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A review by isabellarobinson7
Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Rating: 3 stars
Immortal Longings is The Terminator.
Okay, okay, I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out. Why does Arnold Schwarzenegger steal the clothes of the biker guy, not some random hobo? Why does he use the biggest guns he can get his hands on, not some wimpy pistols? Why does he insist on wearing sunglasses, even at night? Why does he only say 17 lines in the whole first film? Because it's badass, that's why. Because it's cool, makes him seem really intimidating, and fully commits to the techno/punk/grunge aesthetic the movie is dripping in. Immortal Longings operates with the same philosophy.
But just like The Terminator knows what it is (the first one at least. Can’t say the same for any beyond T2) Immortal Longings is fully aware it is not the next Lord of the Rings and it goes with that. It wasn't perfect, you can poke holes in it (specifically in character motivations) and it would fall apart, but who cares. It was very compulsively readable, and I liked it.
I also must admit I had no real preconceived opinions of its author, so that may have contributed to my raw enjoyment of Immortal Longings. I, like this book, am hip and cool and vehemently refuse to download TikTok or consume any short form content besides the occasional Instagram reel, so I was not aware Chloe Gong is considered a "BookTok author".
Enjoyment versus critical thinking can be tricky for me. For books I have enjoyed despite not technically being the greatest, I find the longer I sit on them, the more those technical flaws become noticeable to me. As time passes, the initial rush of finishing them wears off, that "popcorn read" feeling goes, and I start to view the books in a more critical light. (This principle operates in reverse, too, for more dense books.) In the last couple of weeks between me finishing the book and writing this, I am perhaps not as positive on Immortal Longings as I once was immediately upon reading the last page. This doesn't take away from the fact that I think Immortal Longings is well worth your time - that enjoyment I felt while reading it was very legitimate.
Immortal Longings is The Terminator.
Okay, okay, I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out. Why does Arnold Schwarzenegger steal the clothes of the biker guy, not some random hobo? Why does he use the biggest guns he can get his hands on, not some wimpy pistols? Why does he insist on wearing sunglasses, even at night? Why does he only say 17 lines in the whole first film? Because it's badass, that's why. Because it's cool, makes him seem really intimidating, and fully commits to the techno/punk/grunge aesthetic the movie is dripping in. Immortal Longings operates with the same philosophy.
But just like The Terminator knows what it is (the first one at least. Can’t say the same for any beyond T2) Immortal Longings is fully aware it is not the next Lord of the Rings and it goes with that. It wasn't perfect, you can poke holes in it (specifically in character motivations) and it would fall apart, but who cares. It was very compulsively readable, and I liked it.
I also must admit I had no real preconceived opinions of its author, so that may have contributed to my raw enjoyment of Immortal Longings. I, like this book, am hip and cool and vehemently refuse to download TikTok or consume any short form content besides the occasional Instagram reel, so I was not aware Chloe Gong is considered a "BookTok author".
Enjoyment versus critical thinking can be tricky for me. For books I have enjoyed despite not technically being the greatest, I find the longer I sit on them, the more those technical flaws become noticeable to me. As time passes, the initial rush of finishing them wears off, that "popcorn read" feeling goes, and I start to view the books in a more critical light. (This principle operates in reverse, too, for more dense books.) In the last couple of weeks between me finishing the book and writing this, I am perhaps not as positive on Immortal Longings as I once was immediately upon reading the last page. This doesn't take away from the fact that I think Immortal Longings is well worth your time - that enjoyment I felt while reading it was very legitimate.