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Book: “Immortal Longings” by Chloe Gong
Publishing Info: Gallery / Saga Press, July 2023
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org |Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Every year, thousands in the kingdom of Talin will flock to its capital twin cities, San-Er, where the palace hosts a set of games. For those confident enough in their ability to jump between bodies, competitors across San-Er fight to the death to win unimaginable riches.
Princess Calla Tuoleimi lurks in hiding. Five years ago, a massacre killed her parents and left the palace of Er empty…and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa’s forces in San can catch her, she plans to finish the job and bring down the monarchy. Her reclusive uncle always greets the victor of the games, so if she wins, she gets her opportunity at last to kill him.
Enter Anton Makusa, an exiled aristocrat. His childhood love has lain in a coma since they were both ousted from the palace, and he’s deep in debt trying to keep her alive. Thankfully, he’s one of the best jumpers in the kingdom, flitting from body to body at will. His last chance at saving her is entering the games and winning.
Calla finds both an unexpected alliance with Anton and help from King Kasa’s adopted son, August, who wants to mend Talin’s ills. But the three of them have very different goals, even as Calla and Anton’s partnership spirals into something all-consuming. Before the games close, Calla must decide what she’s playing for—her lover or her kingdom.
Review: I was excited when I saw this book coming out from Chloe Gong. For one thing, the idea of a reimaging of Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra” into an epic fantasy story is incredibly appealing, right up the alley of my own particular preferences. But I was also interested to see what Gong had to offer in this, her adult fantasy debut. I know she’s an immensely popular YA fantasy author, but I’ve struggled to connect to her work in the past. However, I do recognize the overall strength of her writing, so if paired with a more adult approach to storytelling and a shift away from YA tropes, would I have better luck?
Alas, no. But before I get into what didn’t work, I want to, as always, focus on the things that do work. And one of them is the simple fact that if you have enjoyed Chloe Gong’s work in the past, you will definitely enjoy this book. Many of the aspects of her storytelling strengths are on equal show here. Her writing is solid. Her world-building is interesting. There are a lot of political through lines that weave in and out of the story. And the characters are multi-faceted, dramatic, and prone to on-again, off-again romances. If this all sounds like a backhanded compliment, it kind of is. Many of these things are also where I struggled with this author in her YA work. But the converse side of it is that this is all what’s made her incredibly popular as a writer, so can I fault her for giving her fans more of what they want, if packaged now in an “adult” fantasy novel? No, no I cannot.
But, all of that said, I didn’t particularly enjoy this book. In almost every aspect of the story telling I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated as the story went on. What starts out as interesting world-building quickly began to feel like unnecessary and a bit rambling paragraphs upon paragraphs of scene-setting. This is a long book, and I quickly began to feel the need to skim as I read along. Further, she introduces some interesting and unique fantasy elements early in the story, the ability to essentially take over the body of another while that person’s identity then goes dormant. But what seems to be an interesting concept quickly fell into confusion and doubt for me. How exactly does this world function with this sort of body-hopping? It’s never addressed really how this powerful and dangerous tool would affect literally every aspect of society. Further, there are some serious issues of consent when one person is in another’s body that are simply never addressed.
And look, I still liked the idea over all, but this is where I am going to expect more from you as an adult fantasy author than I might as someone writing YA. I’m a big proponent of not writing down to young adult audiences. But that said, there is a case to be made that an author be allowed a bit more lenience in the realm of plot-holes and detailed explanations for how aspects of their story work within a larger world or society when they are writing for teenage audiences. But if your book is marketed as adult fantasy, I am going to expect the author to have fully grappled with the ins and outs of the fantasy devices they are using, especially one as central as this “body swapping” is to this particular story.
Beyond this, I was very disappointed with the main characters. I’m beginning to get the feeling that Gong is either only capable or only willing to write the same sorts of characters in all of her books. Indeed, the central two characters in this book are almost identical (if aged up) copies of the main leads in her “These Violent Delights” duology. Again, if you enjoyed those characters there, you’ll probably like them again here. But that’s not what I was looking for when I picked up this book. Indeed, in the author’s interview at the end of my early review copy, Gong essentially admits to this repetition of story, saying that in this adult book she wanted to adapt the same enemies-to-lovers romance that she already did once in her YA duology but just amp it up to enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers, etc. Not only is this exactly the sort of romantic plotline and angst that most particularly drives me nuts, it’s disappointing to see Gong essentially decide to write the same exact dynamic and think that increasing the angst level is what will elevate it to adult fantasy.
Overall, I really struggled to enjoy this book. To me, it felt like Gong simply doubled down on her same old bag of tricks and called it adult fantasy. That said, I’ve adjusted my rating from what, for me, would have been a 6, to a 7 because I do think this book will appeal to a lot of fantasy readers. As I’ve now said ad nauseum, if you’ve liked Gong’s previous work, you’re sure to like this one, too, as it’s, largely, much of the same.
Rating 7: Fans of Gong’s previous books will be delighted to find that she’s stuck to her roots in this, her adult fantasy debut. Those looking for something fresh from this author, less so.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Immortal Longings” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Asian Folklore/Mythology/Influence and Upcoming 2023 SFF Books With Female Leads or Co-Leads.
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