My Initial Thoughts

This book has an interesting premise where yearly there are a set of games to the death that citizens of a kingdom called Talin can compete in. The main concept is nothing new, but there is a difference here where people have the ability to jump between bodies. From the synopsis we know that there will be alliances formed that may cause issues in the game. Clearly if we are in a competition to the death and only one person can win, there’s going to be some conflict and backstabbing. Sounds like complete chaos to me. So on reading the synopsis, I was in.

About the Author

Chloe Gong is a young writer, known best for her young adult fiction. Her first book, These Violent Delights, came out in 2020. Knowing that, it’s impressive to see that since 2020, she has published 3 series, one of which includes the book I’m reviewing, Immortal Longings, which is meant to be the first in a trilogy. The second book, The Vilest Things, is due to come out in 2024.

About the Characters

August is the adopted or almost adopted son of the king. We find out early on that he’s looking to overthrow and “end” the king and take over. He believes that he is better equipped to rule. 

Calla Tuoleimi is the current king’s niece. She is in hiding because she actually “ended” both of her parents. She’s not looking to rule, just bring down the rulers. She wants to win the games so that she has the opportunity to “meet the king” where she can finish her goal.

Anton Makusa is in debt. He was for some reason exiled from his own body, but in this world that’s ok because you can just jump to another. He often inhabits the bodies of people with money. His debt is due to paying medical bills for his childhood girlfriend. He actually wants to win the games so that he gets the money. 

About the Book

Calla Tuoleimi is one that stands out.  She is a character that  undergoes significant development throughout the story, but unfortunately, it felt like that came at the expense of the supporting characters. I’m a person that loves a book or a movie with a good supporting group. Here, despite there being a larger cast of other characters, none of them  managed to bring out  any strong feelings for me, even when tragic or high stress events occurred, I still felt indifferent. 

The plot had potential, but its slow pace made it challenging to stay engaged. The reasons behind the main characters’ rebellion against the king just weren’t convincing to me. It felt like something was missing to bring me to their side. Maybe more interaction with the king so we could “see” how terrible he was.  In all, getting through this book wasn’t super easy and I found myself falling behind on my daily reading goals. 

But wait, the ending did manage to surprise me! Which was hard because we can all guess how it’s going to end right from the get-go. But instead, there was a twist that has me open to the idea of reading the next book. 

How Did I Rate it?

Overall, I had mixed feelings about Immortal Longings.  The world building left didn’t really spark my imagination and the basic motivations of some of the characters was confusing to me. Because of that and how the pacing felt, I gave it 2 stars. I’m assuming and hoping that Book 2 will tie some aspects together and bring more excitement early on.