Amber and I are BACK this August for a fun new readalong! We're about to start our monthly discussion for our July Adult book (recommended by those 18+), Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong!
As a reminder, from now on, our monthly discussions will be both here on the OwlCrate blog AND on The Nest! Go check out Amber's discussion that will be full of fun extra content!
On each day we'll read a section of Immortal Longings, both on the blog and in The Nest's group, and then discuss in the comments our theories and predictions. This means there will be spoilers for each section! Beware!
Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for chapters 16-20 of Immortal Longings, so make sure you read or are finished this section before continuing.
It's getting very politically charged in here...
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Chapter Sixteen:
Calla watches King Kasa deliver a whole lot of propaganda on the television as he speaks to the country about rebels in the city. Calla grows angrier watching the King as he states that the games will now be speeding up in defiance of those trying to take them down.
The broadcast then goes dark and Calla's wristband starts to tremble. Calla tells her cat to hide and climbs out of her apartment quickly.
Now the player who caught her wristband trembling will stake out her apartment. Calla can't go back.
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Anton, however, does not catch the King's announcement and he's at the hospital with Otta.
He speaks to her and asks her to move but still, there's nothing and Otta continues on in her coma. Anton continues talking to her and thinking about memories with Otta when he notices her fingers are tinged purple.
Anton calls out for a doctor but sees only a nurse and asks that she get one. Anton notices that Otta looks like she's continuing to weaken. Anton leaves the room and steps out of the way of a gurney being pushed down the corridor.
Anton spies a wealthy looking young man, loosens his wristband and jumps out of his current body into this new one, grabbing and refastening his wristband on his new arm.
Anton then leaves the hospital.
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August is flipping coins in a bar wearing a stranger's body. He's there to question patrons about the jumpers who are jumping without light.
A guard August recognizes, Vaire, asks him to mind his business but August goads him into an altercation. The guard grabs him and sees that it's August, apologizing.
Outside August ponders about the guard's reaction to asking about the wall and rebellion issues.
Chapter Seventeen:
Calla is in Anton's apartment smoking when he returns home. Calla informs Anton that the games have been sped up. Anton asks why she's come then and Calla becomes angry, asking Anton if he's breaking their alliance.
They bicker but Calla gets a page from Chami. There's an emergency and Calla asks Anton where his nearest telephone is.
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Anton follows Calla and listens in on her call. He thinks about how Calla reminds him of Otta, and not in a good way. On the phone, Calla is telling someone not to panic and asking when the last time the person saw "her" was.
Just then Ruen from the brothel interrupts Anton and Calla and Anton asks him if he's got any mail for him. Ruen tells him to pay his bills. Calla slams the phone down and lets Anton know that her friend is missing after she went to the Hollow Temple.
Anton guesses that it's probably a Crescent City abduction. Calla considers this and then beckons Anton to go with her. They're allies after all.
When they leave, Ruen picks up the telephone and dials a number. When the line connects he says "she's on her way".
Chapter Eighteen:
Calla crouches on the building's third floor as Anton warns her that there will be a lot of Crescents on patrol.
They're there for a rescue mission. Calla reassures Anton that they'll be fine.
They remove a grille and enter the temple. Calla goes down a corridor. She and Anton hear thunking as they walk echoing through the temple. A round of voices are behind them. Calla sees a door and kicks it open. Inside there are stairs that descend into a basement area filled with bodies.
Calla and Anton immediately say "Eno" who is confused as to why they are there. Calla checks the bodies and Anton learns that Eno is a player in the games.
Calla looks over the bodies, and some breathe. One with a ring of blood staining their chest is not. Calla looks over the bodies until she finds Yilas, who is breathing. Calla tells her to wake up.
Yilas is groggy but awakens. As she struggles into a sitting position, Calla and Anton's wristbands both tremble. Calla realizes there is a player within the Hollow Temple who is probably a Crescent.
She asks Eno to get Yilas out of the temple while Anton and she stay behind to distract the Crescents.
Anton turns to Calla and warns her to jump if she needs to. She refuses and they are ready to fight.
Pampi steps into the room and tosses a man into the wall with her hands, the same way that Calla was attacked, and tries to invade Anton.
She ties a swathe of ribbon around Anton's eyes while Calla watches on, noticing Pampi has a wristband. She baits Calla who strikes her, putting her sword through Pampi's gut. Instead of dying, Pampi tugs the sword out and jumps without light, the body with the stab wound crumples to the floor. The Crescents hold Calla in place and she's forced to her knees.
Calla and Pampi trade remarks. Calla tells her that she will be the victor of the games and Pampi slaps her, telling the Crescents that she wants Calla's heart.
Pampi plunges a dagger into Calla, intending to carve out her heart. Anton struggles and then jumps into Crescent after Crescent, taking them out one after another while Calla screams.
He eventually gets a chain around Pampi's neck while Calla drops bleeding. He takes a knife and slashes Pampi's eyes, incapacitating her.
Anton grabs Calla and leaves with her as she passes out in his arms.
Chapter Nineteen:
Calla awakes to fingers in her hair. It's Anton. He uses their catchphrase as she reaches for a glass of water, a sudden searing in her chest reminds her that she was nearly killed.
She looks down to see that Anton has healed her but tells him that he should have let her die. Anton tells her that she's been out for a day and that they're down to fifteen players. He tosses Calla her wristband and tells her she is stupid and terrifying.
She asks if Anton has figured out what her secret is. He responds that this is Calla Tuoleimi's body...but that she is not Calla.
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A starving little girl watches her village burn and her lungs fill with pain as invaders raze it. The ash doesn't settle for days, she can't speak and her mind is hazy. She learns that soon Er's royal family will visit with offerings.
When the royal family arrives the little girl sees a princess and decides that she wants to be her. She feels her body desperately trembling and is suddenly three feet away. She kicks her birth body into a puddle and it sinks into the mud, out of sight.
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Calla tells Anton about how she took over the princess's body and explains that she fears the princess may still be with her inside her body. She worries that the princess is still alive and that she's doubled, living with two qi's.
She gets up to go but Anton stops her. Calla is confused about why and he admits that he cares for her. She tells him that she needs to go to August. Anton tells her that August cannot help her, but Calla responds that he can help her more than Anton can.
Calla leaves him and goes to the diner where she sees Yilas and Chami who are relieved to see that she's alive.
Calla tries to communicate about what happened at the temple, but she collapses.
Chapter Twenty:
August gives Calla ten days to heal, turning off the pings on her wristband, and placing it in stasis.
The news theorizes that Calla is just hiding from the other players. In reality, she's staying with Chami and Yilas above the diner. For eight days, Calla heals and watches the reels. Watches Anton.
She pretends to hate him as she watches him. Yilas finds her in the dark, watching television and asks Calla what she's doing. She responds with "Praying". "To the television and the gods inside".
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Don't mind me over here remembering that it took me longer to recover from wisdom tooth surgery, let alone getting my heart carved out...
Questions:
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🤥 Who else do you think may be working with the Crescents? -
❓ Why are they taking hearts? -
🔪 Do you think Calla or Anton will kill one another?
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