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abby_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
š
This was quite the book. I don't really know how to explain my feelings. I think it was interesting. I liked the magic system. The worldbuilding and the lore were interest. I struggled to like the main characters -- Calla, Anton, and August -- and I'm wasn't the best fan of the romance between Calla and Anton.
This was quite the book. I don't really know how to explain my feelings. I think it was interesting. I liked the magic system. The worldbuilding and the lore were interest. I struggled to like the main characters -- Calla, Anton, and August -- and I'm wasn't the best fan of the romance between Calla and Anton.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Child death, Blood, Gore, and Death of parent
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking
teddy_books's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship
hannahs_library_'s review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Blood
roseleebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book is my first read by Chloe Gong and I am impressed. The pace starts out slower, but gradually increases along with the tension throughout. The last 30% of the book was a whirlwind in a good way.
It's a story of love, obsession, and revenge. It will make you question whether anyone can have power and be uncorrupted.
There are almost no likeable characters in this book, but they do feel very real. The world that Gong has written them in shapes who they are very logically. And despite them not being likeable, Calla and Anton and even August are compelling to read about.
The worldbuilding is exceptional and I could clearly picture the atmosphere and streets of the city the characters are in. It was a character on its own which I appreciated.
There is a lot that happens in this bookincluding several reveals toward the end. The setup for the next story is absolutely exceptional and I wish I could pick it up right away!
It's a story of love, obsession, and revenge. It will make you question whether anyone can have power and be uncorrupted.
There are almost no likeable characters in this book, but they do feel very real. The world that Gong has written them in shapes who they are very logically. And despite them not being likeable, Calla and Anton and even August are compelling to read about.
The worldbuilding is exceptional and I could clearly picture the atmosphere and streets of the city the characters are in. It was a character on its own which I appreciated.
There is a lot that happens in this book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Violence, Child death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Blood, and Grief
victoriousbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent and Death
Minor: War
booksthatburn's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
IMMORTAL LONGINGS builds a claustrophobic sense of place, with densely packed buildings and strangers everywhere. The mechanics of jumping are used excellently, and explained enough to allow for a pretty cool late-book reveal. It plays with the tension between this culture of literally disposable bodies and Calla's refusal to jump. Rather than one's physical form, Qi (a person's essence) is the durable part of who they are, and it's possible to jump one's Qi into another body, taking it over either temporarily or permanently. Some people's birth bodies are lost, and they continually jump between bodies, others jump temporarily and then return to their own body. Many citizens can't jump at all, and run the risk of having their bodies used by jumpers at random. I like the way the jumping is explained and used, and if I keep reading the series it will be to see how jumping is used once the games are over.
One of the things with showing relationship chemistry in a narrative on the basis of past events between characters is that it can leave some readers feeling like the characters aren't grounded enough or their relationships don't fully make sense. I, in particular, know that I have trouble with this as a reader. I don't have an imagination filling in the gaps and wondering what tension could have led to this moment. I read how it plays out in the book right now and I either have enough detail or it just falls flat for me. This didn't work as well for me as the similarly antagonistic/romantic relationship between Juliette and Roma in THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS because once IMMORTAL LONGINGS BEGINS, Anton and Calla don't really do much to harm each other's aims until very late in the book. They're set up so that at some point they will no longer both be able to get what they want, but since that point is when dozens of other people have been eliminated it can be far away for a long time. When combined with the reveal at the very end, it means I finished the book a bit confused and not sure whether it worked well for me personally. It leans even more into this narrative style which the Secret Shanghai books also have, but the way it's refined here took it out of my comfort zone.
I've seen a lot of comparisons between Immortal Longings and The Hunger Games. This is both slightly true and mostly unhelpful as a generalization, as what they have in common are either superficial genre features or not unique to The Hunger Games. I understand why the comparison occurs to people so I'd like to take it seriously, that will be covered at length in an upcoming essay.
If you like books where things are left more mysterious and many people have hidden plans, you'll probably like this. It wasn't quite my style, I prefer the Secret Shanghai books.
One of the things with showing relationship chemistry in a narrative on the basis of past events between characters is that it can leave some readers feeling like the characters aren't grounded enough or their relationships don't fully make sense. I, in particular, know that I have trouble with this as a reader. I don't have an imagination filling in the gaps and wondering what tension could have led to this moment. I read how it plays out in the book right now and I either have enough detail or it just falls flat for me. This didn't work as well for me as the similarly antagonistic/romantic relationship between Juliette and Roma in THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS because once IMMORTAL LONGINGS BEGINS, Anton and Calla don't really do much to harm each other's aims until very late in the book. They're set up so that at some point they will no longer both be able to get what they want, but since that point is when dozens of other people have been eliminated it can be far away for a long time. When combined with the reveal at the very end, it means I finished the book a bit confused and not sure whether it worked well for me personally. It leans even more into this narrative style which the Secret Shanghai books also have, but the way it's refined here took it out of my comfort zone.
I've seen a lot of comparisons between Immortal Longings and The Hunger Games. This is both slightly true and mostly unhelpful as a generalization, as what they have in common are either superficial genre features or not unique to The Hunger Games. I understand why the comparison occurs to people so I'd like to take it seriously, that will be covered at length in an upcoming essay.
If you like books where things are left more mysterious and many people have hidden plans, you'll probably like this. It wasn't quite my style, I prefer the Secret Shanghai books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Terminal illness, and Sexual content
camiclarkbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
āImmortal Longingsā is very much āHunger Gamesā meets āThese Violent Delights,ā which makes sense since Chloe Gong wrote one of those beloved YA series. Which one? Iāll never tell.
This is Gongās first foray into the adult novel market and in some ways it shows. The pacing felt slower than in her previous books and the āspiceā could have been better integrated, in my opinion.
However, the main characters stayed true to Gongās signature āKnife Wifeā and āMale Wifeā pairing. Calla and Anton have tremendous potential and Iām thrilled to see what happens in the sequel!
In all, it was a little heavy on the world building and had long stretches between plot actionāalthough there was plenty of battle actionābut has definitely set the stage for a great book two!
This is Gongās first foray into the adult novel market and in some ways it shows. The pacing felt slower than in her previous books and the āspiceā could have been better integrated, in my opinion.
However, the main characters stayed true to Gongās signature āKnife Wifeā and āMale Wifeā pairing. Calla and Anton have tremendous potential and Iām thrilled to see what happens in the sequel!
In all, it was a little heavy on the world building and had long stretches between plot actionāalthough there was plenty of battle actionābut has definitely set the stage for a great book two!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Classism, Death, Grief, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
mattiedancer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Writing: 5āļø/5
I love Chloe Gongās writing. I think she has immaculate control over her language. I love her descriptions, even when theyāre dark or gory. In this novel, her writing really brought the world to life. I felt like I could see the city, see the participants running about, could smell the food and the stink in the alley. I enjoyed reading this novel thoroughly.
Characters: 4.75āļø/5
Now again, Iām a big Chloe Gong fan, so maybe thereās a bit of bias here, but Gong writes characters incredibly well. Specifically, she writes morally grey characters with pure ease, crafting their motives, their situations, and their desires into the story with ease. I wouldāve loved a touch more from our side characters ā as well as to not have our background characters feel so background ā but these are small gripes.
Plot: 4.5āļø/5
Alright, Antony and Cleopatra retelling. How does Chloe Gong just reimagine Shakespearean tales in the most interesting way possible? I donāt know, but I do love. The longing, the love, the competition, the forced trust, the game: all of it is so brilliantly written, you canāt help but love it. My only gripe is with the ending, with her twist which leaves us wondering how are two main characters will move forward in love (because they will, right?). I felt like it didnāt need to happen in the way that it happened, strictly for the sense that I knew exactly what had happened to Anton, and I donāt know why that wasnāt a plan Calla and him created, instead of it being a betrayal. I understand that it echoes the betrayal Antony goes through at Cleopatraās hands, but it felt forced the way it happened ā and a little obvious. All in all though, this is a small complaint for a brilliant plot.
Who Should Read This Book?
- Fans of Chloe Gong
- Fans of Shakespeare and fantasy novels
- Fans of enemies to lovers
- Fans of Hunger Games, but want it magic
Content Warnings?
- Death, murder, blood, injury, injury detail, gore, child death, sexual content, death of parent, cursing, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationship
Post-Reading Rating: 5āļø/5
Hi, Chloe. Um, I need the next one pretty, pretty please.
Final Rating: 4.75āļø/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Cursing, Grief, Gaslighting, Genocide, Body horror, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
axel_p's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I can't wait for the sequel. I couldn't keep up with all these plot twist.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, War, Sexual content, Trafficking, Death of parent, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Blood, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, and Xenophobia
azrah786's review against another edition
3.5
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, gore, injury, murder, death, child death, death of parent, genocide, war, colonisation, classism, kidnapping, suicidal ideation, medical content, terminal illness, grief, sexual content
--
Another Anthony and Cleopatra reimaging, another let down.. Not to say that I didnāt enjoy aspects of this book but this now happens to be the second time Iāve been disappointed at the outcome of a retelling around these figures despite the fact that the dynamic they evoke interest me SO MUCH.
Now Iāll admit Iām not as familiar with Shakespeareās Anthony and Cleopatra as I am with Romeo and Juliet so maybe that is what put me at a bit of a disadvantage. However, I do think that Chloe Gong may have been a bit too ambitious with how much was actually thrown into this first book more than anything else if we set aside the fact that I wasnāt able to appreciate all the nuances to the original play it was inspired by.
Down to the bare bones it is a story surrounding a handful of individuals wanting to overthrow a king, each for their own reasons and there is a tournament to the death involved in which two of the main protagonists are participants. I think where things got a bit flimsy surrounded this tournament as though all the action and tension was written quite well the games themselves sort of felt a little disconnected from the rest of the story for me.
The setting of San-Er gave glimpses of Ancient Rome but I believe it is inspired by the Kowloon Walled City (Hong Kong). However, I couldnāt help but compare it to the Shanghai of These Violent Delights and how the city there shone as its own character.
I felt in Immortal Longings the story didnāt really capture the feel of the setting maybe until halfway through and again I feel like this came down to how Gong was also trying to bring this dystopian Hunger Games vibe in for the games on top of everything else. Donāt get me wrong Gongās writing and descriptions of the atmosphere were great I just feel like they didnāt link up to the narrative straight away so it all felt like a separate thing.
What I was most looking forward to in the book was the reluctant alliance dynamic. It is one trope that I really enjoy reading about and the one that formed between Calla and Anton was great, full of the right amount of banter and camaraderie (if it can be called that) that comes about when two opposing forces have to team up. Where their relationship fell short I believe is with the romance side of things or at least the fact that it came around too quickly.
In fact this can be said to be the case for a couple of things in the book for instance coming back to how much was going on, for an adult fantasy it was too short. Certain scenes and developments could have been given more room to breathe in the narrative with a couple more pages. I think why the romance didnāt immediately work for me was because Antonās motive for winning the games was to save āhis exā but then romance rapidly ensued with Calla and we didnāt really get enough time showing them working together to justify it.
More than the games I was intrigued by the wider politics that were happening in the background and the mystery that it brought about. But the best part of the book was without a doubt the power/magic system. This whole idea of people having the means to jump out of their body and take over someone elseās was so compelling and made for some great twists in the book. I caught onto a few of them but they were honestly written in so well I was still impressed. Also the whole idea of autonomy and morality and identity that comes in was really interesting especially when you have characters constantly jumping around and others who refuse to do so.
So despite not loving this one as much as I had hoped, it has still left some fascinating questions behind which have me super keen to get my hands on book two as well as that killer ending! It was one twist I saw coming but am super excited to see develop.
I plan on trying to get my hands on Shakespeareās work if I can before book 2 releases and then give this one a reread so I can catch all the call backs that I am sure are there because that was one big highlight I had with These Violent Delights!
Final Rating ā 3.5/5 Stars
**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, gore, injury, murder, death, child death, death of parent, genocide, war, colonisation, classism, kidnapping, suicidal ideation, medical content, terminal illness, grief, sexual content
--
Another Anthony and Cleopatra reimaging, another let down.. Not to say that I didnāt enjoy aspects of this book but this now happens to be the second time Iāve been disappointed at the outcome of a retelling around these figures despite the fact that the dynamic they evoke interest me SO MUCH.
Now Iāll admit Iām not as familiar with Shakespeareās Anthony and Cleopatra as I am with Romeo and Juliet so maybe that is what put me at a bit of a disadvantage. However, I do think that Chloe Gong may have been a bit too ambitious with how much was actually thrown into this first book more than anything else if we set aside the fact that I wasnāt able to appreciate all the nuances to the original play it was inspired by.
Down to the bare bones it is a story surrounding a handful of individuals wanting to overthrow a king, each for their own reasons and there is a tournament to the death involved in which two of the main protagonists are participants. I think where things got a bit flimsy surrounded this tournament as though all the action and tension was written quite well the games themselves sort of felt a little disconnected from the rest of the story for me.
The setting of San-Er gave glimpses of Ancient Rome but I believe it is inspired by the Kowloon Walled City (Hong Kong). However, I couldnāt help but compare it to the Shanghai of These Violent Delights and how the city there shone as its own character.
I felt in Immortal Longings the story didnāt really capture the feel of the setting maybe until halfway through and again I feel like this came down to how Gong was also trying to bring this dystopian Hunger Games vibe in for the games on top of everything else. Donāt get me wrong Gongās writing and descriptions of the atmosphere were great I just feel like they didnāt link up to the narrative straight away so it all felt like a separate thing.
What I was most looking forward to in the book was the reluctant alliance dynamic. It is one trope that I really enjoy reading about and the one that formed between Calla and Anton was great, full of the right amount of banter and camaraderie (if it can be called that) that comes about when two opposing forces have to team up. Where their relationship fell short I believe is with the romance side of things or at least the fact that it came around too quickly.
In fact this can be said to be the case for a couple of things in the book for instance coming back to how much was going on, for an adult fantasy it was too short. Certain scenes and developments could have been given more room to breathe in the narrative with a couple more pages. I think why the romance didnāt immediately work for me was because Antonās motive for winning the games was to save āhis exā but then romance rapidly ensued with Calla and we didnāt really get enough time showing them working together to justify it.
More than the games I was intrigued by the wider politics that were happening in the background and the mystery that it brought about. But the best part of the book was without a doubt the power/magic system. This whole idea of people having the means to jump out of their body and take over someone elseās was so compelling and made for some great twists in the book. I caught onto a few of them but they were honestly written in so well I was still impressed. Also the whole idea of autonomy and morality and identity that comes in was really interesting especially when you have characters constantly jumping around and others who refuse to do so.
So despite not loving this one as much as I had hoped, it has still left some fascinating questions behind which have me super keen to get my hands on book two as well as that killer ending! It was one twist I saw coming but am super excited to see develop.
I plan on trying to get my hands on Shakespeareās work if I can before book 2 releases and then give this one a reread so I can catch all the call backs that I am sure are there because that was one big highlight I had with These Violent Delights!
Final Rating ā 3.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Classism, Sexual content, Grief, Blood, Violence, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Genocide, War, and Terminal illness