This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2024 based on the cover alone, and I was not disappointed! It's such a beautifully complex exploration of colonization and I found Ruying and Antony's relationship to reflect that.
Ruying is faced with a world of no "right" choices, from dealing with her sister's addiction, to working with Antony and all of the various empires' responses to Rome invading Pangu. Most of the book is dedicated to exploring this moral ambiguity, so readers who are looking for an action-packed military/assassin fantasy à la Poppy War would probably not find what they were looking for here. The prose is wonderfully lyrical, which I adored, but again not everyone's cup of tea. It's very much Ruying's stream of consciousness. I found her a fascinating, complex, even unreliable narrator as she grapples with her intense desire to do the right thing. I'm excited to see more of the worldbuilding and magic system; we get a taste of a world that feels like it exists beyond Ruying's limited experience.
The other main (and most controversial) focus of the book is the relationship between Ruying and Antony. To avoid spoiling anything, I'll just say it's not about romance, it's about the themes of colonization. There's an incredibly unbalanced power dynamic and toxicity so readers with triggers around abuse may want to tread carefully.
Overall, I found it a promising start to the trilogy, which could easily end up as one of my favorites if it delivers.

The premise of Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is very strong, and I love the idea of epic fantasy within Chinese culture. The main character has the power to bring death, and is faced with the moral dilemma of how to use that power amidst a colonial takeover of her home in China.

Unfortunately this book just did not come together for me. The writing style is very choppy, overly flowery in some places and underdeveloped in others. It also struggled with pacing, the plot doesn’t really begin moving until 1/3 of the way in. I also agree with other reviewers that a romance with a morally gray colonizer did not sit well, and overall I felt myself taken out of the story than I was able to sit in it.

Ultimately I would have liked to see more fantasy elements and tie ins with Chinese culture, as well as more development/world building of her magic. For fans of morally gray characters and strong female protagonist I think there is interesting elements, I just wish the whole thing had felt more cohesive.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine for the ARC and the opportunity for an honest review.

For me, it’s clear that this author is a fan of Mafi, their prose is very similar in its expression & repetition. I’m not a fan of the style at all.

Even as I enjoyed the addition of mandarin & the culture of the world, the prose threw me out of the story as well as the so called morally grey MC being the overbearingly judgmental type of person with only sympathy for themself in a world of chaos and brutality.

As important as her family was to the MC, seeing them on the page would have added depth to their characters and perhaps would have connected me better to this story.

As Ruying was someone who suppressed her abilities, seeing no on page training, no explanation of how or who trained her to use her powers, really threw me out of the story as it tanked the believability of the assassinations.

I think what really sunk it for me was the addition of the ‘romance’ plot. It is adult fiction, so I don’t need it to be all light and sunshine, but if the love interest is a colonizer, you’re going to have to do better than making your MC the only one of the colonized he can see any value in.

The book isn’t out until next year, so I’m desperately hoping that the very needed adjustments to this story can be made.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fantasy book with its roots in Manchuria’s colonial history, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is both poetic and wrenching. Ruying has grown up in Roman-occupied Er-Lang with her grandmother and twin sister. Although Ruying was blessed by Death and has the ability to pull the life from mortal bodies, her family lives in poverty, fearing the Roman invaders and their vastly superior technology. Although some in Er-Lang possess magical powers like Ruying, Rome’s might has overwhelmed the kingdom, and Ruying lives in a divided city.

When her gift is discovered by the Roman prince Antony, he offers her a deal: become his private assassin and eliminate his political rivals, and he will make sure her family is protected and prosperous. Against her better judgment, she agrees, particularly because Antony convinces her he wants to keep the peace between their countries — unlike his warmongering brothers and grandfather. The catch: for every soul she harvests, Ruying shaves time off her own life.

Over time, Ruying finds herself developing feelings for Antony. But can she trust him? She hears whispers that the Roman prince may not be the good guy he claims to be. Eventually, Ruying must make a choice between following her heart and protecting her people.

Over the course of the book, Ruying makes a believable transition from scared girl to empowered young woman. Her journey takes place in an imaginative world, rendered in colorful, poetic language by Molly X. Chang. Worth a read by all who love epic YA fantasy.

3.5 -

LIKES:
- Writing quality
- Magical and cultural intricacies
- Internal vs. external conflict

DISLIKES:
- Random POV change for < 2 pages

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods asks the reader the following questions: 1.) what am I willing to do for the people I love, 2.) what does this mean within the greater context of “the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many,” and 3.) if I become numb to the atrocities that I commit, is that something I can come back from?

The main character was deeply conflicted about her part in this war and the horrors she is manipulated into committing, her growing feelings for a man who is actively complicit in the subjugation of her people, and the ongoing struggle between the notion of survival at the cost of your culture and rebellion with the potential cost of unknown numbers of lives lost. I do think these subjects were well-explored and handled carefully, although I found myself consistently confused over her attraction to the man who black-mailed her into his service against her own people.

The writing quality was great, but my reading experience itself suffered a bit from the slow pace and an extremely thinly veiled metaphor that I think might have been better served by either being more firmly integrated in the fantasy world at large or, on the other side, addressed more directly. This is entirely a personal opinion and does not affect my enjoyment of the plot in any way.

All in all, a very good read in a new fantasy setting with an unflinching look at a lot of hard choices that people may make in the name of survival.

Heroes die. Cowards live.

That is the motto that Yang Ruying lives by. She lives in the aftermath of invasion: less than one generation ago, her world was colonized by foreigners from another world who came bearing weapons and drugs. The magic of her people was not enough to stop them, so even though she possesses the magic of Death, she keeps her head down. Until the day comes when she is forced to use her powers to aid one of those despised foreign princes, and she will have to decide if someday running will no longer be an option.

I was instantly curious about this book once I saw that it was about a xianxia-inspired Chinese fantasy world being colonized by a scientifically-advanced one, and doubly so when I saw that the central dynamic was going to be between Ruying and Anton. We've had our fair share of "colonizer romance" in YA fantasy over the years, but Chang does something a little different here in pairing Ruying, who's really not a hero, with Anton, who's not quite a prince on a white horse. Most stories like this make the choice easy, with a driven, righteous heroine who devotes her all to the rebellion and a sympathetic love interest, a prince who is wholly unlike the rest of his evil, colonizing family. Here, our heroine runs from that call to action, and our prince participates in his family's crimes. For a story about us vs. them, Chang seems to delight in swishing around in that gray zone, which I very much appreciate.

Ruying spends this book justifying her choices over and over again, warring with her own anger at the subjugation of her people with the fear of what will happen if she revolts. It is actually quite refreshing to watch a heroine make the "wrong" choices for once, because in this world, there are truly no right choices. Bow and pray for mercy, or rebel and risk annihilation?

My main gripes came from the abundance of telling in this story. So much is just told to us outright and repeated countless times, as though Chang was afraid that we'd forget every fifty pages that Ruying's grandmother is really smart, or that her father gambled away all their money, or that Anton is so beautiful. More showing, with characters' actions and behaviors, would've really elevated the writing and added nuance to a cast that felt a little underdeveloped. I also would've liked more magic and advanced technology to really breathe life into the world.

I definitely looking forward to the rest of the series! This one left off at a solid cliffhanger, and I'm settling in for some high angst.

First, the cover is absolutely gorgeous and the title drew me in. I was really excited to be accepted to review this ARC, but when I finally read it, i had a hard time getting through this book. A lot of info dumping that caused me to be really confused. For example, when meeting Baihu for the first time, there was some info dumping about who he was and then they were talking, and then in the middle of that, shes talking about their childhood for a bit but then they're still in a middle of a conversation? And then more about him and how he's a traitor or whatever. It just felt all over the place. I thought I could get past it until we meet Taohua and it happens again. I know there's a lot of world building to be done but I don't think this style of world building is for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

"To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods" by Molly X. Chang is an enthralling literary masterpiece that seamlessly blends mythology, mystery, and the complexities of human nature. Chang's exquisite prose effortlessly transports readers into a mesmerizing world where gods and mortals collide, weaving a tale of intrigue and power struggles. The characters are vividly portrayed, each with their own unique depth and motivations, making it impossible not to become emotionally invested in their fates. Chang's intricate storytelling keeps readers on the edge of their seats, unveiling secrets and surprises with every turn of the page. The richly detailed world-building and the author's ability to evoke a wide range of emotions make this novel a must-read for anyone seeking an immersive and thought-provoking literary experience. "To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods" is a triumph, leaving readers longing for more from this talented storyteller.

to start off, let's talk about the aspects that i liked in this book.

the author's writing style was amazing and captivating. it got me hooked into this book. There were Chinese sayings and phrases used which I really liked because I'm Chinese myself, so it felt good to be reading something "familiar".

this book got my attention because of it's cover, i briefly saw the synopsis, but i was still going into the book a little blind, ensure of what to expect except that it was young adult fantasy.

however. the romance in this book was a huge subplot which i didn't particularly enjoy, simply because of the initial relationship, where the prince oppressed Er-Lang. every time the two of them had any scenes together (which was most of the time, really), i felt a little uneasy and uncomfortable.

as for the characters, i thought that Ruying was going to be a powerful girl that has magic, who would eventually save her country. as it turns out, despite having criticised Baihu for being a traitor etc, she does the exact same thing, but worse, for her enemy. it was almost as if she didn't have a mind of her own, doing whatever Antony wanted her to do. she strongly opposed joining the rebels of the country that were fighting for their own freedom against the oppressors but was okay with killing people for a man who had promised her to bring peace to both worlds. she goes against her own beliefs and morals this entire book. at so many points of time, i wanted Ruying to just kill Antony and save her world.

in addition to that, i simply felt no connection with the characters at all, which made it difficult to read sometimes

i might still read the second book of this series when it comes out because I want to really see Ruying to grow, harness her power and become actually morally grey by becoming a hero for her country, not a toy for the oppressor.

thank you netgalley for this arc !

This Book is definitely for the fans of the Red Queen series. The inspiration of magic vs science is very unexpected and brings such a unique perspective. Which helps brings out one of the best descriptions and though process of Morally Grey character, I have ever seen.

The only major two problems, I had with this book is one being, the book “categorized” as romance. There was no romance in this book. Her romantic feelings did not make sense and were basically just her trying to figure out her moral values. My other problem was at first I didn’t realize it was part of a series, but there was so much world building and background information that it was hard to attach to characters and the plot.

I wanted to love this but I think it was a little too YA for me. Also I’m not really interested in colonizer romances :\ I do think that other people will love this book it just wasn’t for me.

Couldn’t finish this one. The prose is fairly good, honestly, but the world building was just too confusing and strange. The magic system did the grab me, and I something about Romans with guns and airplanes really made this hard to read. Definitely not for anyone with a minor in Classical Studies (aka me).

Things I loved: the worldbuilding. Though perhaps it was a bit confusing at times. I didn't even realize the Romans were meant to be from the future and Er-Lang was meant to represent ancient/medieval China until portals were mentioned somewhere halfway through the book. However, the concept has so much potential. The idea of time travelling Romans, magic vs science, and the main character a morally grey woman blessed by the god of death? One of the most intriguing synopses I've read in a while.

I was excited to read the book mainly because of the cover. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I must say, the writing quality matches exactly what I thought the book would be. The ethereal, poetic prose is the highlight of this book, and the sole reason I pushed through, which speaks to the author's talent, because Ruying never had anything of substance to say in the entire 300 pages.

What I did not like: the romance and the characters. If I had a dime for every time a fantasy book was ruined because the fmc fell in love with literal Hitler, I would have three dimes. which isn't a lot, but it's odd that there's that many that I can name off the top of my head. Is there perhaps a market for this of which I am not aware?

This would have been such a good book without the romance, and if Ruying's character actually followed through with what was promised in the introduction. Ruying is meant to be this cruel, morally gray character, but she balks at the idea of any murder her colonizer lover doesn't sanction, and even that she can't particularly do well. She spends at least a complete three chapters criticizing Baihe for being a traitor, yet falls to her knees at the sight of a white man's green eyes. She refuses to join her country's rebels because they've committed the horrible crime of actually "fighting' for their freedom—Ruying is apparently antiviolence—yet she's perfectly fine not only helping previously mentioned white man kill her people, but also helping him evade rebel capture. Multiple times throughout the book, she is given the chance to fight for the rebels, but she claims they're somehow more evil and bloodthirsty than the Romans. This isn't a case of her being misinformed; even in the beginning of the book, she can perfectly well list out every murder, kidnap, and genocide the Romans have committed. Her entire moral ideology is just based on the fact that she loves Antony. She has the chance to kill him, or at least escape, multiple times, and still she stays because she loves him. This genocidaire. She loves him. I'm sorry, I simply don't understand this plot in the least.

The ending does somewhat salvage things, perhaps. I may still read the sequel because the new Ruying seems like what I wanted from her, though I can definitely feel an Antony redemption arc on the way.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy.

Holy **** this book…it was just absolutely stunning. The prose, the characters, I just couldn’t get enough. My only complaint would be the character growth, it felt like Ruyang kept spiraling around and around the same issues, until near the end; I wish it had been more of a gradual growth in her. But still, just an absolutely phenomenal book. I can’t wait to read the next one! This is a must read!

Where do I begin? Maybe by saying that I will be preordering this book ASAP.

What I loved:
A deeply complex and believable FMC
One of the best “Villains” I’ve read in a long time
Forbidden Romance
Lush World Building

Molly X. Chang truly has a knack for character writing. Each character, even those we didn’t spend much time with on the page, felt fully realized in a way that you don’t always see. The worlds she creates are filled to the brim with history and legends, but it’s told in such a way that it never feels like an info dump.

To Gaze Upon Wicked gods follows Ruying, a young woman with the magic of Death- to kill be pulling a person’s energy from their body.

The setting is Er-Lang, a once peaceful country full of those who can use magic and those who can’t, now torn apart and reduced to misery by the Romans- a people of science who descended from the skies.

We follow Ruying as she forms an alliance with Antony- one of several Roman princes- in an effort to protect her family and protect her country from the cruelties of the Romans.

It touches on oppression and colonialism in an easy-to-digest manner, while still showing the horrors of it. It discusses greed and and pitfalls of technology and climate change all while creating a fantasy story that keeps you turning the page.

I cannot wait to buy this book, and to read the rest of the series. This is sure to be one of my all-time favorites!

As per guidelines, this review will be posted on release day.

I had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately the first chapter made it clear this book was not for me. The info dumps are heavy handed, completely forego characterization, and read like a history textbook about the world. There is no sense of character woven into the exposition, which sets expectations low for the rest of the book. The prose is nice, but as a reader, I need a strong character with in-the-moment micro-goals to filter the world in order to make it memorable. Otherwise my eyes glaze over.

Admittedly, I've been rather cutthroat about DNFs in recent years. I just don't have the time to give more of a chance to books I likely won't finish. Readers who have more patience for a "drumroll" may find enjoyment in this book.

*An advanced digital copy was received from the publisher*
I was so eager to get my hands on this book because the premise of a heroine with the power to control death, set in a Chinese-fantasy world? Who could say no?
I am happy to confirm that I was so pleased by this book. I truly enjoyed every moment and couldn't put it down! I am a huge fan of books written by Asian-American authors, and Molly X. Chang has made me a fan. Now to get into the book.

It's science fiction meets fantasy meets steampunk set in another world. The 'Romans' descended upon a new world from a rift in the sky, and introduced this world to their technologies. However, with these new foreign invaders comes a time of political instability. The main character (Ruying) juggles the responsibilities of taking care of her opioid addicted sister, and hiding her hidden blessed powers. These dangerous powers give her the ability to pull the life (also know as qi) out of mortal bodies. The only cost? Parts of her own existence. But when she catches the attention of one of the Roman princes, her life turns upside down. She is thrust into the role as personal assassin to the prince, to kill political enemies of Rome all in favor of preventing a war against her people. The Roman prince (Antony) wants to protect her people, but also secure his reign as emperor. This puts Ruying face to face with many moral challenges as his assassin. She constantly asks herself 'Can she trust this prince to have the best interest of everyone at heart? And are her assassinations really for the greater good?'

Characters:
Ruying is a very complex character who has a lot of reason behind what she does. Being able to see her moral decisions really flushes out her a lot more. It was also interesting to see her get more comfortable with her powers over time. With her getting more comfortable with her powers, she shows a lot of growth in the way she starts thinking about life and death. Reading in her point of view really allows the reader to theorize along with her.
Antony is a very mysterious character. His personality changes from page to page, but at times it feels that we might be seeing the "real" Antony. His motives aren't entirely flushed out yet, and he seems to be a dark player in this big game.
Their interactions in this book look very differently from chapter to chapter. Compared to his brother, Antony's motives are more secretive, but he still shows some kindness to Ruying when they interact.

Setting:
This story has so much history and depth to it. The author also put many Chinese proverbs into the book that relate a lot to the story. As the story is a Chinese fantasy story, the proverbs really give the words a very poetic feel to it. This story also gives an important perspective of what colonization could look like from the eyes of colonized people.

The book has a huge magic vs. science aspect that is showed frequently in different parts of the story. The people of science see themselves as far superior to the people of magic, and constantly tear down the Ruying's people because of it. But the fact that Rome is not a "fantasy" world raises the question, how did they even get to Ruying's world? I hope these questions that arose will be answered in the next book.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It has very real characters that we can connect to, and it's set in a fantastical world filled with a rich history. It even has a touch of romance in it, too. The premise initially intrigued me, and I was pleasantly surprised to read such an enthralling book from a new Asian-American author.

This book wasn't really for me, but I appreciate what it is and that others may really enjoy it! Thank you netgalley for the copy!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found it to be an entertaining and intriguing read. This story begins with the Romans having conquered the main character, Ruying’s, homeland. She becomes an assassin for her enemy in order to keep herself and her family safe. I love the premise and overall of this story, but I did find a few things that I had a hard time with. I wish that some of the relationships with Ruying were built up a little more. There was some inkling of a romance, but since I was having a harder time understanding some of the relationships, the romance fell a little flat for me. I feel that book one has built up some of those relationships, and I hope that book two develops those more. The middle was a little slow, but once you get to the end of the story you will be dying for more!

This book has arguably one of the most beautiful covers I've seen, and along with the synopsis, I really thought this was going to be one of the next big books. Unfortunately for me, the execution fell flat.

Ruying is a girl blessed with Death magic where she can rip qi from people, killing them. Her twin sister, Meiya, was blessed to do the opposite in giving life. However, we really only see Ruying in action while she struggles to keep her sister, who is struggling with an opian addiction, alive. A lot of the premise is how much Ruying is willing to sacrifice to keep her family alive, but even then I feel like there weren't a whole lot of meaningful interactions with her sister and grandmother. Enter in the opposing Roman prince Antony who holds Ruying's family against her in exchange of killing people for him, most of which occurs off page. I would have loved to seen the training that Ruying put into an attempt at becoming a cold blooded assassin when later in the story it's thrown at her that people around her knew it was her all along, aside from her retaining her humanity and being far from cold blooded. Ruying battles internally with herself each time she has to kill, all while it's *literally* slowly killing her from the inside out.

I did not understand Antony and Ruling's relationship much at all. There was obvious Stockholm syndrome going on, but other than that most of the development seemingly occurred off page. I would have loved to have seen more development in Ruying's existing and new relationships. A lot of the interactions really fell flat, and a majority of conversations felt repetitive (ex. character tells Ruying why she shouldn't trust Antony -> "but he's a good guy and plans to bring peace!" -> gives multiple reasons as to why she shouldn't trust him -> "but he's good!!1!!!!11!1!! his jade green eyes!!!!"). Antony was king of gaslight, gatekeep, and ultimately not girl bossing. He says he loves her, but then will threaten her family's lives at every chance he can get to get Ruying to do his bidding. King of toxicity. Ruying was very frustrating in these scenes. The characters that were described as being morally gray were not morally gray... they were just plain old awful.

Things that worked for me were the magic system and the overall idea of the book. I enjoy whenever there's a give and take to the magic, where every use of it comes at a cost, and in the case of those who are able to wield magic in the world of Pengu it comes at the cost of their life force. I felt like the premise of the book was extremely interesting, especially with the crossover of modern Rome to an older civilization of Er-Lang. However, the world building other than this was not explained much. It was pretty confusing at some points.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.