I knew I would adore this book because I loved The Celestial Kingdom books. I was not disappointed.

This book was captivating since the first page. It is filled with world-building, complex characters, twists and turns, political intrigue, and heart-warming romance.


The FMC, Liyen, is a princess in Tianxia. So loved by her grandfather, he risks it all to give her the gift of the Divine Pearl Lotus to cure her. Upon his death, she is thrust into power and has to make tough decisions to do what is best for her people. Zhangwei, aka the God of War, is the MMC. He is introduced to us as hateful, vicious, and hateful towards mortals. Both characters are complex and go through tremendous character development through the story. Just when you think you have this enemies to lovers tale figured out, Sue Lynn Tan throws in a plot twist that no one could see coming. I can usually predict most plot twists, but I didn’t see any of these coming.

Thank you to Netgalley & Harper Collins for this ARC!

3.5 stars. Tandem read with audio and the narrator was fantastic as usual.

Putting this in the front so it can be seen but I am happy to say (for once) that **you DO NOT have to read Daughter of the Moon Goddess or its sequel to read this**. It infuriates me when authors will do spinoffs or standalones in the same world and claim you can read one without the other but yet, the previous books are spoiled in the first 10 minutes of a the new book. This one is wholly independent, the very few mentions of anything to do with DotMG is akin to basic history or geography like “that kingdom lies to the east.” or “the emperor (unnamed) is a dick.” I do think that it does take place around the same time as DotMG but regardless, this book is spent isolated in parts of the world that, from my memory, do not cross over with DotMG. Absolute kudos to Sue Lynn Tan for that, other authors/publishers, take notes.

Now that is out of the way I can give my usual thanks to the NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! All reviews are my own and for the audio read portion (since obviously I tandem read) I did spend my own money to purchase that.

Onto the review, I’ll just say it. If you read one Sue Lynn Tan book, you have read them all. They are all wholly the same from the beautiful, lush prose that is very deceptive of the environment to the basic and bland characters and plot. Immortal more or less was the same as DotMG in that regard though I will say, I liked the love story better in this one. The plot (when it wasn’t just a bunch of meandering side quests and going from A to B) was also slightly more interesting. Dunno, if it justifies over 400 pages worth but the twists were unexpected and the story wrapped up nicely though in typical Sue Lynn Tan fashion.

I think overall I was just expecting MORE from this novel. Maybe thats on me for having higher expectations going into this but I really thought that it would be a gripping romantic tale with more secrets and forced proximity in one placeish. We got that for like 25% of the novel and then it was the pinging around the map adventure until it ended.

Will I reread this? Probably not though I will look at my stunning Fairyloot copy from time to time. Will I recommend? Maybe. If you are used to watching any kind of historical c-drama then read this is very akin to consuming that.

Overall, I think I am kind of done reading any more Sue Lynn Tan novels set in the Celestial Kingdom world. So far its been a lot of the same and I am eager to see her beautiful prose and lush descriptions with something new.

4.25 stars!

Such a lyrical and magical book! The prose was just beautiful and I really enjoyed getting to know Liyen and Zhangwei! Sue Lynn Tan really excels at world building.

I loved this book. While the plot twists are a little more expected than in Daughter of the Moon Goddess, there were still some surprises I didn't see coming. Sue Lynn Tan has become my favorite fantasy writer. She has a particular talent for character development and injecting dry humor into her writing in a way that further immerses me in the world she's created. I would recommend this to readers who liked her previous books, or even new readers who have an interest in fantasy/Chinese mythology as the book can be enjoyed as a standalone.

I read 4 chapters and finally had to DNF. I guess that's what I get for reading a book simply because it's beautiful. The main character is insufferable, and her dialog with the God of War is so juvenile. Actually, everything about her is juvenile. Her inner dialog is very bratty. Her very few actions (up until chatting 4) seem almost perfunctory, like the author would have rather her not do anything. Honestly, if she had just been unconscious the whole time and it was just told from her friends point of view, I think I would have liked it a lot more.

Maybe it is necessary to read the other books in this series first to enjoy it, but it's supposed to be a stand-alone, so I didn't.

As always, thank you, Netgalley, for this ARC. Sorry it just wasn't for me.

If Sue Lynn Tan writes it, you better believe I'm going to come running and Immortal absolutely did not disappoint! This book delivered everything I crave in a romantic fantasy and then some. When I say I want romantic fantasy, this is exactly what I mean!

There was yearning, tension, and oh, the romance! Immortal brought all the court intrigue and emotional tension, betrayal and plot twists that gave me serious Ashes of Love and Ten Miles of Peach Blossom vibes. I was living for every single moment.

While set in the same world as the Celestial Kingdom series, which I also adored, this novel is a complete standalone. That makes it a super easy read, even if you haven't read the other books.

I couldn’t put this book down. I practically devoured it! And can we take a moment to talk about the God of War, aka Lord Zhangwei? Or should I just start calling him the God of Rizz now? Because damn, his dialogue was chef's kiss level fine. I have all his lines highlighted and swooned over them like my life depended on it. The romance and banter hit the spot perfectly, it was everything I needed and more.

I’m so weak for the yearning and forbidden love trope, and Sue Lynn Tan delivered it flawlessly in this book. The dynamics between the characters was intense, emotional, and beautifully written. No spoilers here but let me just say that the romance absolutely HIT.

A huge thank you to @ Harper Voyager @HarperCollins for gifting me a finished copy of Immortal. I’m totally in awe of how stunning it is, the cover is just as beautiful as the story inside.

Put Immortal on your bookshelf ASAP! Or better yet go make yourself acquainted with Lord Zhangwei *swoon*

This was a miss for me. I've read Sue Lynn Tan's other works (the celestial kingdom series) amd loved them. The writing felt flat and the story was missing something.

I have loved Sue Lynn Tan since Daughter of the Moon Goddess and this one was no exception! Her writing has the most beautiful poetic quality to it, that truly embraces the settings for her stories. This one captured my heart from the first page reading about a young ruler and her desire for her people to see freedom. There were so many twists and I found myself emotionally destroyed at parts- but trust the magic. Sue Lynn Tan is a master at weaving the heart back together again.

Immortal is a romantic fantasy standalone. Liyen is the mortal ruler, and Zhangwei is the immortal god of war. Liyen is trying to free her people from immortal rule and so she has to try to convince the God of War to help her cause.

The worldbuilding was interesting. We see the mortal realm, the immortal realm, and the Netherworld. I found Liyen, our narrator, to be pretty annoying as the main character. The enemies to lovers trope was obvious and not believable. The side characters were more interesting than the main characters.

I would recommend this book to romantasy lovers.

3.5 stars// Liyen has been underestimated for her weakness upon being the poisoned princess of Tianxia. Her grandfather sacrifices his good-standing with the Immortals and gifts her the Divine Pearl Lotus to strengthen her to be able to evacuate the palace that is under the Immortals' attack. As she escapes, she sees her grandfather's heart give out at the sight of the anger of not only Queen Caihong, but also the infamous God of War, Lord Zhangwei. The God of War catches up to Liyen and extends the Queen's invitation to be seen and give the kingdom's fealty to her. Constantly drawn to one another, through countless omitted lies and betrayals, Liyen and the God of War must work together to dissolve the rising unrest between immortals and their darker opponents.

I absolutely enjoyed getting to see more into the world that was built in Sue Lynn Tan's last duology and focus and dive into these different characters. There were points where the plot seemed to lull and it took a while to start the main conflict, but I would recommend to those who love fantasy and wish to dive into more diverse books. I can't wait to see what comes next from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Sue Lynn Tan for this ARC

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

Unfortunately, I don't think Sue Lynn Tan is for me. While she has pretty individual sentences, something about the way they come together just BORE me. It's slow and frankly I don't believe a lot of the conflict - Liyen is constantly saying how surprised she is that the God of War isn't awful, and yet there isn't a moment where I'd believe he had been. She's frightened for no reason! This is true of... a lot of things in the book.

There was an interesting twist at around 70%, but it was too late, and everything after that moved slowly as well. If you liked her first duology, you'll like this - I had similar issues, so maybe it's just my taste! It's a shame, the covers are so pretty. I hope romantasy lovers get what they want from this - it has an audience, it just isn't me.

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up

First of all while Immortal is set in the world of the Daughter of the Moon Goddess duology, you could read this without having read that duology as from what I could tell they don’t spoil each other in the slightest. That out of the way, this book does read like a soap opera, and that usually doesn’t work very well for me. BUT, somehow the luscious world and the pining and angst just worked for me in this context. The immortal politics putting the human realm in danger also served as the perfect vehicle for the unfolding love story…I was just eating it all up. If you at all are excited by fantasy romance but want less of the insta lust and more genuine relationship development, while still being HIGH on the melodrama….look no further.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy to review via NetGalley.

-This is my second book I read from Sue Lynn Tan (the first being Daughter of the Moon Goddess) and now I want to read her other books too! The world building was immaculate - the magic, the myth, the gods, the betrayal - everything was stunning! I love how Liyen’s and Zhangwei’s (the God of War) relationship was built - enemies to lovers, swoon worthy, and the banter was oh so good. Liyen is an amazing female main character - stubborn, loyal, and fierce, and I love Zhangwei’s slightly morally gray character. Overall, a great mythological story with stunning world building and nice character growth

Thank you NetGalley, HarperVoyagerUS, and SueLynnTan for the arc.

This book was really good. You are left questioning again and again who the villain is in the story. You are wondering throughout the story “how is this going to work out?” It had easy to follow world building, enough to picture but not so much to where I was drowning in it. So many characters are misjudged and leaves your head spinning. I could see this turning into a duology, as the ending she is with the love interest but still waiting to return to where she came from. Where does this leave her and her husband since one is not the same as the other?

4.5
I enjoyed this so much. The romance, the characters, the writing are all so beautiful.
This fantasy standalone where there are mortals that live under the rule of immortals, our main character becomes queen and tries to fight for mortal independence. All while trying to not fall in love with the god of war. It’s amazing.
I could see where people would have issues, the romance isn’t enemies to lovers as it’s marketed. Our main character tends to not think when saying some things and the pacing can go a little all over the place. But it was still fun for me.
I can’t waiting to try reading her other books again.

This book was absolutely beautiful. If Sue Lynn Tan wrote it then Im going to read it. This book blew me away with the beautiful writing descriptions and the lovely characters. The whole story was amazing. It’s books like these that I genuinely get upset that it’s a stand alone. I would love to read another book with these characters . 10 out of 10 recommend

um hello to the best book ever! wow im
SPEECHLESS. It’s the perfect fantasy novel.
ALSO THE CHEMISTRY??????? Liyen and Zhangwei redefine chemistry. I’m truly amazed by how amazing this book truly is in just one book how it takes me across such a journey. Not to mention but the cover is gorgeous.

I enjoyed reading the book. I like the world the story took place. The main character was strong female lead. I look forward to reading more by Sue Lynn Tan.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC and an honest review. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book. At all. I found the female main character to be very annoying. The plot was very weak and the story just wasn’t compelling enough. The romance between her and the god of war was also unbelievable as there was no build up and little chemistry. I wanted to like this book but ended up not finishing it at about 66% because I couldn’t force myself to read it anymore.

SUE LYNN TAN YOU GORGEOUS WOMAN. This is SUCH a lush, romantic story and I loved every single second of it. It was exactly what I'd expect from Ms. Tan and her impeccable writing skills. The God of War was just soooo swoony and I was kicking my feet reading the entire book!