thanks to netgalley for providing me an e-arc of this book!

i’m really split on this one. the magic is cool, the worldbuilding could be better. the stakes are really really high, and i could lose the fact that our romantic lead has colonized the ruying’s country and is holding her captive for her magic. the author does do some work in antony, giving him a less colonizer past, which is the only thing that kept me from dnf-ing this one. i commend the author’s efforts to tell a story with complex morally gray characters, but it didn’t quite it the mark.

I do a lot of readers advisory for fantasy books, so it is great to know what is out there. This one wasn't my favorite, but I think there is an audience out there and I will be recommending.

To start what I will say is the cover is absolutely STUNNING and the vivid descriptions of Pangu and Sihai are beautiful. I think the author does a great job describing the world and even the characters.

Unfortunately, I DNF’d this book a few times, but wanted to see it through till the end and I don’t believe I will be continuing on with the series after this.

I’m not even really sure how to review this?

I was very *very* confused about the ‘world’ we were in. I didn’t find out until I finished this book and read other reviews that Pangu and ‘Rome’ are two different planets entirely and while I was reading it I kept thinking how I didn’t understand the portal and why was it Rome? Because it is technologically advanced compared to Pangu in this story, but I kept thinking of Ancient Rome. When they had bombs of today I’m thinking the Roman’s are still wearing togas lol I almost wish she had made up a completely different name for them because I never felt like I was ever fully invested in the story because I was so lost!

Our main female character Ruying was so unlikable. Almost as unlikable as Antony! Pangu is a world of magic and she is someone who has death magic, although her grandmother has essentially forbade her from using it. The more you use magic the more it can negatively affect you and when the Roman’s invade pangu they introduced opian (opian vs opium, kind of wish she had just made it opium but that’s fine) that ‘enhances’ their magic but with terrible consequences. Ruying lives in poverty with her sister and grandmother in the family’s crumbling mansion. She’s trying to help her sister get off opian so she gets help from a former friend who works with the Roman’s named Baihu and that relationship right there was the start of me being pissed off with Ruying and kept me annoyed the entire book!
Baihu wants Ruying to use her powers against the Roman’s but she refuses… but she works with Antony (the enemy) instead. And IMO it didn’t take much convincing. So she has all of this animosity towards Baihu for working with the Roman’s but he is a spy for a resistance group but falls for Antony who wants her to kill her own people? Lord.

In the end the thing you knew would happen, happens, and FINALLY Ruying gets it and it’s like.. wow took you long enough ma’am! I really hate the fact that she fell for the colonizer! I know there is a lot of discourse online about whether this book should be called a colonizer romance and I don’t want to get too deep into that, but ultimately who does she fall for in book 1 and what is that person considered? Will he redeem himself in the next book? Will he stop his family and sacrifice himself to save her? Will they end up together in the end? I’m not looking forward to her still possibly hesitating to kill him because she has feelings for him!

The only thing I would actually look forward to is learning more about Meiya the sister. She might be able to redeem the series, but I fear she will have to die as a plot device at some point to spur Ruying to action and I don’t want to suffer that.

An interesting premise boggled down by poor writing and controversial drama brought by the author. I had high hopes for this book when it was announced, and I felt quite lucky to receive an advanced copy to read, however it took me months to even get past the first chapter because of how convoluted the writing was.

The introduction did not flow well, constantly stopping the narrative to explain background information for a few paragraphs before jumping back into the present, so much so that I forgot who the characters were every time I picked up the novel.

The sentence variation was also subpar for such a high profile book- every sentence was [Topic], comma, [Explanation]. No matter how hard I tried I could not get through a significant portion of the novel at any point, and thus have left it unfinished at around 15%.

This book was a troubling psychological thriller and while I appreciated the premise, I found the world building uncreative and the writing was redundant. I think this book could have been a lot better with significant editing. I could see glimpses of genius but the end product did not deliver.

The dual-world concept has potential but the relationship was hard to read with the manipulation and imbalance between the characters.

dnf at 19%, i couldn't like the characters like ruying and the prince, or the writing style which i found repetitive and unnecessarily dramatic. i loved the plot though so i might give it another chance in the future.

I really love the title and the book cover! The world building is intriguing but also a little confusing. I don’t love that there is a lot of repetition throughout the writing. This was definitely an interesting read and I did enjoy it overall.

One of the most poorly written titles I came across unfortunately. Immediate infodump, excessive monologues and a lack of trust in the reader. Shows a clear lack of developmental edits.

While I found the writing juvenile, the concept was intriguing but worldbuilding choices made no sense

This felt like a messed up colonizer romance, and that's exactly what it was. I did dnf this book 50% of the way through and gave it 1 star. Not my cup of tea and was let down.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods was a beautifully written YA(?) fantasy. And it has such a pretty cover 😍😍 The author does an amazing job painting a picture of the world they are in. I thought Ruying (FMC) was well written and I enjoyed the story! I wish the MMC was more fleshed out though. He seems like a very complicated person and I wish we could've had either more about him or more from his perspective towards the end of the novel.

I'm not very familiar with Chinese history or mythology, so this was all very new and unique for me 🩷 and Ruying's gift is a doozy!!

There's a lot of inner monologue in this novel (so if you don't like that, you may wanna skip this one). That alone didn't bother me, but a lot going on in Ruying's head is really repetitive. She's indecisive about her choice--we get it. I also wish there was a little more of a connection between the FMC and MMC--I really wasn't feeling it from Ruying 🫤 I would hesitate to call this romantasy, mostly just fantasy IMO.

Overall I enjoyed and would recommend. Hopefully there's a sequel coming soon so we can see how everything plays out ⚔️⚔️

I think this book had an interesting premise, but it ultimately fell short for me unfortunately. I didn’t enjoy the FMC and found her to be a very flip floppy character that didn’t have the clearest motivations. It was also a bit repetitive at times. Thank you Random House for this ARC

I wanted to love this book so, so hard. I mean, just look at that synopsis! That cover! The marketing! And then, before I read it, I saw the reviews. I read about the review bombing scandal. I decided that I wouldn't let it color my thoughts on the book because, after all, if I had a nickel for every 3-star-reviewed book on GoodReads that has a prized place on my shelf...well, I'd probably have enough by now to buy myself one of those nice Illumicrate editions.

Unfortunately, I've got to side with the three star average on this one. Conceptually, I still think this book is a stunner. The bones are there -- a girl with horrifying death powers becomes a killer for the colonizers, in the hopes that she may save her people by doing so. The metaphors and allegories are totally in place, and the worldbuilding is intriguing. And the romance? Well, I applaud Chang for what she did here, because a colonizer romance this is not (despite the myriad of one star reviews stating so -- did we read the same book?). This is not a romance; it's a portrayal of a woman manipulated into loving our awful, awful villain, and I found Chang's depiction of that toxicity to be masterful.

But what I didn't love is how stagnant the book feels. Ruying, our MC, spends a good portion of the book saying, doing, and thinking the same things: how awful killing is, how she does it for her family, how she has to take another life but vows it'll be the last, etc. I also had some issues with the prose, which feels similarly repetitive. Many short paragraphs follow each other in close succession and appear to say the same thing in different ways. I don't typically mind this in a shorter book -- prose like this can definitely take on a dream-like quality in a short story or novella -- but it just felt like Wicked Gods would have benefitted from a heavier hand on the line edits.

Because of this, I am not sure if I'll continue with the series. If given a chance, I may grab an ARC of Book 2, if only to see whether the Ruying/Antony "romance" goes where I think (and hope) it will go. But that's a big if.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Del Rey, and Molly X. Chang for giving me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Let me start by saying that I have mixed feelings about this book. It has nothing to do with the review controversy that popped up right before this book was published. It's more like I hate the FMC!

The plot was great. I liked the world building and the magic system. The politics of the two worlds was interesting as well. I even liked that the "bad guy" wasn't your normal sort of bad. He embodied what is in my mind, the worst kind of evil... The one that makes you second guess yourself and convinces you that this is all for the best.

But I just. Couldn't. STAND! The female lead. She's whiny, despite this incredible power that she has inside herself. She wholeheartedly swallowed every manipulation, every gaslight, every toxic masculine trait the Romans threw at her, even though she saw it coming from a mile away. She didn't even try to fight back. In a word, she's weak in every way. Her drug addled sister had more of a spine. And if I read one more time about how her father was the cause of their family's destitution... I swear I would've thrown the book!

It is ONLY because I liked the other characters and am genuinely curious how this will end, that I will pick up the next one. I'm also desperately hoping the author gives our lead some sort of amazing redemption arc.

1.25 stars

Um... it was a book. For transparency I went into this hearing everyone saying it was a "colonizer romance" and I can say it was very much not. What Ruying had was Stockholm Syndrome and an easily manipulated will.

I didn't feel for the characters as they were very one-dimensional and we got nothing from them when they interacted with Ruying. They could literally be boiled down to "morally gray childhood best friend" and "protector of main character" and "undeniably handsome oppressor". I understand that we see them through Ruying's 1st Person POV, however, it feels that she herself does not know these people deeply, despite having grown up with a majority of those introduced.

The worldbuilding could've been better. There are apparently multiple different powers yet we get next to nothing on most of them. Even with that, the author did not go into the worlds of Rome and Er-Lang beyond the surface level, yet managed to infodump about the history and language at the same time. We learn a good amount of proverbs through Antony, the literal oppressor, and I just think that needs to be looked at again.

The only saving grace (I say this very lightly) this book has is Ruying's abilities of death and taking life from people. The concept of it isn't uncommon, yet I was intrigued. However, I was disappointed as of how Ruying handles and reacts to this power. Yes I understand she has conflicting emotions about her powers, however it was really pitiful at times reading through her inner monologues (and not in a sympathetic way).

Maybe these problems will be solved in the next book, but I will not know as I will not be picking it up.

Many years ago, invaders from another plane came and conquered the magic of the world with their own technologies and now they rule over everything keeping the original citizens down. Ruying was born with the gift of death. She can take the life source directly out of someone else, slowly draining her own in the process. When the Prince asks her to be his personal assassin, promising to protect her family in return, she reluctantly agrees thinking it will help save the world from the evils of his reigning family as well. But can she trust him?

This book had such amazing promise. I was completely drawn into the world, so much so that I almost missed my train stop more than once while reading it. It is inspired by Chinese culture, history, and legend, and has a very interesting and unique magic system that I just kept wanting more of. The main character, Ruying, was perfectly morally gray, and was written beautifully to be relatable even while dealing with complicated moral dilemmas. I absolutely loved the moral ambiguity of both the plot and the characters and it really blurred the lines of right and wrong. I found the moral quandaries to be fascinating. Unfortunately, the storytelling got a little bogged down and repetitive, making it harder to get through the middle and end. I would definitely be intrigued to read the next book to see what happens though, because there was a lot to love here.

I judge books by their covers (don't we all!) and this book delivers. It is beyond stunning and I love the vibes the art portrays before even jumping into the story. I love fantasy books, recently delving into more Asian-inspired fantasies and this book gives a wonderful fusion of myth, science and humanity all in one.

All I knew going in was enemies to lovers and it was perfect. Ruying has the power of death and has lived a life of tragedy from the start. When she is caught with her power, the prince of the empire employs her as an assassin for his causes rather than turning her in. The world-building and magic system is phenomenal and immersive. The blend of magic and advanced technologies makes you wonder what else is out there as youre reading, breaking the barriers of what you believe possible in the realms of fantasy novels. The blend of morally ambiguous characters and difficult themes keep you guessing and I loved every minute of it.

💝 Science VS Magic
💝 Solid World-building
💝 Slow Burn Villain romance
💝 Love Triangle
💝 True Enemies to Lovers
💝 Morally Gray Cast

CW: Themes of colonization and oppression but told by a WOC inspired by family stories of the oppression in Manchuria.

Thank you to NetGalley & Del Rey for an eARC of <u>To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods<u> by Molly X Chang

A good premise but felt a bit repetitive. I would have liked more romance as it seemed like there would be based off the book description. Overall decently enjoyable, but just missed the mark for me.

I found this to be a very intriguing read. The world building was fantastic and pulled me right in. The relationship between Ruying and the enemy prince is complex. Since this is the first book in the series, I’m inclined to see how this relationship evolves.

DNF - 62%

I just can’t get into this. Picking it up feels like a chore, and I would rather move on than continue to force myself to read it. As a whole, YA fantasy seems to be a bit hit or miss with me these days, and this just wasn’t something I was enjoying.

I think this book is definitely suffering from a disconnect between the actual content and what it is marketed as being. The way it was pitched to me seemed like a kind of Poppy War with a nicer ending, and that is not what I got at all. The romance felt forced and unbelievable. There was nothing to explain how these two characters would get together at all. This was not a Romeo and Juliet situation, the MMC is a Prince of the people who have oppressed the FMC’s people her entire life. In the section of the book that I read, there was little to no character development, and I doubt the last forty or so percent of the book would have changed much. The magic system also was never properly explained, nor did it seem to have the consequences on the FMC that she said it did.

The style of this was strange, which was odd because there were moments when it was obvious that Chang was a good writer, but it all just seemed quite fragmented and stilted to me. I think this was a case of telling instead of showing, but it could also just be the style of their writing. The pace was also quite slow, and I didn’t like the first-person narration at all.

Three stars, as this could have gotten better in the last portion and wasn't irredeemably bad.