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renewed_reader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Unfortunately, this book wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. There were entertaining parts but the pacing was quite off toward the end. I also think two key characters were underdeveloped.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual content and Police brutality
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and War
entropyseeker's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Am absolute banger of a book. It gave me everything I wanted for a fantasy novel AND I didn't have to read poorly written smut to get there. This story is drenched in the blood of kingkillers and every detail had me reading on. The romance felt tense and and written perfectly in tune with thenmain characters, the motives and backgrounds were clear and MADE SENSE While I expected every twist, it hit in such a satisfying way that I didn't mind. Can't wait to start the next book in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
clhtdr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
thebelovedreadingnook's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Classism
ipekcav's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Entertaining read! I felt some of the plot points were rushed. The romance aspect felt rushed. Great twists and ended on a fantastic note. Gong could leave it where it ended but there is clear opening for a second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Grief, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual content
thesnarkside's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
theycallmebookish'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? Yes
3.25
This dystopian enemy to lovers story follows Princess Calla on her mission to save her people. This was very body snatchers meets Hunger Games meets the Expanse. I enjoyed the world building and the creativeness that went into even thinking up this book but I will also say I was super confused a good chunk of the beginning of the book. The body jumping and different color eyes and introducing so many characters at once was a lot to follow. And because there was so much happening in the story there were a few plot holes. A big one I can’t mention because of spoilers but if you read this you might know what I mean. I’m curious to see what the next book brings.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Classism
rexpostfacto's review against another edition
3.25
Did I have a good time? Yes. Did I understand any of it? No.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, and Classism
sarasreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
This is a book where you can't let your mind wander or you'll miss a vital piece of information. It was a lot of info, yet I still sometimes had a hard time following and remembering the info that was given.
I flew through this though, and generally had a good time with it. I had some squabbles, especially with the speed of the romance and how the characters seemed to fundamentally change as it progressed. I didn't realize this wasn't a standalone, but I might give the next one a go.
I flew through this though, and generally had a good time with it. I had some squabbles, especially with the speed of the romance and how the characters seemed to fundamentally change as it progressed. I didn't realize this wasn't a standalone, but I might give the next one a go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Classism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
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: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, and Terminal illness