I received an eARC from Random House and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF. Sorry, lads. I truly tried with this one, but the flaws became too much for me in the end. I try not to torture myself with books I’m not enjoying, so I had to put it down. To put it simply, this book is a mess.

1: The Plot

The story centers Yang Ruying, a girl living in Er-Lang, an empire once fueled by magic, which has been colonized by Rome using their superior science.

Ruying possesses the magic of Death, making her a perfect candidate to carry out assassinations, and when her magic is discovered, she’s forced to do just that.

2: The Good

First, the cover of the book is gorgeous. I couldn’t find a definitive answer as to who the artist was (there were several names in the “art credit” section), but props to them for designing it.

Second, the passion the author felt was there. The book begins with an author’s note where Chang talks about her inspirations for the book. She clearly cares a lot about the origins of her story, and the issues of colonialism, racism, xenophobia, and misogyny. The personal stories she included really set the stage for a good book.

And finally, third, the book title is excellent.

3: Show Don’t Tell

There are a couple of ways to do good basic exposition. First, by making your character new to the world they’re in (i.e. Percy in Percy Jackson). Whenever another character explains something to them, it makes sense because the character wouldn’t already know that information. Or second, if your character isn’t new to their environment, then exposition needs to happen slowly and in passing (i.e. Katniss’s observations of Panem in The Hunger Games). You’ll need to imply information through dialogue and action instead of outright explaining it.

This book requires the second type of exposition, but utilizes the first. It’s constantly infodumping onto you without weaving anything into the story naturally. It makes the writing clunky and the dialogue unnatural.

This happens right from the first major conversation, which is between the MC, Ruying, and Baihu, her childhood friend turned opium dealer. There’s a lot of Ruying thinking about her world while she and Baihu go, “hey remember when [insert grim childhood memory here]”

I think replacing some of the information we’re told with flashbacks showing us snippets of what happened through Ruying’s eyes would really help. Meiya’s (Ruying’s twin sister) opium addiction should have been shown to us before we were ever told about it.

4: Worldbuilding

I think this is a multiverse situation, but that wasn’t all that clear as barely any worldbuilding happens. It makes the most sense given the context, though.

The world is loosely based on the messy history of Manchuria, which has been subject to several genocides and occupations throughout its history. Most notably by Russia during their conquest of Siberia and Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

In To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods, the colonizers aren’t Japanese or Russian, but Roman (I don’t mind this in theory, since Romans were like, some of the OG colonizers and this isn’t supposed to be 1:1). But the 'Romans' don’t appear to be based on the Roman Empire from our history, as they seem to exist post-industrial revolution. So, they’re alternate history Romans, I guess. But then, I don’t see why they were called Romans? Because using The Roman Empire in your lore evokes certain imagery (Ancient Rome was pretty iconic), yet I saw no resemblance to that imagery in this book. So, it only ended up distracting me. I think the colonizing Empire should’ve had a made up name, like Pangu does.

The people with magic are called Xianling, which I believe is based on 显灵 (But we weren’t given the hanzi, so this isn’t definitive), which is basically the mutual exchange of energy between gods and humans. Humans show their faith to gods through worship and good deeds, and gods reward them with aid. Which brings me to my first issue with the magic: you’re born with it. It isn’t something you acquire through faith or practice. My second issue is that everyone only has one power and those powers seem to be random. When everyone only has one power, those powers should be symbolic, and represent something about the characters (think Bungo Stray Dogs). But the powers don’t mean anything deeper in this book.

There’s my Taohua Problem. Taohua’s ability is super-strength, but she isn’t allowed to be buff! Why do they never let women be buff? No, she has to be fragile, basically a bird, so that people underestimate her. Never mind that her being a woman would already be reason enough for people to be underestimating her (and then you could give her biceps for days).

Then, the whole “magic vs. science” debate, my beloathed. Sigh. Not everything can be Dr. Stone, which treats science as a great equalizer, and something that can and should be used to save people. Science doesn’t only exist to create tools of war. It isn’t soulless. Treating science as cold and calculating is extremely regressive. I think it would have been more interesting to see Ruying’s people take Rome’s technology, and combine it with their magic, making it their own.

5: The Prose

This book has, to quote Drew Gooden, “the depth of an above-ground pool that hasn’t been filled in yet.”

The prose is easily the worst that I’ve ever read in a work of published (or soon-to-be-published) fiction in my life. I’ve read fanfiction that was more eloquent. It’s repetitive and choppy, and Chang never uses five words where ten will do. The whole book could have been a hundred pages shorter.

6: Ruying

I was going to call this section “characters,” but then I realized I have little to say about anyone who isn’t Ruying.

Ruying is a frustrating character, something I could forgive if she were younger, but she’s already nineteen.

Ruying’s used to being ruled by colonizers and sees no reason to resist if resistance means the deaths of herself and her family. She condemns Baihu, an actually morally ambiguous character, for not being as righteous as she is, then proceeds to do exactly what he does. She ends up helping Rome and justifying it to herself.

7: The Poppy War Problem

So, I really love R.F. Kuang’s Poppy War Trilogy. I think it’s well done, even if it’s imperfect. But just like Susanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, TPW is good enough and successful enough that other authors want to capture the same thing Kuang did in their own works, even if they aren’t equipped to handle such subject matter. To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is an example of this.

The first problem lies in the difference in genre between this book and TPW. TPW is adult fiction, and therefore, doesn’t have to cut corners with the dark themes and events. But this book is YA, meaning it must be sterilized to some degree.

The other major difference is the treatment of the protagonists. Rin from The Poppy War is a truly morally ambiguous character. She does many bad things throughout the books, but she’s written in a way that allows the audience to continue to sympathize with her. But the text never pushes you to feel one way or the other. Ruying isn’t that.

8: Conclusion

Overall, the book read like a first draft. It still needs a lot of work. I hope the book is re-edited before release. But honestly, because I decided not to finish it, my review isn’t as complete as I’d like it to be.

★☆☆☆☆ (1/5)

Aside from the fact that the love interest is the colonizer, I didn’t like the writing at all. The dialogue was really hard to read and overall the whole thing needed massive edits. I’m not even entirely sure what the plot was, I just didn’t like the MC and her decisions continued to get worse and worse.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My perception of this book: To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang introduced a fascinating world that combined science fiction and fantasy, magic and invention, and Chinese mythology and history. The author did a great job with pacing and writing style. Even though the world she created was a melting pot that had the potential to be overwhelming with all its unique details, I instead found it easy to read and dive into.

My perspective of this book: The world was one I wanted to spend more time in and learn about. The characters I didn’t find as interesting. I really struggled with the main character and though I tried to empathize with her, I just grew more annoyed over time. Overall, I think the characters and their relationships were the weakest part of the story.

I rated this book three-stars because I think parts of it were without a doubt very good. The parts that fell short for me could be summed up as personal preferences and nothing more. So, my recommendation? Read it 

I always try to give every book I start a fair chance, especially one rooted in Chinese mythology and history, being Chinese myself. However, one thing I will absolutely not budge on is an alleged enemies-to-lovers trope where it’s colonizer x colonized. Even worse when it’s White Male Asian Female.

Reading this book that acts to frame the relationship between the colonized and the colonizer as a story of love while there are real, physical, and extremely violent manifestations of colonization occurring daily, puts this book in extremely horrible taste. As an author, you are responsible for caring for the themes you present instead of just using them as storytelling devices. I’m sure Chang had this intention (her author’s note mentioned her driving inspiration was her grandfather’s stories of Manchuria), but writing your lead female character to be morally gray, and that grayness being her cooperation in aiding and falling in love with a colonizer, did not sit right with me at all.

Nevertheless, Chang’s prose and literary structure were strong. I enjoyed the use of Chinese proverbs as part of the dialogue and plot. Yet I could not empathize with Ruying as a character when her head is so far up Antony’s white ass, she doesn’t get a clue until literally the last 20 pages of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

3/5 Stars
This had a really great premise, but it felt half-baked. It also definitely needs another round of edits, but also this book comes out in April so I'm was prepared for off edits.
What I liked:
- Strong FMC
- A world building that includes more than two cultures

What I didn't like:
- The magic system felt half explained. We know that every power is different, but Chang never really goes into how it works or how it is different for everyone, just only touches of it.
- The enemy in this enemies to lovers is her colonizer :( I really didn't like that, especially because he still seems like a bad guy despite Chang trying to say otherwise.

This is the first book in a series, so I am expecting things to expand upon in the next two books. I really hope so because the prose was good and I was hooked the entire time.

Thank you NetGalley and RandomHouse Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Summary: enemies to lovers, morally grey mc/love interest, slow burn romance, historical influence

Ruying is a common woman in a world overtaken by futuristic Roman colonization. She and her family are struggling against the oppressive rule, unable to continue the peace and prosperity they once knew. When a Roman price sees Ruying using her gift, she must choose to either work as the Princes' assassin, or face the consequences of disobeying the Roman empire.

With a deeply, morally grey villain, an interesting magic system, and in-depth world building, this book was a great start to what I can assume will be a great series. The complicated love story really makes you question what you, as the reader, would allow to win your heart.

Antony is the green-eyed monster that you hate to love, but somehow Molly X. Chang has pulled it off and Ruying and I are both in his clutches.

4 stars, simply for the somewhat slow pacing. Otherwise a great fantasy debut! I look forward to the release of the physical version so I can put it on my shelves!

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read TO Gaze upon Wicked Gods.
I am giving it a 4 star but really it is more 3.5 stars
Total slow slow burn. HOWEVER the manipulation is all over this book.
This book seems to be the first in a series, The whole book was about testing your morals and your loyalty to your land and people.
Poor Ruying named to mean To be Brave, did everything to protect her grandmother and sister in a land that was trying to be conquered by outsiders and where men thought women/girls shouldn't be anything but homebound.
She is gifted with Death touch. She is taken by a man who wishes to use her for the "peace and safety" of her country and his. he says nice things she wishes to hear to her. her heart is missing a piece.

I hope there is more.

Good concept, odd execution. Took a long time to get into and read. I'm not sure if I'm not the right audience or if the book needs work. Generally this seems right up my alley, but I struggled.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

DNF at 50%
I was excited to read To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods but unfortunately this ended up falling flat for me. This book takes place in a Chinese inspired fantasy world being conquered by a technologically advanced Roman inspired world. The mix of two vastly different cultures in completely different time periods was such an interesting idea and was definitely my favorite part of this book. My main issue with To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods was the pacing. This was so slow and repetitive. The world-building was info dumpy and continued to go over the same points over and over again. There was very little dialogue and too much inner monologue about the world. At 50% so little had happened and I was struggling to pick it up, so I decided to DNF. I think this series has potential and has such a unique idea though.

My impression of "To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods" is not the most straightforward. The story has the makings of a great novel with its complex characters and nuanced political landscape. It follows a young woman called Ruying who possesses supernatural abilities. Ruying, initially, is uninterested in getting involved with the ever-dire political oppression in her home country. She does everything she can to steer clear of the Romans, violent colonizers from the west, and keep her magic under wraps in order to protect her grandmother and twin sister. When the Romans ultimately identify her as gifted, she is captured and coerced into their service. Is submitting to the Roman prince's will an act of bravery or cowardness? Will her efforts win her people back their country, or is she nailing the final nail into the proverbial coffin?

This book includes:
- supernatural gifts granted by gods
- enemies to lover
- political intrigue
- friends to enemies
- lovers to enemies
- Opium addiction
- Unwilling allies
- morally gray protagonists
- cowardes
- genocide
- portals through time and space
- one-bed trope


While "To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods" has many elements that I enjoy, I think the pacing and character development were lacking for me. I struggled to connect to the protagonists and often felt frustrated by Ruying's decisions in a way that made me want to stop reading. I would recommend this book to fans of "A Fate Inked in Blood" as the two stories are developed similarly and have FMC's with similar issues.

I revived this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

I really enjoyed this book, the plot was fun and fast paced, the world building was good and not super confusing in my opinion. I have a lot of trust issues after this book though I don’t know who I trust, I know who I want to trust. Overall it was a good start to a series and I can’t wait for more. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods I was able to get an ARC thanks to Netgallery and Random House Publishing Group. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This is the author's debut novel and she nailed it. First off I absolutely love this cover; it's so pretty. This book takes place in a magical China(Pangu) where Colonizers from Rome come to take over. I assume the Colonizers seem to come from a different world with them having to use portals to get to Pangu? To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is about a girl named Ruying who has death magic and she tries so hard to keep it a secret because if the wrong people find out about her she will be used as a weapon. Ruying does all she can to protect and take care of her friends and family even agreeing to become an assassin. Antony the other main character in this book is the second prince of Rome and he meets Ruying when she ends up stealing from him. Ruying is eventually captured and brought to be in front of the princes and is ultimately under Antony mercy. Antony strikes up a deal with Ruying where as long as she kills for him he will keep her family safe. This book was so good I could barely put it down and it's a slow burn, enemies to lovers. The book kind of starts off a little slow but quickly picks up. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book with characters that are morally gray because both of the main characters are. I can not wait to read book 2 absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to see what happens next.

This book was a delight! The writing was beautiful and poetic and the main character while prickly made very realistic choices. This is not a girlboss kind of heroine. Ruyin made some terrible decisions during the course of the book, but readers will understand her every decision through the incredible storytelling.

thank you to net galley and penguin random house for the eARC, all opinions are my own

Chapter 38 made me cry and I hadn't cried reading a book for a while. The writing in this books was beautiful and I enjoyed reading it for the prose, even if sometimes the main character, Ruying, made me want to scream at my phone. When I first realized the romance was between her and the colonizer prince, I had my reservations, but the ending made up for it. I can't wait to read the next book!

4.5. To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods was one of my most anticipated books this year, and it did not disappoint.

Ruying is a common woman blessed with the power of death in a world where many are blessed with unique magic. She has lived a quiet life under the colonial rule of a futuristic Roman empire. When a Roman prince sees her performing hr gifts, she is given a choice. She must work as the prince's assassin or face the wrath of the empire.

This will be a book for a particular kind of person who really means it when they say they want the main character to fall in love with a villain. Many folks will morally struggle with it, and I am happy to say that To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods really begs the question "what if the boy the girl falls in love with is truly a horrible piece of shit". Interesting, engaging, dark, mysterious, and uniquely written yes, but absolute garbage.

Focusing first on characters, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is a book that goes all in with its two leads. I will address the side characters in a moment.

Ruying is a messy and complex girl willing to do anything to protect her family, but she is also complacent. She has learned to live under the thumb of Rome and does not feel motivated to take to resistance like some of those around her. As she is drawn into the Roman royalty's world, she finds herself finding ways to justify assisting in their cruelty. If you liked Nezha from The Poppy War, expect a similar arc but with a female main character. Her corruption and devolution into a more complicated character is extremely unique in the world of Young Adult fantasy and handled with a tremendous amount of care.

Antony is the second prince of Rome, and our secondary lead. He is a dark brooding green eyed monster, both literally and figuratively. While he comes off as the "less bad" of his family, he has his eyes on the throne- it can be challenging to read his motivations. He is a masterclass in manipulative behavior and he is the "gaslight" in Gaslight, Girlboss, Gatekeep. Antony never really becomes your quintessential cool Rhysand YA boyfriend. Hes not a particularly pleasant person, but hes big sad boy energy has both Ruying and me in a chokehold.

The side characters are all quite well written, though at times I found myself a little disappointed with where their journeys ended up. This includes Ruying's childhood friend who has a crush on her and now works for the enemy, her sister who is ravaged by addiction, her wise grandmother, and the twisted eldest prince. Chang also does a wonderful job painting a tapestry of off screen characters- primarily from the Roman side. I assume we will meet some of these characters in the next book and I am very much looking forward to it. None of these characters exist to advance the romance in the book, they all have their own thing going on and you can watch their journeys unfold through Ruying's POV.

The romance in the book is top tier if you are an enemies to lovers junkie, though I am worried there is actually a chance Change may pivot the romance to another character (Miss Chang I am begging you not to do this) This is easily one of the slowest burn young adult romances I've ever read and will be satisfying to anyone who needs a cleanse from romantic speedruns.

Antony and Ruying have a hard-to-define bond based on trauma, duty, and broken power dynamics. Antony has near complete control over her to the point where you could argue her affection resembles Stockholm syndrome. He is why she is forced to kill countless of her countrymen, though he is always there to comfort her when she starts to feel overwhelmed by what she is made to do to protect her family and herself. It's extremely hard to make a clear case for Antony's motives right down to the last pages of the book. Molly Chang does a great job writing Antony from Ruying's perspective, making it hard for you as the reader to trust him while your heart stirs at his most genuine moments.

The pair also regularly discuss the nature of power and explore their desire and fear of it together. Ruying is seduced by Antony's vision for peace, however flawed. This creates some fascinating character moments that extend far beyond attraction, as these two characters truly end up influencing each other's visceral core. My love for this pairing started with "slow burn enemies to lovers good" and evolved into something more watching their romance become a philosophical and psychological reflection on war, power, and domination. I would not recommend this book to folks who are uncomfortable with relationships with destructive dynamics, particularly emotional abuse and manipulation. I however, fucking ATE.

The pacing starts off a little infodumpy but quickly starts to naturally expand on the world to the point where its extremely well fleshed out and easy to follow the conflict. Chang introduces us to a complex and messy world of clear-cut heroes and villains but does not shy away from asking you to reflect on the motivations of those villains. Rome is an interesting case in this regard, as they are a hyper-advanced society that holds many secrets while still sucking the soul out of Pangu.

My main criticism of the book is that while Chang builds an extremely interesting world, a lot of flavor on colonizers is borrowed from The Poppy War, The Unbroken, Children of Blood and Bone, etc, and looks a lot like new titles coming out as well (Jasad Heir, Hurricane Wars) Pangu is a magical society brimming with joy and life, while Rome is a soulless science obsessed war machine society where everything is superficial. These two character traits, especially magic vs science, are pretty played out in this type of fantasy. That said, this is my only gripe, and it is small.

My experience reading this book was just total engagement. I finished it in 2 days, and I was camping at the time. I was staying up late to read, desperately hi-lighting quotes like someone was paying me. Any flaws this book has are made up for tendfold by the richness of the characterwork and character relationships. I can not wait for the next installment.

I’m giving this book a neutral 3 stars. Given the premise of this book, I really thought it would easily be a high 4 or 5 stars, but it fell short for me. The writing style just wasn’t for me, it was super repetitive and I often found myself skimming instead of reading.

There was a lot of hypocrisy in this book. Ruying judges everyone around her so harshly, but when she starts working for the Romans (the same thing she was judging Baihu for) she can’t understand why her sister is upset. And her sister is hypocritical too, saying their mother would be disappointed in Ruying when their mother would have also been disappointed in her for her opian use.

I also did not enjoy the “romance”. No part of Antony was redeeming. He treats Ruying like a prisoner, but acts like he’s doing her a favor and like she has a choice in the matter. I don’t understand at all how Ruying can be falling for him. It feels like straight up Stockholm syndrome.

This book just was not for me, although I think the premise of the plot could have been amazing. I just did not connect with any of the characters and did not enjoy the writing style.

It's always very disheartening to be given the chance to read one of your most anticipated books early and then not enjoy it. I was so excited to read To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods, as it seemed right up my ally. I mean morally grey characters? A Chinese fantasy world? Magic vs. Science? I thought I would eat this right up. Unfortunately, while its premise is both enthralling and exciting...its execution is not.

Right off the bat from the very first chapter, I could already tell it wasn't for me. Not only was the first chapter incredibly repetitive, it was also an extremely long monologue about the main character info dumping on the worldbuilding, and how her people have been oppressed. I think practically every single paragraph had a mention about how the Romans had taken everything away from them, and yet it failed to really give us an actual insight on the world. Not only that, but we are unable to see really anything about the main character, other than the fact that she has powers and she has a horrible life. I could not find a single reason to root for her, because there were none given.

However, I tried to give this one a chance, especially seeing that this is a debut book and author. But as I read on, I just put it aside and DNFed it about 20% of the way through. Because of the long and excessive description, I entirely skimmed what I read up to, and I just stopped knowing what was going on in the book.

I think that this book definitely has potential! The idea is incredible, and the book seems very promising. However, I think it is also in need of some major editing, and the wordy description seriously needs to be cut down. Thank you so much to Penguin Random House in exchange for an eARC of this book. Although I didn't enjoy it, I'm grateful for the opportunity to read it!

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

"Heroes die, cowards live."
Ruying's constant refrain is only one of the many ways To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods stares unflinchingly at the brutality, humiliation, and despair faced by her and her people from the colonizing "Romans". There are no good choices for Ruying, only different routes to attempt to secure survival for her and her family, most of them humiliating at best and deadly at worst. The reader is swept along with Ruying, and even while her decisions are entirely sympathetic, the question of whether or not she truly has any choices is raised at multiple points, and, I would say, never truly resolved in this book. However, the ending leaves the reader aching for more, to know whether Ruying manages to completely be free. This is not a comfortable read, but I think it's a vital one, if for no other reason than to acknowledge as the author notes that a great deal of this story, while science fiction/fantasy, is based heavily on real events that happened to real people.

For sensitive readers, due to the nature of the story, there are a wide array of content warnings: violence, racism, death, addiction, and more. As far as sexual content goes, assault and coercion are referenced but do not happen "on screen" as it were, and nothing of a graphic nature occurs.

First, thanks to the author and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Oh boy, this book. There are parts I loved and parts I hated.

Let's start with loved. The world in this book is lovely! The book follows Ruying, who lives in a conquered world that appears similar to a feudal China with magic. The invaders? A heavily-industrialized Rome. The mix of the two peoples/cultures and the tastes we get of Ruying's homeland are very nice. I also enjoyed the magic in this world, though unfortunately we don't go too deep into it outside of Ruying's own gifts (hopefully more in a sequel?).

Now the bad parts. I really had a hard time with Ruying. She flopped back and forth so much, seeming to be unable to just make a decision and take a side and had to be led through things by both of the main male characters. Considering the book followed her, this could make some parts really frustrating to get through. On top of that, her priorities were really skewed in my opinion.

Would I read a sequel? Yes, if just simply because I want to know how things end up, not because I really like any of the characters

I appreciated this book more than I enjoyed it. I'm all for slow-burn stories and plots that take their time to develop, but in this case it should have been done in a more skillful way. However, the ideas presented by the author and some of the character work here were fantastic. I could recommend it to certain readers.