i heard about all the debates around this book, and at first I felt bad for the author since it's her debut book. but I couldn't disregard the colonizer romance... I'm so sorry I couldn't look at it from different angle. it felt wrong. couldn't justify it even after the fact that the author is POC and the story took the inspiration from her grandparent's experience. just no.

3.0

Overall, I enjoyed this book but I don't feel like it really compelled me to keep reading. I did feel like I had to push through it, especially at the beginning of the book.

The romance isn't... my favorite. I will say the world-building and the actual plot is unique, especially the main character's powers and the death magic. Generally, I like characters that are morally grey and I find it makes an interesting story. However, the main romantic interest, is just not up my alley. I found it strange how much the main character gravitated towards them and all of the things she excused. Because of that, I had a hard time believing in the romance and that she couldn't see past what he was doing.

Of course, the ending is what brought me back into the story and piqued my interest again. It definitely made me want to read what happens next! However, I'm undecided on getting the sequel due to my struggles throughout the beginning of this book.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book keeps you on your toes and I really enjoyed that. The world building was great and I loved the characters. The magic powers and fantasy were very easy to devour. I can't wait for the next book

I enjoyed this book overall, I love an enemies to lovers story however it lacked depth. This was pitched as a morally grey fantasy book where characters are making the best decisions they can in hard times and it fell flat for me. The fmc’s ability to overlook the mmc actions because he’s hot was worrisome and took me out of the story too many times. Th romance is barely there and overall I just wish there was more to this

3/5

As a 26-year-old fantasy lover (yay, I said it again!), I was drawn to To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by its stunning premise and promise of a dark, mythic world—and in many ways, it delivered. I've read books that I felt would be similar, at least in theme and cultural inspiration. Molly X. Chang's writing is lyrical and atmospheric, with some passages that truly shine. Note how I said some. The story has weight, and I appreciated its unflinching look at rebellion, identity, and survival in a brutal empire.

That said, I struggled to fully connect with the pacing and world-building. At times, the plot felt heavy and disjointed, and I found myself wishing for more clarity or momentum in key moments. I'm trying to piece together how to describe it - it was like a doctor giving me bad news, but they didn't explain anything surrounding that news. Does that make sense? No? The emotional depth was there, but it didn’t always land as strongly as I hoped.

Still, the main character was compelling, and I admired her resilience. While this one didn’t completely click for me, I see a lot of potential in Chang’s voice and will be curious to see what she writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

#NetGalley #ToGazeUponWickedGods

The language is beautiful, but the story falls flat.
I'm not a fan of females falling in love with their abusers. It's an ick factor I just can't ignore.
It's a trope that I feel just needs to go away and die.

I did not love this as much as I want to. I recommend it for those who love YA but I think it would have enjoyed it with more of the maturity of adult fantasy.

While the premise of this was fantastic and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it I've had to set it down multiple times and come back to it. It's just so difficult going through the story and having the fmc end up with the mmc who is the colonizer here. It just sits with me wrong. He literally tortures her. This is not an enemies to lovers that it's made out to be. This is romanticizing an oppresser/oppressed relationship.

I started this one a while back and set it down to pick up when the mood struck me. Somehow I never picked it back up again I might in the future, but for now it’s a DNF.

DNF at 10% due to other feedback and eviews. I don't read oppressor/oppressed romances.

Thanks to netgalley for the early arc.

I struggled getting into this book and continuing it. The characters and plot were just not for me. I DNFd at 50%. I liked the premise, but Ruying was hard to connect with and I didn't like a lot of choices she made and the romance was a bit too slow burn for me. The cover is gorgeous though!

Thank you so much Del Rey, Molly X. Chang, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the book was intriguing and definitely had a lot of potential. But with my main issue with the book is how much torture the male lead put the female lead through, it was hard to be rooting for them as an enemies to lovers couple. I love complex-grey villains, but this isn’t dark romance nor adult fantasy, but a young adult fantasy book instead. However, I do understand the female lead had to make a lot of quick and hard decisions, so I try to give her a break. 3/5 stars. I would recommend this book to others because the themes and imagery are important for readers to be exposed to.

I think that the concept was really interesting and has a lot of potential. I unfortunately don't think that the execution lived up to the hype for this particular book, which may be because this is a debut novel. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to connect with or even like any of the characters, with the developing romance between the two main characters difficult to appreciate. I had to stop reading at about the 70% mark, because I just couldn't get through the rest of the plot given the lack of connection to the characters. I might try to re-read this one later because I really did have high hopes given the pre-publication hype, but for now it's a DNF.

I personally did not enjoy the content of this book. I was never able to pick this book back up again and finish it.

along with reading too YA, i have a struggle with like master/slave dynamics so this just wasn't a fit for me as a reader.

Thank you so so much to Netgalley and Del Ray for allowing me to read the ARC of To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods.

What an interesting read. This story has a very interesting magic system, and I thought the premise for the "occupation"(invasion) was an interesting note since *gestures broadly outside window*, and I really felt for Ruying, just trying to take care of her family and survive. I understand everyone's concerns on the romantic part and it being her oppressor, I'm not gonna lie, he had me in the first 3 parts and then I started to have my doubts.

I really loved all the Chinese references, and I did immersive read with the audiobook, I really appreciated hearing a lot of these new words in a new language spoken. I hope we have more of this in the next book too.

I will say this book left me wanting but not of the next part as much as just more of what we did get. I wish the author had given us more stories about the god. I loved hearing about Nüwa and how she created the mortals and Xianlings but I wish we had a story about Death or even more about the Dragons. I would have loved a little more backstory on our main character, or just a little more development. Some parts for repetitive and some parts could have used an additional story build or explanation.

Overall, I was hooked in, I had to know how it ended and I'll likely pick up the next one when it comes out this September.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.75
Tropes
• Hidden Magic
• Rebellion/Political Intrigue
• Enemies to Lovers

First things first, can we talk about this cover? Literally ran (digitally sprinted, thanks NetGalley 🙌🏼) toward this gorgeous beauty with all the excitement of a girl who lives and dies by slow-burn romance.

And y’all already know: slow burn is my catnip. Seriously, give me characters who spend forever glancing longingly across rooms, avoiding their feelings, accidentally brushing hands, and dramatically declaring their annoyance for each other while obviously falling madly in love—I'm so here for it. Anthony and Ruying delivered all of that and more. Their tension was so thick you could practically slice it, put it on toast, and serve it for breakfast. The emotional build-up alone had me flipping pages faster than when I'm trying to reread all my notes before an exam. bout And friends, there were definitely moments of pearl-clutching tension, lingering glances, and the sort of frustratingly perfect hesitation that made me scream "Just kiss already!" more than once. No regrets.

Now, the world-building? Wildly ambitious. Picture ancient Rome somehow surviving into an alternate history where colonial empires are flying around in helicopters, casually dropping magic spells, and you’ve got the vibe. Sure, did I occasionally feel like I missed orientation day for this magical empire? Maybe. But honestly, points for audacity and creativity. Caesar with futuristic tech? Why not? Historical mashups keep life interesting. I really think this is so creative and UNIQUE, such a breath of fresh air. Just for that, I would recommend it. I adored that.

Admittedly, there were points where the pacing got a bit repetitive, and I had moments of "Wait, did I just read this?" But every time I started to drift, along came another juicy scene of Anthony and Ruying dancing around their feelings—those delicious, simmering, emotionally constipated feelings—and my slow-burn-loving heart was fully back in the game.

Also, shoutout to those emotionally charged scenes exploring manipulation and tough moral choices—they landed hard, folks. Fantasy with layers? Yes, please! Even if some magical explanations took their sweet time arriving, the drama more than made up for it. Despite these elements, I commend the author for the sheer originality and daring of her vision. Her prose, while occasionally meandering, often shone brightly, reflecting a genuine creative flair. I suspect my initial reading might have been ill-timed or influenced by my mood, for beneath the surface lies considerable potential.

Bottom line: maybe I wasn’t totally vibing with every twist at first (mood-reading is real, friends!), but I suspect this could be a slow-burn love affair between me and this book, too. It's the kind of story I can already feel growing on me with every passing minute. The foundation's there, the slow burn is exquisite, and my heart is already whispering sweet nothings about second chances. Who am I to resist?

Massive thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Del Rey for gifting me this ARC—I’m genuinely excited to revisit this lush, complicate

Love the cover, love the theme, this was an enjoyable asian inspired fantasy read! Easy read and the plot is definitely interesting in the sense the enemies to lovers and the slow burnnnnnnnnnn got me hooked

There are two worlds. One with magic, the other with science.
Pangu is a paradise where magic and humanity lives in harmony.
Rome is a world of another realm where science rules.
There was peace until there wasn’t.

This follows Ruying, a girl who is just trying to protect her sister and grandmother. No. Matter. What. No matter the consequences, no matter if it makes her a coward, she would do anything for them, even if it means helping the enemy, Antony Augustus, one of the Roman Princes.

This book did not go the way I was expecting. This book was rather dark, darker than I expected, and sad.

Ruying just wants to protect her sister, and I understand having a younger sister myself, I would do anything…and this story was a struggle to know whose side to be one.

No one was inherently good in this book. Everyone in this book has severe flaws and are very morally grey. Here I was thinking “okay Ruying is good”, or “Antony isn’t so bad, there’s more to him than meets the eye”, but no, neither of them or even The Phantom, were “good”. Everyone had their agenda and wanted something whether that was war and bloodshed, or take what doesn’t belong to them, or gain something for a greater good, but doing horrible things along the way.

So, I decided I was just along for the ride and would see what would happen. I didn’t get as emotionally as attached as I usually get because just from the start, Antony was sus, he has good intentions, but still, not a good guy, like everyone else 😆 and it’s like who should Ruying be with or believe? Whose side should she be on when both sides had ideas or wants that were so bad in my opinion that it’s like no wonder she struggled. The choice was to protect her sister, and that’s what she did.

I’m curious to know how or if there will be a romance. I mean I think there will be, eventually, but there will need to be some major redemption arcs for me to believe it. For everyone 😆

So, yah, this was a very well written book. Despite how horrible everyone is, and how messed up the world is, it was a very good book. I did like the characters, I couldn’t help but like them! Even the really bad ones! The way it’s written, it manipulates you into wanting to believe everyone and want to be on their side. It was very well done. It captured my attention and never let it go. I also really loved the idea of the world mixing science and magic. Who will be superior in the end? Who do we want superior or to win in the end?

I’m glad I finally read it. I’ve been wanting to read it for awhile and now I really want the next book to see how it continues.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNF’ed at about 50%. I could not get past that the love interest of the main character was the colonizer. I also could not get past the writing style of the author. They skipped around too many important scenes and just summarized what happened instead. Overall, this was a poor read and am disappointed in how it turned out.