“You shouldn’t ask the girl blessed by Death whom she’ll die for. You should ask her whom she’ll kill for.”

Ruying is living in a conquered world with death magic running through her veins. The invaders descended from the sky long before she was born and overtook the magic of her world with the science of theirs. She will do literally anything to keep her family safe, even if that means becoming the private assassin for the invading prince. In exchange for her gifts the prince offers to make sure her family is protected and vows that every death he orders will be for the betterment of the world.

This was okay, and I can understand what Ruying was doing and how she thought it was the right move, but I also think she was infuriating and didn't think things through. She spent her time just accepting her situation and never thought to do her own research and figure out anything for herself. She just assumed whatever she was told was true and that is a frustrating character flaw to spend 370 pages dealing with. I also did not see any appeal in Antony at all. With that said, the plot and world was interesting enough to make me entertain the idea of reading the next one to see where it all leads.

Unfortunately this ended up being a messy story with pacing issues. I wish it hadn’t been marketed as a romance because it didn’t seem like one while reading it, which was fine with me, but it is not sure what it wants to be.

I tried with this one but was unable to really get into it enough to give it a fair chance. I don't really have any feedback on it.

Unfortunately this was not the book for me. I felt that the writing style for me dragged a bit and did not hold my attention. I wish there would have been more balance between the stage-settings, character establishment, and plot developments to keep me hooked. It by no means it a BAD book, i just don't think it was written in the style for me.

This one took me a minute to finish. I just wasn’t vibing with it. I took a break from it and came back. I did get more into the book towards the end but so much of it wasnt sitting well for me. I don’t know if that was the intent of the author for this book to be so thought provoking specifically with how the state of the world is today.

The “romance” I think was what really got my gears going and my blood boiling. The main MC was nerve wrecking for me in many aspects. I gave this a 3 star but I don’t think I’ll be continuing this series.

I was haunted by this book. I didn’t know how to feel about it (mostly because I was lured in by the promise of a Zutara-like ship) and it was so HEAVY of a book. I will be tuning in for the next installment because I need to know how it ends.

This book started with an info dump, and then I read reviews that alerted me to the fact that this is a colonizer romance. No, thank you.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine.

The cover and premise really drew me into this book. However, the world building left something to be desired and left me a bit confused. While interesting, I struggled to understand the magical system within the book and found my focus wavering. I wanted to immerse myself into this magical world, but I couldn't. It is possible that I simply read too many fantasy books in a row and needed to read something else before starting this, because I had a hard time picking the book up.

The love story was not very convincing and I didn't connect well to the characters. The captor/captive relationship did not lead to a believable love in this case, the MMC was always threatening or condescending. I live for romance in these books and expect them to pick up my interest where the world building may lose me, but this did not.

Unfortunately I wanted to love this, but didn't.

This book was one of my most anticipated reads this year. The synopsis and cover drew me in, but I was disappointed to say the least. The story didn’t really grasp my attention. I kept putting it down and had to force myself to pick it back up again. I just don’t think this story was for me.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods sounded so exciting and different but between the writing and the main character, I couldn't get into the story and felt myself dragging through the pages. I put it down a few times in hopes it was just my mood, but nothing changed. I think this could be a great story to others, but I couldn't vibe with it.

This was a 3.5/3.75 for me. I felt it was a decent read, but wasn't in love with it. I know there was a lot of controversy with the "colonizer romance" though I don't think that was the focus of the story. I liked and appreciated the Chinese historical aspects.

I found this book enjoyable, though I have quite a few significant reservations. It achieved the one thing I ask of a book: it entertained me. Ruying is a frustrating protagonist—sometimes you just want to shake her—but I appreciated joining her on her journey as she’s a deeply unreliable narrator. It was intriguing to see how she coped with her choices, in a “girl, wake up” kind of way. Watching her believe her own lies and eventually start to unlearn them was compelling, but your mileage may vary. If you’re looking for a likable character who is confident in her choices, Ruying likely isn’t for you.

The plot held my attention, and the dynamics between Ruying and Antony reminded me of being seventeen, listening to a friend in a chaotic, toxic situationship while smiling and internally screaming: she hasn’t realized it yet, and you can’t say anything! But also, is she being naive? It’s a sea of red flags! I didn’t care much for their romance; it was clear that wasn’t the focus. That said, I found it a quick read if you can overlook the prose.

While I liked the story overall, the writing was some of the most brutal I’ve encountered. There were a lot of sentence fragments, and even though I managed to read it, I often found my eyes glazing over. It really came down to pushing through the prose for me. I understand this is an uncorrected ARC, but I genuinely think it could’ve benefited from another round of editing to smooth out the writing, as it felt choppy enough to disrupt the reading flow. Additionally, it felt a bit odd that Chang chose to use a futuristic version of Rome rather than creating a new name for it. Conceptually, it’s not a big deal, but it was jarring at first.

Overall, it’s clear this is Chang’s debut. While she has a solid grasp of her plot and intentions, the writing style does not do it any favors. There’s room for fine-tuning, and I hope the next book is more polished. Given the prose and the need for additional edits, I ultimately found this to be just okay. There’s plenty of room for improvement, and it won’t be for everyone, but it’s not the worst thing I’ve read, and I did take something away from it, so that’s a win. Thank you so much to Del Rey and Random House Publishing for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I went into this book hoping for a different story arc that avoids a controversial romance but sadly i was disappointed. I appreciated the historical relevance aspect of this book, but I had to dnf after it followed the oppressed & oppressor relationship stereotype that is heavily based in race. I was really excited to receive this arc after seeing all the hype around it, but it really wasn't for me.

This book has received a lot of bad reviews and I understand why but I think it is a fun read and there is good chemistry between the characters.

I received an advanced copy of To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods from Netgalley and the publisher and am leaving this review voluntarily.

One of my least favorite things to do is write one-star reviews, especially for a book I was so excited about. I want to love everything I read, but I also have to remember that not everything is for everyone, and To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods was one of those books. I will also note that I did not finish this book, so all opinions are based on the first half since that's how far I got before I had to put it down.

I have no idea who the audience for this book is. Young adult? Adult? It's marketed one way in some places and then completely differently in others (in genre and content, but that's an entirely different discussion). It becomes incredibly confusing because I have different expectations of adult and young adult books. That's not to say I don't expect both to be good stories; I just hope for more complexity and depth in adult books. I would categorize To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods as a young adult, but that's only after reading what I did and going into it thinking it was an adult book. And that's where most of my issues stem from, as I was unprepared for what I was about to read.

The writing could have been more precise. There was lots of repetition, awkward phrasing, and odd style choices that would have been okay once or twice but not every other page. I usually have no issue with purple prose, but the flowery language made everything overcomplicated. It left me confused and wondering what I was supposed to understand from the statement. And again, having that as an occasional style choice is no big deal, but it was everything from descriptions to dialogue between characters. Paragraphs upon paragraphs were used when one would have sufficed. Reading became almost tedious as I dreaded flipping the page to see more convoluted words.

Unfortunately, the characters were unremarkable. Ruying makes many questionable choices that feel wishy-washy with her characterization. I understand we can't know what choices we would make if we've never been in those situations. However, she was so inconsistent that it was hard to believe her motivations. I've seen some discourse on the romance aspect of this novel. I won't be speaking on it because I didn't get far enough to understand the characters' relationship.

The world-building was also lacking. What I got was interesting, but there wasn't enough to fully understand the world's complexities. Hopefully, there was more in the book's second half, but I feel it would be too little, too late by that point. If I'm to believe that there's no way Pangu can win against Rome, I need to understand why exactly their magic isn't stronger than Rome's science. I also need to understand why Pangu hasn't learned a little about how the science works after twenty or so years. I can get that Ruying might not know as she doesn't have much, if any, interaction with it, but to believe that the country as a whole has no way around it is a little far-fetched.

I hoped to love To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods, but the unclear genre, odd writing, unremarkable characters, and lack of understanding of the world left me disappointed and unable to finish. Many have and will love this book, but it wasn't for me.

I had really high hopes for this book but I found to be not for me. The story was ok but I found it hard to finish. The cover is so pretty though and I think I just wasn't the right person for this book.

This is soooo well written. I loved all of the history references and the discussions surrounding colonialism and addiction. I love all the intrigue and the storytelling was incredibly well done. I’ve seen some people criticize the colonizer romance but I think that’s supposed to part of the commentary. It supposed to show the amount of cruelty and manipulation that goes into colonialism. I don’t think the colonizer romance is meant to be an actual romance, especially considering that there is another book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! I went in completely blind and it paid off in so many ways. I loved the magic in the book and want to know more about the different kinds of magic the people wield and why some people have magic and some don’t. The world in this book was brutal and really spoke to colonialism and its effects and lasting impacts. I was awed by the richness of the culture incorporated into this book. I am really looking forward to the next book as I loved Ruying and her struggles throughout the book. I could understand why she followed Antony and Rome because she just wanted to keep her family safe and was manipulated by Antony. I am so excited for the next book.

I DNF'd about 100 pages in. Calling the other world "Rome" and the Chinese world "Pangu" really threw me off, the barely changed Opicum name, and honestly I know this apparently can be read as a colonizer romance turned on its head, per other reviewers, but man it does not seem like it will be well-written. And honestly, the main character was just...way too boring for me to enjoy this.

In a world where people are gifted with magic and powers, they are facing a takeover by people with science and technology. Somehow Ruying is blessed with the power of death, and yet still can't defeat guns and missiles on her own. She finds herself facing an impossible choice when she's captured by the enemy prince - does she become his assassin and keep her family safe? Or turn on him and help kick these invaders out of her country?

The magic concepts were creative and unique, and I really enjoyed seeing them juxtaposed with modern technology in our world. I liked how the MC has no clear path to follow. She's almost morally grey with choices that are questionable and yet her motives are understandable. Ruying does a lot to protect her family and friends and it really drives every decision she makes. The author really explores how complex things like loyalty and morality in a colonialism setting are, and she did a fantastic job. There are a lot of truly awful things to read when comparing them to events that have happened in our own world history, with drug addictions and experimenting on people. It really makes me wonder where this series will go next and which characters we can trust.

I enjoyed this book, it kept my interest I'm looking forward to continuing this series! It is a great YA fantasy that is easy to get into and understand.
And how gorgeous is that cover?? Trigger Warnings for drug addictions. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for my opinions.