Adventures ensue, with plenty of earthy observations by Jing, as she painfully comes to terms with aspects of her birth and early years. Perhaps symbolic, she fights hard against wearing the qipao, the gorgeous silk gown of the period--skin-tight, it looks spectacular on the right body, at the cost of moving. Or even breathing freely. And Jing, trained in martial arts, needs to be able to move. A brilliant, vibrant world with a joyous, irreverent and chaotic cast of characters. Absolutely rooting for Lady Jing forever." - Hannah Kaner

A wildly inventive and moving romp that goes through the mortal and immortal realms of China, with an endearing and tumultuous main character." - Aliette de Bodard The ancient Chinese myths and legends are integrated beautifully into the story and the little drops of historical and social history, made this book that much better and immersive.Affectionately known as Little Jing to Big Wang, the King of Hell and also his ward, Jing doesn’t take no for an answer and oftentimes gets into trouble. I liked her love-hate relationship with Big Wang’s guards who were like her uncles.

I opened this book because the main character is a half vampire half-hulijing fox-spirit expecting wild shenanigans and I ended up staying because it was actually a very heartwarming story. Not that Lady Jing doesn't deliver, she's all the sass promised by the blurb, but this book is so much more!! When the synopsis depicts Lady Jing or Jing as “half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit and all sassh0le”it’s exactly our heroine! So when Jing overhears the courtiers plotting to steal a priceless dragon pearl from the King, she seizes her chance to expose them, once and for all. Shanghai Immortal by A. Y. Chao is an adult fantasy set in 1920's Shanghai. The story revolves around Lady Jing a half-vampire and half fox-spirit who is a Ward to the King of Hell. One day, Jing overhears a plot to steal form the King, and she embarks on a quest. Along the way, she meets a mortal who she despises at first. But as the pair go on adventure after adventure, could their unlikely partnership turn into something more? Pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a child, Lady Jing is half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit and all sasshole. As the King’s ward, she has spent the past ninety years running errands, dodging the taunts of the spiteful hulijing courtiers, and trying to control her explosive temper – with varying levels of success.Source: eARC provided by the publisher (this in no way affects my review which is honest and unbiased) One of the things I really enjoyed about this book were the action scenes with demon swords (I don’t want one, I need one NOW), because they were really entertaining and well explained

Where this book lost points for me was the constant bathroom humour and spitting. I don't think I came across the word "piss-fart" ever in a book, and the amount of times it's used gets annoying. There are other ways to make a character crude without being gross. I'm hoping with Lady Jing's development in the book, that hopefully this will die down in the next two in the series.

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The world building and mix of Chinese mythology in 1930s Shanghai with mandarin phrases Romanized throughout the book was a fantastic and funny move. I loved how funny Jing could be in her inner thoughts and insults. SHANGHAI IMMORTAL was refreshing to read, not only because the main character was half Vampire and Fox Spirit, but it was also because she was a unique and feisty person with a mind of her own. But honestly, I enjoyed, devoured and loved this book. Although I'm ashamed to say I was unable to read it in one sitting because of my schedule being too tight because of college, I do believe I had a chill, nothing-to-do day, I would have definitely sat on my couch and read this thing from start to finish in one sitting!! As lady Jing gets into a lot of trouble, Big Wang sends her to mortal Shanghai with mr. Lee. Adventure ensues. The book I first read as an ebook, then listened to the audio version read by Mei Mei Macleod. She is a fantastic narrator and I was happy to hear the correct pronounciations of the Chinese.

Our protagonist Lady Jing is half vampire, half hulijing fox spirit and she’s just brilliant. I absolutely loved her sassy personality and I was so invested in seeing her succeed. She’s irreverent and raging against people around her, but as you learn more about her past, you really understand why and empathise with her. There is some sensitive content when we learn what happened to Lady Jing as a child and there is violence throughout the book. It is adult fantasy. I didn’t feel the violence was gratuitous and all the subject matter made sense within the narrative. I loved Lady Jing’s journey as she opens up, let’s down her shields and starts to understand more about the motives of others around her. When tasked with bringing a mortal, Mr Lee, into Hell, Jing spies on the courtiers' plotting. She overhears their plans to steal a dragon pearl from the King. Suddenly, Jing sees her opportunity to expose them as the liars they are. I was given early access through NetGalley and the Author, Thank you so much for the Advance Reader's Copy Speaking of her personality: I (greatly) enjoyed her distinctive character voice, but it will not be for everyone. Think Joan He's Zephyr and her overconfident personality from Strike the Zither. So reader, beware. The Chinese concept of saving face is no stranger to me so her motivation is completely valid, but might be for foreign audiences. So, to those readers: keep an open mind.A.Y. Chao incorporated Chinese lore into Shanghai Immortal brilliantly. Meeting familiar mythical creatures like Bullhead and Horsey (牛头马面), gods of the three stars (福禄寿), the Goddess of the Moon (Chang’e), hopping vampires (jiangshi), and the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl (牛郎织女) was incredibly fun. The descriptions of the food and the settings were so real too. I can picture the setting and characters vividly in my head. This can be attributed to A.Y. Chao’s writing and maybe my many years of Chinese drama watching. Thank you to the team atHodderscape for sending mean advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I'm really fond of this story, it speaks about finding out where you belong and learning to love and be loved. The elements of chinese-mythology as well as the idea of both Mortal and Immortal Shanghai cohexisting are very entertaining, so if you're a fan of Chinese Mythology, you don't want to miss out on Shanghai Immortal!