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.

Why are you here?” August asks in return, diverting the topic. “I thought Leida summoned your help for the night.” Knot intrinsicate’ means ‘intrinsic knot’ or ‘intricate knot’: ‘intrinsicate’ is used as an adjective. As Wilders notes, the image of the knot was often used to represent the force tying the soul to its body. The characters: the romantic relationship dynamics are giving Jude and Cardan from the Cruel Prince but better–or worse depending on your perspective. The narrative point of view shifts between various characters in the novel, but certain ones are more central to the story than others. Whom would you consider the novel’s main character? Why?

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He lets them suffer in their filth and misery instead, even those who once lived under his very roof” the thing with magic in fantasy is that it should follow some rules and logic, which again gong epically failed at establishing. because body jumping is so common, how is it regulated? the flimsy regulation in place is that each individual has an identification number. except apparently this number can be easily accessed if you put your mind to it. so how do you ever know if the person you’re speaking to is actually them? well you don’t. I thought about ‘what does a place like this make you do, make you feel, how does it color a character?” Gong says. “It feels almost more important than the actual villains in the story… I feel like the city is its own villain.”

Where are your parents?” she asks. “This area is no good. The Crescent Societies have their eye on it. You’ll get yourself invaded.” And the concept of "body jumping." Quite frankly, this ability was a good one but the loopholes itched me. People in this city just going around taking up other people's bodies like it's a daily chore? Even if it's supposedly illegal? Wild. Also teeters on the edge of consensual questions so... yeah. A lot can be done with the concept but Gong didn't think through the power, use and consequences of it to make me understand and go with the jumping. The author was originally inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. What are the similarities in plot, setting, and characters to Immortal Longings? What are the differences? He could have chosen life instead…a miserable, dirty life, hungry and cramped, persistently in fear of debt collectors” The needle-thin alleys between every building sag, the earthen ground always muddy because it is sweating with overexertion.Calla and Anton (inspired by Anthony and Cleopatra) have an obsessive codependent relationship that has so much potential for the next book. The fascination I have with Antony and Cleopatra is the character dynamics and all of these big things he's saying about love and obsession and what that drives someone to,” Gong says. Though the den-keeper who runs up to him has a different face from the last time August was here, he knows it’s the same person. Bodies can be switched, but the man’s pale purple eyes remain the same. the plot wasn’t gripping enough either— if you’re gonna do a Hunger Games style plot but make it monarchical rather than set in a republic... make it different, somehow. subvert it, make some intriguing critical commentary. do something different! the story’s intent was very similar to the Hunger Games: the people living in squaller, the games their only hope, the royal family using the games as a source of entertainment. when something as epic as the Hunger Games has been done before, i think you should just leave that type of plot alone. it didn’t have the complexity i think Gong wanted here because there was just so much going on with so many different characters. trying to keep up was truly exhausting. everything was too surface level to be interesting. Princess Calla Tuoleimi lurks in hiding. Five years ago, a massacre left her parents dead and the palace of Er empty . . . and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa, her uncle, and his 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.

That’s something Gong says was intentional. While building Sa-Er, she drew from the real-life Kowloon Walled City in British-held Hong Kong. It was once known as the most crowded place on Earth. Like I know this is a first book, there's scope for improvement etc etc. But a first book should lay solid grounds for interest and plot and character growth. To summarise, I couldn't tell you the point of this book because there are glaring loopholes in it that would destroy the characters' so called "ambitions to make the city a better place." From my (limited) understanding, Kowloon was a fairly underserved area with “no tax, no regulation of businesses, no health, or planning systems, no police presence [...] criminal activity flourished” ( Atlas Obscura), especially under gang control and opium production. Locals came to call is “Hak Nam” which translates to mean “City of Darkness” but at the same time, Kowloon was a major producer of plastics, textiles, food, etc. A lot of the people who lived there had respect for each other and the lawlessness did not necessarily always translate to violence. In fact, the city was a major influence on themes like cyberspace, autonomous governments, and the idea of humanity persevering in the most unexpected places. immortal longings has also been marketed as a comp to the hunger games, which i know everything about so i will be speaking on that.When Leida is imprisoned for betraying Prince August, she says, “No king is selfless. No throne is built on bloodless ground. There can be no freedom until the crown is broken.” How did she come to this conclusion? Do you agree with her? Why or why not?