Immortal Longings: The #1 Sunday Times Bestseller (Flesh and False Gods)

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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.

The entire concept of body switching is fascinating and connects to deeper ethical questions around identity and personhood. In this world, it is easy to lose sight of who you truly are and to keep running from the heinous actions you have taken. Also, as a literary device, it works as an excellent way to keep your readers on their toes and creates such a tense and paranoid atmosphere. When literally everyone around you could be an enemy in disguise, who can you truly trust? The needle-thin between every building sag, the earthen ground always muddy because it is sweating with overexertion." What do you think is the mission of the Temple Society? What kind of threat do they pose, and to whom?Something that blows my mind in the story is how well the meaning of the games is portrayed. The games are a key piece to keep the masses contained and focused on a game on the television and not on the social inequality that is the main characteristic of the kingdom of Talin. By giving the people something bloody, something deadly, something that is entertaining, King Kasa makes sure to appease the political turmoil that comes from the prolonged social discontent over the miserable living conditions of the people of Talin. Smart, imaginative, and brutal, Immortal Longings is a mind- and genre-bending epic that is as cutting and honest as it is unpredictable. Chloe Gong's assertive style is filled with razor's-edge prose, and her complex characters will hurt you, but in the most thrilling way. What a time to be alive for book lovers.' - Wesley Chu, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The War Arts Saga

There’s never any true tension or stakes with these games. You don’t even need to kill anyone. With the wristband, there’s a chip that can be taken out to deactivate someone’s game status. What is stopping Calla from destroying wristbands if she’s so committed to helping the citizens of San-Er? Or is that not morally gray enough LMAOOO. As I said earlier, what’s worked with the game trope in other iterations across fiction is when it is used to highlight why everyone else is involving themselves as a last resort/or because they crave power. In Immortal Longings, Calla enters because it means she’ll be able to have an audience with King Kasa and kill him. in the city of san er, we have these games held annually where eighty-eight candidates (for such a specific number, one would think it’ll get explained) gets to fight to the death for the purpose of winning riches beyond their wildest dreams. why are these games a thing, you ask? well your answer is as good as mine. all that we know is that the population of san er is poor, so obviously, the only logical solution is to create these games. nevermind that the funds needed to create and keep up the games, and to be gifted to the winner can be relocated elsewhere to actually better the lives of the general population. there has to be a reason for the games, so of course we’ll make everyone poor. we are also not going to explore that poverty and what it entails, because that would require a properly built world where we have an understanding of the politics of the town, and a proper discussion of the socioeconomic aspects of the world. the reason why the games in the hunger games actually work is because all of these nuances was thoroughly explored, which gong failed to do in this book.

Featured Reviews

The author was originally inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. What are the similarities in plot, setting, and characters to Immortal Longings? What are the differences?

And the concept of "body jumping." Quite frankly, this ability was a good one but the loopholes itched me. People in this city just going around taking up other people's bodies like it's a daily chore? Even if it's supposedly illegal? Wild. Also teeters on the edge of consensual questions so... yeah. A lot can be done with the concept but Gong didn't think through the power, use and consequences of it to make me understand and go with the jumping. The magic system outlined in “Immortal Longings” is another standout element of the book, blending science fiction tropes and Chinese mythology. The imagery of the physical body beats throughout the novel, personifying Calla’s home: San-Er is a breathing being, the energy fuelling its bright lights like the qi pulsating through the bodies of the occupants of the city. San-Er is constantly moving, beating, and hosting life, as well as witnessing the loss of it. Bodily identity creates friction on all levels: between Calla and Anton, between the people and the palace, between the consumer and the supplier. the games in immortal longings, apart from it’s creation having no nuance at all, is stupid. our arena is (get this) SAN ER! there must be rules right? to distinguish between the candidates and civilians? well…. no. in fact, it’s even worse when you consider that the candidates can jump in the bodies of anyone, including innocent bystanders. the only way for the games to end is to kill the 87 other players, and you never know who’s who because there are no rules and regulations. Smart, imaginative, and brutal, Immortal Longings is a mind- and genre-bending epic that is as cutting and honest as it is unpredictable. Chloe Gong's assertive style is filled with razor's-edge prose, and her complex characters will hurt you, but in the most thrilling way. What a time to be alive for book lovers."

Customer reviews

There's a lot of breathing room in adult. There's a lot more space about what these stories can be as opposed to young adult,” Gong says. “As much as I love it, young adult will follow a certain formula because... it is so much about the teenage experience and everything encapsulated in that.”