I was initially very interested in the unique world and magic for this book, along with the author's notes about it being inspired by real history events.
That said, I was not able to get through reading this. The writing style was confusing and fragmented, prone to info-dumping, and the world-building was quite shaky. I can tell that the author IS a good writer in some respects, but this needed editing regarding show vs tell.

I think that this book is fine. I think it was kind of a rough start, but I think this has the makings of a good trilogy.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey.

I picked up this book because it had a hint of Zutara inspiration, and I’m so glad I did. The writing is beautifully done, making every decision Ruying makes feel incredibly tense. Antony gives off those deliciously tortured prince vibes that I’m totally here for. There’s some great romantic tension between Antony and Ruying, plus a "forced to share a bed" scene, though it doesn’t get steamy because they’re too busy dodging bullets! The book also has a bit of a Poppy War feel, with its magic that's fading over generations, and a touch of sci-fi. I’m really excited to see where Ruying’s journey takes her in the next book and what her powers will evolve into.

Thanks to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I DNF'ed at 10%.

Usually, I give a book up to 20% before deciding to DNF but the writing style was abysmal. It didn't help that I was curious and looked up the reviews and there's all this creepy colonizer romance....bleh. No thanks. The edgy "I'm so special" protagonist wasn't doing the book any favors.

Despite the sentiment, I loved this book. I loved Molly x Chang’s writing and adored the characters. I found this remarkably fun and cannot wait for the next book. I did think there were elements that could have been a little different but overall this was a joy to read!

I have decided to step away from the ARC. I don't do this lightly. Conceptionally, this sounds amazing but due to the controversy surrounding the book/author I don't think it's right for my platform.

What a crazy concept for a book, and boy did it deliver with the adventure and romance! It was a fun romp of a book, would recommend to fans of Asian-inspired fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this doesn’t influence my review. I had to DNF this book, unfortunately. This isn’t meant to deter anyone from reading the book, it just means it wasn’t interesting for me.

Nope. The writing was trite, the character lacked depth, and there is some weird political/moral/racial discourse happening in here. Not for me and I cannot reccomend it to my readers well.

I am so conflicted. I loved learning about the world but the main character frustrated me and it affected my ability in liking this book. It was one of my most anticipated reads so I am so sad. I also can’t tell if this is a YA or Adult or if it even matters. I feel like I want to even hesitate to call it a romance. It felt more like manipulation, like Stockholm syndrome, tinged with Ruying’s desperation to protect her family, who don’t even really play much of a role later on.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this e-arc.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods starts off on a slow note, both in terms of pacing and plot development. I'll be honest, the first part didn't grab my attention, and I found myself feeling a bit bored. But once part two kicked in, things started to pick up, and I found myself getting more into the story.

The worldbuilding is pretty solid and well thought out, but I was a bit taken aback by the portrayal of the Romans as the antagonists in this universe. It was a little jarring to see Italian heritage cast in a negative light, so I had to take a step back and not let it affect my enjoyment of the story too much.

The magic system, however, was a highlight for me—very interesting and left me wanting more. The character of Ruying is depicted as smart, independent, and fiercely loyal to her country and family. Despite these strong traits, I struggled to connect with her actions throughout the book. She should have been a hero, but she often came across as cowardly, trying to justify her actions and avoid being called out. While I understand this was due to the manipulation she faced, it made it hard for me to root for her.

Antony, on the other hand, was a character I found intriguing. His actions felt believable, and he presented himself as a broken boy just trying to do what's best for both worlds. As the story progressed, his manipulation became more apparent, and I appreciated how cleverly his character was written in the end.

The trust-building between Ruying and Antony was an interesting aspect, but I found it hard to buy into. Given Ruying's hatred for the Romans due to their colonization of her country and people, the ease with which she started to trust Antony felt off to me. It seemed like Antony was developing feelings for Ruying, which added another layer, but the emerging love story felt misplaced and forced.

As the plot unfolded, it felt like the same questions kept being asked without much progression or answers. The story felt somewhat stagnant and predictable at times. Overall, "To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods" had a lot of potential, but I found it challenging to connect with Ruying and understand her motivations throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random Housing Publishing Group - Ballantine for the e-ARC. All opinions are honest and my own.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

TW: opioid usage, torture, violence, oppression, bigotry, racism, imperialism

I’ve been sitting on this review for ages, because I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep reading or not. This book was one of my most highly anticipated releases and when I got an email from the publishers with the NetGalley link I was ecstatic. So ecstatic that I started reading on a plane ride home and quickly devoured the first 50%, however, as I kept reading I realized this book had strayed further and further from what I was anticipating. Please note, my expectations were not rigid. I was reading this book before the Zutara ship comparisons were made and after reading the author note by Chang I was pretty intrigued by the thought of a coward as a main coward. Maybe it’s my fault for having high hopes, but Ruying was a pretty challenging character for me. Is it that the coward I wanted was not packaged the way I wanted her to be? Was it that she betrayed not only herself and her values, but her people who were already being oppressed? Was it because she kept making goo-goo eyes at the ruthless prince who was primarily responsible for the brutalization, experimentation, and torture of her people?

I am able to appreciate a morally gray or unlikeable character, even if I do not necessarily like them, if their characterization adds to the story. Not only was Chang’s writing choppy, overwritten, and at times juvenile, but she was not able to write this story with the skill and craft necessary for the sensitivity of the topic. Instead we were left with a muddled “hot-mess” of an enemies-to-lovers style romance where we watch Ruying essentially give in to everything, even though she knows that she shouldn’t. We will read a page(s) long monologues about Ruying’s inner turmoil and such, but she almost always works against her ambitions, best interest, and thoughts each and every time. She was childish and aggravating and this is supposed to be an adult novel.

Unfortunately, I had no desire to keep reading and after having conversations with other readers whose taste align with mine, I do not feel the need to. Will I pick up the sequel? That is highly unlikely, and in order for me to do so the sequel has got to be glowing and the author would need to clean up the mess she made in book one. I know that Chang wanted to honor her people and bring light to a fictionalized version of history, but this book felt like a disconnect between intent and execution.

I was really looking forward to reading this book but it unfortunately ended up being a bit of a let down. I feel like the protagonist spent the majority of the story being gaslit and then trying to convince the reader that what she was doing would actually help her people. It was hard to root for her, and while I can often get behind complicated characters, it was harder because so many people were telling her what she was doing was wrong and yet she continued to do it. It left me feeling frustrated by the end and I don't know if I would pick up the next book in the series even thought it seems like she might be trying to redeem herself.

4.5 stars! I absolutely love this one. I can’t wait to see where the story goes next. I also appreciate that this one ended at a good spot where a lot has just happened, but it also wasn’t a complete cliffhanger. The world building in this story was super unique. The legends that were interwoven were super cool, and I thought the descriptions of the magic, and the science were well done. The characters created in this story were very complex, and I appreciated that there were layers to the two main characters that left you pondering who they were at their core. I definitely recommend this one and I can’t wait for book two!

3.5 stars ☆
tropes: fantasy enemies to lovers 🪐
ೀ⋆｡「🌷」» you shouldn’t ask the girl blessed by death whom she’ll die for.
you should ask her whom she’ll kill for. ೀ⋆｡「🌷」«


molly x. chang’s debut novel to gaze upon wicked gods is out today!!! i honestly have never been more excited to read a book and i hope i can relay some of that excitement here. This book absolutely delivered a plethora of emotions and i need to talk about them like right now so grab your favorite bubble tea and let’s chat about the beautifully complex book that is to gaze upon wicked gods.

⤿ i. the plot ᡣ𐭩 the book follows ruying, a girl blessed by death with the ability to pull a life right into her hands, who’s doing everything she can in order to survive and protect her family with her country invaded by foreign invaders. when her gift is discovered by an enemy prince, he offers her an unfeasible deal that he swears is for the good of both their words: work for him and become his private assassin in order to eliminate those who are in his way and never have to worry about her family starving or being harmed every again. but to agree to his deal would mean ruying would be turning on her own people and giving into her gift which will ultimately cost her years of her own life. will she be able to trust this prince by using her powers for his claims of the greater good? or will ruying end up betraying her own nation in order to protect those she loves most?

⤿ ii. the world ᡣ𐭩 first of all the world building: it’s incredible albeit a little bit confusing. the world is purely magical rich, enriched with beautiful folktales that i could not help but vividly imagine everything ruying ended up describing the beautiful but broken world that she lived in. the stories were so cool and i am an absolute sucker for fairytales so that in itself was a huge bonus because the fantasy was real people and i was having a grand old time. the Chinese proverbs sprinkled throughout the book was truly an astute test to my deteriorating chinese skills but honestly made me appreciate them even if they sounded like they came out from a fortune cookie. while the overall world was a bit complex, i think that molly x. chang handled the world building pretty solidly and i was nonetheless still very intrigued anyways.

⤿ iii. the characters ᡣ𐭩 as for ruying and antony, i have honestly never felt more conflicted. on one hand, i understand ruying’s intentions of being desperate enough to agree to work with the enemy in order to give a better life to her family but on the other head, i didn’t want her trusting antony because i’ve read way too many murder mysteries to be as trusting as she is. antony is also like the most morally gray love interest i have ever read and frankly i’m not sure what to think. i think that both he and ruying are torn by their obligations to fully trust each other and they do have their own reasons for doing what their doing but as i watched their cautious love bloom, i could only screech from the sidelines and pray that everything ends up okay. as for ruying’s sister and baihu, honestly their goals stressed me out even more because everyone’s goals are against each others and there’s conflict and betrayal and i am too stressed for this i swear im not okay anymore.

⤿ iv. my thoughts ᡣ𐭩 in the end, i was way too emotional and i think my older sister can attest to me screeching throughout the house when i got to certain parts of the book. i did really love how molly x. chang conveyed the complexity of morals during times of war and i was nothing short of heartbroken for ruying’s internal struggle in coming to terms with the actions and choices she made throughout the book. this debut novel isn’t perfect by any means but i do think that the central message and beautiful portrayal of so many emotions made this more worth it at least in my end. i do think there are some more heavy topics that people might not be okay with but i do nonetheless recommend this book if the premise sounds interesting and i hope that if you do pick it up, you’ll enjoy it as much as i did.

huge thanks to colored pages book tours, molly x. chang, and del ray books for the opportunity to participate in this book tour ♡

⋆⭒˚.⋆「☄️」» 聪明一世，糊涂一时. intelligent and cautious for a lifetime, it takes a second of stupidity to unravel it all. ⋆⭒˚.⋆「☄️」«

I wanted to love this one but there was a certain amount of character missing. It was a very interesting premise and an ok read but just underwhelming over all.

There was a lot of drama surrounding this book that I was not aware of prior to reading it. That being said, I personally think the drama is unwarranted. This book definitely touches on complex and challenging topics, especially in this day and time, but does not condone. I thought some of the writing was a little annoying because its very staccato. She talks. In short sentences. Like this. Personally, this made it a bit hard to follow for me. The MC had that trait where they are seemingly the most naive person around since they seem to constantly miss gigantic hints that certain things are not as they seem, and that also annoyed me and took me out of the story. Still, overall I think the concept is good and I will likely be reading the sequel.

Disclaimer: I'm well aware with the "drama" surrounding this book before it even debut. The negative bomb review, and personal chat getting out of hands leading to misinformation. I've stated that I'm willing to give the author benefit of the doubt and would still read the book despite what everyone saying. So, this review is objectively about the story itself.

Okay so where do we start.... There are sooo many things I wanted to talk about and they're not nice.

Let's start with the main character, Ruying. I can't stand her. She has the deathly power, PLENTY I MEAN PLENTY OF TIMES to prove herself and support her hometown cause but she didn't. When literally her sister begged her to. But the moment the colonizer (yes, it's a colonizer romance) (he didn't even try hard enough) talked to her, she used the power for the colonizer's side. In the name of survival, protection and greater good, she was soooo naive and simply stupid. It doesn't make sense and there are no chemistry between them. I don't like the symphatizer gaze throughout the book on the colonizer's side. It doesn't sound right. Like "I believe you have power better than me, you're able to protect me and my family, and you're not evil like everyone else" then surprise when the said colonizer turned out to be the same. She would always choose their romance before anything else.

Idk the ending didn't make it better.... About the freaking time. That's just logical and should've been done waaayyy before to make the story better.

And the writing is kinda repetitive and the proverbs were oftenly out of place. It could've been written better and to have the enemy using the proverbs in between sentences are also nope.

Idk if it's wise using Romans as the enemy while mendling with the historical chinese with Sino (?) idk why don't u created a new fantasy place rather than using a real life place (?)

It doesn't give a nice aftertaste.

The star is for the gorgeous cover!!!! 😍

Thank you so much for the arc in exchange for an honest review🫶🏽 hopefully the next installment could've been better written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Ray for providing me with a digital arc of this book!

I want to start this review by pointing out that I have never written a review of a book so heavily controversial before. I hear and understand each and every person this book has impacted negatively, and my sorrow is with them all. As a white woman, I have very little place in speaking on the opinions of the BIPOC people affected by this story, so if you wish to understand the impact this story has had on that community, I would recommend reading through other Goodreads comments yourself.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is a historical fantasy story set in a world where Rome has colonized China. The main character, Ruying, is a girl granted the ability to inflict death on others, with the understanding that death will take from her own life as repentance. When she finds herself on the radar of a Roman prince, Antony Augustus, Ruying is forced to become an assassin on this side and kill her own people in order to protect them against a war between magic and technology.

I found myself frustrated with this book as a whole. I think the largest criticism I have is the pacing of the story. Nothing was drawn out in the way it should have been, and it took me entirely too long to even get into this book because it was so slow in the beginning. The magic system wasn't very developed at all, despite being pivotal to the story as a whole. I found the world to be bland and underdeveloped, and the characters annoyed me most of the time. I was annoyed with how little belief Ruying had in her family and friends, the very people she had sought to protect when they told her the truth.

I completely understand where other readers are coming from when they say this is a colonizer romance, and while I agree, I don't think that that is what this story primarily was. I never believed that Ruying loved Antony. All that I saw was a traumatized girl doing whatever she could to save her family and trusting that the person who protected her family would also extend that protection to her people.

In the end, there was little I enjoyed about this book. It was in large need of more edits and sensitivity readers. As a reader, one of the things I love most about creative writing is the fact that it is a highly controversial art form, one that everyone perceives differently. While that is a beautiful thing, and everyone should have the freedom to write the things they wish to, more sensitivity should have been extended to something based on the history and suffering of real-world people. 2/5 stars.

I have been refraining to say anything about this book after reading about all the controversies surrounding it but the more I think about it, the more I agree with a lot of the things reviewers are saying. I feel like the characters weren't all that compelling and their romance more so. It was not believable at all on top of the very problematic aspect of the heroine falling for the man who was actively involved in colonizing her people and had held her family hostage to ensure her co-operation. Maybe that was on purpose and we'll see how that happens in the next installment in the series, but for now, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, really.