Review: Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
From the publisher:
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:
Ok, so I'll start by saying the book wasn't bad... it just wasn't good either.
When I was reading, the story was intriguing, albeit disjointed and random at times, but the story never had the spark that made me invested in the characters or outcome. In fact, all of the characters were DEEPLY unlikeable. I ended up putting this book down to read THREE others and only came back to it because I was buddy reading it with a friend.
There were a lot of plot points that contradicted themselves (ex. Calla has to grow long bangs and hide her eyes because everyone knows the royal yellow eyes and then a little bit later she's going to just fade off into obscurity because yellow eyes are common) and there were so many random plot offshoots that were a huge deal but only for about a chapter and then they just stopped being a problem (remember that cult that was there and kidnapped someone and then just faded into obscurity?)? There was a twist with a character that maybe I should've seen coming except said character had only made an appearance for about three pages. And then it just ends without any sort of resolution at all.
2/5 stars
This is an adult fantasy—lots of violence, blood, gore and some sexual content as well as mentions of parricide, patricide, and gratuitous murder.