Chang’s sophomore novel is a captivating experience with lush world building and beautiful prose. I was immediately immersed in the story and Fei’s narrative.

This story is perfectly comped as Helen of Troy meets Mulan, plus throw in some vampires. There’s elements of both myths, both revolving around the role and perception of women. Like Helen of Troy, Fei is a catalyst for war - whomever claims her hand in marriage will hold the power of an empire. And like Mulan, Fei is unwilling to submit to her predetermined role. She is determined to fight her own battles and gain freedom from her prophesy, but also willing to sacrifice it all for her family and her people. I loved her narration, which often felt like a warrior recounting a ballad of their deeds, and emphasized with her plight.

From a romance perspective, both love interests are incredibly flawed and villains in their own rights. They were billed as morally grey, so this wasn’t surprising, and I appreciated how Fei’s eyes were open to the wrongs committed by both men. She’s not some love struck fool and will choose her own freedom over both of them every time.

This story, although is packs in so much incredible world building and plot, is just the beginning. There’s still much to learn, especially about Yexue, the vampires, and the prophecy. I’m excited to see what happens next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Books for Young Readers for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't read To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods but I was intrigued by this book because I am obsessed with Asian-inspired fantasy, I enjoy a good love triangle and I liked the idea of Asian vampires. I also think this author gets a lot of negative attention that can often seem just unkind to me, so part of me wanted to see if her critics were right.

I had mixed feelings about this book and wasn't sure I really liked any of the characters, but I found them compelling regardless and I liked seeing the transformation of Fei from selfish, spoiled palace prisoner to military leader who wins the freedom to make her own choices. I also liked all the drama; I'm a soap opera and Below Decks fan and some of the intensity of the interpersonal drama veered to soapy levels. I sometimes got frustrated with some of the pacing issues when romantic tension was shown through chatty dialogue, but I mostly enjoyed the soapy escapism.

Fei is a sheltered princess betrothed to Siwang. She is country girl born with the curse of a prophecy to become the empress of all empresses if she marries her true love. Siwang loves her with the innocence and purity of first love, but she's never sure whether he just loves the prophecy and he's the one with the power in their dynamic. Until one night when she meets the demon prince of a rival kingdom, Yexue, and saves his life.

She wins a wish and breaks her betrothal to Siwang; then her family is sent into exile as peasants again. She travels, then joins the army in her father's stead when the two princes wage bloodthirsty war against each other.

At first I thought she was a selfish, reckless brat who toyed with Siwang's feelings and I really did not like her much. But the first half was very slow and the pacing of the romance between them was weird. I got to know them as a couple mainly through flashbacks to sweet childhood memories.

I didn't think we got enough on-page time with Yexue, but he was an intriguing foil for Siwang. The good man cursed to become a tyrant, or the confident tyrant with the face of a demon? I wasn't sure how I felt about a choice between two tyrants who manipulated Fei's feelings, but I was intrigued by the differences between them, the dark romance aspect focusing on two toxic men, and the spicy romantic tension.

So all in all I found this an entertaining romantasy, despite some of its flaws. I would read more in this series. The author really got me on Fei's side by the second half and I found myself rooting for her.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This came off as a mix of Mulan, love triangle, drama kind of book.

Fei has been betrothed to the crown Prince Siwang for as long as she can remember, thanks to a phoenix’s mark on her forehead and a prophecy made when she was born. She doesn’t want to marry him, but instead wants to find her own place in the world.

She ultimately ends up saving the life of Yuxue, who is a prince from another area, and through this, ends up breaking the betrothal. However, not everyone is as they seem. Yuxue was a bit more vicious than I was anticipating.

The first half of the book was a lot of character build up for the second half of the book to take off. It was very action packed from the middle through the end, and now I’m invested and need to know what happens next!

Unfortunately didn’t love this one the way I wanted to. I didn’t love either love-interest, and the pacing really threw me off, I feel like it took too long for something to really happen to progress the story.

Fast paced fantasy romance, read this if you love mulan and morally grey characters. There are love triangles, villains, what’s not love.

Fei is destined to be the Empress of all Empresses, according to a prophesy. But that future has destroyed her life, as she is forced to grow up in isolation, told she will marry the Prince and make him a powerful Emperor.

Although I loved the plot of this book, I very much agree with Fei that her life would be better without any of the romance. The love triangle didn't feel right, and one love interest was a walking red flag whilst the other had zero chemistry. I would love to read more about Fei's friends and family though - her time away from the palace was definitely my favourite! I'll be interested to see what the next book holds.

Thank you to the publisher for sending a copy to review.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the writing was beautiful in a lot of spots. I loved how this book delves into how women are seen and portrayed in world ruled by men. It weaves in subtle bits of realism around how stories are remembered and written/told when it comes to downplaying women’s roles in events.

Fei’s struggle as a woman in a world where she is always being seen as an object by men without a voice was extremely relatable.

The MMC’s were well developed but it would have been nice to get more development with Yexue. The pacing was a bit weird in a few spots but overall I had a good time and wanted to keep going to see how this story would play out. It was also interesting to see a family that supported their daughter no matter what which was kind of a shock especially with this type of story.

I found the premise of the book intriguing, but found fault in the pacing and lack of plot progression. There were also times while I was reading where I was jolted out of the world the author had created by errors (ex: sentences repeated), but I assume all these will be ironed out before publication. Overall, it was a fun world to dive into.

I have complicated feelings about The Nightblood Prince — as a fantasy, I adored every bit of it. Mulan, vampires, Helen of Troy, it felt like a blend for me specifically. I loved how Fei's actions were guided by - and operated within the limits of - her moral compass. I also love the core theme of defying fate—it's always one of my favorites. However, as a romantasy this book falls flat for me as I didn't really care about either love interest, and was far more interested in all other elements of the plot. I'm a big romantasy reader, so I'm surprised about my thoughts on this book, but I don't think either love interest stood out to me, unfortunately. 3.5 stars and I'll definitely be continuing the series!

This is basically Mulan with vampires and what I think was supposed to be a love triangle. Unfortunately, I lost all interest when both princes turn out to be controlling and disrespectful.

Imagine Mulan x The Trojan War, but add vampires and a love triangle. I haven’t decided yet who I believe is Agamemnon and who is Hector (or perhaps Paris would be a better comparison), but wars are essentially waged over Fei (Helen) though all she herself wants is freedom.

I will not delve too much into the details because this is an ARC review, but I will say, that one thing that stood out to me is Fei. So many romantasy/fantasy books misconstrue a “strong” female character with a “mean” female character. Fei, from the start, is all about taking matters into her own hands, defying fate, and refusing to be chained, but she does so without sacrificing her compassion, her empathy, and her moral compass.

Overall, I did enjoy the book and intend to purchase a copy upon release and also continue the series to see what happens next and how the characters develop. Thank you to all involved in allowing me the opportunity to review this ARC.

I feel like the pacing in this book is off. We spend too much time in certain times and places and not enough in others. And let's be honest, the I'll Make a Man Out of You, she's undercover as a soldier either needed to be more or not be there. BUT, this is fun. Vampires and epic Asian fantasy, lots of fun.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for allowing to to read this as an ARC. As a Chinese drama kind of girl, I enjoyed this storyline. I very much liked the MFC, as she is depicted as smart and determined. Though kind of tragic with her being captive and very much isolated from her family. With prophecy at hand, who will she end up with? I'm not 100% sure, both seem like they could make her happy to some capacity - but they have similar flaws like control, vainness and selfish. They aren't 100% honest with her either. Apart of me hopes she will choose herself. Overall, it was face paced once you got through about 50% of the book. Ultimately the book felt like a build up for wanting to know more about the 3 characters. I'm glad this is an ongoing sequel!

Really liked this story. I thought the 3 main characters were well written. At first I was routing for Fei and Siwang than it became Fei and Yexue. But really i was routing for all the characters to grow and find their happiness.
This story definitely has a bit of a Mulan vibe to it. Mostly when Fei joins the army as a man in place of her father.
I'm excited to see where the second book will take us.

I first started reading Chang with her debut and I’ve been so excited to continue to follow her work, it is just so much fun and I do have a good time

The Nightblood Prince by Molly X. Chang is a fate entwined, ethereal fantasy romance novel with impressive world building, impactful patriarchy, and elaborate Chinese culture.

Fei, our fmc, is a strong willed woman in a world ran by men. She’s prophesied for greatness, but wishes to write her destiny. In the beginning, she’s very naïve to their world of politics and traditional expectations, but as the story grows, so does Fei. She becomes someone willing to do whatever it takes to protect the innocent lives trapped in a senseless war. She’s a very commendable and admirable character.

The Crown Prince, Fei’s betrothed, and our first mmc, Siwang, is someone who loves Fei wholeheartedly. However, it seems he puts duty first always. To be honest, I don’t like him, mostly because he was so cowardly it gives me the ick. But, I am biased, as I have a favorite.

Yuexe, who is a prince from a neighboring land, is so incredibly fascinating to me that I couldn’t help but be drawn to him from the get go. He’s secretive, and when I uncovered some of his secrets, I was practically frothing at the mouth for this man. Literally everything about him is what I look for in a mmc, so I’m definitely in his corner when it comes to Fei’s affections.

Overall, this book teases you just enough to make you desperate for more at the end. I love that Fei was able to help both sides, one way or another, and I really look forward to what happens following the events in The Nightblood Prince. I hope to see more of Yuexe, and I honestly hope that his and Fei’s fates are entwined in the way I am desperate to see. Sksks

Special thanks to Molly X. Chang & team and NetGalley for the review copy!

I flew through this story. I still don't know who the Fei will fall in love with, and I couldn't be happier about it! Fei is the true Hero in this story.

I will say the red bracelet moment has swayed me a bit! Can two irredeemable men be swoony??? Absolutely

Fei is the type of FMC that I love to read about. Courageous but also doubts herself. It makes her more relatable in my opinion.

I've already pre-ordered because that cover is GORGEOUS 😍

This was a super interesting premise that for me ended up with a clunkier execution than I would have liked. Overall it was a nice story for a young adult reader. It was pitched as a love triangle, but it never really delivered on that promise. The writing itself was very heavy handed at times, telling us we like this person now and then we don't. At first I was surprised and disappointed that the Mulan story wasn't mentioned as part of this plot, but then when it became a small part of the middle of the story and almost not important to the plot it gave the explanation for leaving it out of the plot summary. My greatest disappointment was that we had the single bed/room available in an inn trope and then did nothing with it. I wanted to like this more than I ended up, but I still think it would be a fun read for younger readers.

thanks netgalley for the eARC <3 !!!!
i havent read this author's other popular work, but i really enjoyed this one (not to mention the stunning cover). the politics and tension were great; it's a promising book to add to your TBR if youre interested in a chinese fantasy with VAMPIRES and a strong heroine.

This was a great fantasy book! The world building was wonderful and very well thought out. The story was very interesting and fast paced.