𝐓𝐨 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐔𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐬 | 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐗. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠 | 𝟑*

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”

Typically I write my likes and dislikes for a review but I’m genuinely uncertain of what to make of this read. I think my problem is that I’m just not sure what this book is trying to be. The writing style is lush, the content serious, and the execution unsettling.

So this book was inspired by the authors own family history, their experience in Manchuria, and the war crime Unit 731. A worthy and tragic inspiration story that needs highlighting in modern day fiction lest we forget. But to then blend it with what struck me as an Antony and Cleopatra inspired romance was an odd choice. Especially as the power dynamic was imbalanced to the point of being hugely uncomfortable. Was it really love or Stockholm syndrome? I’m not sure. The added complexity of the potential for a love triangle doesn’t help to clarify either.

From the authors own words: “The book features an unreliable narrator who convinces herself to do terrible things to protect those she loves, but when she finds the full truth of the occupying regime she does NOT continue harboring any illusions about it.”

I think the standpoint and perspective of the main character was a choice that was difficult to execute well. If you were to ask the majority of people if they would keep their family safe but had to kill a strangers family or keep a strangers family safe but had to kill their own family, most of us would choose the former option, right? But most of us would not fall in love with the person who handed us that awfully manipulative decision to make. And most of us definitely wouldn’t push the colonizer ideals and agenda as their justification for their decisions. There is no worse personality combination than morally grey AND naive. It’s confusing how to feel about the MC because it seemed that all the characters around Ruying were just as exasperated as I was with her. I couldn’t tell whether the author wanted me to root for the MC or hope for her death. All I know for certain is that Ruying is unrelatable to the point of unlikable.

I think it’s worth reading BIPOC reviews on this, particularly Asian book reviewers. As much as I love to promote diverse character and story representation, I can’t say whether this book gives its intended representation the justice it deserves. Perhaps it does over the entire series arc but judging from this book alone I can see how it raises hackles.

I wanted to like this book, I really, really did. But between the chapter long info dump, the exceptionally dubious relationship between protagonist and antagonist and the fact that Chang tells you everything shows nothing and jumps huge time frames and things just suddenly happen like pow! In the last sentence you read I was living with the dubious love interest now I have my own apartment about which nothing has previously been set up. The world building is thin to non-existent and the read is left to infer A LOT. I didn’t have a very clear picture of what anywhere looked like except that “Rome” (Yes, let’s take the story from the horrific crimes of the Japanese during the occupation of Manchuria and substitute in an ancient Empire for it) There was also the incredibly weird random chapter from the villains perspective. The title of book two leaves me hope that Chang is going to set up Baihu as the endgame LI and not Antony but this first installment was written as enemies to lovers so unless she’s swayed by reviews I’m not convinced. Given the author’s not e at the beginning the whole arc of ruling falling in love with her coloniser and abuser did not sit well. Other reviewers have put it better than I can but there’s a lot of red flags in this narrative and I hope revisions have been made.

Interestingly goodreads has suspended reviews on this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

The concept of this book is intriguing, and really highlights the issues of colonialism and exploitation in a new and interesting way. However, I did find the narrative repetitive at times, especially Ruying's inner monologue, which broke my concentration and ejected me from the story at several points. I'm not sure if this is going to be a duology or a trilogy, but I feel the plot from this book could have been effectively condensed into a shorter page count. It does make for an effective endpoint to the novel though. Having said that, I am invested enough to want to read the next installment.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods seemed like it would be an interesting and thoughtful read however unfortunately I have found that this was not a book that I particularly enjoyed.

The main issue for me was the writing. The first chapter in particular was a complete info dump and it made me tired of reading this book after only a few pages. The main character also has a habit of monologuing SO much! This really interrupts the flow of the plot and just makes the writing a little bit tiresome.

Overall… yes I am disappointed in this book. I do understand the coloniser romance argument that has been going around and think that for me this pushed the boundary for an enemies to lovers romance a little too much.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is set in an intriguing fantasy world, with a fascinating premise. Colonisers from another world have invaded, and despite the magic many of the locals have, managed to devastate in an overwhelming initial attack due to their advanced science and technology (namely guns, planes, helicopters!) Twenty years later and there is supposed 'peace' brought by treaties, but there is widespread hatred and abuse from the Romans, and it seems a war is coming.

Ruying has a powerful gift over death, so when she falls into the hands of the Romans she is controlled and used by one of the princes.

I struggled to sink into the story at times. Part of it for me was Ruying's long reflections on her thoughts and feelings, with added world building, that regularly broke up dialogue and important scenes, taking me out of the action. There was some beautiful phrasing, but it made it hard for me to lose myself in what was going on. I started to get into it near the end when Ruying had finally woken up and decided what she was going to do.

I loved the writing style, the characters, the plot, and I’m a sucker for including any kind of folklore so the inclusion of Chinese folklore was fantastic!
One thing I will note is that I found the pace of this book to be of a slower pace, but I think that was due to some of the detail that is provided within this book.
I found myself following the internal conflict of the main character, whilst dealing the the external conflict that is going on around her, and as a reader it left me with a few questions; I was left questioning what extent are people willing to go for those they love, and how do they come to terms with what they may have to do to protect them, and ultimately how does this affect the needs of the ‘greater good’.
I am curious to see what lies in store for the rest of the series, as this was certainly a great opening to these new stories and characters.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods was an interesting read for me. I liked how well the world was developed, and the characters were intriguing. I did find large chunks of the book repetitive, and some of the writing style threw me off.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Future romantacy nominee? Um yes. Yes I think so.

another ULTIMATE enemies to lovers recommendation!! Seriously I'm so obsessed this is real like actual enemies to lovers written to perfection!

The world building along the relationship was done in such a stellar way, we have so much romantic tension and fun banter while simultaneously exploring a super well detailed and written world that I'd love to lose myself in. I'm absolutely obsessesed with both the fmc and her li, as they are both fully fleshed out characters that were delightful to read of.

EDIT: March 2024. Following the discourse on twitter, we will be rereading this arc as we cannot much about it AT ALL. We want to ensure a fair review because of such.

It's hard to write something about this novel. I am not quite sure where the author wants us to go. I read about the problem with a colonizer romance, and I agree with it, but I think that it won't be the case. Antony is twisted and thinks he loves her, but she ends up choosing someone else (will he be the love interest, I assume we will know in the second novel). But I think it's interesting to see how colonizer can play with the mind and heart of a lonely girl, how a world which isn't black or white can lead anyone on a difficul path or do wrong things (or feeling something for the oppressor).

Nevertheless, my 3,5 stars note isn't really about the romance between Ruying and Antony, but about the plot and Ruying herself (and some other characters). Though I can understand most of her actions, she was often annoying and we spend too much time reading about her psychological turmoil. I felt like everything was going in circles "I will do anything to protect my family - oh damn I don't feel right about that - but yes I will do anything to protect my family - ohhh I don't know, I am so bad" and more than 300 pages to finally decide to turn away from Antony... But I liked all the questions about ethics and moral (is it ok to kill the few to protect the most ?), showing that the world isn't black or white. And I can just love the fact that we speak about Chinese culture, the way Occident is killing the Earth by polluting everything, and I was happy to read something about colonization. Too bad I didn't really like the way it's told...

- thank you Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC -

(Review wrote and published on Goodreads)

I really wanted to love this book but there are problematic theme's that I couldn't get past and author behaviour (doxxing) that I cannot support

I really enjoyed the Asian setting as well as the characterization as well as the engaging plot-line. I will for sure be picking up more from this author in the future

There is a pang in my heart as I gather my thoughts to write this review. I honestly don’t even remember how I chanced upon this book, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods, but I recall seeing the author was Asian and then reading this is something like an ode to her heritage, as well as a love poem to her grandparents and family. I quickly went through the description and the praise the story got from other authors, and, naturally, expected a lot of good things from it.

I mean, it seemed just the right kind of story to immerse myself into, so I instantly requested an advance copy, which Netgalley and the publisher were kind enough to grant in exchange for a honest review.

Book Title and Cover

The title was an instant attraction. It lured me in in matters of seconds as it sung about old Asian myths, of fantastic realms, and seemed to be laced in religious aspects. I liked the metaphor and the image it created, and I found it thoroughly intriguing.

Afterwards, I noticed the cover, with a lady at the forefront, wielding some sort of magic, inspiring strength and decisiveness, resolution and conviction. The golden thread lost itself in the distance and I noticed it later, along with the funky castle in the background, but they all picked my curiosity. After all, the artistry of the cover seemed to indicate a strong heroine, and I live for the stories told by the women who faced all sorts of challenges and ended up victorious.

The Plot

The story revolves around Yang Ruying, a girl who was blessed by Death and who lives on the Pangu continent, in a world quite different from our own. We discover, from the very beginning, that her land was invaded by the Romans who brought all sorts of misfortunes to her people, including her family, the biggest one of them being an addictive substance known as opian. This substance is said to enhance the Xianlings’ powers, people just like Ruying, who are able to wield magic, however, this is merely a lie. Upon invading her land, the Romans used the substance to weaken and control the Pangulians. As you might expect, Ruying’s family also fell prey to their tricks, and while her father died, her sister still struggled with this addiction. Consequently, our main girl acts like a dealer of sorts, getting the drug from her former best friend and childhood crush, Baihu, and then gives it to her sister.

One day, upon returning from Baihu’s headquarters, Ruying witnesses a wealthy Roman gifting a poor woman a gold coin. Despite the rules and her status, the girl decides to rob the Roman and risk death, however fate seems to smile upon her as she narrowly escapes. Her victory is short lived, though, for the Romans, learning of her rare gift, soon invade her home and take her prisoner. It is now up to her to either fight for the Romans or against them.

The Characters

There are quite a few characters showing up throughout the story and I will briefly list them below.

Yang Ruying – our main character, a 19 year old who claims to be strong and only displays weakness. She doesn’t seem to be able to think for herself and is easily swayed when it comes to protecting her remaining family. Can tug at other people’s qi and end their lives.
Yang Meiya – the other half of our main character, her twin sister. The other side of the yin and yang diagram. She can heal, although she is an opian addict. I didn’t quite understand why she did not use her power to heal herself or escape her addiction. It was either mentioned or implied her magic was also quite strong. She is a fighter of the opposition, a rebel, but we never really see her in action. She only pops up two times tops.
Baihu – half royal. An apparent ally of the Romans. Ruying’s childhood friend and crush. I won’t say more due to spoilers, but I will mention this: you’d think he is the main love interest in this story, however, things are a little different. At least, in this first volume.
Antony Augustus – a Roman prince. The mastermind. The Serpent. Pretty much the main love interest, the enemy who becomes a lover. Or maybe not quite?
Valentin Augustus – another Roman prince. Unlike his adopted brother, he is a warmonger. More aggressive and violent.
The Romans – you’d think there was a reason why they are called that. I couldn’t frankly find it. Instead of the common expectation of them being actual Romans, they seem to be people from a far future, something rather American in demeanor, people focusing on science, sucking the earth dry, destroying land with their waste, and building weapons of mass destruction (they have guns, missiles, helicopters, bombs, you name it).

Thoughts

To be honest, there were so many things running through my mind as I finished this debut novel, but most of all, I was disappointed. And this is rather sad, especially seeing how much I have expected from it and with how much excitement I anticipated this read. Frankly, I am not even quite sure where to begin. For one, there would be the writing style which really didn’t fit my taste. There were a lot of repetitions and some chapters just felt like deja-vu to me. The vocabulary was rather limited, too, the dialogue spanned over most of the paragraphs, and the author relied a lot on telling and not showing. The descriptions were rather scarce and the Chinese text insertion was a bit off. I think this would have been way more effective had Chang used it on its own and added footnotes for the translations.

Then, there were the characters. None really stood out to me. I wanted to at least like the main character, Ruying, or maybe even Antony, as he had potential with his morally grey actions, but they both felt more like mere husks, half a shadow in the night. Ruying’s image, to me at least, solidified as a childish girl who liked to contradict herself a lot. Not only did she keep saying she had the power, although she was cowardly, but she also vowed to never serve the enemies of her country or use her gift recklessly, when, in turn, she did the exact opposite. She submitted to the Romans very easily, she used her magic without much of a second thought, and then, she randomly fell for the Roman prince. Of course, I didn’t quite understand Anthony either. He had nothing to do with the legacy left behind by great Augustus, Cassius and the rest, although he was thrown into their family line like it was nothing. His actions were also half baked, although he could have been cool and attractive through both wit and wickedness. The way he was presented, however, just propelled an image of a spoiled brat who did a little bit of manipulation and didn’t live up to his brainiac character at all. He was said to have been smart and the one to have discovered ways to use the Xianlings, but this was not proven anywhere.

Furthermore, the worldbuilding was mostly non-existent. Aside from the fact there was a mention of magic, portals to different worlds, guns and swords, the author doesn’t describe anything more about the two worlds and their inhabitants. I wished she took the time to bring us closer to the worlds and explain their inner-workings, the magic system, to dive deeper into the palace and the inheritance fights, the way the two brothers raced against each other, give Ruying a better reason to dive into the murders she committed and how she actually fell in love with the enemy little by little.

Overall, there was a lot of potential with this story, but the execution was very much lacking. There are obviously a lot more points I would like to address, however, I feel like this review would turn into a very lengthy rant, so I will stop here, for now.

4.5⭐️

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow! What an incredible start to a new sci-fi/fantasy series! And what an incredible debut! Molly X Chang has a bright future in publishing!

From the very start, this book had me hooked. It's a wonderfully original blend of historical Chinese-inspired fantasy and urban science-fiction, exploring the meeting of magic and science in such a unique way. I love how Chang subverted and crossed genres and tropes to create this incredibly refreshing world, with really strong worldbuilding that was also easy/accessible to follow.

Chang's character work, I think, is one of her greatest strengths. Ruying is such a fascinating protagonist. She is incredibly nuanced and morally grey and certainly makes many questionable decisions, but you still root for her from the first page to the very last. I'm very excited to see how she will grow and develop as a character over the rest of the series. The side characters and other MCs are incredibly nuanced and complex too. My opinion on Antony changed every few chapters, and I still cannot decide whether I hate him or love him (he's going to need a Zuko level redemption arc to restore my trust in him), and I can sense that Baihu is going to be a very interesting player in this world, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him in the next books.

I think this book is incredibly relevant with the state our world is in now. It explores complex themes such as colonialism, genocide, war, racism, pollution, with such nuance and respect, cleverly staged in a sci-fi/fantasy world for our consumption. It's books like these that are so so important for people to read, and in turn learn and abandon prejudices that hold us back. I have so much respect for Molly X Chang for how she approached and handled these themes, and I cannot wait to see what she will do next.

I will say that the pacing at times seemed a bit off and jarring, especially with the frequent unexpected time jumps. Also, at times it was quite clear that this is a debut novel, as the writing was not always as polished and tightened as it could have been. However, I have full faith in Chang that she will grow and blossom as a writer.

I absolutely LOVED this book, and will be impatiently waiting for the moment I can get my desperate hands on the next! Definitely pick this up when it releases next month (April 18th!).

Thank you so much for letting me read an ARC of this gorgeous book!

It just had my heart from the start. I was rooting so much for the FMC, it hurt. I loved how we saw her in a conflict between who to save. She felt so layered and real for her feelings and thoughts surrounding her home, family, friendships and loves.

The history woven into this book is so clear and so emotive.

The writing is stunning and I was completely immersed in the world, understanding the magic completely. I loved the voice of the FMC and can't wait to see what she does next!

Superb fantasy book!

I was abit confused at first when this included roman’s in the plot, but it did add an interesting element. This feels historical but fresh and diverse.

Ruying was a character I partially did not like, she was compassionate and everything she did was for her family, but she was also naive and chose ignorance at every turn. I feel like book 2 will change my opinion of her.

All in all this was unique, powerful and I think it will be a tale of vengeance/retribution as the story progresses.

3.5 round up

“Heroes die. Cowards live.”

This has been described as a coloniser romance… it’s more of a corruption arc. If you’re expecting much romance at all, particularly enemies to lovers, be warned that this reads much more like grooming. However, it’s gripping: I kept reading because I wanted to scream at the first person narrator to wake up and smell the sinister coffee.

Ruying is gifted by magic: with the gift of Death. Struggling to support her grandmother and her twin sister, who has the gift of healing but is addicted to the destructive but power-enhancing drug opian, she is kidnapped by the invading Roman Empire from space (stay with me; it’s sort of an alternate Earth) and forced to serve as assassin to a prince. But as he becomes ever more convincing, kind and tender to her, and Ruying struggles with her own morality, she begins to tell herself she’s doing it for the right reasons.

It’s a weird but compelling premise and I definitely wanted to keep reading. The prose is a bit choppy with short paragraphs and sentence fragments if that isn’t your thing. But it’s also horrifying, gripping and interesting. Not at all romantic. I can’t stress enough that this isn’t a romantasy despite the fact there is some yearning.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Author of this book for allowing me access to an advanced copy of this book.

"But who am I? Who are you? We are not Gods. We cannot treat other lives as flowers to be plucked from a field"

Review:

In all honesty To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods was a book that had caught my attention because of it's stunning cover art. The beautiful tones and character art are just gorgeous.

While reading To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods I genuinely had the best time reading through it, and because of that I actually managed to fly through it fairly quickly, moving on to each page with anticipation and excitement seeing if my foreshadowing theories were going to be correct or not.

Summary:

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is the debut novel from Author Chloe X. Chang, and from what I can deduce from my research, this story has been around 8 years in the making and is based on stories that the author's grandparents would tell her as a child. Which gives the book great sentimental value.

The story follows FMC Ruying. She is a 19 year old girl that was born with the powers of death. Many of her people are born with magical powers although each is very different even if some have the same premise. Ruying has sadly lost both of her parents and lives with her grandmother and twin sister Meiya. Unfortunately Meiya is ill due to an addiction with Opian and Ruying will do anything to help her sister.

Their world is being colonized by the Romans. Ruying is pulled into a war as she is kidnapped by Anthony, the grandson of a Roman leader who intends to weaponize her powers against her own and use her as his personal assassin.

Characters:

The FMC Ruying alone is a very intriguing character and carries a very popular fictional trope. She essentially has death magic, something which is very exciting to read about when you're a fantasy reader like I am. Magic is something that has to be done well and I felt that Chloe X Chang wrote this character perfectly. She was ambitious yet flawed making her come across as more human than she actually could be given her magical powers that she possesses.

Baihu, the FMC's childhood friend and somewhat crush, I liked that their friendship was now questionable and complicated now that he is working for the enemy. But in all honesty I would have liked a little more of a backstory from him perhaps some more flashbacks when he and Ruying were young.

Anthony. Now this is a character that had me quite enthralled with this story. I felt a huge range of emotions when it came to him. He is one of the leaders of the Roman empire (where Rome is actually on a different planet, seperate from Ruying's home which in all honesty was a little confusing at times). But while reading, one minute I despised him for his actions being a colonizer and the next I was softening my facial expressions while saying "awww" out loud. If a character can make me feel a huge range of emotions then in my opinion, this is a sign of a very well written character indeed. He also delivers some beautifully written and emotional one liners. An example of this is - "Maybe one day I'll deserve you".

Tropes and Genre:

While reading To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods I was noticing a lot of similarities to some other much loved books in my collection. Such as Shatter Me, Shadow and Bone and Daughter of the Moon Goddess. So if you enjoyed these books then it's likely you will enjoy this one too.

This story is both a great mix of the fantasy and sci-fi genres and is classed as a Young Adult novel.

Tropes include:

⭐ Colonizer Romance (trigger ⚠️)
⭐ Love triangle (only a hint)
⭐ One bed (although no spice)
⭐ Forced proximity (as FMC is captive)
⭐ Enemies to lovers......to enemies

I have read other reviews online of this title also and many of them are very uncomfortable with the colonizer romance plot. I can completely understand why as it is an uncomfortable subject to read about. So please be aware of this when going into this book.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book, it surprised me as it was not what I had expected it to be, but this does not take away from the fact that I had a great time reading it. And I cannot wait for the release of book two!

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for providing me an eARC to review!

No one is more disappointed than me that this was unfortunately a flop :( I will say upfront that I am a Poppy War stan, so when you have a very similar plot about teched-up invaders coming to a magic land with opium and have EXTREMELY similar character names (Yang Ruying and Fang Runin are you kidding me???) I can't not compare the two. And where Rin was a truly morally grey, horrible character that you still rooted for, Ruying was a wet blanket unless you were being reminded every couple of pages that she was doing this all to survive.

I agree with the critiques that this is a coloniser romance - Ruying is on board with Antony's proposal and does his bidding with little internal conflict about what this means for her people and how she is now kind of complicit in their oppression. But his smiles make her fluttery and his jade green eyes...please!!! I wanted a manipulative baddie, who fully knew that she was in the wrong but genuinely believed it was the only way for her and her family to survive - but instead her character development was just constant reminders of "i'm a monster" shoved down your throat and that brand of martyrdom is so tired and predictable that it really limited Ruying's development.

The world building and pacing was also weird - it felt like a lot of elements were thrown in for convenience sake without being well established (like her grandmother showing her how to kind of slit throats without killing people while running JUST in case she would ever need it). I just think there was so much potential here for a really unique and interesting story about survival at any cost - it reminded me a lot of books I've really enjoyed like The Poppy War and These Violent Delights (and though I didn't enjoy as much Immortal Longings) cause it had a lot of the same themes about colonialism and intersectionality with class and gender. But the character development was just so much telling rather than showing, which really didn't get you on Ruying's side and to understand why she was making the choices she did. Sure becoming the coloniser's pet is a way to get by, but doesn't that kind of make you hate yourself? Or at least something interesting?

Maybe my hopes were just too high, especially as I have been falling out of love with YA recently. But I also think that the bones were there to have something really special, just the execution fell short. I think there is potential for book 2 to deliver more of what I was hoping, but sadly I won't be continuing.

Okay guys let's... get into it.

As many other reviews have pointed out, yes the coloniser romance is definitely there. And while Antony's character is designed to be charming and have you trust him, it's still a really weird thing to do. While I appreciate the intention of enemies to lovers, I don't think very many of us would fall in love with the person whose nation is supplying a deadly drug to and could not care less about the people of our country. I hope that in the next book Ruying finally hacks herself off from Antony, because that is long overdue.

I changed my rating of this book a couple of times, but I think 2.5 is where I'm landing. The one-sentence paragraphs annoyed me from the very beginning, there was so much unnecessary repetition -- in general and in rephrasing -- and I kept putting it down. I thought Chang definitely had a strong premise with this story, but even a morally-grey protagonist should be able to know that the enemy prince doesn't have her country's best interests at heart, even if he is handsome. The novel got a lot stronger after the 60% mark, but just not strong enough.

I may still read the sequel, if only to find out how things are going to be tied up. Last time I judge a book by its cover, I suppose.