action – Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Flesh and False Gods #1

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra , Immortal Longings is a fiery collision of power plays, spilled blood, and romance amidst a set of deadly games.

Every year, thousands in the kingdom of Talin will flock to its capital twin cities, San-Er, where the palace hosts a set of games. For those confident enough in their ability to jump between bodies, competitors across San-Er fight to the death to win unimaginable riches.

Princess Calla Tuoleimi lurks in hiding. Five years ago, a massacre killed her parents and left the palace of Er empty…and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa’s forces in San can catch her, she plans to finish the job and bring down the monarchy. Her reclusive uncle always greets the victor of the games, so if she wins, she gets her opportunity at last to kill him.

Enter Anton Makusa, an exiled aristocrat. His childhood love has lain in a coma since they were both ousted from the palace, and he’s deep in debt trying to keep her alive. Thankfully, he’s one of the best jumpers in the kingdom, flitting from body to body at will. His last chance at saving her is entering the games and winning.

Calla finds both an unexpected alliance with Anton and help from King Kasa’s adopted son, August, who wants to mend Talin’s ills. But the three of them have very different goals, even as Calla and Anton’s partnership spirals into something all-consuming. Before the games close, Calla must decide what she’s playing for—her lover or her kingdom.

Overall Recommendation:

Immortal Longings takes us on a journey into the crowded twin cities of San-Er where mysterious magic underlies perhaps more nefarious motives and no one can be trusted. In a Hunger Games x gladiator style competition to the death, only one victor will be crowned and the lost princess Calla wants it more than anything. I thought the setting drew you in while the bloodthirsty backdrop definitely sets the tone for adult-rated violence. Chloe’s writing continues to paint her stories vividly, but this time in more blood with higher stakes.

**Immortal Longings comes out July 18, 2023**

Thank you Simon & Schuster for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think I left my heart in the crowded alleys and mashed up buildings of San-Er. Phew, what an ending! But let me start from the beginning.

Immortal Longings is Chloe Gong’s adult debut based on Anthony and Cleopatra. In her style of writing I’ve come to know from her YA historical fantasies, her world building doesn’t disappoint. I loved how she places you in San-Er like it’s in front of you. The constant gloom from lack of sun among the buildings, the hopelessness permeating the air of the citizens who are “safe” (trapped?) inside the giant walls that circle the twin cities, and the ever watchful eye of the palace looming over everything and everyone.

The pacing worked out okay, though at times it could’ve moved faster. With Calla, the lost princess of Er who holds more secrets in her than meets the eye, there is always someone to root for. Entered into the games that leaves only one victor alive, the goal is the end of the current reign. But when an alliance is made with Anton Makusa, oh boy do things get messy.

I loved getting to know both Anton and Calla, but one reason this isn’t a 5 star read is the romance between them. It may be just me but I didn’t really feel drawn to their “strong” feelings for each other. They had great banter, and over time proved that trust does form even in a places it doesn’t belong. However, the two of them falling for each other romantically felt like something that happened only because they don’t have anyone else in the world. They’re both lonely souls, exiled or thought dead, and perhaps each other’s company was the first they’ve had in years. It felt like they settled for one another because they’re there, not because there’s anything special about each other. Plus, Anton has a special girl that threw him into the games in the first place. Are we just forgetting that? Where does Calla lie in his heart if so much of it seems to be taken up by another already? How much is genuine? I suppose only time (and the next book) will tell.

The magic system was also an interesting element. It took me a while to more fully comprehend this idea of jumping bodies, the maximum quota of souls/qi one body can handle simultaneously and what happens to empty bodies or overused ones. Oh, and how does one recognize if someone’s been invaded? Our friend Anton is an expert jumper, but the fact he never wears his birth body is strange.

Where the romance was lacking, the action and mysterious deaths of some of the players in the games definitely kept me going. Everyone’s motives are questioned and I was surprised by some of those twists I didn’t see coming. This book is definitely in the adult category with its sometimes graphic descriptions of death and added spice for those romance lovers. If you’re someone looking for a good fantasy with solid worldbuilding and political intrigue, this one is for you, especially if it introduces you to Chloe Gong. For fans of her YA novels, this transition was as I’ve come to expect from her – a seamless jump to adult fantasy. I look forward to book 2.

4.5 star, YA

ARC Review: Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou

June 13, 2023June 13, 2023 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

In a world where the children of the gods inherit their powers, a descendant of the Greek Fates must solve a series of impossible murders to save her sisters, her soulmate, and her city.

Descendants of the Fates are always born in threes: one to weave, one to draw, and one to cut the threads that connect people to the things they love and to life itself. The Ora sisters are no exception. Io, the youngest, uses her Fate-born abilities as a private investigator in the half-sunken city of Alante.

But her latest job leads her to a horrific discovery: somebody is abducting women, maiming their life-threads, and setting the resulting wraiths loose in the city to kill. To find the culprit, she must work alongside Edei Rhuna, the right hand of the infamous Mob Queen—and the boy with whom she shares a rare fate-thread linking them as soul mates before they’ve even met.

But the investigation turns personal when Io’s estranged oldest sister turns up on the arm of her best suspect. Amid unveiled secrets from her past and her growing feelings for Edei, Io must follow clues through the city’s darkest corners and unearth a conspiracy that involves some of the city’s most powerful players—before destruction comes to her own doorstep.

Overall Recommendation:

Threads That Bind ties together an intriguing take on Greek mythology and the powers ones descendants take on. In a dystopian world that’s fallen to natural disasters like regular flooding, Io’s world is still filled with fear against those who are different: the other-born with gifts from the gods. If you come into this book thinking it’s a super romantic story, I mean, yes, it has romance but it’s super slow burn. What is mostly highlighted and what I loved was the adventurous journey she and her fated soulmate takes to solve the mystery of dead women killing people in her neighborhood. Wholly imaginative in world building and the pieces of the mystery, this book will have you flipping those pages as it surely did for me.

**Threads That Bind comes out June 13, 2023**

Thank Penguin Random House Canada for this copy in exchange for an honest review

I always love a good Greek mythology story but sometimes it seems we focus on very specific gods and figures. One of the many things I loved about Threads That Bind is the different take on Greek gods and the powers their descendants may have. Io Ora, our protagonist, is a moira-born, one who is descended from the Fates and can specifically cut the threads that tie the people, places and things a person loves. Oh, and also their life-thread. This makes her considerably dangerous from an outside perspective, and Io knows well what it means to be other-born and a cutter. Faced with others’ stereotypes and fears, she holds to her own morals and helps those in the poorer district of the city where she lives as a private investigator.

Enter the mystery. While there is definitely romance in this book (I will get back to this later), this was my favourite part. Heavily plot-laden, we follow Io on what was initially a simple cheating case she was hired for that quickly escalates to mysterious deaths caused by a woman with a severed life-thread. In other words, this someone should be dead yet is functioning enough to kill someone else. Partnered with the man she is connected with by a fate-thread, Edei, the action is nonstop and the pieces of the puzzle keep on getting better as we unravel more about these women and their puppeteer.

While the mystery kept the plot exciting and moving quickly, another thing I loved was the world building. The lush descriptions of this dystopian world where neo-monsoons flood the streets often and three moons circle above entice you into this otherworldly experience. The residents are forced to traverse buildings by roof with bridges built in the air, and individual large cities have become their own city-nations as the lands outside are less inhabitable. The existence of so many different other-born showed the vast variety of people and Greek gods present, and how they can use their individual powers in society. I didn’t want to leave the city of Alante, not because it’s a nice place to live, but because it felt so real.

But for my romance lovers out there, the romance here is present but alas quite a slow burn. Fighting against their fate-thread that sometimes draw them closer together – especially in life-threatening situations – Io has been trying and failing at keeping her distance with Edei, emotionally and physically. This book explores the idea of fate versus choice. If they were to fall in love, is it considered real if this was always their destiny? Or is there something more potent about the idea of choosing whom you love? I can’t wait for more in the next book between them, but I definitely felt the pacing of their love story was appropriate given the craziness going on in their city. When one meets a fates soulmate, it wouldn’t do if they fell instantly in love. Now that would feel less real.

The last thing I’ll highlight that I loved was Io’s character arc. Hurt by her overbearing sister’s rules growing up, Io dealt a lot with shame and guilt when it came to her sister’s abandonment two years prior. Add onto the fact that she’s a cutter and normal people generally regard her suspiciously, it’s hard not to want to be everyone’s saviour. Helping out of guilt versus out of kindness are two different things, and Io had a lot of baggage to process in how she lived and what propelled her actions. I liked that she had flaws, realistic ones from her upbringing, but she also carried morals that could be molded when faced with new knowledge and experience. She’s the kind of flawed protagonist I like. Not morally gray but not self righteous in their inability to admit wrong. I look forward to seeing her journey continue in book 2. It honestly can’t come out fast enough!

2.5 star, YA

ARC Review: This is the Way the World Ends by Jen Wilde

May 8, 2023May 8, 2023 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

You are cordially invited to spend one fateful night surviving an elite private school’s epic masquerade ball

As an autistic scholarship student at the prestigious Webber Academy in New York City, Waverly is used to masking to fit in—in more ways than one. While her classmates are the children of the one percent, Waverly is getting by on tutoring gigs and the generosity of the school’s charming and enigmatic dean. So when her tutoring student and resident “it girl” asks Waverly to attend the school’s annual fundraising Masquerade disguised as her, Waverly jumps at the chance—especially once she finds out that Ash, the dean’s daughter and her secret ex-girlfriend, will be there.

The Masquerade is everything Waverly dreamed of, complete with extravagant gowns, wealthy parents writing checks, and flowing champagne. Most importantly, there’s Ash. All Waverly wants to do is shed her mask and be with her, but the evening takes a sinister turn when Waverly stumbles into a secret meeting between the dean and the school’s top donors—and witnesses a brutal murder. This gala is harboring far more malevolent plots than just opening parents’ pocketbooks. Before she can escape or contact the authorities, a mysterious global blackout puts the entire party on lockdown. Waverly’s fairy tale has turned into a nightmare, and she, Ash, and her friends must navigate through a dizzying maze of freight elevators, secret passageways, and back rooms if they’re going to survive the night.

And even if they manage to escape the Masquerade, with technology wiped out all over the planet, what kind of world will they find waiting for them beyond the doors?

Overall Recommendation:

This is the Way the World Ends delivers on the diversity front in its characters but lacks the emotional connection to them. Between certain flashbacks and a plot about the world literally ending, there wasn’t enough time focused on any singular thing. There was a lot of potential but perhaps didn’t come through in a way I had anticipated while rooting for Waverly and co.

**This is the Way the World Ends comes out May 9, 2023**

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review

This book is definitely reminiscent of the dystopian era of YA, although it starts off in a world similar to ours. You know going into the book that things aren’t as they seem, and the world may be on the brink of big changes that will impact everyone in a devastating manner. How this happens though? Now that’s the mystery, and it does unfold in an intriguing way.

Set in a prestigious New York school, we follow Waverly, one of few students who attend based on scholarship and merit instead of wealth and connections. For the most part, I liked her as a protagonist. She’s unique and stands out among the YA crowd full of heroines that all seem so…one noted. She’s autistic and deals with the world in a slightly different way than others. But that doesn’t necessarily define her, just a fact that explains how her POV makes sense.

There’s also a heavy emphasis in chronic illness among the secondary characters. From MS flares to the need for a cane with mobility, diversity is most definitely present. While it’s tempting to feel like the author just wants to add “diverse characters” into the story, I don’t feel that is the case here. These aren’t just token characters to check off a box and feel good about yourself. Their disabilities or health struggles are a part of who they are and play more of a role in the story than an adjective to describe a person.

That being said, I struggled the most with this story when it came to really connecting with the characters. They seem great and all, but why should I care? I know, it sounds harsh, but a part of me felt very disconnected from them, which isn’t great when these characters are on the run and trying to escape pending doom and death.

What the book excelled at more was laying out the end of the world plot. It felt like a quick read at times because I was anticipating with Waverly the puzzle pieces we needed to put together to understand what’s happening. The end of the world hadn’t happened yet, unlike most dystopians that already drop you in a devastated world, so it was cool seeing the transition.

Unfortunately, the plot dragged only in its flashback scenes. They’re there to add context for Waverly’s relationship with her ex, Ash. I liked Ash well enough but I couldn’t determine whether I was rooting for their present relationship or not from what little information we are presented with about her. Most of the happy parts of their relationship occurred in the past so I never got to truly feel them falling in love. In fact, the romance almost deterred some of the action in the story with the page time it was given.

Without giving away anything, I’ll say that I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. It both felt like the appropriate place to leave it while also making me wish for more. That may be a good indicator for a book. It makes you both want more and somewhat satisfied with the direction it did go in. For a debut novel, This is the Way the World Ends had some bumps but it also had some things I enjoyed for a quick read.