This has really stuck with me - one of those books that rolls around in your head for a while, peculating and evolving. I really enjoyed it - I felt the characterisation was impeccable

Ling Ling Huang’s disturbing, intricate novel follows the formation of an intense, increasingly-toxic bond between two women. Huang’s setting is America, as she puts it, five minutes into the future. Economic and social hierarchies are rigidly demarcated through giant buffers physically severing links between different communities – reminiscent of America’s notorious, urban, public housing projects, they’re also a manifestation of online divides directed and sustained by algorithms. Huang’s narrator is Enka a “fringe” kid, a socially-marginal undesirable. An unexpected scholarship to a prestigious art school allows Enka to mingle with students from the, previously unreachable, upmarket “enclaves.” Enka becomes fixated on classmate Mathilde who’s a charismatic, art star in the making, someone with the economic and, crucially, cultural capital Enka so desperately wants. Huang’s story moves between Enka’s past and present, charting Enka’s and Mathilde’s experiences in the years after they first meet, gradually building towards a devastating conclusion.

Enka’s an unreliable but compelling narrator, driven by envy and deep-seated insecurities intensified by failed attempts to triumph in the cut-throat artworld. Tech artist Enka’s hopes of success were dashed by the launch of a generative AI programme. Overnight, anyone and everyone could churn out the sort of art Enka spent years trying to perfect. Meanwhile Mathilde’s dedication to performance and transient art forms made her highly-personal work resistant to digital substitution. As Mathilde’s fame increases, Enka takes an alternative route to fortune by marrying into the all-pervasive, Dahl tech dynasty – Huang’s depiction of the sinister Dahl Corps with tentacles spreading into every part of society is especially timely given coverage of the recent activities of Silicon Valley billionaires. But Enka’s newfound riches don’t stop her from obsessing over Mathilde’s successes and growing celebrity status. Huang uses these elements of Enka and Mathilde’s story to raise issues about art, its nature and purpose, its interactions with technology and with capitalism – the institutions that harness art for profit, the ultra-rich patrons who collect art, and artists, as a means of positioning themselves as especially discriminating, socially distinctive.

Huang criss-crosses genre boundaries literary fiction, deliberate Elena Ferrante echoes, rubbing up against speculative, SF and flashes of gothic horror. Aspects of the Dahl’s family estate resemble Dracula’s castle – vampirism in myriad forms is a central theme. Scenes featuring Mathilde’s trauma-driven art inject bursts of body horror -- highlighting a clash between enduring concepts of the tortured artist and a wellness industry centred on erasing so-called ‘emotional scars’. A clash which raises concerns about the potential fallout from the erasure of painful memories: its impact on an individual’s sense of self, their creative impulses. Huang’s complex novel’s laced with unresolved, often significant, questions but there are so many they threaten to overwhelm the narrative. Alongside meditations on technology and techno-determinism, Huang touches on the menacing reach of corporations; appalling social inequalities; and the role of the artist. Artistic creation is mirrored by considerations of motherhood and mothering from controlling behaviours to all-consuming grief over the loss of a child to cloning and genetic experimentation around conception.

There’s also an ongoing exploration of religious themes which I'm still puzzling over. Notions of confession, absolution and possible redemption are introduced via Mathilde’s lapsed Catholicism then underlined by Enka’s confused attempts to atone for actions that resulted in Mathilde’s terrifying downfall – presumably drawing on Huang’s former Christian faith and her own struggles to forgive a close friend’s affair with Huang’s then-boyfriend. Huang’s title invokes the idea of the immaculate conception. Unlike other women all inescapably tainted by Eve’s fall, the Virgin Mary was considered uniquely free from original sin, making her a suitable vessel for the son of God. Mary’s fate is paralleled by a bizarre plot development whereby the decidedly less-than-innocent Enka becomes a willing vessel for Mathilde’s mind, striving to channel Mathilde’s creative abilities.

In many ways this is quite a messy piece, its multiple strands never quite coalesce – and the world-building’s definitely underdone. There’s also a major tonal shift between the early and later sections that some readers will find off-putting – slow and introspective gives way to a more frenzied, faster pace. But, even though this is nowhere near as disciplined and focused as Huang’s debut, I still found it surprisingly gripping, inventive, entertainingly unpredictable. I loved the coverage of art and Huang’s willingness to take risks and tackle challenging subjects.

Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars
Publication date: 5th June 2025

Thank you to Canelo and Netgalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Mathilde is a dizzyingly talented, tortured artist whose star is on the rise – and Enka, struggling to create art that feels original, is immediately drawn to her. The two strike up a close friendship, but when Mathilde’s fame reaches new heights, her work becoming more and more extreme, Enka becomes desperate to keep her close – no matter the cost.

I really enjoyed this author's debut, Natural Beauty, so I was really excited to receive this ARC. And I'm pleased to say that I'm now two for two with Ling Ling Huang (I may even have slightly preferred this book.)
I loved the near future, dystopian setting and the focus on the elitist art community, as well as the encroaching technology in a segregated society (which is an aspect I wished the author had fleshed out more, because the concept of the enclaves and the fringes was great.)
I enjoy a well written unlikeable character, and Enka was a compelling and quite horrendous character; the mental gymnastics she had to do to justify her decisions and actions, all more self-serving than the last, were mind-boggling. This is a story about envy, codependency, toxic relationships, what is hailed as high art, and the nature of talent and inspiration.
This was a really ambitious novel, and certainly a lot to pack in 300 pages, and maybe I would have liked it to be a little bit longer to give the ending room to breathe.
But, without a doubt, I would happily read anything Ling Ling Huang writes in the future.

A strange and unsettling exploration of A.I with similar themes as Natural Beauty. I really love this author's work and find the writing really compelling and addictive. Loved this!

A thoughtful, beautifully written story that explores friendship, body autonomy, artistic identity, and the tension between art and technology. Though the story is deeply rooted in the art world, Huang’s writing makes this aspect very accessible—I never once felt out of my depth, even as someone with little knowledge or understanding of the art world.

I appreciated the commentary on class and the way characters perceive each other across economic lines - does where we come from define what we deserve access to. The themes of comparison—between friends, careers, and lives—were handled with surprising depth for such a short novel.

My only wish is that it had been just a bit longer; some of the ideas, especially around technological advances, felt like they had more to give. Still, this was a fast and compelling read.

This is a great follow on from Natural Beauty... just as weird and not too far distant from reality. I enjoyed this very much and will recommend to others...

Ling Ling Huang's Immaculate Conception is a much more ambitious novel than her debut Natural Beauty. Set in the near-future, it's narrated by Enka, who's grown up in a world where 'buffers' - physical barriers between neighbourhoods - wall off access to art for most of the population. When she manages to get into art college despite this, she becomes deeply obsessed with fellow student Mathilde. Mathilde is brilliantly creative, and, like Giselle in Lisa Ko's Memory Piece, is building a reputation for transient pieces of performance art rooted in her own body. This serves her well when an AI archive starts copyrighting art that has not yet been created, destroying the careers of most of their classmates. Enka, desperate to find her own niche, focuses on the intersection between art and technology, especially a developing treatment that might allow others to inhabit the mind of somebody dealing with trauma in order to help them heal. When Mathilde experiences a devastating loss, Enka is eager to gain access to her brain, purportedly to help her, but more to experience what it might be like to be so effortlessly talented.

As this summary suggests, there is far, far too much going on in Immaculate Conception, and I'd suggest that at least two of the conceits - buffers and the AI threat - could have been dropped to allow Huang to focus more squarely upon the Enka-Mathilde relationship. Although their empathetic link is flagged in the novel's blurb, it doesn't actually come to pass until almost three-quarters of the way through, which doesn't leave Huang enough time to explore this fascinating, incredibly generative concept. She tries to cover so much ground that many key incidents feel skimmed over or skimpy. Meanwhile, although they are very different novels, I had some of the same problems with Enka as a protagonist than I did with June in Yellowface. I felt the story would have been better served if Huang had either decided to revel in her being an out-and-out villain, or make her much more morally grey. As it is, her actions are terrible but we still get a bit of pasted-together redemption, and I ultimately didn't find her that consistently written. Having said all this, though... I always prefer an exuberant mess of a book to neat boredom, and I loved Huang's ideas, especially her portrayal of Mathilde's art. Natural Beauty is the more coherent novel, but Immaculate Conception is just so much more exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing what she writes next.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Immaculate Conception is strange, smart, and quietly unsettling in the best way. Ling Ling Huang drops us into the art world and explores the twisted threads of ambition, originality, identity, and intimacy through a story that feels part fever dream, part tech-laced psychological horror.

The relationship at the center—between Enka a struggling artist and the magnetic, wildly successful Mathilde, a woman she can’t let go—felt so intense and beautifully wrong. The tech twist (no spoilers!) is pure Black Mirror, it is intimate, eerie, and used in ways that are both deeply emotional and totally chilling. Throughout this story we are forced to explore the ethical side of technology, by showing parallels to what we are now experiencing right now in the current technological space.

Some moments got a little abstract, but overall this book is bold and thought provoking. It’s about art and obsession, but also about the yearning to be seen, understood, to heal and maybe even to become someone else. I’ll be thinking about it for a while.


(I’ll be posting my review over on my instagram page soon, @thereadingvalkyrie)

Immaculate Conception is a beautifully disquieting novel that lingers like a half-remembered dream—or a nightmare. Ling Ling Huang has a rare talent for making the world feel almost normal, just close enough to reality that the uncanny slips in unnoticed until it’s far too late. This story of friendship, obsession, and artistic hunger is unsettling in the most intimate way. Enka’s longing to stay connected to Mathilde curdles slowly, becoming something possessive, invasive, almost parasitic. The introduction of SCAFFOLD—technology that lets you crawl inside someone else’s mind—feels less like science fiction and more like an elegant horror story disguised as a love letter. It’s smart, sinister, and sharply written, exploring the fine line between empathy and erasure. This book didn’t just get under my skin—it made a home there.

Unusual and captivating novel set in a dystopian future where AI is rampant. Two artists are more and more connected through trauma and heartbreak. 4.5

Enka meets Mathilde at Art school and the two become friends. However, when Mathilde's career begins to sky rocket jealousy will become between the two with tragic consequences.

I loved Natural Beauty so I had really high expectations of this new novel and I I love it more. The friendship and the jealousy that Enka has for Mathilde but grappling with the love she has for her is beautifully written. The elements of technology and horror used is thrilling and so gripping that I couldn't put the book down. 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

I devoured Immaculate Conception as quickly as I devoured Natural Beauty. As a reader I found the toxic side of the art world was far more alienating and pretentious than the toxic beauty sphere which made for slow start and somewhat painful start but I suddenly found myself voraciously reading page after page unable to look away. So much so that I couldn’t put it down and finished it in one sitting, despite my earlier reservations. Immaculate Conception is going to be a story I think about often, as I do still with Natural Beauty. An incredible sophomore novel from Ling Ling Huang and I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Thank you so much to Canelo, Ling Ling Huang + NetGalley for the opportunity to read Immaculate Conception before it’s released on 5th June 2025!

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This work predominantly sits in the weird lit fic genre, but being set in a vaguely dystopian (and when I say that, I mean not too far removed from the current day) setting at some point in the near future. Art and technology are heavily featured, and I loved how they intertwine both through the narrative and in the art that is created by the characters.

As someone who has always been drawn to artists, I could see my own friendships over the years reflected a little in the relationship between the two main characters, Enka and Mathilde. I related to Enka's struggle to support her friend, while also being jealous of her superior talent. The examination of how even with a life that leads into a certain amount of comfort, wealth and privilege, a person can feel unfulfilled of they still have not attained their original dreams and ambitions, was incredibly effective.

The writing was fluid and engaging. I was overjoyed by the array of artists that were referenced (some I had to look up, and a few were fictional). The artworks created by the characters were so imaginative, but also bonkers - it was like the author came up with ideas for conceptual installation pieces, then ramped them up so much to make them completely over the top. The ingenuity of this was astonishing, and I wonder if it was also commentary on how much of art these days seems incomprehensible to so many people.

I would personally have liked some more explanation of when this is set (as I said earlier, I guess it's in the near future) and what has happened to the world. It seems that society has had to change for some reason, and I wanted more exploration of that. The book had so much to give in a reasonably short amount of time, but I think this would have given a brilliant piece of extra context to how things got so bizarre. The delusions of some of the peripheral characters is off the charts.

I look forward to reading more from this author as I think, judging from this, they have a lot to say and offer. I found it to be visionary, strange and endlessly fascinating.

Ling Ling Huang’s Immaculate Conception is a haunting, surreal exploration of embodiment, grief, and feminine agency. With prose that shimmers between the lyrical and the unsettling, Huang crafts a tale where the corporeal and the metaphysical intertwine—pregnancy becomes myth, music becomes voice, and trauma lingers like a ghost. It's bold, genre-defying fiction that slips between reality and dream logic with confidence. Strange, intimate, and quietly furious, Immaculate Conception is a singular meditation on the power—and burden—of creation.

"I walked by a motivational poster one day that read “A rising tide lifts all boats.” Whoever said that had clearly never been lost at sea, left alone and gasping for air among unrelenting waves."

Ling Ling Huang has followed up her debut novel Natural Beauty with Immaculate Conception, a story of obsessive friendship set within the art world. Very much a science fiction story set within an all-too-near-feeling future, there are moments of horror infused throughout—and as the story progresses, it started to hit me with a real existential dread.

I found myself immediately immersed within the art school world. Although this isn't a community I'm particularly knowledgeable about, it feels vivid, and I would guess very well researched. I know a lot of musicians who operate in different genres and styles, and I see a lot of what I know about them, their obsessiveness and competitiveness, and these feel very real in the artists the book focuses on. As a parasocial and unhealthy friendship develops between the main characters, you can sense just how their drive, jealousy and fixation on creation shape and ultimately start to cause cracks within their bond.

This is a heavy read, with some dark themes (I would recommend those that may need trigger warnings to check those out before diving in). The book really dives into the sense of identity and how feelings of respect and jealousy can combine into infatuation—asking where the line between looking up to someone and wanting to be them gets crossed and exploring how this can lead to toxic relationships, both personally and creatively. Feeling inferior to someone whose talent is so impressive is a gut reaction I'm sure most people are familiar with, and Immaculate Conception doesn't shy away from the idea that these inadequacies can cause someone to lash out or to take advantage of the person you so admire.

Despite feeling very current with some interesting ideas about AI and how it will affect artists, perhaps much sooner than we're prepared for, the story feels at its most vital when it deals with more classic themes—namely trauma, and how artists can harness it and how it can overwhelm and dictate their creative process. If you could get rid of the stain on your soul left by others, knowing it may leave you unable to tap into that artistic source within you, would you do it? Complex characters and difficult questions kept me engrossed throughout Immaculate Conception and made it one of my favourite new reads so far in 2025.

Envy, one of the 7 deadly sins, has never been so addictive.

Have you ever been so amazed by someone that you ultimately feel inferior? This is at the beating heart of this book. Yes, the science fiction and horror intertwines this novel but this book is much more than that. It's friendships, relationships and what truly makes us. Do we have a soul? Is it our brain? Can you truly be altruistic, or is there always a dark intent somewhere?

This book became one of those special books where you no longer feel you're reading.

I will be thinking about this book for a long while.

Thank you to Ling Ling Huang, Canelo, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Immaculate Conception is literary fiction based on the intersection of art, technology, and obsessive female friendships. Although the premise was interesting, this failed to grip me at all. I would recommend this to people who love art as it can be quite art-heavy and can come across as a little pretentious and alienating at the beginning.

In a dystopian world divided by a system of enclaves, designed to divide social classes, regulating access to culture, spaces, technology, and education through complex algorithms tightly controlled by artificial intelligence, Ling Ling Huang’s Immaculate Conception is a thought-provoking, fast-paced novel exploring the meaning of art, authorship, technology, and ethical dilemmas in a society gone mad.

The novel opens with an intense internal monologue steeped in jealousy, introducing Enka, a working-class art student and fellow from the Dahl
Corporation, a powerful tech company. Enka is immersed in art and technology, but her journey quickly spirals into obsession when she meets Mathilde, a celebrated artist from the elite Berkshire College of Art and Design who draws inspiration from her depressive memories and traumatic experiences to create original art. Initially bonded by their passion for art, Enka and Mathilde soon become close friends, deepening Enka’s obsession and their emotional co-dependency.

Technology has influenced how art is made and perceived, making it almost impossible to innovate and create original work, and plagiarism becomes a central theme in Immaculate Conception. This becomes the driving force behind the narrative, where Enka is in eternal pursuit of becoming a better artist than Mathilde. Eventually, under the guise of a collaborative work, Enka’s jealousy transforms her into a carbon copy of the very person she both loves and resents, with the narrative taking a dark turn that could produce great horror, but Huang decides to stick to sci-fi.
Midway through, Enka receives an invitation from her sponsor, Richard Dahl, to participate in a revolutionary new project. During her visit, they quickly fall in love and later get married—a plotline oddly mentioned in the blurb, despite occurring relatively late. Dahl’s company, once responsible for developing climate prediction algorithms to guide population distribution, now plays a pivotal role in shaping human creativity and behavior. These critiques are compelling, if only superficially explored, and would have benefited from greater depth and nuance.

The novel also features a series of surreal and absurd art performances—playful at first, but eventually repetitive. By this point in the book, the significance of the title becomes clear, and while it reflects the novel’s central idea, it fails to encompass all the ideas and themes Huang wants to convey. The most compelling part of Immaculate Conception is the development of a device that allows the user to inhabit Mathilde’s mind and access her creative brain—also oddly revealed in the blurb. The concept for this technology is explored in an interesting way, although the blurb gives a different idea of what it really is.

Ultimately, Immaculate Conception is an enjoyable read with interesting ideas and concepts that somehow feels superficial and incomplete. Perhaps the novel would benefit from a narrower scope of themes or a longer book. Yet, It's a fun and light read that will appeal to readers, specially those not keen on dystopian sci-fi but enjoys a more general adult narrative.

Rating: 2,5/5

I loved Huang’s first book and this is no exception. She has been able to cultivate a writing tone and style that is mesmerizing for the readers who is reading about difficult topics. One to look out for.

It took me a while to get into the story but once I was in it was a wild ride. The ideas and concepts discussed are super interesting. I found the pacing a bit odd and was annoyed with the main character a lot. Nevertheless a nice read.