Blurb:

A young ruler must forge a delicate alliance with the untrustworthy yet magnetic God of War to protect her kingdom in this stunning romantic fantasy filled with dangerous secrets, forbidden magic, and passion, from Sue Lynn Tan, bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess

The young heir to a mortal crown, Liyen ascends a precarious throne when her grandfather dies, vowing to end her kingdom’s obligation to the immortals and take vengeance against those she feels responsible for his death. When she is summoned to the Immortal Realm, she seizes the opportunity to learn their secrets and to form a tenuous alliance to safeguard her people, all with the one she should fear and mistrust the most: the ruthless God of War. As they are drawn together, a treacherous attraction ignites between them—one she has to resist, to not endanger all she is fighting for.

 But with darker forces closing in around them, and her kingdom plunged into peril, Liyen must risk everything to save her people from an unspeakable fate, even if it means forging a dangerous bond with the immortal… even if it means losing her heart. 

Review:

I’m the second SFF Insiders reviewer to get to share my thoughts on Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan but I have to agree with everything my fellow reviewer said. I’m just going to agree with it in my own, slightly ranting, words. 

I loved Daughter of the Moon Goddess so naturally I was…well I was going to put ‘over the moon’ but I can’t say that without apologising for an unintended pun so we’ll go with hugely excited. I was hugely excited to see that Sue Lynn Tan had written another complete book set in the same world but following a whole new cast of characters. Like completely new. Don’t sit there and wonder ‘Did I hear this name in the last duology? Who was [redacted]?’ They weren’t there. Enjoy the new story. 

I seem to be opposite to many ARC readers who found the book slowed for them in the second half. I went into Immortal at about 25-30% thinking I’d sussed out the whole plot. “Liyen hates the immortals because they blah blah blah (I can’t say exactly without spoilers) and that she has to go to the immortal realm to deal with her rule over Tianxia so she’ll be stuck with the God of War and we’ll get an enemies to lovers because there’s only one pavilion (wake up babe, new trope dropped) and everything will end up just peachy.” 

Shut up, past-me! You couldn’t have been more wrong. (Which is super embarrassing cause I was sending some very smug messages to friends while reading it.) 

The surprises and twists and little details that are easy to miss in the moment made for a pleasant surprise that really elevated the whole story for me. Did we have enemies to lovers? Kiiiiinda. Did we have Liyen confronting her misguided thoughts about immortals? Kiiiiiinda. But neither happens in the way you think. Consequently, I think it made for a much more captivating read and made the whole story shine. 

It also meant that a lot of the issues I was having with the characters, like eye-rolling issues, were resolved because once everything was out, it made sense. Nothing stood out as ‘why is she doing this?’ ‘Why is he doing that?’ It just fit and it worked. The question I really ended up with instead is ‘What do you do when both sides feel their actions and beliefs are justified?’ Fortunately, Liyen answers this question in a very satisfying way that I felt really fit her whole character up to that point.

Now, one thing that still stands out to me after three books and a collection of short stories later in the Celestial Kingdom, I’m still not clear on the aging. Like if you’re immortal, why age? But also there are children. Imagine being stuck with an immortal baby! I don’t even like regular babies. But everyone is basically an adult, except for these immortal children that probably will grow up…I would assume. There are markings of time, older faces and hair changing, but otherwise everyone’s just an adult that doesn’t age…but still does. This is very minor and just something that has stuck out to me. It has no real impact on the story and was just a mental tangent I ended up down while reading. Now you have too, you’re welcome. 

Anyway, back to the actual book. Because this is a standalone with a full new cast, you can tuck into Immortal without any prior knowledge of the Celestial Kingdom. And I hope you will. Of course because it's standalone it does mean that at the end, you may find yourself like me thinking “It just ends like that?! That's it?! I have to live with this now and it's done?!?!” All of which I hyperventilate about in the most positive of ways. I'm sure I'm not the only one that constantly wants more from a thoroughly enjoyable book at the end of it. 

As her third full book, and fourth book overall set in this kingdom, Sue Lynn Tan is solidifying a name for herself in her ability to craft colourful, rich and, most importantly, magical reads. Finishing Immortal has me yet again waiting with excitement for what we'll see from her next!