Thanks to Del Rey for the copy of this book!

TO GAZE UPON WICKED GODS reminded me a bit of THE POPPY WAR and THE SCARLET ALCHEMIST - but the main diffference in this book is that the Prince and love interest is a Roman, one of the colonizers in this book. BUT hear me out - the title of book two will have you giddy, and I think a lot of this book is about Ruying's flaws and coming-of-age type of story to figure out her internal belief system.

I really enjoyed WICKED GODS on audio and thought it was a quick read with easy-to-understand magic and political systems that are based off of the author's family history and Manchuria under Russian and Japanese occupation. While parts of the book were repetitive and a lot of the characters' behavior was predictable, I think this is a good setup for a trilogy and I am very intrigued to see what happens in books two and three -- because I really think that Molly could take this in some interesting directions and write a very powerful narrative.

Overview

Ruying is a reluctant assassin forced into her circumstances as a result of having powers of Death during a timeline tethering on the edges of war. Through a lapse of judgment, she stole a Roman prince’s silk pouch after witnessing his street kindness. Thus began her entanglement with Anthony and her descent into a traitorhood.

Final rating: 2.5 / 5.0 stars (rounded up as courtesy of being the author’s debut)

The Review

A promising premise with a lackluster execution riddled with unfulfilled promises, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods was neither a terrible read nor a terrific read. I was originally drawn to this book because of its promises of themes relating to magic vs science and sisterhood. However, I found this book to be rather lacking on both fronts.

For a SFF, the world building—the sci-fi and fantasy elements—takes a back seat for the majority of the book. The science was surface level at best and the magic was barely touched upon. An advantage the Romans have over Pangu is their possession of guns and weapons of mass destruction powerful enough to force Er-lang into a one day defeat. But every time these guns and other sciency stuff are brought up, I can’t help but think: so they are just ordinary guns? Is there even any difference from our world? Alas, my questions will remain unanswered because this book does not explore such significantly insignificant topics. Perhaps we never learn much about this aspect because Ruying herself doesn’t know very much, but even so she worked for the Romans for well over six months. She ought to have at least picked up some knowledge in passing. Or so I would’ve hoped.

Comparatively, the magic aspect was much more interesting and better explored. Even then, the bar was on the floor. Aside from Ruying’s own gift, we barely learn about the gifts of other people. Her exact usage of magic is unclear for the most part, I didn’t even realize she could see souls until much later into the book. I do like that there is some discrepancy between what Xianlings believe vs what Anthony claims. Unfortunately, by the end of the book these questions aren’t yet answered and we don’t know what is the truth, what is the lie, and what could perhaps be prejudice.

Now, onto the promised sisterhood. It felt rather one sided with Ruying being the only one caring about Meiya. Meiya had so little screen time we barely got to understand her character aside from what Ruying tells us. We all know Ruying is unreliable, so how much of what she claims about Meiya could we believe? The reality is Meiya was quick to judge and abandon Ruying. I don’t think Ruying was necessarily right per se, but Meiya's own dismissal was too hasty. I am just disgruntled that I didn't get sisters mutually doing their best to protect each other as I thought I would. For one, I love the contrast between Ruying and her sister, Meiya. Ruying is the cowardice to Meiya’s unfaltering heroic spirit, foolish, but heroic nonetheless. This book tries to paint Meiya as the yang to balance out Ruying’s yin, the life counterpart to her death. Yet throughout the entirety of this book, Meiya’s gift could only be said to be irrelevant. They could’ve done so much more with this premise, but they didn’t.

Narrative Style

I couldn’t really enjoy this book and I have to attribute it to the narrative style not being my cup of tea. Minor rant incoming…

The narrative structure goes a little like this: exposition, dialogue, internalization, dialogue, internalization, action, dialogue, internalization, dialogue, etc. I really wish I was exaggerating. For reference, the first 10% of the book was essentially an exposition dump at the beginning and then a super long conversation between two characters. It was just one (1) scene, but they just kept talking for well over the first 10% of the book. At that point I couldn't help but worry about the pacing because there was only 90% of the book left??? Unsurprisingly, the pacing did come back as an issue later on.

This book was like half conversations (maybe more? at least it certainly felt like it), therefore the talking head syndrome was unavoidable. What is the talking head syndrome, you ask? It is, in comics, when artists don't know how to properly illustrate a scene and opt to draw two characters (heads) talking to each other back and forth. This is how a lot of the conversational scenes play out. It's like being in a room with ghosts, being able to hear them talking to each other, but not being able to see anyone or anything. For the overtly imaginative minds, this might not be an issue. But for fellow borderline aphantasia folks like myself, we might need a little more help. In the end, it just felt really pretentious, like these characters are trying to convince me they are sophisticated, but failing to do so half the time.

Also I just don't like this style of story telling with an overabundance of dialogue because it is essentially exposition dumps, but in dialogue form. There are things that characters must talk about in order to convey the information to the reader, but the issue is this is utilized too often even when unnecessary. The characters constantly talk about how war is bad…like no duh? But rather than have the characters talk about how bad war would be, I would have preferred if the desperation of the situation was actively shown to us on the pages. Which leads into the other issue, too much internalization, not enough externalization in the form of tangible action being done by the characters. Within an overabundance of thoughts, there is an absence of presence. We are so often lost among the crevasses of the narrator's mind, we are seldom present to bear witness to how different scenes actually play out. However, I do acknowledge this is largely a preference thing.

Too much talking aside, I was still with the book until the time skip. Lemme tell you, I was shooketh. Absolutely floored. I could not believe there was a time skip?? There, of all places?!

I understand why the author opted to not write 50 different assassinations. Really, I do, but we needed a lot more than what was written. Given the limited word count range, I think the author prioritized the wrong aspect of the story to portray. After the time skip, I could feel my eyes glaze over. Nothing that followed was convincing enough, especially since Ruying and Anthony trusted each other so much they would literally die for each other. I'll be honest, I was flabbergasted. It was like being served an already empty plate and being expected to enjoy the meal. Except, I was served nothing.

The story does pick up around the 80% mark. That's the issue. It took until the 80% mark for the intrigue to start rolling in. Which, in my humble opinion, is too long. If the first 80% was more like the last 20% of the book, this book could've been so much better. Granted, this is the first book in a trilogy (if I'm not mistaken), so I do think there's some potential here...but potential just doesn't cut it if the execution continues to be so lackluster. Overall, this book has a little bit of everything, but not enough of anything.

Final Remarks

I finished reading a month ago, but had to sit on posting this review for a while. I'm really conflicted about how to rate this book. I couldn't decide between two stars or three stars because it's somewhere in that zone. In the end, I think I might've been overtly critical because I had my reviewer hat on when reading this book. Did I like it? No. Did I hate it? No. Do I want to know what happens next? Yes. Do I want to read the next book to find out? No. It's just a book I read in passing really. No more, no less.

Unfortunately, I can't really recommend this book as it stands, it's not strong enough as a standalone. I know it's a series, but every book in a series should still hold its ground by itself. If you're on the fence about picking this book up, I would recommend waiting until book two releases and see how things play out.

Miscellaneous Musings

I just thought it was so funny when Anthony’s brother, whose name escaped me, was like “We are the master of science” blah blah blah. I know it wasn’t meant to be funny, but I crackled out laughing because who talks like that? No matter how much you think you know about science, you will probably never know enough. I can’t believe this random comment by a side character was what left the biggest impression in this book. I was here for the science, didn’t get science, but got a laugh instead.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

I always get really excited when I see books try to tackle this concept. It. makes for a really compelling story with interesting and three dimensional characters. This book did it in a really unique way that I'm not sure I've ever seen before: it puts you in the head of the character who chooses wrong.

This book is, in my opinion, unfairly, getting a lot of heat for the romance plotline. It's being called a colonizer romance. I couldn't disagree more. I think where everything started to go wrong was this being marketed as a romantasy when, in my opinion, this book is not a romance at all. Yes, technically the oppressor and the oppressed do fall in love, but the nuance that is being overlooked and ignored is the fact that we as readers are not supposed to be rooting for this. The love interest is obviously a monster, and the FMC is obviously being manipulated. This isn't a cute enemies to lovers story, it's a cautionary tale about how power can corrupt even the most well-intentioned people.

I really liked the juxtaposition between Pangu, with its culture and its magic, and the more futuristic world of Rome. The give and take of the magic system where actions have sometimes dire consequences was very cool. I wish we were given a better grasp on the limitations, but it raised the stakes quite a bit. I also think that this being based on real world events added a lot to the story, especially knowing that the author's family was directly affected.

There were a few things that didn't quite work for me. The writing sometimes seemed stilted and choppy, and the worldbuilding left something to be desired. We know a little bit about the city Ruying is in, but end up learning very little about the world as a whole. Hopefully this will get expanded upon in later books, but at the end of the first I found myself struggling to get my head around what this world is like. There were also some parts that felt a bit repetitive, especially Ruying's internal debates about the love interest. I swear she had that same "he's awful and I'm done with him. Oh but wait I'm just sooooooo drawn to him" debate like 5 separate times.

Overall, I think this was a solid debut that is being very unfairly treated by its readers. It was a very ambitious undertaking, and it went places that very few other fantasies have the guts to go. I'm excited to see how this all plays out, and will be continuing on with the series. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

Spoilers ahead-

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is a difficult book to review. On the one hand it is an interesting character study in what we are willing to do (and not willing to do) to just survive in a colonized world and protect those we love. On the other hand, the novel is marketed as an enemies to lovers fantasy romance. The publisher's blurb begins, "She has power over death. He has power over her. When two enemies strike a dangerous bargain, will they end war . . . or ignite one?" In many circles this has raised discussion over the problems in framing a colonizer/colonized love story. I'd agree that to ignore the power dynamics between the two main characters and romanticize Ruying's relationship with the Prince Antony is extremely problematic! She is his prisoner and she is forced to become his assassin to protect her family. He isn't a "good" guy. I would join the chorus of criticisms if that was all there was to the book, But there are are some fundamental things I see overlooked in most of these discussions I have read.

As Chang explains in her author's note, part of her inspiration for this story is her grandfather's "ghost stories" that came from his time in an occupied Manchuria. She writes how she would hope he would be proud of Ruying's "ferocious need to survive." What is needed to survive the next day, the next hour is often unclear. Is Ruying courageous? Yes! Is she a coward? Also yes- and I believe that is the point.

Chang gives us a story where the main character has to juggle dissonant moral imperatives of which the highest for her is protecting her family. This is not glorified in the story - we see her discomfort with it it every day, and we see in her inner monologue the lies she tells herself (such as trusting Antony as a lesser of evils) as part her strategy to hold on to some kind of hope. As I read, I did not see Anthony as a glorified white savior or even a "not all colonizers" exception. He is bad! he is selfish and he is manipulative, While Ruying can't see it some of the time and wants to believe in him we as readers should understand her impressions are not reliable. In short, the way I read the novel we are never supposed to root for them to be together or see Anthoy in a positive light ( he sees himself way more positively than he ought), but to have empathy for how Ruying could believe him, for a time.

Because this is a slower moving character study, I can get why some readers would find this bothersome and not wish to continue reading- and certainly that is valid choice. However, I do feel strongly that if you wish to be publicly critical of a work, you should read the entire thing and look at it as a complex literary work. that doesn't always say straight away the experience, emotions and criticisms it seeks to evoke. Here, I believe the questions in this story are fare more about what it will take for Ruying to see him for what he is. We do indeed get there by the end!

Personally I found the book thought provoking, and I very much appreciated being immersed in Ruying's character. if you felt mislead in some way by the story, direct that criticism toward the publisher and the marketing. There is some of that here but 1. it is a gross simplification of the plot and 2. if you didn't notice, and got to the end, there is more than one man in this book she sees as her enemy.. Finally, this is Chang's story to tell, so let's give her space to tell it.

An exciting debut! This had so many aspects that I loved from the romance, to the storytelling, to the plot. I think some things did fall flat such as the character development and some parts felt repetitive, overall this was fun though.

Ruying's people have been colonized by invaders who came through a portal in the sky and not even the magic of her people could fight against these barbarians with their technologies. Although Ruying is blessed by Death, it is not quite the gift one should want. On top of being afraid of these foreign invaders, Ruying has to provide for her family and keep them safe. When Ruying's gift is discovered by the enemy prince, he forces her to become his personal assassin; in return, he promises to protect her family and ultimately bring peace to her world. However, Ruyin's death magic comes at a price as with every use, a year is shaved off of her own existence.

Ruying is a flawed and yes, incredibly naïve character but I still felt for her. Throughout the book, all she wants—no, is desperate for is to provide for her remaining family and see them happy. To achieve her goals, she goes from hating to using her magic to constantly justifying herself for it over and over again.

Sighs okay Antony. Let's talk about him. Well, he is evil. To Ruying, he justifies his actions (after imprisoning her) as a means of bringing peace to her world and Ruying's other option is helping a vigilante group. Both of her options lead to more violence, possibly further endangering her own family. Call it extreme gaslighting, Stockholm syndrome, but it was jarring to read the scenes where Ruying and Antony see themselves as anything other than a captor/captive.

Even though the ending does its job in managing to push the protagonist toward the 'right side', I wasn't a fan of how Ruying humanizes him just before this and sympathizes with him.

The setting of the book is something I love very much and the worldbuilding is initially confusing but as the story progresses, it becomes clearer. The colonizer or the Romans come from a world similar to ours and Ruyin's world Pangu is Chinese-inspired and on the fantasy side.

While I wouldn't outright recommend this book, I still found it a compelling fantasy novel dealing with the aftermath of colonization and the consequences of war.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is a compelling story about a world at odds and what happens when science is pitted against magic. The novel follows Yang Ruying, a woman with the magical gift of death, as her magic is discovered by Roman royalty — her colonizers. She stares down a harrowing choice: become the prince’s personal assassin to further his political goals with the guarantee of the safety of her family. The story focuses on Ruying coming to terms with the consequences of her powers, her actions, and what it means to be on the right side of history.

This story has an explicit central message about colonialism, the environment, and revolution that I appreciated — it does not dance around its subject matter. This is exactly the kind of book that I love.

If you know me, you know that stories that focus on politics are my bread and butter, so I was over the moon to find out that the politics of this world are the heart of the novel and they are incredibly well executed. There is meaningful commentary about human greed and complicity in the face of violence. I was delighted at how rich the writing itself was, Chang is a skilled wordsmith.

There are a few things that I would’ve liked to see developed on the page rather than spoken about afterward because they come across as strangely paced, but overall this book does a fine job of showing rather than telling.

I would highly recommend this book to fantasy fans who cannot get enough of political intrigue in a unique setting. While it seems to be marketed as more of a romantasy, I don’t know if this is entirely accurate, but it’s hard to dig into this point without heavy spoilers so I’ll refrain.

Overall, I really enjoyed To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods. This is a very promising debut from Chang and I’m so excited to see where she takes Ruying next.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Synopsis:
Ruying has been “gifted” with death magic. She can literally pull life from mortals. But when her paths cross with the prince of the invading world, they strike a bargain. She leaves her family in order to save them and does a lot of awful things to protect her and the world she knows.

My Thoughts:
I love my fictional men a little morally grey. But Antony. Oh Antony was way beyond that. He was cruel. And an oppressor. And I couldn’t find a single redeeming quality. Ruying had to make decisions that will make you uncomfortable BUT her motivation was to save her family and her world.

This book is such a look at colonialism in a fantasy world, but with real-life themes and exploration. It’s complex and heartbreaking and will make you want to rage.

The ending was fantastic. I did a mixture of reading the ARC and listening to the ALC. Natalie Naudus was the narrator on this one, and she did an excellent job portraying Ruying’s inner turmoil and emotions.

What You’ll Find In This Book:
🖤 Death Magic
🖤 Love Triangle. Kinda.
🖤 Villain love interest
🖤 Diaspora Feels
🖤 Touch her and die

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods follows Ruying as she navigates her war torn and Roman occupied city while hiding her Death powers from the Romans who would use her as a weapon against her own people and from the Rebels who would destroy the tentative peace they have.

The first 40% or so of the book was rough. It was very hard to wrap my head around a fantasy city based in history being occupied by the Roman Empire with present day technology. It was very jarring, which probably was the point, but it also pulled me out of the story at times. The dialogue was not great. The interactions between Ruying and her sister felt incredibly forced and unnatural. The girls are twins, have been there for each other throughout their traumatic childhood, but then are acting like strangers when Mei joins up with the rebellion and Ru doesn't want to. Mei also had no personality besides being an opian addict and angry-- there was literally no depth to her outside of that which also felt off. Ruying was insufferable most of the story just hiding her head in the sand from all the atrocities the Romans were committing. I understood she was scared of her power (mainly because it felt too good to use it) but there were many times I really just wanted to shake her. Especially when she's captured and put into a cell and has decided she's going to fight against the Romans and then seconds later decides to just give up.

After Ru starts working for the Antony, things do get better. Ru is in her head for the majority of the chapters and while her thoughts are repetitive, we start to see more of her inner strength shine through. Her relationship with Antony is interesting because they are enemies, but they do actually like, trust, and understand each other and could probably be together romantically in another life. By the end of the story, I was rooting for Ru to go full Death and just take them all out, because I think her being a villain would be incredibly interesting.

All in all, the bones of the story were there, I just think it needs a little bit of reworking and another editing pass to make it truly great.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang is a captivating tale of power, betrayal, and sacrifice that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. The story follows Ruying, a young woman with the ability to pull the life out of mortal bodies, as she is forced to make a dangerous decision in order to protect her family and her people. The enemy prince offers her a deal that could secure their safety, but at a great cost to her own well-being. As Ruying navigates the treacherous waters of politics and power, she must decide where her loyalties truly lie.
Chang's world-building is rich and immersive, drawing readers into a world where magic and technology collide in unexpected ways. The characters are complex and nuanced, with motivations that are not always clear-cut. The dynamic between Ruying and the prince is particularly engrossing, as they navigate a tentative alliance that has the potential to change the course of their worlds. The twists and turns of the plot kept me guessing until the very end, and I was completely invested in Ruying's journey.

However, I found myself a bit confused at times about the technologies and time period in which the story is set. The blend of magic and advanced technology added an interesting layer to the narrative, but I occasionally struggled to reconcile the two. Despite this, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is a thrilling read that will appeal to fans of fantasy and political intrigue. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fresh and engaging tale of power and redemption.
3.5/5 STARS

Actual Rating: 3.5

Note: I was not aware of the discourse around this book or the controversy that had occurred until after I finished reading it and went to post my review on Goodreads. Even now, I do not know everything that happened. I will only be doing more research after I post this review. I want to be as unbiased as possible. This review's content will only contain me reacting to the contents of the book. Nothing more.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

When you encounter stories that touch on colonialism and how it impacts both sides of the scale, I feel like as a reader I need to broaden my perspective. This is a story that encompasses deep loss turning into rage. It is also a story of greed.

Ruying as a character is so flawed and undergoes a peculiar developmental arc throughout the book. She has been raised under a regime that oppresses her people in so many ways. In the beginning, the hopelessness and fear she feels that she can make any difference feels incredibly relatable. The feeling only heightens when considering the responsibility she feels to provide for her family, one being an elder that needs medicine and the other being, for a lack of a better term, drug addict.

Too often, we expect the main character immediately to rise above and combat the injustices they see in the world. This, combined with powers that grow stronger with a short training arc is an archetype that is overdone. It was refreshing to see a power that weakens its wielder. However, the nature of her power itself raises a line of moral questioning, which I feel was appropriately done within the book. We see her go from being reluctant to kill, to being forced to kill, to then justifying herself over and over again.

Which brings me to the relationship she has with the male lead. This books really benefits from the lack of Antony's POV. I rather enjoyed the uncertainty of whether or not Antony was truly the white savior he was presenting himself to be. I find the author's storytelling choices to keep us guessing on that front to be impressive. It's the way literally every side character tells her not to trust him, to stay true to her people and to not forget how their colonizing has personally affected her. Every single time, this is usually followed up with the violent ideas of a vigilante that wants to revolt against Rome. On side keeps preaching war while the other side preaches ideas of peace. For Ruying, who desperately wants to live in a world of peace, where her loved ones can remain out of danger, combined with her sense of duty towards her family, I can empathize with which ideas she would latch on to, even if they are coming from the enemy to her people.

Considering all this, I do have to acknowledge that not once throughout this entire book did I feel that Ruying had complete agency over her actions. The dynamic between her and Antony was at times sickening, and at others somewhat fascinating. But if I was to convince myself as a reader that these feelings between them were real, then this is truly an enemies to lovers situation. It's dark and morally questionable that these two should feel anything for each other. Initially, Antony merely sees her as a tool and Ruying is constantly afraid of her loved ones dying. On this front, I was actually relieved that any bond formed off the page, in the midst of a time skip of about 4-6 months. As a reader, I did not want to feel as attached to Antony as Ruying. He was keeping secrets (his literal war crimes) all the way til the end of the book. To me, it felt as though she had constructed a defense mechanism in her mind in order to maintain a sense of normalcy. There are a few times she wishes that she could just play pretend that they are just a boy and a girl, with no burdens or responsibilities. Yet because of the core nature of their relationship, I like that it feels like even when she trusts him that she never fully puts her faith in his cause. (For me personally, this is the first time I have wanted the childhood best friend second lead to be the one that gets the girl. Thank you to Baihu for constantly making her doubt Antony when she's being gaslit a little too hard.)

Antony as a character is still shrouded in mystery. I wasn't a fan of the one POV chapter we had from him, not because it confirms he has real feelings for her, but because of where it was placed in the narrative. I would have rather we discovered that after we learn his secret and betrayal. Other than that through Ruying, we were only able to see a few aspects of his true motivations. From Ruying's perspective, we see her humanize him, because he has a backstory that he shares with her. It was bound to happen with the prolonged time spent together and the nature of her work for him. And yet the ending of this book reinforces that any society that endeavors to colonize and steal resources from another is doing it, and will always be doing it, out of greed. As I was reading, I thought it was always a bit iffy that she saw past the monster that he is to her people and trusted him.

But when I really thought about it, it was a great starting point on a few questions. Would it be wrong to empathize with your enemy? Wouldn't it be easier to act against an enemy when you understand them better? Is Ruying a weak character for aligning herself with the path of least resistance? Is Antony truly the lesser evil? Can their societies even go back to the way things were? What if war and death is the only solution to save the people of Pangu?

So then comes the rage. I love how this book ended but also not quite. How she was in such a vulnerable place mentally and emotionally throughout the entire book and finally pushes back to regain some agency. The way I see she's switching allegiance from one charismatic leader that wants the dirty work to happen in the shadows to a charismatic leader that is pushing for an all out war. I would rather she lean into the archetype of becoming a badass leader that forges a path that neither of these men can fathom.

My fascination with the characterization aside and relationship dynamics between the two leads, I was pretty happy with the prose. It was riddled with proverbs, metaphors and similes, sometimes to the point of being overdone. I would rather see this then simplistic writing style, which has been my experience as of late. I was intrigued by the use of Chinese characters within the novel as well.

Which brings me to the worldbuilding aspect. It's clear that Pangu as a whole represents a historical period in China. Rome represents today's western civilization. I feel like the real world inspirations behind the fantasy settings was a way for the author to not have to delve so deep into creating a world from scratch. If the reader can draw upon the real world knowledge, they can fill in any gaps in the holes. I would have liked to have Pangu's geography and history a bit more fleshed out. Rome is barely touched on, other than that they brought disease, weapons and drugs to Pangu. I did find it intruiging when Antony had mentioned that Rome was just one country in their home world. I had so many questions after that piece of information.

There are some triggering topics covered in this book. The descriptions of how Rome has destroyed Pangu's culture and continues to find ways to take more and more from its people is tragic.

The more I think about this book the more nuance I feel it has. By this I mean, Ruying's response to everything that happens to her. Antony just sucks so far. I do want to know more about him though.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that wants a thought provoking read for topics on morality, war, poverty, global pollution, and anti-colonialism. I wouldn't call this a romance, which is how the author has been presenting it as on her social media. It has a romance subplot but it's not heavy on the romance at all.

Happy reading!

First, I do want to mention that despite its shortcomings, the story does offer a candid exploration of the struggles endured by oppressed communities in their resistance against their conquerors. It delves into the harsh realities of overwhelming power imbalances and the formidable challenges of effecting substantive change. Ruying's inability to fulfill Meiya's desire for rebellion is realistic as it serves as a reminder that isn’t so easily enacted. No matter how many charismatic leaders of revolutions arise, no matter how many forces they gather, and no matter how much rebellious spirit they foster, most revolutions falter against the overwhelming might of oppressors.

The narrative of this story presents a strange blend of historical and fictional elements, with Roman invaders wielding modern weaponry in a setting reminiscent of China. However, this fusion feels disjointed and unnatural, leaving me to question the rationale behind such a choice. Conceptually I found some aspects of the story to be sort of bizarre. Why are the invaders Roman? Why do they have guns and planes? The dialogue suffers from being overly dense and expository. Instead of engaging in realistic conversations, characters frequently engage in lengthy monologues that serve primarily to convey information. They often tell each other things about society that the other person should definitely already be aware of such as customs, values, precedents, and behaviors that should be commonly understood seeing as how they've been living in the society for years at that point. They also talk as if they’re word vomiting at each other rather than engaging in natural discourse. Strangely enough it always seemed so distant, and when they're speaking I can't even imagine that they're in the same room as each other.

While I can empathize with Ruying's motivations, even when they lead her down morally questionable paths, Antony's character lacks any redeeming qualities. The author makes it worse by trying to garner sympathy for his character and left me confused by the narrative's direction. The exploration of themes such as power dynamics, victim blaming, and acceptance of oppression feels shallow and lacking in nuance. I feel as if the author fails to delve deeper into these complex issues, resulting in a narrative that feels vapid and unconvincing.

Antony has a PhD in male manipulation. Ruying please stand up!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with a free advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Overall, I loved this book. The magic system, the world building, the complicated relationships.
I'll start with the relationships, the strong familial bonds that strains throughout the story breaks my heart, but is a very real representation of what happens when you have opposing views. Following this, we also see feelings rise in a high stakes environment. Obviously, we don't love when someone falls for a toxic person, again this is a very real thing that we see happen. I think the relationship was writing in a way that shows us how easy it is to be manipulated and drawn in by (mostly) empty promises and tales spun to bring hope.

The world building is very unique, I feel like the best of this was done in the chapters you least expect. Small details here and there of the world and the belief systems. I am really looking forward to a few very specific details being expanded upon in the following books!

Finally, the magic system. Oh my gosh, I adore it! I love how vast and utterly unique it is. I love how it is designed to be as unique as the individual that it is gifted to! I am very interested to see how the belief of using it alters the users body and qi as mentioned very early on and expanded upon a touch later in the story.

I love that this comes from a very close place in the author's heart. You can tell throughout how much this story that is unfolding as we read is meant to bring light to parts of history that are not easy to discuss. The note explains where this tale comes from broke my heart, but it gave me a sense of what to expect and added an additional layer of insight.
All in all, I think this is a phenomenal book with room for improvement as the series continues. It is a very good base for an entire world!
Thank you NetGalley and DelRey for sending this!

I have a lot of thoughts about this book - overall I loved it. However, I would have loved more world-building, especially with the dynamic between the worlds of Rome and Pangu. There will be more to the series that hopefully will help explain this, but I felt that some of that was missing in this first book.

Secondly, we have some complicated love interest issues going on in this. There is the childhood best friend, Baihu, who she has grown a bit distant from due to him working with one of the princes of Rome. Then there is Antony, the other prince of Rome, who captures her, forces her to fight and kill someone and does a lot of other bad things to her, yet is somehow a love interest??! He also does some even worse stuff to her people and has been doing it the entire time, yet is also suddenly nice to Ruying, the FMC. This is very much a colonizer romance, which is just awful. I cannot get behind him as a love interest - but based on how this book ends, I’m hoping Baihu has his chance and Antony is forgotten about.

I do really love the magic system in this and how it is a bit nebulous on how people get their powers. Ruying has death magic that essentially lets her take someone’s soul and kill them. Unfortunately, most of her use of this magic happens off the page. I would have loved to see more of this in action. There also are good side plots with Ruying’s sister fighting addiction and other moving parts on the side of Pangu.

DNF'd at 19%.
I really like the premise of this book. I also think the characters are interesting and have potential.
The thing that was hard for me, and I know I have an arc so maybe it was fixed before the final copy was the simple sentences and repetition.
An example of this is
"But Meiya pulled away before skin could touch skin. Something I had expected."
Which would be fine for dramatic effect every once in a while but this would happen a few times a page which was jarring.
I don't have enough information to call it a colonizer romance and maybe the point is that it is not supposed to be a good relationship. I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing.
Anyways I am willing to pick it up again when it releases to see if some of the editing in the sentences have been fixed

This is a story about different worlds.

It’s taken me forever to review bc it seemed there was a pause on posting them on good reads & some review bombing… a thing I’m always against. That being said- I definitely see how this book was polarizing. The magic system is very cool, and I enjoyed the quick world building… but the romance is uncomfortable & feels forced. I’m hoping that as the series continues the author may shift the dynamics established here.

Thank you so much @netgalley & @delreybooks

I enjoyed the story. The magic system is unique and I’m very intrigued for some of my questions about it to be resolved in the next book. I found the conflict being between science and magic so interesting. As someone who is a huge fan of both it was interesting to have science be the evil side.

The story didn’t grip me as much as I hoped it would but I did keep thinking about the story and coming back to the book. It wasn’t a page turner though.

My big complaint was with the romantic part of the plot. The chemistry didn’t make sense to me at all. I do not find toxic men attractive and this man was extremely toxic for so many reasons.

Overall I liked it and will be reading the next one.

I was a little worried about this book after reading reviews that it was a romance between a colonizer and an oppressed person. After reading it, however, I would say that the people who believe this didn’t get the book.

Are there romantic elements between Ruying and her oppressor? Yes. But it doesn’t last long and she quickly sees his true self and backtracks. In fact, the book ends with her very obviously not trusting him. I also felt like he was always more into her and she was hesitant throughout.

I enjoyed the world building in this book. Based on the author’s note at the beginning I definitely expected more of a historical fantasy, so the sci-fi elements were intriguing.

I also thought the magic system was cool. The idea that you have to give up part of yourself every time you use your magic really humanizes the power and makes it easier to create a world where magic-wielders can be oppressed.

Highly recommend and I’m very excited for this release!

ARC from NetGalley

Expected Publishing Date: April 16 2024

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5 | 3.5 stars rounded down to 3

Extremely Important Note:

I just wanted to say that despite the increasingly negative reviews about this being a colonizer romance and how this is irredeemable (which is true to some part), I believe the author has actually set up a way for the heroine to reflect on her actions, her attraction to Antony, and helping her people's enemy.

The ending definitely makes it seem that way and, in a way, counteracts the whole "Antony might have killed, tortured, and fooled my people but he's handsome and is actually somehow doing what is right for my people" vibe that the earlier parts of the book gave off. In reality I don't classify this as a colonizer romance, but rather as a brainwashed, desperate, and slightly cowardly girl realizing that being complicit to her people's suffering and seeing any good in Antony was likely not a good decision.

I hope she makes more educated decisions in the future that actually are made in benefit to her people, whether that be negotiating with Rome, trying to drive them away, starting a war with them, or accepting their rule instead of just doing it for her sister, grandmother, and herself. The realities of war and what is best for a country are often not a matter of just right or wrong, good and evil, or black and white. Instead, like I previously stated I hope the main character learns to make decisions beyond herself and educates herself more about the war, her people, and Rome.

Actual Review:

>>>Ruying

I actually really liked Ruying because she actually struck me as realistic tangible character, because a lot of us believe that if we were thrust in a position where we had to choose our country/what is good versus our own personal goals/well-being/fears/and loved ones that we would still choose our country/people/the majority. She was quite fleshed out in my opinion.

>>>Antony

Antony fell a little flat for me, mostly in the fact that he didn't seem well developed and just seemed to be made for a purpose rather than his own being and for that to happen to the (presumably) love interest of the main character is not something that I expected. I feel like making him more relatable and fleshed out would have made me think of him as something other than her oppressor.

>>>Baihu & Meiya

I liked Baihu and Meiya made some very valid criticisms of Ruying and her actions and generally enjoyed reading about both characters. Although, I did think Meiya got a bit annoying and presumptive at times. I also am begging Molly to make Baihu the actual love interest. 🙏

>>>The Writing

The writing was actually pretty good, nothing exemplary but is still good, nevertheless. It was engaging, descriptive, and flowed well for the most part.

>>>My Opinion

I will also say that as an Asian woman whose ancestors have been impacted by colonization, I do believe that my opinion at least holds some value.

The author won't likely see this, but if she does, I just want her to know that I think she has a lot of talent and considering this is her debut novel I have great hopes that she'll continue to produce some amazing works in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Ruying was born blessed by Death, and is ultimately forced to use her ability to pull life from mortals in an effort to protect her family. Also, there are Romans (technologically advanced, so not our Rome) from… another planet??? universe???? something like that.

For reasons unknown, this is marketed as adult in the US and young adult in the UK; having read this in its entirety, I do feel like plotwise, this is a fairly standard young adult fantasy. The execution of this book is definitely not as sophisticated as I’d expect from an adult novel, and while I do think there’s some complex things happening, it’s still overall YA to me (which, again: it’s adult and the US and young adult in the UK, so I’m not entirely sure what the intention is?).

I did like this even if I have… many major caveats. It did the singular job I ask from a book: entertain me in some way. Ruying is a sort of frustrating protagonist because you just want to shake her, but I did like going on her journey with her, because she is a deeply unreliable narrator. It was fascinating to see the ways she coped with her choices, in a “girl, wake up” kind of way. I thought it was compelling to watch her believe her own lies and then eventually unlearn them, but YMMV. If you’re looking for someone who is likable or who is sure of themselves and their choices, Ruying is almost definitely not your girl.

The plot held my attention enough and whatever was happening with Ruying and Antony was all very reminiscent of being seventeen and listening to your friend who is in some insane, toxic situationship and smiling and nodding while internally screaming: she hasn’t realized yet, and you can’t push her! But also, is she an idiot!!!! It’s red flag city over here!!! I cared little for them in any romantic sense, though I felt it was pretty obvious the romance was not the point. Besides that, I found it read very quickly if you were able to ignore the prose.

Despite the fact I liked this, this is also some of the most brutal prose I have ever read. It is sentence fragment galore, so while I did read this, my eyes were glazed over the whole time. For me, it’s really a matter of getting over the prose. I know I read an uncorrected ARC, but I do genuinely feel like it could’ve used at least another edit just to smooth the writing out a bit, because it’s choppy to the point where it does obstruct the flow of reading. Also, it did feel a bit weird that Chang uses Rome, but a future sci-fi Rome and not ours. Like, conceptually this isn’t weird, I’m just confused as to why she called it Rome instead of giving it a different name. It doesn't matter that much in the scheme of things, it was just jarring at the beginning.

The overall execution makes it very apparent this is Chang’s debut, and while I think she’s got a good grip on what she wants her plot to be and what she wants to accomplish, the writing style here is lending it no favors. There’s a lot of fine tuning that could’ve happened here, and so I hope the second book is more polished. Between the prose and the fact this I felt like this needed another round or two of editing, I ultimately liked this and found it mid at best. There’s lots to improve on here, and it definitely won’t be for everyone, but like, it’s not the worst thing I’ve read, and I got something out of it, so that’s a win.