If Chloe Gong writes it, I'm going to read it. This series is so interesting to me because I spend most of the books honestly confused about wtf is going on, who is allied with who, what the magical system actually is and is not etc. -- but I love the vibes of the world so much I don't even care. The revelations about who certain characters are really blew my mind (repeatedly). The driving force of this book for me is Calla -- I love her so much and I will be so furious if this series doesn’t end with Calla and Anton happy somewhere. I don’t care if she’s Queen or abdicates or whatever. But she better live. With Anton. Happily. Also Otta must die. I will say I didn't realize the series was a trilogy and not a duology which made the end of this book JARRING but that's on me, not the book. I will absolutely read the next once it's out!

A lot of my complaints about Immortal Longings carry over into Vilest Things, except somehow they all got worse.

To start with the positive: I said that this world needed a map after finishing Immortal Longings. VIlest Things has a map. Yay.

However, there is no glossary of terms or character list/name pronunciation guide/bible for which person is from what kingdom and which family they're from, etcetera. This makes Vilest Things doubly confusing, because a lot of the groundwork that was laid in Immortal Longings is just swept up and then tossed in the air so that they land in new places with no good explanation or reason for doing so.

For example, in Immortal Longings, it was said that characters who can use qi to jump are able to be detected because their eye color—or the aura their eyes emit, still unclear on which or both—will carry over to their new body. But in Vilest Things, people can jump to new bodies and their eye colors will not give them away because…sigils drawn in blood on the body? And neither Calla nor Anton have seen these sigils before so they basically just "I think this is right" their way through learning it and getting lucky each time? So now there's blood magic and non consensual body jumping (still extremely icky) and Chloe Gong continuing to present the horrors of the world with no firm condemnation of it or characters who give a damn enough to try to make the world a better place even when it does not benefit them. I think that actually bothers me the most about this series: Gong is writing about colonization and the loss of agency of your body, and revolution, and poverty, and greedy rulers, and family, and love, and she is not providing any sort of commentary or having these characters triumph, they just move from foiled plan to foiled plan based on their own whims and sudden realizations they have off page then tease out for fifty pages.

If Calla's only goal was to eradicate the bloodline of the family that wiped out hers, why was she around at all in this book? If Anton went from jumping to stay alive to being king, why did he not disassemble the empire that murdered his family instead of ~I'm About To Be King~-ing the entire book? Neither of these people's ambitions or sudden pivots to behaving in ways their Immortal Longings selves would have despised made sense.

August was uninteresting and nonthreatening; his arc honestly could have been erased without missing much from the story. Otta was a laughably bad villain, who seems like she rubs her hands together and giggles wickedly every time she enters the scene. I felt like her motivations and the "why" behind her arrival were predictable, but, again, another person with an agenda that is unnecessarily stretched out until you just don't care. Who cares that Otta is Calla and Calla is a reincarnation of Calla's ancestor who has some kind of unidentified beef about how she died? Not me.

Maybe I'm just not smart enough for sci-fi fantasy novels. But maybe, just maybe, a 2 hour, 25 minute play that is less than 200 pages in length should not be reimagined over three, 300+ page novels, because that makes it extremely drawn-out, tedious, and ultimately boring to read. The action scenes were overly worded until they were muddled and confusing. The descriptions were way too much, I felt like she was going to start describing the color and approximate depth of puddles on the street at one point!

I will decidedly not be reading book 3 and I will perhaps give Gong another try in the future.

Thank you to Saga Press, S&S/Saga Press, and NetGalley for providing an ARC!

1 ⭐️
1 🌶️

Chile Gong’s writing is amazing!!! This book was very well written and had an amazing plot!! Love this book!!

i binged this one in basically one sitting and if there’s one thing chloe gong ALWAYS slays it’s a second book. our violent ends? banger. foul heart huntsman? masterpiece. THIS ONE??? had me screaming. on so many occasions, for so many reasons. all of the body-jumping chaos from the first book is amped up in this one, the political enemies have multiplied and become so much messier/blurrier in a way that is absolutely delectable. and the romance?? the enemies to lovers i-will-hold-a-knife-to-your-throat-and-think-only-of-how-much-i-want-to-use-it-to-rip-your-clothes-off-instead?? literally have an annotation from the middle of this book that reads “chloe ur killing me” and i stand by it. the ending also fully took me out in the best way possible, it set the third book up SO well and i WILL be frothing at the mouth until that one’s in my hands tyvm

What an incredible second book in this series. The twist! I was not expecting that. Chloe Gong knows how to write and keep their audience obsessed. I was so happy we got to dive a little into the romance again as well. I was so heartbroken with how we ended in the first book. I am reeeeeeling waiting for the next book. Immortal Longings was good but Vilest Things blew me out of the water.

4.5 ⭐️
I absolutely loved this book! I knew I would since I haven’t rated any of Chloe Gong’s books lower than a 5 stars but she’s truly outdone herself with this duet. The plot is insane and will keep you on your toes for the entire book, and the ending caught me so off guard! It was the best feeling ever to be back with these characters that I love so much, and Chloe Gong never fails to breathe life into them and make them feel as real as possible. The writing was also spectacular, I think her writing is exactly the type that I love : beautifully crafted, witty, and really inspiring 🫶🏻 I do think I enjoyed the first book more, because this one was a bit less romance-heavy and more focused on the plot— I do really love the storyline but the romance felt a bit cast aside in this sequel. Overall this series is one of the best adult fantasy I’ve ever read and I would highly recommend any of Chloe Gong’s books!

A fantastic follow up to Immortal Longings, VILEST THINGS takes everything I loved about that book and intensifies it. The danger is more severe, the world is expanded with much more to explore, the stakes are higher, and the relationships are more intense (esp the romantic relationship!). We’re also given a bit more history on the magic system and the way this world works, and I was really able to get a firmer grasp on the world this time around.⁣
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As I’ve mentioned previously, this book is far more intense than its predecessor and while much of the story focuses on Calla and Anton’s journey to the kingdom, a fair bit of it also focuses on their personal relationship. I love me a good angsty uncertain romance, and that’s definitely what we’re given with these two. When they’re not butting heads, they’re pining endlessly for one another, and it’s such a frustrating and joyous back and forth. ⁣
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I’m starting to realize that Chloe Gong is the queen of Shakespearean retellings. I didn’t think that anything could top my love for her previous Shakespearean-inspired duology, but then along comes this phenomenal trilogy. This book has everything — twists and turns, political intrigue, betrayals aplenty, and so much more. I adored this story, though I must warn you: these books end on some serious cliffies. 5 stars and I’ll be patiently waiting for book 3. Or waiting not so patiently, more than likely.

I read this as a standalone book, not as a sequel book that it was part of. I liked the story, even though I think I missed a lot of context that I missed from not reading the first book. I did still enjoy the story, and the magical parts of the book. I think the characters were pretty good, and the ending was decent!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Chloe Gong is exceptional. Vilest Things is my favorite sequel of 2024. There was so much happening that I did not predict.

Calla will forever be one of my favorite characters.

Anton is interesting, but I found Calla's POV to be so immersive and epic.

*Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

File this one under "oopsie, thought it was a duology". Like literally until I finished the book... But that really shows that it doesn't suffer from second book syndrome. It's every bit as dynamic as Immortal Longings, just without the death games tournament. And then we get a little bit more worldbuilding, both in the setting and the magic system. We've got angst, we've got tension, we've got a WHOLE lot of lore, and man I want to reread the entire series already.

This is my year of Chloe Gong and I regret nothing. Read this series if you love sci-fi, Shakespearean retellings, or dark and angsty reads.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 4/5 stars.

I regret not reading this way before it was published, but also I'm thankful I didn't because CHLOE GONG HOW DARE YOU WITH THAT ENDING? I thought this was a duology??? nooooooo, no it's not. also was not prepared for the erm, adult writing that occurred in bits of it.

Anyways, I still love this world and the Shakespeare influence and how it's a modern but also not but also dystopian but also talks of colonization and whatnot (like her other series as well). Calla and Anton are just...chef's kiss. I did get annoyed a bit at all of the plot twists and the literal jumps in the plot (get it, since they can jump from body to body with qi) and I feel like some of the plot got lost in some of the other things going on...but I mean....I still rather enjoyed it.

Vilest Things is the follow up to Chloe Gong's Immortal Longings, a series loosely based on Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra. But while Immortal Longings is largely a Hunger Games competition, where the two help each other and ultimately fall for each other, knowing one with have to kill the other, Vilest Things becomes much more complicated. I was surprised that I enjoyed this book more than the first one!

There is a lot to understand in this urban fantasy world based on a declining Rome. There is magic that allows certain people who have the power to "shift" into the body of someone else. This took some getting used to in reading the first book, and continues to be an important (if not convenient) plot device. For me, this power is right on the edge of my ability to suspend my disbelief, but for the most part I was able to do so. It was still the characters of Anton and Chloe that kept me wanting to read more, even when I the plausibility would have tapped me out otherwise. There is a good bit of action in this story, but the conflict is far more political than in the first book. We learn more about both characters (as they learn essential things about their past). "Who will get the crown and the end of the day?" is the driving question.

I am always a little disoriented when I think a series is a duology only to learn there will be another book. When I realized I wasn't going to get the closure I hoped for I am usually not happy. But here, I think Gong gives us enough of a mind blowing ending that I was still satisfied as I am also still primed to see what happens next.

*4.5 Stars*

A lot happened in this. It was a pretty different setting than the first book and I loved getting to know the characters more and discovering more of this world. I saw none of the twists coming and I was just taken aback time after time. I'm really loving our two main characters and some of the secondary characters. I was captivated from beginning to end, I really love all layered this is and all the different points of view. I can't wait to delve into this series more. I just know the last book is gonna be absolutely epic and I can't wait to read it.

Vilest Things
Chloe Gong

Here are my top 5 reasons to read:
Vilest Things

1. Fantasy filled weaved with mystery
2. Unique magic system, and phenomenal worldbuilding
3. Political intrigue, that will have you in a chokehold
4. Angsty romance and morally grey characters
5. Incredible character dynamics

Vilest Things by Chloe Gong is a stunning masterpiece that weaves together dark themes and rich character development with a captivating plot. Gong’s lyrical prose immerses readers in a world brimming with tension and emotion, making it impossible to put down. The intricate relationships and moral dilemmas faced by the characters are both thought-provoking and relatable. This novel is a powerful exploration of humanity’s complexities, solidifying Gong’s place as a must-read author in contemporary fiction!

Just fantastic! Such a fast paced read but one I wanted to sit down and savor and have it never end. I loved it so much and I need more from this author immediately. The characters, the plot, the pacing. It was all perfection.

An absolutely INCREDIBLE follow-up to book 1! Most of the twists smacked me in the face and were, in hindsight, masterfully laid out. I loved the ugly, heartbreaking path that Calla and Anton's relationship took. People who loved the battle royale aspect of the games from IMMORTAL LONGINGS may not be as into this book, but I personally love mysteries and quests more. Absolutely foaming at the mouth for the finale!

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book post-release. Vilest Things takes place right at the end of Immortal Longings, and was just as amazing as book one. Ms. Gong's ability to build new complicated worlds and complex characters makes her one of the best young authors of this generation. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

I love this world and all things Chloe Gong! The body jumping, the duplicity, the ruthlessness. Divine.

Second books in trilogies inherently have a lull, and this was not exception. That said, I find the body jumping so fascinating! It adds such a wonderful component to this world. Cannot wait to see how it all ends in book 3!