Quick Stats
Age Rating: 18+
Spice Level: 1/5
4.5 stars

Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.

This was a good book, at times, it was even a very good book, yet I still found myself a little disappointed. Chloe Gong’s previous book, Foul Lady Fortune was my favorite read of 2023 (and I read almost 300 books!), and this just did not live up to that. I really enjoyed Immortal Longings, but I just kept thinking, I know Chloe Gong is capable of more than this.
It was a decently slow paced book, and the first 30% specifically, dragged sometimes. I think this author shines in her plot twists and her character relationships, but we don’t get much of either of those early on in the book. Plot twists, of course, can’t happen until you have a developed plot, but when they came they were amazing. However, the character interactions were very minimal in the first act. It was all exposition, a bit of info-dump world building, and internal monologue. Calla and Anton don’t meet until the 30% mark, and up until they team up, there’s little interaction between them and anyone else, either. Things are happening, but there isn’t a ton of forward action, plot wise. It’s all set up for the later plot and reveals and action. While I was interested, and I enjoyed getting to know Calla and Anton, I was never fully engaged.
That said, the last two thirds of the book—especially the last third—were action packed, high stakes, and easy to get swept up in. I finally started to see the talent and skill I knew Chloe Gong to be capable of. There were twists upon twists, and they all had me shrieking and on the edge of my seat. There was romance that was a little twisted and a lot of fun. And there was banter and character dynamics that made you fall in love with not only Calla and Anton, but the side characters, too. Once I got to the turning point, that first big reveal, I could not put this down. I flew through the last half of this book, and my rating jumped half a star. And all of that is not even to mention THAT ENDING??? I cannot wait for the next book in the series, and I’m optimistic that since we already have a lot of worldbuilding and set up out of the way, it will start a little stronger than this one did.
Despite the slow start, I highly recommend this book. I love Chloe Gong’s writing, and characters, and twists, and I really did love this book in the end. I already need more.