I loved this brand-new, intriguing, immersive world from one of my favorite authors!

In this Antony and Cleopatra fantasy retelling, some people are born with the ability to jump bodies. Two of the best are August, who fought his way up to become the adopted crown prince and Anton, who grew up at the palace but was kicked out in disgrace after an attempt to run away ended with Otta Avia, August’s half-sister and Anton’s first love, in a coma. Then there’s Calla, the disgraced princess who murdered her parents and fled into the city, living in secret with the help of two of her former handmaidens.

Both Anton and Calla enter the games, a deadly contest where eighty-eight players compete to the death for the final prize – so much money that they can retire in comfort. Most enter the games out of desperation. Anton wants money to pay the hospital to keep Otta alive, while Calla only wants the chance to get close to the reclusive king and kill him, too.

This author does a great job of writing morally grey characters that readers can love. Calla wants to build a better world, and for her, that means killing a lot of royalty. She accepts help from August to stay in the games, because he has the same goal: having someone end the king’s life so his reign can begin.

Anton’s immediately intriguing, as he doesn’t kill Calla when he has a chance early on in the games. His love for Otta and his willingness to do almost anything – including killing a lot of people – to have a chance to save her make him a complicated character. When he begins falling for Calla, that adds a whole new layer to his character.

When Calla and Anton agree to an alliance, that means that in the end, they’ll be facing each other in a final showdown for the prize.

Chloe Gong is great at writing complex worlds with so many layers and different groups of people working with different motivations. The twin cities of San and Er provide a bleakness that makes you understand the desperation of all the characters. As agendas clash and alliances waver, this book will wrench your heart. It also has some great, jaw-dropping twists at the end.

This book is the first in a trilogy, and I cannot wait for the next two!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Review Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.