Immaculate Conception

A Novel

By: Ling Ling Huang

Narrated by: Carolyn Kang

“A superb work of fiction.”—New York Times Book Review

What if you could enter the mind of the person you love the most?

Enka meets Mathilde in art school and is instantly drawn to her. Mathilde makes art that feels truly original, and Enka—trying hard to prove herself in this fiercely competitive world—pours everything into their friendship. But when Mathilde’s fame and success cause her to begin drifting away, Enka becomes desperate to keep her close.

Enter SCAFFOLD. Purported to enhance empathy, this cutting-edge technology could allow Enka to inhabit Mathilde’s mind and access her memories, artistic inspirations, and deep-seated trauma. Undergoing this procedure would link Enka and Mathilde forever. But at what cost?

Blisteringly smart, thought-provoking, and shocking, Immaculate Conception offers us a portrait of close friendship—achingly tender and twisted—that captures the tenuous line between love and possession that will haunt you long after you turn the final page.

I crazyyyy story of best friends!

Wow, the writing is just elegant and rich. The story is just a total mind f**k lol in the best way!

Deeply miserable

This book was incredibly well written. It’s so easy to picture every moment depicted and you truly feel the desperation of the main character.
The misery and hopelessness is palpable throughout the entire story and it’s increasingly difficult to like the main character even as you try to understand her reasoning.
While I understand this may not be everyone’s cup of tea I was deeply moved by the novel and I look forward to more works by this writer.

Art World Jennifer’s Body Toxic Friendship Sci Fi Thriller

Somebody get A24 cuz we got a new banger. Incredible follow up from Ling Ling Huang’s Natural Beauty—here we follow 2 friends who get caught up in a toxic, obsessive, and all-consuming friendship on the fringe of science and art. Beautiful prose, flawed characters, and a heady conceptual experiment on what it means to be creative and create in a near future world.

Ok

Interesting. But it's like she built characters then we just watch them do things without them changing or really responding to each other

Lack of connection but it seems not the point though the case could be built

It was entertaining but I didn't care much and won't think about it later

A freaky odyssey into toxic obsession and inferiority complex that stuck to the shallows

I hate to say it but this felt like a bad clone of Natural Beauty: good source material & interesting premise, poor reproduction & shallow follow-through on what should’ve been an extremely deep & profound journey into two women sharing their minds with each other. It could’ve given more horror, more science fiction, more depth to each woman’s personality outside of their feelings & choices, but it didn’t. Instead, this felt like Huang took all of the good parts of Natural Beauty & pasted them onto a first draft of a scifi story idea. Disappointed but it was okay I guess.