The writing in Immaculate Conception is so immersive. I love the way Huang builds emotionally complex characters and relationships - she captures how morally ambiguous people can be, and how love, jealousy, empathy, and control can coexist and collide, all while handling darker themes and trauma with care.

The mix of art, science and technology, and social commentary is really creative and well-realised, with loads of clever references (both real and fictional) - you can tell Huang had fun with the ideas. There are definite echoes of her previous novel Natural Beauty, especially in its exploration of aesthetics and the pressure of artistic performance, but I thought Immaculate Conception explored those ideas with even more nuance. A really inventive, emotionally intelligent read.

Whilst I did enjoy reading Immaculate Conception, and got through it pretty quick, there were some elements I found lacking. It could do with being just slightly longer - seeing as the entire narrative and substance of the story hinges on the bond between Enka and Mathilde, it would’ve been great to read more about them becoming friends and how their relationship developed rather than skimming over that very crucial part to get to the rest of the plot. Early on there are some really gripping, high stakes moments that this fizzles out really fast, and after that my engagement did dwindle a bit.

A lot of the components of the novel didn’t seem to gel well together. There is a huge focus on art and the surrounding Art World (which I really enjoyed!) whilst simultaneously a sci-fi subplot is added into the chapter almost like an afterthought, like, ‘oh yeah, THAT’S what’s happening here!’ I thought the horror of the novel could’ve been delved much, much further. There are some deeply disturbing scenes in this book, one in particular, but the book never commits completely to how frightening the situations are, and that’s definitely to its detriment.

Huang is fantastic at writing female friendships (especially fucked up, co-dependent ones), and their bond is clearly the beating heart of the novel (and the most fascinating element.) However, I struggled to feel connected to either character as a separate entity.

I did have a great time reading this book, though, and look forward to reading her future work. I would highly recommend this to anyone who finds themselves ruminating about Black Mirror episodes long after they’re finished.

Thank you to Canelo and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC. All opinions are my own.

This book is a dread-inducing, thought-provoking exploration of the dark and gritty side of female friendship; obsession, envy, jealousy, and grief. At times, I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t put it down. It poses a haunting question: what happens when you find yourself with the power to take what you’ve always wanted? While the speculative sci-fi elements act as the backdrop and catalyst for the story, the true horror lies in its raw, emotional exploration of human nature. One of the most poignant moments for me was when Enka sees herself through Mathilde’s eyes, and it prompts a moment to reflect on the fact that the entire book has been filtered through Enka’s own skewed perception.

Immaculate Conception is a novel about envy, connection, and art, as two friends end up with a new way to share traumatic experiences. Enka is an art student looking for original ideas, and Mathilde is the bright star in the class, already with art world buzz around her. They become close friends, but as Mathilde gets more famous and Enka falls behind thanks to an AI tool disrupting their art school's work, their friendship feels different to Enka, more desperate. And then, as she marries and has access to her billionaire husband's company and their futuristic technology, there's a way for Enka to inhabit Mathilde's mind, absorbing her trauma but also creating work as her.

The follow-up to Natural Beauty, Immaculate Conception is a novel similarly weaving together horror with dystopian technological elements and ideas about humanity and self, but this time, Huang focuses on the art world and what authorship and originality mean. The novel is told in different sections, with the first section moving between the past and present, and it actually spans longer than I expected, not telling the reader everything (especially as it is from Enka's perspective).

There's a lot of technological ideas in there, not only the mind-sharing technology that forms some of the main plot and also ideas about cloning, but also the AI art generator that is the catalyst for a lot of Enka's feelings and desperation. I like how Huang takes ideas about AI art and uses these to think about the human side, particularly in terms of artists looking to find work that still has value and the messy feelings of jealousy when someone else has that. Generally, this focus on the impact on individual characters of the technology in the novel makes it feel more than a story about dystopian technological change, and that makes it more engaging in my opinion.

Though the book has been described as horror, it much less horror-like than Huang's previous novel Natural Beauty, and is more of a sci-fi-tinged exploration of art and envy that doesn't go as dark as Natural Beauty. I like how it addresses AI generation and human-technology integration whilst also telling a story about a woman making questionable choices due to her own insecurities and fears.

Immaculate Conception is a sharp, unsettling exploration of art, obsession, and the terrifying blur between intimacy and possession. Told entirely through the eyes of Enka, a struggling artist caught in the gravitational pull of a dazzling, self-destructive peer, this novel pulls you deep into the fractured psyche of someone chasing both connection and validation - often at the cost of clarity, and sometimes reality.

Ling Ling Huang crafts a narrative that is both grounded and speculative. While the plot leans into high-concept sci-fi (a tech innovation that lets you inhabit another person’s mind - yes, really), the novel never feels far-fetched. That’s largely because its emotional terrain is so relatable: envy between artists, the tangled web of creative identity, the quiet descent into toxic codependency. Enka’s internal monologue is at once familiar and disorienting - a puzzle of insecurity, ambition, and warped self-perception that makes her simultaneously sympathetic and frustrating. And if you enjoy unreliable narrators, this one’s a goldmine.

The pacing is solid - always engaging, even if the book’s major developments (as hinted at in the blurb) take their time to arrive. Once they do, though, everything unfolds in a way that feels earned. The novel doesn’t tie everything up neatly - instead, it gives you space to sit with its questions. What is empathy, really? Can you love someone and still want to consume them? And how far can tech reach before it starts unmaking the very things that make us human?

If anything, I found myself wanting a bit more world-building. The dystopian landscape that forms the backdrop of the story is introduced with intrigue, but not fully fleshed out. It ends up feeling more like a narrative device to support character backstory than a fully realized element of the novel’s thematic arc. A little more depth here might have made some of the emotional stakes land even harder.

That said, this is an incredibly thought-provoking and compelling novel - and one I flew through. Ling Ling Huang’s writing is confident, unsettling, and sometimes darkly funny. It’s easy to see why she’s emerging as a powerful voice in contemporary fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read Natural Beauty a few months ago and really liked it, and I have to say, I love Immaculate Conception.
Exploring themes of art, jealousy, trauma and empathy, I was utterly glued to this moving story.
Ling Ling Huang masterfully blends literary fiction with sci-fi, as our two main characters Mathilde and Enke meet at art school, take different paths as artists, and in the future have the opportunity to collaborate in an unexpected way.
As an artist myself, I found this story so interesting, both in looking at the creative process and also from the point of view of seeing what others have created and admittedly feeling a certain amount of envy for their talents.
Just a wonderful book, and I will now read anything this author writes going forward.

My curiosity was immediately peaked by Immaculate Conception and I was not disappointed. It more than delivers on its unique premise.

A fascinating deep delve into the world and power of art, the scary potential of technology and its consequences, the fine line between intense friendship and obsession and the lengths jealousy can drive a person too.

Completely immersive, compulsively readable, and intensely thought provoking.

I loved the writing style, it's consise yet impactful, and perfectly conveys a trickling sense of unease and dread. The art imagery is outstanding and evocative.

It's a dark, dynamic and effecting read with some unsparing scenes and shocking revelations. Timely it eerily feels not too far away from the world we live in today.

Immaculate Conception is one of those books you put down and just stare at the wall while your brain catches up with you! Brilliantly executed from start to finish!

Highly, highly recommended, I will not stop thinking about this sublime story for a very long time.

“I breathe in, you breathe out”

This book bewitched me with its very unique concept. As an art lover I was captivated by how this was combined with technology so seamlessly in a future which could be. I found it to be beautifully written and the snippets of the changed world you do get are fascinating. I personally think just enough was given, as too much would have taken away from the characters.

As a study on human relationships this was powerful. I can’t help but see this is a warning against the danger of getting everything you think you want. This book, specifically the last part, will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC in exchange for review.

i finished this book in a few days: I was gripped by the world, by the wonderment of Mathilde, but I will have to be honest with myself that the ugliness of Enka’s jealousy, to see how far she was going to take it, kept me hooked. It was terrible to see how Mathilde created art, and it was disgustingly exhilarating to see Enka take it all for herself. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION is also about how art is grotesque, exploitative like a double-edged sword, exposing us by flaying our bellies open to reveal what makes us. This book was excellent in doing so. Thank you for this ARC!

Loved this and read it in almost one sitting - such a compelling narrative! I can't wait to add it to our collections. A brilliant blending of genres to create a novel which will leave you with so many existential questions!

I read Ling Ling Huang's first book, Natural Beauty, a couple of months ago so it's fresh in my mind and it was great to see this one overall a better, more solid one - which is saying something because I really enjoyed Natural Beauty.

There are common themes in both books - technology being the main one, evil corporations, competitive friends... In this one, Enka grew up in a world where people are separated by buffers and grow in communities, either enclaves (nice and posh) or fringes (deprived). Enka comes from the fringe and knows little about enclaves since they don't even have the same internet access, but dreams of being an artist. When she gets a scholarship via a big tech company and joins a fancy art school, she befriends the talented and mysterious Mathilde, a tortured artist whose genius is fueled by her trauma, and by the death of her father.

Compared to the previous book, it has less horror and was more subtle. The characters felt deeper and more complex, and the story had a better pace where I previously thought it was a bit rushed towards the end. I also enjoyed the fact that no one was immediately completely evil and the manevolence of the characters took time to develop. The art world and the art school setting felt convincing as well and her jealousy towards Mathilde was really well described.

This is absolutely not a horror; it’s a sci-fi, lit fic. I obsessively read it in the span of two days.
The sci-fi elements here are really captivating; there are “buffers” that create division between the high society and the more ordinary people, so many ideas and technical innovations. I liked the way things were progressively explained; it’s a lighter sci-fi with not so heavy scientific explanations. The trauma transfer is a very interesting idea, it makes a lot of the plot and besides some immoral aspects it is fascinating to think that something like that could actually be achievable in the future. “The grief, now shared, becomes almost joyous”.
The main character Enka – she was extremely unlikable and boring, she had a great envy of her best friend, who is the better artist and the more interesting character. “Everyone is jealous, but they find a way through it”. But her character is portrait that way exactly because the jealousy is a main theme of the book.
The book is divided in three parts and the third one is the absolutely immaculate, powerful and devastating. It made me feel a lot of things – hatred towards Enka, admiration towards Mathilde, awe of the art world and human imagination, deep sadness and anguish. I recommend you read it and feel at least one of the things I felt.
My negatives are that the story telling was lacking in some aspects – the art is presented very quickly and although it’s original and interesting, we get no glimpses into the process of the ideas being formed or the creating of the art exhibits and performance art. I found the writing style too simplistic and not to my liking. That is why I haven’t finished the previous book by this author; I just don’t like her writing style.
But overall, this is a book that made me feel so much, I could not give it lower than 4 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for providing me with the ARC.

solid 3.5 stars. y’know i loved “natural beauty” and was really excited for ling’s follow-up. now, having read it, i have a lot of thoughts. most of which i can’t articulate properly, need time to sit with it, to mull over it like a glass of wine.
overall, very original idea and all the conversations around art and technology were fascinating like what constitutes as original art, the whole Caltech generative software being eerily prophetic with everything that’s going on with AI and art. the relationship between the two women was intoxicating but i wanted more, more of the blood under the scab, more of the bruise, more of the bite. wanted more mess and less a clincal approach with a somewhat hopeful ending. i’ve read obsessive female friendship stories before and this one had the potential to be darker, more fucked up, but it remains tame. aside from those critics, i did enjoy the book but not nearly as much as i did with “natural beauty.”

many thanks to netgalley and the publishers for supplying me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.