I am sorry but this just wasn’t my favorite read. I didn’t dislike it but also didn’t love it. The writing was okay. The cover was cute at least. Literally no other thoughts.

I quite enjoyed the system of magic/ powers and viewpoints of all of the characters. The world building can be overwhelming at times, but the plot makes up for it. I will recommend for the NYPL's Best Books Committee.

I hated this book and I loved this book. The first sixty percent was so boring and drawn out. The story is told from multiple points of view, but you could honestly delete all but the main three and have a better story. The book gets really interesting and plows forward for the last forty percent, up until the annoying cliff hanger. I don't know if it took the author that long to get warmed up or what, but if the entire book had been as plot driven, emotional and action packed as the last section, it would have been a five star love fest.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for access to this arc.

Rating: 2.5 of 5

I feel bad. I wanted to love this one so desperately but I… I just don’t.

I can’t say exactly what went wrong but I felt so detached while reading Immortal Longings. I was so excited when I got the ARC, and the beginning had me in awe. But the more I read, the more I (slowly) lost interest. It took me more than a month to finish this. (But maybe that has less to do with the book and more to do with my newfound addiction to Webtoons.)

The romance was a bit so-so for me. It didn’t feel believable with how fast the romance went from zero to I-love-you. There was barely any chemistry between Calla and Anton. (Just a random thought… did Chloe Gong named August and Anton a bit similarly on purpose?! Because that’s genius now that I think about it.)

I’m not a fan of the short, swift action scenes. I get that Calla trained for almost all her life and had the best teachers or whatever but come on, the action scenes last for about two to three sentences. A flick of a hand here, a strategic dodge there and voila, we have a beheaded opponent. (Even John Wick wasn’t that good.)

I’m not usually good at predicting twists and/or big reveals but I was spot-on with this one. A bit of a disappointment; I wanted some gasp-worthy reveals.

Giving this one an average rating because although I didn’t love a lot about it, it felt so easy- so effortless- to read when I actually did commit to finish reading it one weekend. And I really like the cover.

I received an ARC from the publisher to read and review. Quoted excerpt/s may change in the final print.

What a damn ride.

I've read and enjoyed the author's debut in YA, These Violent Delights, so I was really excited to be offered a chance to read her Adult debut! I think this book will fit nicely in the Emerging Adult/New Adult category of books, a very real demographic of 18-23 that needs more books suited for them.

In general I prefer to have a close third person POV, so I admittedly struggled with having perspectives that were outside who would be considered the essential 2-3 characters. That said, I do see how they were helping build the underside of the story, including aspects that were developing outside of the key characters' knowledge. For me by personal preference, however, it slowed the story down some because without context I wasn't entirely invested in those sections.

I really enjoyed the discussion/interview with the author at the end because it was really clarifying. Looking at Calla and Anton's characters as inspired by the dynamic and relationship of Cleopatra and Antony in Shakespeare's play, rather than the play itself, helped reshape how I looked at their development. It emphasizes the power dynamics and obsession that played out, instead of the seemingly insta-love that it could be seen as. Nothing about the dynamic is healthy (or will be moving forward in the series) and knowing that's the intention with the analysis and commentary of these character archetypes has me very interested in a different way now.

Also: THE ENDING! Without spoiling, I had been waiting for certain things to elements to come back and bite character's in the butt, so the final lines were perfection and have me absolutely stoked for the next installment in this series. The ending of the book really nailed it and elevated the whole book, in my opinion.

Summary: very fascinating read and I look forward to the next one!

I LOVED Calla. Yeah she’s flawed, but who isn’t? Like literally everyone in this book is super flawed and I loved the drama of it. Calla and Anton were the reluctant allies with sassy and sarcastic banter that I was looking for. And I really enjoyed how ruthless and powerful Calla was. August is a character I’m still trying to figure out, but he always seemed more shady than he acted. Anton was chaotic and brought the best (worst?) out in Calla. I’m really interested to learn more about the body jumping and Weisannas, so I’m already excited for the next book. Especially after the ending we got!!! While it took me a little bit to understand the concept of the world and the ability to occupy other bodies, once I got the hang of it, this was a super exciting read. Easy 5 star read for me! 🖤

The book sounded interesting but I couldn't get into it. Body jumping really? I don't think this is the book for me. And that's ok.

Chloe Gong doesn't disappoint in this setup for her adult series.

Unfortunately for me it felt like exactly that. I wasn't super thrilled by the ending, and felt that I could call it pretty quickly. This isn't an issue if it feels earned but it felt more orchestrated than earned.

I am excited to see where things go now though. So in the sense all book one's in fantasy series should end as if it's the very beginning, this does an excellent job.

I usually try my best to just push through when it comes to ARCs, but with this one I just couldn't do it. I read a bunch of chapters, and I was so bored that I resorted to skimming a little further ahead to see if my interest would grow but sadly, it didn't. I just could not get into it at all. Personally, I feel like lower-stakes fantasy is where Chloe Gong thrives, as she has proven more than once with her successful TVD duology and Foul Lady Fortune, and I'll for sure read more of her work if she chooses to write something new in that direction. As far as epic fantasy goes, however, I'm afraid it's a no from me.

Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alright so this book was good but just good. Pros: retelling or Antony and Cleopatra (I like their story), Hunger Games vibes, getting to know Calla! Cons: Really slow start, a lot of world building to the point where it gets to be too many details, flat characters. This book was my most anticipated book of 2023 and it just sort of fell flat for me. The plot moves too slowly, I didn’t love all the characters as much as I thought I would, and the details/history became too much.

Chloe Gong’s adult fantasy debut, Immortal Longings, is inspired by Shakespeare just as much as her YA novels are. But in this case, it’s the real-life tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra which shapes this science-fiction twist on the Bard. Unfortunately, Gong imports a little too much of The Hunger Games into her brew, causing the entire affair to come off as somewhat derivative compared to her usually flavorful stew.

Yearly, the kingdom of Talin hosts a violent athletic contest-slash-game between its capitol cities. There’s Er, the land of the rich, and San, the land of the poor. San-Er citizens come from miles around and use their magical abilities to slaughter their enemies in exchange for attention, money and glory. Since qi – a genetic mutation - allows them to take over the bodies of their opponents, that makes the game quite a tricky one to follow.

Our two central characters are Princess Calla Tuoleimi and Anton Makusa. Calla was once a member of the ruling class of Er, but the majority of her family was killed in a massacre – which she orchestrated, hoping to end the land-and-cash fat monarchy for good. She faked her own death on the way out, but planed a return. She’s going to win the games and meet her Uncle Kasa face to face, at which point she hopes to slaughter him, too.

Anton’s goals are much more personal and much more desperate. He’s a former aristocrat who enters the game hoping to get money enough to keep his fiancée Otta – who is in a deep coma – alive. Fortunately, he has an extremely strong grasp of qi and is the best jumper in the world.

In this every-person-for-themselves setting, Anton and Calla do not expect to become allies, but they do. They also become involved with the adopted son of Kasa, August, whom Calla plans to put on the throne in the hope of improving things. Is there a way out of this mess for any of them?

Immortal Longings was a bit of a disappointment for me. I don’t know if Chloe Gong’s intense worldbuilding – which she delivers in long info-dumps from characters thinking to themselves – or the lackluster action scenes, or the even more lackluster romance, but something felt off. Most of her grey-moraled characters feel unique and intriguing, but here Anton is cheating on his comatose girlfriend with this murderous (OR IS SHE!?) princess he’s become obsessed with – and that’s really his only personality trait. Everyone spends so much time hopping bodies that the book doesn’t take time to let the characters in question figure out who they really are, which, to Gong’s credit, is something that the characters do address out loud.

The readable prose will keep you going; Gong can paint a picture like no one else. And I liked the evil August in his wickedness. But I loved Juliette and Romeo from her These Violent Delights series (and Marshall and the rest), and here the romance is fraught in a not-fun way. The book also doesn’t bother to ask any queasy consent questions about all of this body jumping. Our main characters do not bother to think of that and use the bodies they ‘inherit’ to their full advantage.

Gong was inspired by Kowloon Walled City (which grabs a mention), and that ought to be an excellent locale for the stories she’s created over the past few years. But things get bogged down and even, to my shock, predictable, and when it’s not being predictable it’s confusing. Maybe it’s the attempt at infusing Egyptian and Roman history into a setting that’s both futuristic, fantastic and based on the old Hong Kong. The worldbuilding is wildly ambitious here, but it absolutely gets away from the author, which leaves the reader struggling to remember the hows and whys of what is going on. And yet it’s interesting and the royal caste situation generally works well.

While I’m not sold on the romance here and this is definitely Gong’s least-inspired book, I still want to know how that last plot twist pays off in the second book. Immortal Longings isn’t Chloe Gong’s best novel, but it still compels.

While Gong's adult debut took a while to find its stride, once I was in, I was all in.

Do I know enough about Antony and Cleopatra to know if this is a tried and true retelling? Absolutely not. However, based on my reading of Gong's previous works, I'm guessing the character names are inspired by Shakespeare's character names and the plot has similarities here and there but is otherwise completely different.

What worked for me with this book? It's the Hunger Games with body jumping and a walled city similar to Hong Kong's Kowloon. The characters were morally grey and only out for themselves. The love was all-consuming and fantastic. Like... I've never read a spicy scene with blood in it. Given, I'm not a dark romance girly, so some readers out there may think that's chump change, but it was a first for me and I found it brutal and amazing.

Gong has started something truly amazing with this series. I don't know if it's going to be a duology like Gong's previous works or if she has more in store, but I will be there for every release and will probably enjoy every story she blesses me with.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc and physical arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was SO good. I thought it was a little dull at first, and then I tore through the last 75% in one night. An Antony and cleopatra retelling but with fantasy elements,. Chloe gong has for sure found her niche, and it’s in making accessible and diverse Shakespeare retellings for young adults! Almost makes me want to actually read Shakespeare, and I was NOT a fan in high school

This was a fantastic YA fantasy read. It reminded me of a twist on Hunger Games that I would love to see made into a film! I was fascinated by the idea of “jumping” into other bodies. I think it was a great concept and the character development was as good. I’m looking forward to seeing if this story development continues.

DNF - at 41%.
I’m really struggling to get into this book. I feel a bit of a disconnect with the characters that is really making me struggle to get into the story. I have been attempting to read this book for the last 3 weeks and there isn’t enough motivating me to pick it up. I really gave it the best shot I could. I have loved Chloe’s other books. I find the world building a bit confusing and the characters have been getting confused in my head.

Quick Stats
Age Rating: 18+
Spice Level: 1/5
4.5 stars

Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.

This was a good book, at times, it was even a very good book, yet I still found myself a little disappointed. Chloe Gong’s previous book, Foul Lady Fortune was my favorite read of 2023 (and I read almost 300 books!), and this just did not live up to that. I really enjoyed Immortal Longings, but I just kept thinking, I know Chloe Gong is capable of more than this.
It was a decently slow paced book, and the first 30% specifically, dragged sometimes. I think this author shines in her plot twists and her character relationships, but we don’t get much of either of those early on in the book. Plot twists, of course, can’t happen until you have a developed plot, but when they came they were amazing. However, the character interactions were very minimal in the first act. It was all exposition, a bit of info-dump world building, and internal monologue. Calla and Anton don’t meet until the 30% mark, and up until they team up, there’s little interaction between them and anyone else, either. Things are happening, but there isn’t a ton of forward action, plot wise. It’s all set up for the later plot and reveals and action. While I was interested, and I enjoyed getting to know Calla and Anton, I was never fully engaged.
That said, the last two thirds of the book—especially the last third—were action packed, high stakes, and easy to get swept up in. I finally started to see the talent and skill I knew Chloe Gong to be capable of. There were twists upon twists, and they all had me shrieking and on the edge of my seat. There was romance that was a little twisted and a lot of fun. And there was banter and character dynamics that made you fall in love with not only Calla and Anton, but the side characters, too. Once I got to the turning point, that first big reveal, I could not put this down. I flew through the last half of this book, and my rating jumped half a star. And all of that is not even to mention THAT ENDING??? I cannot wait for the next book in the series, and I’m optimistic that since we already have a lot of worldbuilding and set up out of the way, it will start a little stronger than this one did.
Despite the slow start, I highly recommend this book. I love Chloe Gong’s writing, and characters, and twists, and I really did love this book in the end. I already need more.

From the beginning, I was over the moon excited for Immortal Longings. Having been a fan of Chloe Gong's Secret Shanghai Universe, this speculative fiction debut has been making waves. On a world building premise alone, I love this idea of body jumping and being unable to trust your surroundings, or anyone really. There's this distinct sense of danger and atmosphere from the very first pages. And I think something Gong does an excellent job at is laying this foundation. Making sure that any twists, turns, revelations or even additions are building off of - or opposing and changing - this framework.

There are hundreds of small references I loved - like the cat appearances or a side character who's death made me tear up - but Immortal Longings is a thrilling first book in a series. It's clear from the beginning there's a sense of scope, of the opening act of this world and these characters. This world and setting have a Hunger Games feeling to this deadly competition and the gross inequalities of the world, the poverty and the desperation in the games. It creates an atmosphere of people you would never expect in the games with their own agendas and lives to risk.

From reading the synopsis, this book sounds fascinating. It has a Hunger Games plot, an enemies-to-lovers romance, unique body-jumping idea, and lots of politics interweaving through everything. There's some tense action as well as plot twists—especially with that cliffhanger at the end.

However, the story and the romance didn't grab me like I wanted it too. There's lots to unpack about the politics, world, and body jumping, and I don't feel like I truly have a grasp on the world. Also, King Kasa was a weak villain. We got almost no page time with him, so I couldn't feel hatred (or any other emotion) towards him.

The romance was such a slow burn that then turned into lust, and then suddenly they were dropping the "love" word left and right. I don't know if I missed something in the middle, but I needed way more growth with them together for it to be believable for me. Because of this, the ending felt lackluster.

I'm still intrigued with the world and the ending that I'll definitely consider picking up the next book, especially because I love Chloe Gong's other series. But this one didn't speak to me.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 4
Plot/Movement: 3
Character Development: 3
Overall: 3

Thank you, Gallery Books and NetGalley, for the arc!

Trigger/Content Warnings: fighting violence and death, poisoning, starvation, mass killing, injuries, one open door scene

I haven't been a huge fan of Chloe Gong's writing in the past, and was hoping that her adult debut would change my mind, but alas. This was a book that I ended up DNF'ing, as I've done in the past with Gong's work. Something about the writing and the structure simply doesn't work for me. I think the premise of this book is interesting, and it did catch my attention at first, but it felt very slow. I don't think that Gong's style of world-building works for me, either. It felt clunky and boring.

I think that Gong's fans will enjoy this. However, for me, the Shakespeare retellings are starting to feel like a crutch. I'd be interested to see what Gong might do next, especially if it's a more original storyline. Unfortunately, this just didn't work for me.

Immortal Longings is the highly anticipated adult debut from Chloe Gong!! I love Chloe Gong’s YA books and her adult debut was equally as incredible. It is a Cleopatra and Anthony retelling, with a focus more on them as characters than the plot from Shakespeare. Calla is a princess whose main goal is to kill the secluded king. With the help of her cousin, she’ll have one shot at him at the winner’s ceremony of the annual games. First, she has to actually win the games. In the deadly competition she meets Anton, who she forms a reluctant partnership with. When the games conclude, who/what will Calla choose to protect?

I couldn’t put Immortal Longings down! The world-building was fascinating from the beginning, especially the close quarters and vertical mapping of the buildings. I appreciated how much research Gong did and that this was inspired from Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City in the 1990s. Although this is fantasy, real issues of poverty and inequality are highlighted and cause serious challenges, such as unfathomable medical debt. The magic system was very creative! It felt really well thought out and comprehensive. There are lots of clever details and consequences that befall users who use it incorrectly. I can’t wait to see how this is expanded upon in book two.

Immortal Longings had great pacing, with plenty of action scenes that flow together seamlessly. Calla and Anton have such good chemistry and banter. I couldn't look away as they went from enemies to reluctant allies to lovers back to enemies. It was angsty in the best way!! Anton and Calla are definitely both new favorite love interests. The scenes were so vivid, especially the confrontational scenes between Calla and Anton. The conclusion was excellent and theatrical- it'll leave readers on the edge of their seats! I’m really looking forward to seeing where Chloe Gong takes the story next, especially the magic system and world-building!

Thank you so much to Chloe Gong, Gallery/Saga Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc