Epeolatry Book Review: Shanghai Immortal by A. Y. Chao

From its sweat-dripping opening to its heartwarming conclusion, Shanghai Immortal is a sumptuous read. Tendrils of mythology weave together with modern characters whom you can’t help but love, and the result is a rich story of enigmatic deities, nether-realm heists and unexpected joy. It explores complex issues of heritage, identity, belonging, and intersectional feminism in a multicultural migrant context. It is a love letter to the author’s Chinese diaspora heritage with a twist of Canadian sensibilities… and—they’re not kidding—a huge amount of sass.

Protagonist Lady Jing is a lovably snarky chaos machine, teenaging her way (albeit at ninety-years-old) through the alleys of immortal Shanghai, or Hell. She has a foul mouth, substituting ‘rotted’ for uses akin to ‘bloody’ in our mortal world. Through these subtle touches, Chao firmly establishes Jing’s own voice and personality, which is a lot of fun to spend time with. While she has no patience for traditional airs and graces, she is not immune to the pride that drives the honor-bound system of her world, and her spiky temper becomes her downfall more than once. She may be half-vampire, half-fox-spirit, but what could be more human than the growing pains of feeling trapped and abandoned all at once, flailing at attempts to rein in one’s own body and natural instincts?

Jing is well-matched in Tony Lee, her human fare, who upon his arrival in Hell is suitably terrified but somehow also remains grounded and sure; an energy one might possibly suspect as the seed of a perfect antidote to Jing’s own? And it’s quite a feat to really convey a character in a non-visual medium as handsome, but Mr. Lee’s manner is hot. Their definitely-not-set-up-by-aunties-and-uncles pairing, combined with Jing’s definitely-not-ulterior motives, leads us on multiple chases, leaping across rooftops and sneaking through treasuries—either to chase mysterious leads or evade as mysterious stalkers. Through the hijinks, mishaps and perils spanning both realms of Shanghai, Jing and Mr. Lee come to know each other, and dare we say, themselves.

Aside from the love story, this is also a story full of pain and healing. When we first meet Jing, she is in a trampled state, surviving under the scathing presence of her childhood tormentors. And the stakes are high—these aren’t your average abusive relatives, they’re immortal monsters with sharp, mythological teeth. The hulijing council makes for a formidable foe, permeating Jing’s life through the scars of their onslaughts.

All that being said, the overwhelming vibe of this book is sweet, fun, and rich. It’s tasty. I, for one, can’t wait to meet Jing and Tony Lee again. And if after reading this vibrant debut you can’t either, well… fingers crossed, I’ll see you in hell.

/5

You can Pre-order your copy today at Amazon and Bookshop!