Thank you to netgalley for the ARC!
Starting off with what I liked: I felt the characters were well developed and defined and the author did a good job giving each character a different personality. The prose was also enjoyable and it definitely feels polished.
That being said I have a lot of mixed feelings about the book and reading other reviews seem to agree.
I am not going to knock the romance because the sequel will likely address issues I have so I am not going to focus on it too much, but I do understand why people are not a fan of the romance in the book.
One of my frustrations was the worldbuilding, The main character's country's technology seemed to be in the 1800s, but Rome had electricity and machine guns so I assumed they were more in the 1900s with their tech, but they also have a portal which made their technological development confusing. Each time Rome had a piece of technology that fell outside of the time period it made the world harder to imagine. Its easy to fill out the world when you have sense of the era, but the sci-fi aspects threw a wrench in that.
The book also felt like it skipped important parts of the story. We get a 6 month time skip where we just lose so much relationship development that happens between the MC and love interest that the jump from reluctant allies to being comfortable with each other was too drastic, we had just met the love interest and not seeing some of the most important parts of characters changing how they view each other made their relationship development feel unearned.
Overall I will still read the sequel because I hope it addresses some of the concerns people have and the book was still enjoyable.

i'm sad this didn't completely work for me, especially because it was hard to visualize the characters and settings and picture them in my head. i feel like this had the potential but didn't deliver for me. the romance made me super uncomfortable for some reason it was just so weird. all in all, underwhelming.

NGL. I felt done with this book as soon as it began and fantasy China was being called Pangu (the name of a Chinese god), and fantasy Europe (who are apparently committing Japan’s war crimes??) was being called Rome.

I felt even more done when I realised that this book, despite the author claiming the book was inspired by the invasion of Manchuria and Manchurian folklore, clearly wasn’t. Instead choosing to homogenize an incredibly culturally diverse and distinct region into a Han Chinese inspired culture. As the child of Korean and Teochew people, I can’t help but feel a little offended at the authors choice to use what is ostensibly Southern Han Chinese folk religion as her mythological basis.

Perhaps worse to this are the characters. Because everyone in this book except for one-schtick side characters, have such disjointed characterisation that means you never understand why they’re doing what they’re doing. Worse yet the main character, Yang Ruying, spends so much time complaining about her faults. There are 5 separate nigh-identical monologues in the first 20% of a book about how she’s hates herself for being a coward for the sake of her survival. And yes, she does specifically say coward and survival every time.

This is to speak nothing of the central romance of the story, which appears out of nowhere half way through the book after a timeskip. We’re given no reason to feel for this relationship. Especially because a few chapters earlier, he spouts off the most inane eugenics BS, saying:
<blockquote> “You almost can’t blame my people for what we’re doing,” Antony continued. “Fighting machine guns with bows and arrows? Isn’t it hilarious, how unbalanced our positions are? Nature has a preferred order, you know. Evolution. If you don’t evolve and keep your place in the food chain, then yu get eliminated.”</blockquote>
And now we’re to believe she loves him? Make it make sense! This is only made worse by Ruying’s childhood friends, either of whom would’ve made far more compelling LI’s.

While the book had it’s enjoyable parts, and I hope Molly X Chang finds much success in the future. I can’t help but be incredibly disappointed by a book that I was expecting to be more than it is. And this wasn’t that.

★ ★ ★ ★ • 4

“No girl was ever born meek and afraid, as men claimed. Father told me to scream in the face of danger and seek the kindness of a good man for protection. I didn’t want to scream. I wanted to look danger in the eyes and make it tremble. Courage in boys was bravery. Courage in girls was foolishness. From this day forward, I wished to be foolish.”

This book deserves more hype, combining lush world building with very real bits of Chinese history and culture. At times, I did have trouble visualizing the setting/cityscape with the clash of past, present, and imagined future technology… Which is ultimately why I gave this book a four star rating as opposed to a five. It was somewhat difficult to reconcile bow and arrows with helicopters.

Regardless, I very much liked Ruying as a character and the dynamic between her and Antony towards the end. The romance sort of snuck up on me, but lines like “要死一起死” had me swooning. I’m really interested to see how their relationship progresses in the sequel with the cliffhanger, and whether their values or their relationship will win-out.

There are Chinese idioms used in the book several times, but even if you don’t have any familiarity with the language they really enhanced the story overall.

The magic system in the book is best categorized as something resembling Wuxia with a qi based martial arts system which may be something new to some readers, definitely recommend giving “Wuxia” and “Xianxia” a quick google search before reading for better comprehension.

Thanks so much to the publisher and author for providing an ARC for review! Really thankful I had the opportunity to read this.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods had so much potential, which is unfortunately undermined by an uncomfortable romance and a heroine who thinks she's way more badass than her actions prove.
Ruying has the power of draining others' qi, or life force, a power that takes its toll on her and she keeps hidden. Her world, Pangu, is ruled by the Romans, who have colonized and brutalized the land and its people. Ruying's power is exposed to one of the Roman princes, and he trades her abilities to kill his enemies for the safety of her family.
Now, why the Romans are called as such, I don't understand, because Pangu is a made up name so why couldn't the colonizers have a made up name for their world. Also, this isn't the Roman empire, they have bombs and weaponry from centuries later.
The book is told from Ruying's pov, and it is endless. Every minutiae must be thoroughly pondered upon, examined, and detailed. More worrisome is the colonizer/Stockholm syndrome relationship between her and prince Antony, whose eye color you are constantly reminded of.
The story would have benefited from more time spent outside Ruying's head. She's an unreliable narrator because the way she sees herself as ruthless and hardcore, is not the way she acts.
The potential is there for a truly epic fantasy but I didn't find it in this installment.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. The cover is gorgeous and Chang's writing is lush. The often-forgotten history that inspired this story is also something I'm so glad to see brought to light. But the romance ... not my thing. I'm tired of captive/captor love. I doubt it will be endgame, but I'm just not keen on seeing it at all.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I really hate to give this feedback, because I was very much looking forward to this book.

I had to DNF by 30%, and I swear half of that was just infodumping. This needed a lot more polish, and a lot more effort on the part of the editor. Disappointing.

"To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods" by Molly X Chang offers an intriguing premise and moments of vivid imagery that captivate the reader. The author's creativity is evident in the world-building, but the pacing occasionally falters, leaving some parts feeling rushed while others drag on. The characters are diverse, yet some lack the depth needed to fully connect with the audience. Despite these drawbacks, the novel manages to deliver an entertaining experience with a unique narrative flair.

[DNF AT 72%]

Thank you NetGalley and RandomHouse Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for a review.

This turned out to be a huge disappointment as I couldn't complete the book. The sparse worldbuilding made it challenging to grasp the world, leading to confusion. Prior to publication, revisions are essential, with a greater focus needed on worldbuilding and less on infodumping. However, the primary reason I chose not to finish the book was the problematic theme of the protagonist developing feelings for her colonizer,

Really interesting and unique. I enjoyed the political aspect of the book a lot. It wasn't perfect but certainly enjoyably and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys pollical fantasy.

Book: To Gaze Upon the Wicked Gods
Author: Molly X. Chang
Rating: 3 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Del Rey, for providing me with an ARC. This is a case where this is not a bad book. I know that I gave it a three-star rating, but I do actually want to read the next book. The way it ended is the perfect set up for what is to come next.

In this one, we follow Ruying who lives in a world that has been taken over by the Romans. Her people may have magic, but they were not match for the technological advancements of the Romans. Now, she and her people are opposed and their world is not their own. Not only that, but there is a drug that is addicting people at a rather alarming rate and costing them their lives. Ruying doesn’t know where to turn. Then, she comes across Antony, who is a prince of Rome. He isn’t like the others though. He seems to actually want to help Ruying and her world. The only thins is that he needs her gift. For you see, Ruying can cause Death to anyone. Antony wants this gift to end his enemies. However, the deeper she gets in with him, the more conflicted she seems. He can offer the world to her, but it is going to cost her. Those closest to her warn her of the dangers, but she can’t see it.

I love the take on this book. We have a world that was one free, but has been taken over by a powerful enemy. Its people have been forced to live with this foe and the affects that come along it. They feel like they can’t do anything to get themselves out of their situation. Even though these people have magic, they are still no match for the technologies of the Romans. This might take over them without them having a big chance. I don’t know why, but I love this in book. I think it is an interesting take on colonialization. I mean, we can study it in history, but I think doing it in books brings the affect of to life.

I thought the plot was very interesting. I will say that I felt the author had too much plot for the length of the book. There were things that were well done, but, yet, it felt like it was rushed in other parts. I would have liked to see other things explored a little bit more. I think had those certain things been explored, it would have added so much more of a punch. I think this would have worked better if it had been divided up into two books. I think it would have allowed things to develop a little bit more.

I found Ruying and Antony’s relationship to very interesting to read about. I love how it seemed like one that was a relationship that they were both going to benefit from. However, the deeper we got into the book, the more we get to see how complex it actually is. It’s a game of trying to figure out juts what this relationship is going to be. Again, I would have liked to have more detail to it than what we got. It was missing something to really drive it home.

I did enjoy this one and I do want to read the next book. I just think it needed a little bit something more to drive it home.

This book comes out on April 16, 2024.

A beautifully written novel that takes readers on a ride through the world of life and death. Ruying has the power of death, but she doesn’t like her gift and despises having to use it. But, when her gift is discovered by the enemies, Ruying finds herself using her power for more than she bargained for.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang is a fantasy that drew me in with fantastic cover art and kept me reading with an intriguing plot.

What I loved
-Eastern inspired fantasy setting
-High stakes
-Great pacing
-Death related magic is one of my fav fantasy magics
What didn't work as well for me
-Dialogue and character interactions sometimes read much younger than seemed intended
-The romance was somewhat uncomfortable
Who I would recommend this title for
Readers looking for Eastern inspired fantasy and myths tackling themes of self discovery and colonization have come to the right place.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this DRC.
A technologically advanced ancient Rome invades Pengu, a magic wielding land, through a rip in space time? Ruying is the young woman of the conquered world, who had the gift of Death in her veins. Antony is the Emperor’s grandson who convinces her to use her gift to murder those who stands in the way of peace. In order to keep her grandmother and twin sister safe, she agrees, and her emotions become complicated. Is she keeping her country safe, is she falling for him, can she trust him?

While well written and interesting, I kept feeling bogged down. I think there was too much politics and discussion of the ecological destruction of Rome to keep my interest.

#ToGazeUponWickedGods #NetGalley

Thank you so much Random House Publishing- Ballantine, Molly X Chang, and NetGalley for the eARC! All thoughts and reviews are my own!
Posted to: NetGalley, Goodreads, and The StoryGraph
Posted on: 8 December 2023

3.6 (rounded up to 4) out of 5 stars.

I’m trying to beat the colonizer romance allegations away with a stick, but I’m not educated enough to even begin defending why I think it’s not one, so bear with me, readers, because this is gonna be A Ride as I get my thoughts together.

Okay so, I like the premise of this. I throughly enjoyed the idea that Chang has here. I just feel like it was lacking in the sense that… okay yeah, it’s a YA book but I almost wish it wasn’t so more topics would be hit further in depth than the rating would (I assume) allow. I’ll probably end up flagging this as a spoiler-review because there’s no way I can avoid mentioning a few key details throughout it.
But TL;DR: Ruying isn’t a full apologist. There’s a lot of potential to be had with the story and the characters, but it also feels like it’s lacking in some places. (I go more in depth below!).

[SOME SPOILERS BELOW, SPOILER ENDING MARKED]
When people say that death happens off-page more than on- yeah. It does. Well, there’s some of Ruying’s abilities being displayed at first (to show how her magic works), but once we as the readers have an established sense of the ‘how’, it does a bit of a time-skip. We get Death’s brief point of view (which I kind of almost want to see more of but I digress) and then it continues on with the story where we see a few more deaths done by Ruying. I think that readers are meant to feel the weight of these deaths by the constant mention of Ruying doing it for the Roman side rather than fighting for and with her own people. We are shown her guilt for her work, the constant back and forth between ‘is this right?’ and ‘is this wrong?’
It’s kind of hard to feel for Ruying (and many characters in that matter), in my opinion, because I couldn’t connect to her. I feel that we could have learned more about her personality and her motives besides being family-driven. Chang writes in instances that make Ruying care for her sister and her grandmother, but I think I wanted to feel more? This isn’t to say that Ruying is a bad character, but rather, I just would’ve liked to see more of her. There was almost a bit more tell not show. I understand that YA novels do have length limits and that this is also a series (so more may be uncovered later), but if it was longer, I think it could have been fleshed out more to include some more scenes of her past that explain who she is now with the knowledge she has now. We’re told that she can sneak around easily and knows how to fight some because her grandmother was the actual brains behind her grandfather’s title so she showed her grandchildren these skills to help them. I would’ve loved to be shown some of this though, or add some flourish or something to it? Just- it felt like something was missing throughout. The characters (not just Ruying!!) felt a little flat to me. I hated the villains for the sake of what we are told they did, but I wish there was more to their character like- show me how vile Valentin is. Show me why the Ghosts and the Phantom are on thin ice. Show me why Baihu is doing what he is. Show me more of this revolution and the tension. That’s one of the issues with first person because it limits the readers to what this character sees and feels, and I think that (for me at least) I would’ve loved to see more of the surroundings and the people interacting with Ruying, and how they come into play more than just the surface level understanding we get. Her family (the whole reason she’s roped herself into this mess) also eventually fades off into the background some and I would’ve loved to see more of them (or some split POV with Meiya because I feel like she’s going to be a larger piece on the board soon).

And now, on to the romance side of things. The reason I say this isn’t inherently a colonizer romance is because Ruying doesn’t excuse what Antony does. She knows that he is bad and is doing so much bad, but she can’t help how she feels when he treats her nicely. She’s captivated by this different, poor boy side of him that relates so much to her. She feels that he’s different than his family. She never fully excuses his actions and even tries to nip these feelings in the bud because she understands that he still had a hand in killing her people and making a wreck of her home and her world. I feel like that’s what separates this from an actual colonizer romance because Ruying doesn’t make excuses nor apologizes (she does claim that Antony is helping both sides though, but this is also a thought that she half-believes when put up against the people she’s told to kill for him). I think it really depends on how one defines a ‘colonizer romance’. I don’t really vibe with the romance plot in here either though, because she is still falling for the enemy and not in the sense that the enemy is just a morally grey villain- he’s literally the adopted son of the Roman leaders who are wanting to take Jing-City for their own survival (all explained in more detail literally the last few chapters of the book). I didn’t really like the way their romance tried to play out, but I can also see why it was playing out because Ruying is singled out, alone in this cold side of the world where she doesn’t fit in and suddenly somebody is unafraid of her magic and her past and finds her beautiful. I just didn’t vibe with the idea of who this somebody was, ya know?
[SPOILERS END]

I really thought this book would be almost like Song of Silver, Flame Like Night (and spoilers here for that book real quick) but if after Lan was captured by the Elantians, she didn’t escape and was forced to help them find the demons instead. It had similar premises with the colonizers raiding lands not their own, all for more and more power. I even liked the magic system Chang has established in To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods. It’s explained more how it works also at the end of the book, but it’s a solid system that really makes me want to see more.
Do I think I’ll stick around for the rest of the series? I think so. The way this one ended did make me want to see more of it, but it definitely hasn’t been my favorite read. It’s right up my alley in themes that I like, all the way down to this young, hungry, and desperate girl willing to do anything for her family to survive. There’s just some places that it lacks in and places that it could be better played out in.

If you stuck around to the end of this review, I commend you! I literally did not know how to get my thoughts together to lead this nor how to end this beyond saying that it’s a pretty good read! It does read like a YA though (which I don’t know why I was expecting a more adult book when I knew it was YA????). I feel like I’ve also rated it higher than it’s initial 3 star I was planning because it has a lot of potential! It has redemption in the next book, and it just has the type of character I want to see all the way through to the end. Ruying is desperate for the chance to keep her family safe. She’s entirely naive to the way the world is and relying on just what she knows and what she wants to believe to be true. She has a lot of room for some growth and change, and I think I really do want to see that happen enough to continue with the series.
There’s a chance I’ll come back and edit this review after sitting on my thoughts more, but as of now, I’ll leave it at it's initially earned 3.6 (4) stars.

4.5 stars! with brilliant action, a descriptive world, and an easy to root for main character + a classic YA love interest, this crossover book is definitely worth a read!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey and NetGalley for an eARC of To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods!

I wanted to love this story. I love the premise, the science fiction meets fantasy, science versus magic with a morally grey female lead. However, it was really hard reading the romance aspect and, ultimately, I could not get past the uncomfortable feeling it gave me.

This book honestly did not live up to my expectations. The cover is beautiful which drew me in. I believe that this was marketed as an adult fantasy novel but this definitely feels like a YA book. I am not too sure if I will continue to read the next book in the series or not. It was such a struggle to get through... 

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC!

One young woman with the ability to wield Death has been reluctant to use it but will be called upon to do so as she becomes entangled in battle for the well-being of her country in To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang.
Pangu is a world that used to have much more magic but has since been conquered by Romans with their science and technology. Gifted by Death with an ability to pull life from bodies, Ruying has seen this ability as a curse and lives with fear of both what she’s capable of and the foreign invaders as she tries to keep her family safe. When she’s captured by an enemy prince, Antony, Ruying is presented with an offer that would keep her family safe so long as she acts as his assassin, which he claims would help prevent larger scale brutalization and outright war. Believing that she’s serving the interests of the greater good and believing that Antony’s plans and attentions are genuine, Ruying’s decision sets her on a path filled with strategic deaths, but when confronted with the reality of what’s been going on behind closed doors Ruying rethinks everything she thinks she knows as she embraces her next steps to save her nation and people.
The premise of two different worlds colliding, one of tradition and magic and another with science and technological experimentation and advancements, was a promising and interesting one and there were mentions of that clash throughout the novel that reflects on colonial subjugation but not many depictions of the science-magic clash were detailed, leaving unanswered questions about the portal linking their worlds and a more fleshed out background for how and why the Romans made their way to Pangu beyond what Antony relayed. While the characters have aspects of their past obscured to heighten tension and drive the interaction dynamics with one another, the characters have a lack of depth to them beyond cliches and it was an odd choice to include just one brief chapter from Antony’s perspective while the rest is from Ruying’s as it unbalances an already odd pacing. With ample deception from nearly every character presented intrigue is developed that drives the story forward and generates interest to learn how the story will progress in future installments, especially as it sets the scene for the sequel by ending on a note of suspense to foster an eagerness for the story to continue.
Overall, I’d give it a 3 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.