I did thing the romance could do with a little more development, but I did enjoy the depiction of female friendship. Determined to get revenge on the hulijing immortals who constantly belittle her, Jing tries to foil their plan to steal a dragon pearl from her guardian, the King of Hell. But beneath the string front she puts on, it's a young woman unable to let go of her pain and of everyone's opinion of her.

Anyways: I enjoyed the supporting characters, the mythology, the slow burn, and Lady Jing's development. Chao captures the imagination from the first page with a snarky heroine you’ll fall in love with, immersive and inventive worldbuilding, and most of all, a lot of heart. I immediately felt myself cheering for her while begging for her to try and trust in the love and good nature of those that care for her. If anything, I would say this book came off to me more in the YA genre, but this could be just Jing’s character quirks giving off that energy.A Y Chao has written a sprightly mythological adventure, mixing Eastern and Western folklore into a very fun setting. Mortal Shangai feels like a clash of cultures from both the West and East and was so fun to explore.

But as the pair go on adventure after adventure, could their unlikely partnership turn into something more?There is a lot going on in Shanghai Immortal, not least the coming of age (which here is 100 - young for an immortal) or a spoiled, petulant brat who has certainly been bullied but has raised so many defenses that she doesn't even know she has friends. Shanghai Immortal started off with Lady Jing picking up a parcel, for Big Wang, which turned out to be a human being named Tony Lee. It’s a wonderful book full of wonky love and wry humour with a gorgeous feast-for-the-senses setting.