It took me a long time to get into Mortal Longings…Vilest Things was like the story digested speed…It was a quick pace, constant plot twist kind of story. We left off in ML’s when Calla took the podium with King August…only it wasn’t August. Now characters who had no depth to them in the first book explode alive in this second book giving way to a very different dynamic and story direction. Calla & Anton seem destine for ruin as his anger boils over for her decision to kill him in the games and his first love Otta reemerging. The plot twists Gong throws at you keep you on your toes and there is no down time to get comfortable with anything that is going on in the book. It was a devastating ride of betrayal, longing and character reveals I never saw coming tell it went straight through my heart. The ending sent me over the edge and she absolutely CANNOT leave us here on this cliff. Please Gong, I am holding out my heart…set a date for the next book!! 5 stars!

Warring politics, Ancient Gods, power, and betrayals. Book 2 starts off immediately from where book 1 left off expanding the compelling world building. We go beyond San-er and into the provinces as Calla undergoes the consequences of her actions killing the king.

I was hooked the entirety of this read no matter where I left off. Every character had motives, diverse personalities, betrayals, and their own loyalties. The intricate webbing of the plot alongside that created fascinating dynamics that would blow my mind the further we got. Plenty of action sequences I could follow and amazing reveals I could never have guessed.

Calla and Anton are just so in tune with each other it’s unbelievable. Starting off as enemies turning to lovers in book 1 created my love for their relationship. The plot twist turning them back into enemies was heartbreaking and I cried. The hatred and angst creates a push and pull between Calla and Anton that I couldn’t get enough of. Introducing Otta Avia into the situation was absolutely nerve wrecking. She was completely unpredictable the moment she woke up and I was here for it.

Chloe Gong has done it again! 1000/10 must read series and top read of 2024!

Well Chloe Gong knows how to write a cliffhanger, I'll tell you that.

First off - if you did not immediately read the first book, I suggest you do that or find a refresher video on Youtube before going into this. This book hops right back in and does not give much of an explanation of where we are or how we got there.

This book is all about character and not so much about plot. About 75% in I realized almost nothing had happened, but I was surprised how little this bothered me. That being said, the last 100 pages were jam packed with action that happened so quickly I sometimes missed things. The romance in this one was weird for me (according to my review for book 1, I felt the same before), and while I did get a little giddy during ~romantic times~ I didn't quite understand the relationship dynamics. Plus, Otta's randomness in the last book as Anton's first love is equally, if not more, random in this one. The jumping aspect was less of an emphasis in this book, which made it easier for me to suspend reality. (The concept of jumping as a whole had me thinking so many things in book one - how do you know who anyone truly is?!)

I'd give this 3.5 stars. This book had me excited to keep reading, but I felt like I wanted more. I don't know if I want book 3 asap because that cliff hanger was even more jaw dropping than the first one, or because I actually loved the book. Regardless, it's a fun time.

Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

This was a bit of a sequel slump for me, unfortunately. It suffers from what many second book of trios do where it feels like filler and build up for the finale instead of a compelling story in its own right. By no means horrible and I look forward to finishing the series but I was disappointed. Perhaps this is why Gong’s debut duology was so great-no fluff in the middle!

In so disappointed to say this but I think this might be my least favorite of her books. The pacing felt off & I felt like the first book painted such a good picture of the cities & I feel like this one didn’t do that with the country. With that being said you know I’m going to buy the third one when it comes out.

After the insane cliffhanger, I was READY for book two. And it did not disappoint. I love these characters, I love this world, and all of it is perfect for me!

Absolutely loved this. If Chloe gong writes it I will read it! Love. How she manages to use source material in Shakespeare and still make it her own story. The enemies to lovers and betrayals in this is top notch.

I could not articulate my disappointment for this book in a GoodReads review... so I made a 40 minute long rant video. Watch here: https://youtu.be/FNAS17JnDw0

Loved the enemies to lovers in this! The world building, the plot with the politics, the characters, and the magic were touched on more in this book. Vilest Things has strong characters that show character development throughout. Do expect lots of plot twists and another cliffhanger!

Thank you to TBR Beyond Tours for the copy!

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as Immortal Longings; there wasn't nearly as much action, and most of the book was building up to the reveal at the end. However, I liked spending more time with the characters and exploring the aftermath of the end of Immortal Longings. Gong is definitely setting us up for a ton of action in Book 3, so I didn't mind at all that this book seems to kind of be a bridge between Immortal Longings and Book 3.

A rollercoaster of a book in the best possible way. Chloe Gong is unmatched. So many plot twists, stunning reveals, and BETRAYALS!!! Absolutely obsessed with this world, the politics, and the magic system!

Absolutely stunning sequel that will leave you wanting more. Chloe Gong continues to give dimension and depth to the world and characters she created in Immortal Longings. There isn’t much I can really say without giving away key points of the first book, but this book steps up all the court intrigue and scheming to tension-filled levels. Everyone has an agenda, and everyone has something to lose. The first book was fun, action packed and had a romance that breaks your heart. Vilest Things wastes no time in diving right back into the action and drama. The world building is a little formulaic dystopian with districts, people living in poverty while the wealthy play games, and the seeds of rebellion forming. The Magic system is what sets this book apart. Chloe has created this magical world that is unique while also having you question the world she created (i.e. this is how it is… or is it?) I love Calla and Anton and all of their imperfections. They are amazingly strong main characters that you will want to be invested in. The villains’ and side characters add the perfect flavoring to the feast that is this series. I can’t wait to get my hands on book three. If you are a fan of fantasy, dystopias and retellings then you should give this book/series a go.

I was very intrigued by Gong’s foray into adult fantasy when Immortal Longings came out. While initially I wasn’t super familiar with Shakespear’s Antony & Cleopatra, I really enjoyed being thrown into the world Gong created. I recently re-read Immortal Longings to prepare for Vilest Things coming out and Pretzel decided to join me, sensing I needed my own Mao Mao.
Vilest Things has been an anticipated sequel, because of the giant cliffhanger at the end of IL. Gong managed to address many of the wishes I had going into a sequel with Vilest Things, the world building really expands and we get a deeper look into the characters. I just love it SO much when the second book in a series doesn’t disappoint.
My only problem with Vilest Things has been that it too has a cliffhanger and that I have to wait for book 3 in the series.

OKAY I HAVE QUESTIONS AND I NEED ANSWERS!!

The cliffhangers have been parallels and yet they still get me. I loved how much more of the political machinations we got to see in this one and the angst Anton was feeling after how the last book ended. Also that they could be in different bodies but their love is the same.
There were so many things revealed in this one, and the lore was built up even more and I’m so in love with this world created. I read this too quickly and now I can’t believe I have to wait!

Sorry for the short review, but there’s not much I can say without spoiling the first book and some big revelations in this one. Maybe an easter egg drop—- that crown!!

Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours for having me on the tour! And thank you Saga Press for the arc! I feel spoiled with this one, what an exciting release.

An AMAZING sequel to Immortal Longings. Once I started reading I couldn’t put the book down. Chloe has, once again, done an excellent job with her storytelling and character development. I can’t wait for the next one!!

I’m not sure how I felt about how much lore and mysticism that wasn’t strongly hinted at in the first book was introduced in this one, but it kept my engaged the entire time I was reading and Calla and Anton’s twisted relationships remains a high point of the series.

This was a great follow up to immortal longings. We are back with even more plotting, politics and twists. Not only was I entertained, I was Pleasantly surprised to be so far off in all my guesses about what would happen. Can’t wait for the next book!

4.5 ⭐️ wow!!!! this book was a huge rollercoaster, I literally can’t believe it ended like that???? this second book was more focused on the political part of the story and at first it scared me a little but in the end I ended up loving it as much as the first one, Chloe Gong definitely knows how to be dramatic and how to keep readers on the edge of their seats 😮‍💨 the tension in the romance was out of this world and I honestly don't know if I'll ever get over them, I can’t wait for the next one!!!

If Chloe Gong writes it, I'm going to read it. This series is so interesting to me because I spend most of the books honestly confused about wtf is going on, who is allied with who, what the magical system actually is and is not etc. -- but I love the vibes of the world so much I don't even care. The revelations about who certain characters are really blew my mind (repeatedly). The driving force of this book for me is Calla -- I love her so much and I will be so furious if this series doesn’t end with Calla and Anton happy somewhere. I don’t care if she’s Queen or abdicates or whatever. But she better live. With Anton. Happily. Also Otta must die. I will say I didn't realize the series was a trilogy and not a duology which made the end of this book JARRING but that's on me, not the book. I will absolutely read the next once it's out!

A lot of my complaints about Immortal Longings carry over into Vilest Things, except somehow they all got worse.

To start with the positive: I said that this world needed a map after finishing Immortal Longings. VIlest Things has a map. Yay.

However, there is no glossary of terms or character list/name pronunciation guide/bible for which person is from what kingdom and which family they're from, etcetera. This makes Vilest Things doubly confusing, because a lot of the groundwork that was laid in Immortal Longings is just swept up and then tossed in the air so that they land in new places with no good explanation or reason for doing so.

For example, in Immortal Longings, it was said that characters who can use qi to jump are able to be detected because their eye color—or the aura their eyes emit, still unclear on which or both—will carry over to their new body. But in Vilest Things, people can jump to new bodies and their eye colors will not give them away because…sigils drawn in blood on the body? And neither Calla nor Anton have seen these sigils before so they basically just "I think this is right" their way through learning it and getting lucky each time? So now there's blood magic and non consensual body jumping (still extremely icky) and Chloe Gong continuing to present the horrors of the world with no firm condemnation of it or characters who give a damn enough to try to make the world a better place even when it does not benefit them. I think that actually bothers me the most about this series: Gong is writing about colonization and the loss of agency of your body, and revolution, and poverty, and greedy rulers, and family, and love, and she is not providing any sort of commentary or having these characters triumph, they just move from foiled plan to foiled plan based on their own whims and sudden realizations they have off page then tease out for fifty pages.

If Calla's only goal was to eradicate the bloodline of the family that wiped out hers, why was she around at all in this book? If Anton went from jumping to stay alive to being king, why did he not disassemble the empire that murdered his family instead of ~I'm About To Be King~-ing the entire book? Neither of these people's ambitions or sudden pivots to behaving in ways their Immortal Longings selves would have despised made sense.

August was uninteresting and nonthreatening; his arc honestly could have been erased without missing much from the story. Otta was a laughably bad villain, who seems like she rubs her hands together and giggles wickedly every time she enters the scene. I felt like her motivations and the "why" behind her arrival were predictable, but, again, another person with an agenda that is unnecessarily stretched out until you just don't care. Who cares that Otta is Calla and Calla is a reincarnation of Calla's ancestor who has some kind of unidentified beef about how she died? Not me.

Maybe I'm just not smart enough for sci-fi fantasy novels. But maybe, just maybe, a 2 hour, 25 minute play that is less than 200 pages in length should not be reimagined over three, 300+ page novels, because that makes it extremely drawn-out, tedious, and ultimately boring to read. The action scenes were overly worded until they were muddled and confusing. The descriptions were way too much, I felt like she was going to start describing the color and approximate depth of puddles on the street at one point!

I will decidedly not be reading book 3 and I will perhaps give Gong another try in the future.

Thank you to Saga Press, S&S/Saga Press, and NetGalley for providing an ARC!

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