Such a captivating story! I love Asian fantasy and this has quickly become one of my new favorites. The mixture of Chinese fantasy/mythology and Roman science was fascinating! One particular aspect I absolutely loved was the use of Chinese idioms and sayings throughout the story, keeping the Chinese characters while providing a translation for them. I can’t wait to see what comes next! Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgally for an early copy!

“To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods” by Molly X Chang was a lovely read! She created a universe that was both very easy to delve into, but also captivating. The protagonist, Ruying, lives in a world where her people, are able to have magic and Ruying has the power of death. For every time that she uses her power, she gets closer and closer to death. What will happen when she is captured by the Romans, the oppressors of her people?

Spoilers below:

In my opinion, the romance part of this book was very small. They kiss once. I definitely do not think the romance was the main part of the book, and you’re not supposed to root for them. She very quickly realizes that she has been fooled by the oppressor. While it’s difficult to understand how she could even fall for someone who has committed atrocities against her people, she’s human and has been manipulated. She wanted to believe the best from him, that she could morally work for the people she was being forced to work for. However, by the end of the book, she has had the wool pulled away from her eyes. She has realized she has been deceived. Since the author has revealed that the sequel is titled “To Kill a Monstrous Prince”, I do not think this series will continue being oppressor x oppressed. I am very excited to read the sequel(s)!

Look out for “To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods” by Molly X Chang, releasing on April 16th, 2024!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC. This does not affect my opinion of the book.

What can I say about this book that haven't been said by previous reviewers? I don't know what it is in the air, but this trend of colonizer romances needs to stop. After The Hurricane Wars and this one, I am not sure I can handle another.

First of all, I want it to be clear that I have read the author's note which contains her background and her inspiration for this book. I have also made a point of visiting Chang's social media to look for the promotion of her book, and after reading this, it is clear to me, that the Anthony, the Roman Prince is indeed a love interest to the main character (I don't care if he is the LI or one part of the triangle). After all there is no way going around this if you really read the book :))

I have to say that, against my expectations, I start this book liking it. The writing was very good, and the worldbuilding solidly developed (although, why Rome lmao?) We were introduced to the characters very smoothly and we get to see the outline of their caracterization, despite them not being outstanding or original in any mean. Ngl, for a moment I thought this wouldn't be as bad as my friends' negative feedback.

The thing is, I cannot fanthom why the author, who justifies her background with her grandfather being the witness to the brutal Western occupation in China, can write about her main character, supposedly symbol of the oppressed people and their resistance, having sympathy and trust for the prince of the oppresive sovereign, like ?????? I really thought in the beginning, judging from Ruying's thoughts to resist, to not betray her people, that this would be different, but boy was I wrong. It is utterly nonsense to have a character, supposedly a smart, independant, rational one, completely throws away their ideals because they were treated with kindness during six weeks despite living under occupation for more than a decade. Ruying was sold to us readers as someone who makes choices to save her loved ones and her country, but the way she acted with Anthony made her a traitor to her cause in every sense of the word. As another character has called her and despite the author's best intention to make her a hero or whatever, Ruying is a coward, and you cannot convinced me that the way she acted in this book aligns with the way she was "promoted" to the audience.

Other than that, the writing starts to annoy me far on into the book because of its endless metaphors, coupled with the idiocy that is the caracterization. Bottom line, if you want to read a book about a complex female character who soughts to fight off occupation, go read the Poppy War by R.F. Kuang instead :)

** spoiler alert ** Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3/5

This book is not a romance. To market it as such does a disservice to what it actually is - or at least, what I thought it actually was - which is an exploration of a character who is continually brought to what she thinks is the edge, only to learn that her ground extends a few feet further.

I didn't see the marketing for this book, so I went in blind, only seeing the reviews listing all the ways it is a problematic romance once I finished. I get that perspective. There is a lot of time devoted to the attraction between Ruying and Antony, a lot of time in Ruying's head exploring those feelings (which she admits herself are problematic), and with the addition of the childhood friend, the faint resemblance to a love triangle that will be resolved in future books.

Perhaps future books will develop those plot threads further, but as it ended, all I saw was a girl who was doing what she thought was her best to keep herself and her family safe. Who took some comfort in the kind of attention she wasn't used to receiving - took comfort from the person who brought her a semblance of safety for the first time. This is not a reflection on her being a dumb MC, this is Ruying struggling to protect her own mental/emotional wellbeing.

Antony as a character was interesting to watch. What we see is a man who is obsessed with control, with maintaining his status, and with those he chooses to let in. His obsessive romantic interest in Ruying sets him up as a compelling villain for future books - a move I hope the author chose to make, rather than trying for a redemption arc.

Addressing the romance aspects aside, the concept of a "portal" between worlds was something I hope gets developed further. As it stood, I desperately wanted to know more. I pictured it as a portal between universes, though it seems others pictured it as space travel between planets. I wish more time had been devoted to developing the relationships between the characters, that we had gotten to see more of the outside forces and less of the circular thoughts inside Ruying's head. It did get repetitive, and for that I found myself docking points. The friend's death at the end would have held more of an impact if I felt like I knew her at all beyond "Oh that one girl in the military".

All in all, a solid start to a series. I will be keeping an eye out for the sequel.

This was such a refreshing read! I don’t know what I expected but it was definitely more than what I imagined. I got a bit frustrated with the characters at times but the plot and the world building were amazing !I’m definitely interested in reading more by this author !

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Random House for giving me access to the e-arc of this book!

I have some mixed feelings on this story. I very much enjoyed the world that Molly has built, and the main conflicts between Pangu and Rome kept me hooked. But the main character, Ruying's decision making was a constant frustration throughout the second half of this story for me. In the first half, she very much has understandable issues with Rome, Antony, and his plotting, but then we are suddenly taken 6 months in the future, and she suddenly trusts Antony and does whatever he asks, even though she still feels like she shouldn't trust him. And this remains a constant until the last few chapters, where it is flat out revealed that, surprise surprise, he had lied to her the entire time, which had been rather obvious to me the entire time. The "romance" between them seemed very forced, and instead of enjoying their "touching moments", I just found myself sighing in frustration over how awful Ruying's judgement is. Luckily, I feel like this book redeems itself by still having an interesting plot brewing with the political intrigue occurring on both sides, and an interesting world built with lots of legends and mystery. I would still consider following this series, although I desperately hope Ruying grows from this and her decision making improves in the next book.

“Death didn’t discriminate, nor did he play favorites.”

This book was sooo good! There was so many twists to the story and I couldn’t honestly think straight or try and predict the ending. It was thrilling! Also when this quote came-I absolutely could only think of Hamilton for this!

Thank you also to NetGalley for an eARC. Physical obtained through trades.

I couldn't put the book down! The characters where engaging, complex, and heartbreaking. There was so much emotional depth to the story and the characters throughout that the reader will be pulled in and anxious to see what happens next. The world building and action scenes are lush and well described in the book, leaving the reader anxious to learn the characters' fates. This is definitely going to the top of my most anticipated books of 2024 list.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House publishing group Ballantine, for the early ARC of this book.
There were some things I liked about this book, but there were also many things I didn't like. First the author spent too much time doing the opposite of "show, don't tell". It was a lot of information dumping especially in the first chapter. Some other problems are the fact that she fell for the colonizer. He was super cringy...and nothing that he ever did in front of her showed that he was actually trying to "prevent a war". Just because he said it, didn't mean she should follow him so blindly. Also, it was kind of a boring love story...she only ever let people hold hands, so nothing too exciting to see there. Her friendships in the book I liked. They really seemed to try and help her out, it just didn't make sense that she never listened to them. Some of the world building was interesting. Sihai seemed like a really cool place. The cover art was beautiful. I think when the next book comes out, I'll definitely read it, because I'm hoping it will get better. But then again, she's got guns and missiles versus spears and a few drugged up magic users.

I don't really know how to start this review off.
So I will start off with the things I liked and then get to the things I didn't like.

First of all I love the premise of a book about science vs magic. I think that is such a good idea, mixing new age tech with old gods and magic. However, the book didn't follow through with it. New age guns and nuclear weapons vs magic that's fading for no reason.
The magic is probably the best part in the book, but there wasn't enough of it to hold the book up. You barely saw anyone else's abilities except hers and hers were in general just boring. The most exciting one we saw was the multiplier and that was short lived.

The book cover is absolutely beautiful so kudos to whoever designed that. However I didn't feel like it made sense for this book.

Getting to the nitty gritty here.
The book is repetitive to the point where I was sick of hearing about her dad being a POS. Yes, I got it the first 3 times you mentioned it, it didn't need to be said over and over and over again. Along with a lot of other plot points, they were driven home so hard that I was annoyed when it was mentioned again.
Next, the FMC is one of most wishy washy, vapid, dumb dumbs I've had to read about in awhile. In less than six months, she is willing to literally kill her own people and possibly an emperor going against everything she has grown up and known for someone who just looks at her nice, over a sister who adds little to nothing to the story except to make the FMC feel bad about herself. Which she should because she at almost every turn tried to justify her actions and the actions of her Prince to people who have lived in a literal hell over the things he's done. She had no reason to trust him, he gave her nothing except kind eyes, and money.

If this is. YA book, then maybe we need to reevaluate what YA is. The relationship between the FMC and MMC is toxic Stockholm syndrome.
I would hate to teach Young Adults that this type of relationship is normal or okay.

At one point in the book, she refuses to listen to anything her lifelong friend wants to tell her about the man she's working for, then not too many chapters later, she wants to know everything, but then only cares about it because the person who's dying she cares about, but hadn't cared about since seeing her in a dungeon.
In the beginning of the book she vilifies her best friend who's been helping her, for being a sell out. Then she immediately sells out.
Make it make sense.

This FMC wields the power of death, she is thought to be one of the most powerful Xianlings, and over and over she states that she shouldn't be afraid of anyone or any man. However at ever opportunity she is afraid of everyone, and every man.
She has no backbone, no common sense, and she IS a coward, right up until the very end of the book, and even then she still has done nothing to prove she's not a coward.

This book was entertaining at times, but also I struggled to enjoy it fully. I feel like the idea was there, but it just didn't have the follow through or forethought that I was hoping for.

Thank you for allowing me to read it, I am sorry it didn't work for me

Where to begin? I went in with high expectations because the book cover looked so amazing and so did the synopsis. I want to start off with what I liked, a positive point. I liked the world building so much. Some tend to gloss over world building and let the reader kind of form their own assumptions, but I like it when the writer really illustrates the world. Molly X. Chang did that well, she used folklore and magic to create this world where we are introduced to the characters powers and struggles. The first half of the plot was ok but the further we got into it the more I realized wait this is NOT an enemies to lovers.
This is where things so south for me. If I was told that this was a Stockholm Syndrome type of book that leans into dark romance, then I would have been prepared for it but it is advertised as an enemies to lovers YA book. I hate colonizer romance so much and abuser romance. If I knew this is what I was walking into I would have not picked it up. Also, the romance felt forced (as it always does with colonizer romances).
If the author worked on the romance more and changed the love interest, I would have given it 4 stars (also the writing was a bit repetitive). I want to clarify that this was not a horrible read and it did not DNF it. Molly X. Chang is a great writer and I think this book has a great premise, so I do hope that she continues her craft. Overall, if you don’t mind a little dark romance or anything mentioned above then you will like the book.

I’m incredibly thankful to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc!

I was blown away with the world building, character development and overall story. I loved how the main character found that she was worth so much more and was incredibly courageous. The incorporation of Chinese life and lore were wonderful to read and I highly recommend this book! To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is absolutely perfect for those who enjoyed Iron Widow (Xiran Jay Zhao) and These Violent Delights (Chloe Gong). I loved all three books.

The colonizer/colonized romance is just not it. Also, when looking at romance in a YA book, we should really be showing healthy relationships, showing young women what to expect out of a partner. Not toxic men abusing women who then fall in love with them.

I’m sorry, I did not finish this. The concept was interesting and I was so excited to read it. Worldbuilding was amazing as was plot itself, but the main relationship??? I also saw people saying how she ends up with her oppressor??? I am not a fan of that and could not continue the story.

Thank you to Del Ray and NetGalley for the ARC.

I was truly excited for this book but after reading a lot of reviews about it, I decided this isn't for me. The main positive reviews I've seen were from white reviewers and the negative have been from mainly bipoc reviewers pointing that the romance is with a literal colonizer. I just am not going to read a romance like that and there seems to be quite a lot of other issues that need editing and tweaking which I just don't feel like pushing through. Even small clips I've read hurt my head and I don't want to read a full book like that for me personally.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods was a book I could not wait for. I thought the plot sounded fascinating and death magic is always so interesting when done well; but unfortunately, I could not have been more disappointed while reading this book. In fact, I almost DNF'd it because of how uncomfortable I got towards the middle when the romance officially began. Let's break down why this book gets a no from me.

The first thing I want to mention is that this is a colonizer x colonized romance. While I am all for enemies-to-lovers, this was a Stockholm Syndrome dark romance disguised as YA enemies-to-lovers and it was frankly just abusive. There was no equal footing between Ruying and her love interest so instead of an enemies-to-lovers plot it turned into pages of watching a woman get tortured and brainwashed by her abuser. It made me think that this was trying to be a dark romance book for a younger audience and that really rubbed me the wrong way.

The romance itself was also extremely underdeveloped and it made me think that it wasn't even in the original draft of the book. To be honest, I think I would have loved this book so much more had the romance not been in there at all (and as a romantasy girlie that shocked me).

The worldbuilding also suffered because the romance took precedence, leading to multiple pages of lore dumping that interrupted the pacing of the book entirely. The world itself was fascinating and I did love the sci-fi elements, but I began losing interest when the book focused more on telling me how the world works rather than showing me how the world worked.

The writing itself was very choppy and repetitive (especially at the beginning) and it felt like there was no trust put in the reader to follow along with the world Molly X. Chang built. However, several later chapters felt extremely well-written and had beautiful prose and I am just sad that it did not carry throughout the rest of the book. Again it felt like Molly X. Chang was forced to put more explanations into a wonderful world of resistance, and I hope that she was not forced by the publisher to dilute her original story.

Then there is the main cause of my disappointment, the execution of the magic itself. The magic of the Xianlings is the coolest part of this book. The Qi and folklore explaining how magic works were fascinating and the death magic Ruying holds was why this book was my most anticipated read of the year! However, the moments when Ruying learned to wield her magic were skipped over in a time jump. There was also so much promise at the beginning where Death speaks directly to Ruying multiple times while she wields her magic and then Death does not speak again until the end of the book. Exploring Death's magic would have been a great way to tie the world into Ruying's story while also exploring why Death chose Ruying to give his gift. Again I felt like there was a lot of lost potential here, which makes me disappointed.

That being said, the last chapter did change a lot of things for me and I am hopeful for the next book and the next chapter of Ruying's story. I hope that the romance gets left behind and the world and magic become more prominent as this series continues. Molly X. Chang has the potential to be an incredible YA fantasy author with this series and I hope that the lost potential from the first book is explored in the later ones.

Thank you to Netgalley and Molly X. Chang for giving me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang and I think it did a good job of meeting my expectations. It was an entertaining read. It didn't feel like a waste of my time. I don't think it was anything mind blowing or truly unique but it still was quite the enjoyable read. It has an interesting premise and the potential for something truly amazing was there but I don't think it delivered. It's still a good book, though. Overall, it was just an okay read but nothing that will stick with me in the long term.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for this e-ARC. Overall, I am giving this book 3 stars. I didn't really care for it. It read okay, however it feels like a lot of the same fantasy stories out there. The book is set in Pangu where it's currently occupied by Rome. Our MC is named Yang Ruying. She has the power of death and can kill others by ripping their souls out. Prince Antony of Rome wants to use Ruying to assassinate his enemies in exchange for her family to be safe. Antony convinces Ruying in this bargain by basically saying the Romans and Ruying's people will be able to co-exist peacefully if she just helps him become heir. I just - I don't know. This did not feel as a true "enemies to lovers" AT ALL. All we have to go off of is Antony's words that the world would be better if they work together, no actions, nothing. Meanwhile, Ruying is out here assassinating her own people and all of a sudden, she's head over heels for Antony. However, her childhood crush Baihu is trying to help Ruying stay alive. Ruying thinks Baihu is a traitor to her people, but as the novel progresses, we see that is not the case. I personally don't think I will be continuing this series which is sad because I feel like it had a lot of promise to it.
"

I got an early review copy of To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book followed Ruying, a girl from Pangu, possesses Death magic and the ability to pull the life from another person. Conquered by Rome, one of the princes discovers her gift and seeks her out to use her for his agenda in exchange for her families safety. Now she has to use her powers, slowly draining her own life, to protect those she loves. Can she trust what this prince tells her or is she just a chess piece in his game?

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I was exciting reading her forward and introducing her inspiration; however, I am not sure I quite understood the connections as I am unfamiliar with the historical backgrounds. This was a strong story looking at a conquered people and their fight for themselves and a better world. It was easy to empathize with Ruying and her choices to try to save her family and be on the "good bad" side. I am intrigued with how the story will unfold in the next books.

2.5 stars rounding it up to the 3.

I want to start by saying the I love the cover of this, and the premise is interesting. The world building is done enough so that I was able to understand it, even though I do wish there was more. Death magic is one of my favorite types of magic to read about and I liked how the consequences of using are somewhat talked about in the book, but I was still really confused. It didn’t seem to do much for the plot as a whole. However, I feel this could have been due to the fact that the writing was not my favorite.

So many monologues were repeated from the main character that it genuinely annoyed me. I felt like there really was no growth from our main character throughout the book, and please don’t ask me about the romance because it felt really unnatural and forced. More of an emotional coercion from the “love interest” toward our main character. Although maybe it resolved toward the end, I’m still confused about it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this title for my honest review.