY. ADDICTIVE. The setting of Immortal Longings was vibrant and beautiful.

I loved how action-packed the storyline was! The magic system felt incredible to me, and I loved Gong's incorporation of a "Hunger Games-inspired" feel to the story. Calla and Anton's romance was the highlight of the book for me, and the plot twists were so incredibly plotted. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see how the book ended. AND IT ENDED WITH A CLIFFHANGER. I need Book 2 immediately!

I found it hard at times to keep up with the names of the characters as there were many of them, but that always happens with me whenever I am reading fantasies, hehe. 4/5 stars, overall. Many thanks to the publisher for the e-ARC!

I wanted so badly to enjoy this, but it fell totally flat for me. Great concept, but 2d characters, odd pacing, info dumping with world building. Perhaps a case of too much hype and too high expectations. Although the content is very much adult, I think this falls more into the YA style and probably wouldn’t recommend for adult fantasy readers but think those looking for a YA syle with adult theme would enjoy.

IMMORTAL LONGINGS was Chloe Gong's first foray into the world of adult fantasy and it did not disappoint. Despite the pacing issues, and somewhat lackluster world building, Gong manages to hook readers from the very first page. I liked how the author was inspired by Hong Kong in terms of the Walled City in Kowloon which has since been demolished.

As for the characters, Calla (Cleopatra) and Anton (Antony), I liked how they were changed to suit her Asian-fantasy inspired setting. The plot was similar to the Hunger Games in terms of technology. However, I felt that majority of the time, it dragged and I honestly found the side-plots to be far more interesting.

In all, I rated this book 3.5 stars due to pacing and some parts of the world-building which I found difficult to grasp (jumping).

I want to start off by saying I had very high expectations for this book as being part of the Booktok community I know how much Chloe Gong's writing is loved. Immortal Longings neither wowed me nor disappointed me - I enjoyed many aspects of her writing and the story however I didn't really form strong attachments to the characters or the plot.

The story was medium-fast paced with action around each corner, this made the story easy to read and get lost in. However, I feel that the world-building needed a little more to it and the characters could have also used more substance.

Overall I enjoyed the read and will look forward to next instalment but thought the story could have been a little more polished.

Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Immortal Longings is a slick, smart, and sharp adult debut that pulls you into its dark and tangled web. Whether you escape or not, it will stay with you.

Something I have always loved about Chloe Gong’s work is how she draws inspiration from classic Shakespearean tales. You can identify the fingerprints of Shakespeare in the characters and overarching plotlines, but these are definitely Gong’s creations. There is always a twist, subversion, or challenge to these well-known narratives. Immortal Longings takes some inspiration from Antony and Cleopatra and for me, this was most evident in the sizzling passion and changing dynamics between Calla and Anton. These two could set the world on fire and would probably happily watch everything around them burn. This is a dynamic that you can never really pin down. Everything is a manipulation, a power play but there are also some feelings in there that catch sparks.

Juliette Cai officially has competition for my favourite Gong characters here in the complex Calla Tuoleimi. She is often cruel, but there are shimemrs of vulnerability and Gong ensures there is depth and layers to her character. She is driven by rage and revenge, going to any means necessary to achieve her goals. However, she is also driven by a deep desire to survive and some of the moments around that are genuinely heart-wrenching. Gong never lets you forget that this is a character whose hands are stained by blood though. She is a badass fighter, branded by her reputation. I also have to shout out Mr Mao Mao for being the only pure character in the entire book (as far as we currently know).

Gong has taken the beating heart of her YA series, tore it out and ramped everything up to eleven. This is a violent book, drenched in blood and death. The stakes are always rising higher, with new and intriguing players stepping onto the board at unexpected moments. She unleashes her trademark, cut-throat twists with some moments that made me want to throw the book across the room. If you thought her previous twists were awful, we have reached new levels of evil genius.

The entire concept of body switching is fascinating and connects to deeper ethical questions around identity and personhood. In this world, it is easy to lose sight of who you truly are and to keep running from the heinous actions you have taken. Also, as a literary device, it works as an excellent way to keep your readers on their toes and creates such a tense and paranoid atmosphere. When literally everyone around you could be an enemy in disguise, who can you truly trust?

As always, Gong’s writing is incredibly evocative. Her worldbuilding is incredibly vivid and rich. San-Er springs to life around you, until you can practically see the smoke and smell the scent of blood in the air. The balance of narrative perspectives is excellent, bringing together a variety of intriguing characters and giving us new insights into both past and present. As with Calla, Anton is given so much depth and complexity in his character. His perspective is one that I adored, filled with devious manipulation and desires. He almost callously ‘jumps’ from body to body with very little regard for those he has invaded.

Immortal Longings is a twisty, intense and vicious stab to the heart that you will absolutely adore.

Chloe Gong was born to write Shakespeare retellings. They are perfect every single time. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year.

This truly is the perfect mix between the Hunger Games and story of Antony and Cleopatra. The world-building and the magic system are very interesting and entrancingly built. I absolutely loved the concept of "jumping" between bodies. It's a great idea and I don't ever remembering reading about it in another book. Transfer of consciousness yes, but not willingly jumping from one body to the other. It was fascinating to learn more about it and how it works.

The protagonists Calla and Anton are the stars of this story and their chemistry is off the charts. I could practically feel it through the pages.

Calla is brilliant, intelligent, cunning and absolutely ruthless. She has a complicated history and, despite being a princess, her life is far from being easy. It was an absolute treat to be introduced to her and learning about her motivations and simply what makes her tick. One of the things I was particularly curious is how she refuses to “jump” between bodies, something that everyone in this world is capable of doing, particularly during the deadly game. The truth when revealed made me re-read the page a few times over to process it.

As for our male protagonist Anton, he’s a complete mystery in the beginning but no less charismatic and magnetic. He’s heavily in debt from keeping his childhood love Otta alive during her coma and is participating in the games in hopes to pay that he owes. Throughout the book, more details of him and his past are revealed, and I kept wanting to know more about what led him to end up with such a life. As the best “jumper” in the kingdom, his alliance to Calla makes sense, but the growing tension between them since they met just jumped off the pages. They complement each other perfectly and seeing them together is so alluring and addictive. I couldn’t stop reading.

I was on the edge of seat the whole time reading this book. Since I read the Gong’s previous duology These Violent Delights, I learned that no one is safe and twists and turns are definitely incoming. I was right.
I can’t wait to see how the story will progress in the next instalment, but this one I will remember for a very long time.

4.5/5

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC for this book.

Antony and Cleopatra is my all time favourite Shakespeare play, so from the moment I heard that this book was being written, I have been incredibly excited for it. Chloe Gong delivers an entertaining fantasy novel that stands out as it’s own story despite its clear inspiration.

At first I was a little disappointed with the retelling elements of this novel, as I expected the novel to more directly parallel the play - as Gong’s These Violent Delights duology did with Romeo and Juliet - however, this book follows its own plot while maintaining the feel and relationships between characters found in Antony and Cleopatra. This book seems to act more as set up for events that mirror the play, while this instalment follows a more original plot line.

Gong’s characters are immediately entertaining and I found myself getting invested in their stories quickly; they also maintain a similar flare and tone to the characters in Gong’s young adult work, so if you enjoyed the characters there, you most likely will here as well. I loved the development of Anton and Calla’s relationship and any time they were on page together was a highlight. Another highlight was the fascinating, body hopping magic system. Because of this, the action scenes here were always tense and demanded attention.

I vastly appreciate Gong’s prose and tight-pacing in this novel, as I read most of it in a single day. Gong has a talent for writing extremely readable stories and that is no different here; the entire novel held my attention for it’s entirety and was so fun and easy to read that I truly got lost in the story and my enjoyment of it.

However I was left wanting more from Immortal Longings. While many aspects of the book worked with the shift from young adult to adult, I do feel the book would’ve benefitted from a little higher page count and more exposition. The book relies heavily on its main event of the game, and while I understood why this existed for the narrative and themes it explores, I wish more details of the origins surrounding this event were explained to give it more of a firm grounding in this aesthetically, well-realised world. Additionally, as much as the book occupies itself with the politics of San-er, I feel a more thorough explanation of how this society functions would’ve been valuable.

Despite the few issues I had with this novel, I cannot deny that I had a great time reading it regardless. I cannot wait to see where this story is headed and find out what plot twists I will be confronted with next!