DNF @ 44%

This book was supposed to be my favorite of the year. I was so excited to request it and to see how awesome it would be. Boy, was I disappointed.

The most disappointing aspect of this book was how it was marketed. It’s marketed as an enemies to lovers, which it really is, but it also romanticizes colonization and has the main character fall in love with her oppressor. These aren’t two worlds at an equal war, there is a huge disadvantage between them and the oppressor is terrorizing just like any colonizer would. Having the main character fall in love with not only her oppressor that forces her to kill people for him but for him to be active in the murder of her people is disgusting.

Not only was the romance a true bother for me, but the worlds themselves. Our main character lives in a world with magic and the oppressors come from another world that is basically our world but not. There isn’t a good explanation as to why there is the inter-dimensional gate or why the main character’s world has magic but is incapable of using it against Rome. Judging by the other reviews I’ve read from this book, the issue doesn’t get resolved.

For being a debut novel, the writing isn’t horrible. I have hope that Chang will improve and I hope to enjoy something from her in the future. However, this book was just not for me.

I overall enjoyed this book, it’s adventurous with a reluctant heroine and an uncomplicated magic system. Usually the introduction of the love interest makes the story falter for me but this time, I was pretty invested. Worldbuilding was fairly solid but establishing a time period/era felt incomplete. Being that it's a start to a new series, hopefully this gets rectified.
From the hip, rating on vibes and entertainment: 4.5/5

Solid debut and start to the series, but I feel too old for this book, whether it's me or the writing/content, I am not sure. Either way, I wish much success to this series and tysm for the ARC.

I am unsure how I feel about To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods. While the concept was interesting it was a drag to read. It was not terrible by any means, just I was not able to follow as smoothly as I wanted. There was more telling than showing and in terms of worldbuilding I was told how it would look and not shown. It wasn't until almost the end when all the action happened. I would have like to see it spread throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey, and Molly X. Chang for the advanced digital copy of To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods.

Plot Summary: Ruying, blessed by Death, is able to pull the life out of others. She lives in Pangu, a separate world full of magic and blessings from the gods. The Romans came from a different world, took over her country Er-Lang, and want to continue to dominate Pangu. Ruying wants to keep her family safe at all costs. When a Roman prince learns of her powers, she must decide whose side she will be on.

Overall, I found this story fairly compelling, but there were some qualms. I found some of the world building lackluster, and I am still a little confused about The Veil and how everything works with “Science”.
I also really struggled with some of the romance, because it felt incredibly icky at times and cringey at times.

I did really like the ending of the novel, and now can see where some of the things I disliked fall into place with the potential plot of the next book. I plan to continue the story to see what happens next!

This story is so much history of warring groups fighting with science versus magic. Ruying has the power of death and can take your life just by looking at you, and both sides want to have that kind of power. Ruying is torn between which side she should be on and there may or may not be love interests on either side? ;) It gives me Shatter Me vibes and I loved Shatter Me. I felt as though there was a lot of potential in this story, and I absolutely loved the Chinese interspersed throughout which really pointed to the importance of culture in life and war. I understand this to be a trilogy and I will for sure read book 2. For the not so positives, I felt as though the dialogue between characters was extremely long and detailed at times and struggled to follow at times because of that. It was also a very slow start and I didn’t feel like it started picking up until about 70% mark. I am going to assume this means that book 2 will start with a bang!

Wow! This book was incredible! Hooked me from the first page and that ending has me begging for the next book!

The story follows Ruying, a girl gifted with the power of Death, as she tries to survive in Roman occupied Er-Lang. Ruying just wants to keep her head down and protect those she loves, but when she steals from the wrong person everything gets turned upside down. Now she has to choose what side will she fight for: the Romans, Er-Lang, or a rebel group led by the Phantom? Ruying also has to reconcile with some tough questions like, how much evil can be justified in the name of the greater good? Is the safety of those we love worth betraying our country and our people? As well as tackling difficult topics like being a powerful woman in a patriarchal society, colonialism, drug addiction, and abuse.

If you like political intrigue, no spice slow burn romance (that will have gushing over holding hands!), TRUE enemies to lovers, morally grey main characters (both FMC and MMC), magic, and lore, I HIGHLY recommend this book! Molly X. Chang's writing style is so poetic, immersive, and beautiful it reminded me of Laini Taylor. This book was one of my favorite books I have read recently and I cannot wait for the next book!!

My only criticisms of this book: the invading country being called the Romans, I understand the imagery the author was going for but somehow Romans coming from the sky invading a fantasy world took me out of it initially. My only other complaint is that the entire book is written in the first person narrative except for the Antony chapter which seemed odd and a bit jarring. Otherwise absolutely adored this book!!

5 ⭐️
0 🌶️
2 🤭 (infrequent cussing not including the F word)
⚠️: violence, abuse, drug addiction, torture, death

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine/Del Rey, and Molly X. Chang for the ARC! 💕

I’m going to be upfront about a few things:

First, had I known this was going to be a series I wouldn’t have requested it. I wasn’t looking to get invested in a new series and there was no indication this was book one in a series (or duology? IDK) when I requested it. Point of fact: There’s still no indication on NetGalley, Amazon, BookBub, or Goodreads. So if you were interested in this book because you thought it was a standalone (like I did), it’s not (or, if it is, I’m very confused).

Second: I can’t pinpoint exactly why I liked this book so much…but I did. I liked it a lot.

Since the plot of this book is complex and it’s not a standalone as I initially thought, this review is going to be on the shorter side. This also has to do with the fact (see above) that I can’t really hone in on why I liked it so much, so all I can do is tell you I was resonating with this book on a whole frequency that let most of the flaws I saw in it slide on by with little notice until I finished and sat with it for a minute (most of this “minute” was largely spent being very confused about how I didn’t know this wasn’t a standalone).

The blurb for this book waxes eloquent about the romantasy element of this book, but if you’re looking for a romantasy-heavy book this isn’t it. The romantasy element really only comes into play in the third act and it’s all very chaste and proper (partially due to the FMC’s beliefs and partially due to constant changes in circumstances). What’s more important in this book is the complex feelings and responsibilities regarding family, very quick and shuffling political intrigues, the evils of colonization, and complex moral dilemmas.

So yes, it has its issues, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless. If you’re looking to get into a new series I highly recommend it.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Book Series/Fantasy/Romantasy/Fantasy Series/Forbidden Romance

Molly X. Chang’s debut novel is a captivating, beautifully woven tale of colonialism, strong roots of culture, resistance, and courage. I was absolutely captivated just a few chapters in by the unique magic system and world building. This story centers around Ruying who is a young woman with the power of death attempting to fight for the survival of her family while Rome is holding her empire captive. There is so much heartbreak next to so much hope, characters that are so well developed and easy to connect to and love, and an immense amount of growth seen in Ruying by the end of the novel. The end of this book suggests a sequel, and I absolutely can’t wait to see how Ruying’s story turns out!

May or may not read this at some point. Torn after starting to hear/see reviews from fellow content creators that I have matching taste and trust with.

I really wanted to like this.
I was super intrigued that it was loosely based off of real events.
But how could the main character just turn a blind eye to and forget that the person she is working for is the one who kidnapped and enslaved her, threatening her life, the lives of her family, and her entire world, and just go along with whatever, eventually “falling in love” with her captor?
She spent the first bit of the book trash talking someone she grew up with because of the choices that she thought that he made and then turns around and becomes much worse in the span of six months.
It also ended Super abruptly.
I don’t mind cliffhangers, but this kinda just Stopped.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I was so excited when I received an ARC of it. I love reading fantasy from debut authors and couldn’t wait to start this. However as I started reading I found myself struggling to want to continue reading. Our main character, Ruyling, is in a tough situation. Her country has essentially been invaded, her parents are dead, her grandmother needs to marry her off, and her sister is addicted to the same drug that killed eventually killed their father. Oh and did I mention she can wield death?! There is so much potential here but at 36% I decided to DNF for a few reasons. The world building was taking entirely too long. At 21% I thought “wow when are things going to happen? It feels like nothing has happened.” World building is so important to a fantasy novel but naming an invader Rome kind of pulled me out of the fantasy world being buoy. Another sticking point for me was our main character being utterly “woe is me. Woe is us” constantly. The situation sucks for sure but with this attitude I don’t have enough faith that Ruyling is going to turn it around to endure another 64% of the book. I also felt a bit of the ick when I realized that we were potentially going to have a relationship between Ruyling and one of the Roman princes. I am all for enemies to lovers but I can’t get down with a romance between someone actively engaging in the destruction of the other love interest’s land and people.
I really wanted to love this book and appreciate the opportunity to receive an ARC early.
Due to not finishing the book I will not be leaving reviews on any site as I do not believe it is fair to the author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Molly X. Change for the advanced copy of To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods!

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods follows Ruying, a girl with the magic to separate a person's life force from their physical body, as she navigates an ever-changing political landscape to save the lives of her twin sister and grandmother, as well as the rest of her country.

I struggled with the Ruying's monologuing through the first 25%. It felt as if she repeated herself over and over and over again without much changing behind the scenes. Once things progressed, however, I felt myself questioning everything as much as Ruying- was Baihu to be trusted? Was Antony to be trusted? What did the Romans want with Pangu? The last half of the book was a thrilling adventure full of assassins, politics, and romance that left me intrigued and wanting for the next book in the series.

2.5 rounded to 3 stars.
Thank You to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and Del Rey for the chance to read this 2024 anticipated release of mine early.
The beginning half for me was very slow and rocky and almost ended in a DNF around 40%. As an epic fantasy reader and I needed more descriptions and explanations for the world we are placed in.
I felt like everything was info dumped and that continued and was reiterated almost in a repetitive way the rest of the time. There was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing. Which may be because we only saw things through Ruying's perspective. It also would have been nice to have more dual perspectives.
I was also bothered by the choice of the enemy faction being Rome and Romans, then also having a few things in common but also being in an undetermined timeline with advanced weaponry like guns, fighter jets, and missiles. A different name choice, even a made up one, would have bothered me less, because it was written to be a modernized country and not the actual Roman Empire.
The lack of descriptions ended in me not understanding the location a scene was taking place in. As a very visual reader, sometimes I would picture one thing about a situation but then suddenly an action would happen that would take me out to reorient myself. This might be edited by the full published release, but it definitely made the reading experience tougher.
Things got much better around 60%. The involvement of politics, opening up of the scope of world, and more things happen. By this point, I actually began enjoying my time reading. I'm thinking the very beginning needed just a little bit longer to work on the setup. I didn't have a connection to the characters when things started wrapping up to the ending. I never bought the “romance”, and I still don't.
By the end I did have a better understanding of the world setup, that Rome entered like aliens through a portal and they are trying to save their former world. This all should have been understood in that beginning slog. I feel like this author can improve with the second book because we ended on a solid chain of events to get Ruying to be someone who you are rooting for. I did note the emphasis on “doing the right thing” and trying to figure out for yourself who to trust and figuring out morality within your own self. Especially as a 19 year old that is still trying to understand the world.
Overall, I think the series can become promising. This first book is hopefully only a struggle because of everything it had to introduce.

Within the last year, I have started to get more into asian fantasy so I was super excited for this one. The world building was really interesting and something different for me (magic and science) but it was a little hard for me to figure all out. I really liked Ruying but I didn't love some of the relationships in the book-romantic, family and friends. Hopefully the author will continue to build on her writing skills because at some points, I could tell this was her first novel and a little under-edited. I would consider reading the next one but I am not dying to.

Aot of people talk about this being a colonizer romance and I thinknthat colored my perception going into this book. That being said, I think this book iltimately wasnlt for me. I've been looking for an Asian inspired adult fantasy series for a while and while I had high hopes for this, the setting and chatacters were ultimatly not my thing. I would the proganist both naive and dense in a way I wasn't able to overlook and I couldnt tell if the love interest was suppose to be a good person doing bad things or just a colonizer doing their thing.

I will be publishing to my Goodreads and my blog, which will be linked below. The review will be posted on 4/14/24.

I would like to thank Random House and NetGally for an ARC of To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang.

I always get super excited to read books from debut authors, so I was very excited to read this book. Especially after hearing that the main character, Ruying, is a necromancer.

Overall, I liked To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods and I wished some elements had been improved on or eliminated.

For one, I really liked the main character, Ruying, and her friends. They were all incredibly likable and I wanted to learn more about her friends throughout the book. Ruying is also an interesting character, she has magic powers that she does not want and is being forced to use them against her will, so her journey throughout the book with her powers was fun to watch. I also liked the world of the book. Ruying's home planet has been conquered by the Romans and war is constantly on the brink, something nobody wants. I did wish the Roman planet had a different name, as because they are named after Ancient Rome, I could only often think of their technology and not the super advanced futuristic technology they are described as having. I did like though that because they are named after Rome, it was easier to picture the comparison being made in this book.

Now, for things I did not like. This book was marketed as an enemies-to-lovers, which I was excited for, but did not like the execution. Antony is a part of the Romans, and even though there is time spent in the book making it clear he was adopted into their royal family, I still could not get past that Ruying was falling in love with a man that was helping in the colonization of her planet. I thought their relationship worked better as enemies who were forced to work together and not as romantic interests. I also wish we were able to see more of Ruying using her necromancy and how Antony directed her to do so, as I think that would have allowed more world building and time for them to hate each other even more, rather than fall in love.

Overall, I would give To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang a 3.5 out of 5 stars, rounded down to 3 stars on Goodreads. While I liked the world and characters, I wish the romantic subplot had not been a part of the book and either gone or change Antony's background.

Thank you for this arc. I am in love with this book. It was so much more than I anticipated. I love how flawed the characters are and how complicated the plot is. The worldbuilding was gorgeous. The magic system was divine. I loved every second of this book and I will be in horrible suspense waiting for the sequel.

Gorgeous cover, but not for me. The pacing was so slow and didn't really interest me until the second half. Things did pick up then but not enough to get fully engrossed in the story.

The world-building was also just so confusing to me. Even in the last few chapters some things were mentioned about the world that didn't feel like a reveal or plot twist, just as matter-of-fact statements about the world, and I was left so bewildered feeling like I had fundamentally misunderstood everything about the world. It's definitely possible that I missed a few things (especially during the slow first half), but things still shouldn't have been so confusing or jarring.

The premise overall was intriguing, but the execution just wasn't for me.

***ARC received from Del Ray and NetGalley, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

First, I think its important to point out that, if you were not aware, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods was one of the targeted books by an author that was trying to prop up their book by creating and giving false negative reviews to this book. This author did not deserve that, none of the other authors deserved to be treated in such a way. This does not in any way shape what I feel about this book, I had it before all the review bombing information came to light.

Ruying is gifted by death to kill and lives in a world that has been oppressed by an invading nation. There is so much there but it just doesn’t fully deliver.

For the characters I didn’t really like any of them that much which was a shame as they all have potential. I wish that Ruying had been a little bit of a stronger lead, she just seems to be there to do whatever anyone else tells her to do while angsting over everything. She uses her abilities yet never fully commits when it really matters but is fine when it doesn’t. The rest of the secondary characters are a little one dimensional, the cruel sister wanting to be a martyr, the childhood friend potential love interest that comes and goes as the plot needs. The only interesting one was Antony because he seemed to run counter than what the book was trying to portray him as.

I know there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the romance, romantazing an oppressor and oppressed relationship. I’m not here to pass judgement on those that may feel that way as those are their valid feelings. I just expected the romance simply because its one of the most common tropes in these types of books. Rarely is it handled well and that is certainly the case in this book. Most of the build up of their relationship happens off page, there are six months that we get glimpses of what Ruying is doing and little of what she is feeling other than Antony is somewhat of a comfort, I guess? Since we aren’t spending significant time with these characters watching them build up a relationship it just falls flat. Antony actually could be a good person fighting against the repression of his family and empire but that is never shown and if that it was the book is trying to show it missed the mark. He’s all pretty words but the book feels like it is going out of its way to cast him as a not so bad guy. Even Antony doesn’t see himself as a not so bad guy, he is willing to do whatever it takes to see his end game come to pass. The book should just let him be a bad guy and we know that he isn’t, at least not toward Ruying.

The ending felt a little rushed for me, yes I get that its the first in the series but it doesn’t cast Ruying is much of a good light. She finally gets to witness what the empire is doing to people like her and its shocking but why? Antony has not exactly been secretive that the scientists have been performing experiments, maybe not the full truth but he brings it up quite a few times. I get that Ruying may be blind to the idea due to her feelings but it just fell flat for me as it makes her feel completely oblivious as opposed to someone truly left in the dark about what Antony is doing. It also removes the chance at her being a truly morally grey character, someone aware but willing to turn a blind eye for what they believe to be the better good. Which the book tries to do many times but can’t seem to commit, if anything Antony and Baihu come off as the more morally grey characters while Ruying just feels like 90% of the time she isn’t paying attention.

The writing is fine, some sections move along at a good pace keeping the book moving forward while others it can slow down a bit. I did like how the book dealt with the opian addiction that different characters dealt with but even that gets pushed off to the side. The politics of agreements and double crossing each other were interesting but it was all pushed to the back of the book when it would have been better spread out throughout the story as I did like those parts.

I so deeply wanted to like this book, all the potential is there to tell a fascinating story about what people are willing to do to protect their people. Unfortunately the execution of it fell flat leaving much to be desired.