Started: 19th July 2023
Finished: 29th July 2023
Rating: 4/5
Shakespeare has been giving quite a bit of inspiration to writers lately. Love him or hate him, the bard’s influence clearly holds a strong sway to both readers and writers of any generation. This is especially the case with today’s review topic; Chloe Gong’s Immortal Longings (2023)
Admittedly when first reading the book’s blurb online, I wasn’t expecting much from this one. At the time I had been reading Olivia Blake’s One For My Enemy (2019), a Romeo and Juliet styled fantasy, involving witches from rival families and had begun losing interest by its second act. Honestly you can only put up with pining couples for so long.
But the book’s artwork was too stunning to resist and thankfully my expectations towards Gong’s debut adult urban fantasy was met with almost complete satisfaction. Or at least more than Blake’s novel ended up giving.
Taking inspiration from not only Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra (1607) but also Suzanne Collins Hunger Games (2008-2020), Immortal Longings is a character driven yet narrator-cluttered fantasy.
The story takes place in the twin cities San-Er, in a world where combatants with the ability to use ‘qi’ jump from body to body battling t out for fame and glory. Living in this walled-off playground is Calla, a rogue princess seeking to finish the royal massacre she started fifteen years ago by entering as a participant in The Game in order to assassinate her uncle, Emperor Kasa.
Joining her in The Game is Anton, an exiled warrior who fights to raise the funds needed to keep his comatose love alive. Together the two join forces, fighting off rivals until they are the only ones left. However, as they behead, stab and jump their way to the finales both their objectives become threatened by the growing desire between them, leading to one important decision; love or the kingdom?
Okay. So there is a little Shakespearean romance in this one. However, let me reassure readers that wasn’t the only reason I liked this book. As I’ve more than likely mentioned good characters are normally what draw me to a story. It is also a bonus factor for me if said characters are represented with a bit of an edge to them, ones that get them towing the line between what is right and wrong.
And Calla and Anton certainly embody such qualities.
Calla is a somewhat anti-hero. She is determined and skilled but also emotionally conflicted. She wants to burn down her family’s legacy. But she doesn’t want the man she’s falling for to die for the sake of the kingdom.
Anton is narcissistic and charming. But can be equally brutal when needed. And all in the name of love.
Neither adopts the ‘strong woman, weak man’ or ‘strong man, weak woman’ tropes readers may be familiar with today. Both are equally represented and strengthened by the potentially toxic passion the two develop between one another. Their romance is a refreshing approach, certainly a lot spicier than a pair of lovesick teens who, upon first glance, have already decided to declare their eternal devotion to one another.
Of course such a deadly couple is only deserving of its ‘finest’ establishment.
Gong’s San Er, with its stacked homes and neon lights is a Blade-Runner style world that, unlike The Hunger Games, has the games take place in the cities themselves, amongst the bystanders simply trying to survive in the chaos the participants cause. And with participants possessing the ability to jump into anybody’s body no one is safe. Not even the children.
Gong makes sure you are aware of the harshness of this world, which brings me to the one criticism I found with Immortal Longings.
The most off-putting thing was the amount of narrators it contains. In total, Immortal Longings has around seven, most of which come from the perspective of secondary characters I felt didn’t need their own narrative. While I understood this was to help establish certain factors within the story’s lore, I felt having so many restricted Gong’s ability to show rather than tell, her chapters at times turning into a regurgitation of character reflections upon San-Er or themselves that just dragged on. It also made certain moments anti-climatic. For example when readers are introduced to a potential threat Calla and Anton are struggling to face it would ultimately end up with them fleeing the scene and the next chapter having that threat dispatched either by their representative and main antagonist, Augustus himself or by some other contestant. It limited the sense of physical conflict and tension that could have developed during the characters’ most dire moments and left me feeling a little cheated.
Hopefully Gong will improve upon this in its sequel. Either way, Immortal Longings is the start to a trilogy that will intrigue some with its live or die couple but it may also deter others with its characters' expositions and focus on lore establishment.
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