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readwithsophsx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deportation, War, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Death of parent, Abandonment, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Torture, Drug use, Murder, Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Grief, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Medical trauma
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
First and foremost, this book is more of a victim of bad marketing than anything else. The book is not a romance; it includes a romantic subplot, and the intention is for the relationship between Antony (the coloniser) and Ruying to be toxic. However, that doesn’t absolve the books of all its faults.
I will give the book a few points in its favour. There were several moments where the writing really stood out to me. I was impressed and could see that Molly X. Chang has a lot of potential. I also think that the complexity and moral greyness of Baihu and Ruying was interesting. More focus and time should have been given to this aspect of the characters. It had the potential to offer a compelling commentary on what people do to survive colonization/oppression. It would have been captivating to compare and contrast them, to show them coming to understand each other, and to demonstrate how each has used their position to benefit those they care for. However, that didn’t happen. The repetitive writing gave the impression of inactivity. Additionally, there was a tendency to tell rather than show (I’ll mention this later in my dislikes).
Issue one and my personal biggest issue is that Ruying felt extremely stupid. Because there’s a six-month time skip, instead of showing us Antony gaining Ruying’s trust and isolating her and demonstrating to her why she should believe that he wants the best for her and her world, we’re told this over and over and over. And this isn’t emphasised for the reader. We don’t get demonstrations of him living up to Ruying’s view. We get Ruying questioning if she can trust him over and over before moving on like it’s not a big deal and him saying suspicious things. It’s fine if Ruying is an unreliable narrator, but I feel like the reader should either buy into or understand why she feels this way. It was something I couldn’t do. It just made Ruying feel like an idiot. Which ALSO emphasised a telling over showing issue because we’re told over and over how smart she is. Ruying was raised by the brilliant mind behind the country’s greatest general. She’s SUPPOSED to be smart. She’s SUPPOSED to know how to navigate politics and manipulate people. And she just doesn’t. That made the book far more frustrating in the end.
THIS NEXT SECTION WILL CONTAIN MILD SPOILERS.
Issue two, the sad kicked puppy coloniser prince, Antony Augustus. I found the book’s approach to Antony strange and dismissed it as Ruying being an “unreliable narrator.” This doesn’t excuse the issues. I was increasingly frustrated seeing this coloniser who is RUNNING human experiments framed as a sad boy who was just in a bad situation. He doesn’t WANT to do his experiments and kill people, but he needs to save his home world! He doesn’t WANT to kill the emperor of another kingdom, but he needs to ensure they won’t back out of their treaty. He WANTS to help Ruying’s people, but this can only be done by ruling over them. But that’s okay because he’s interested in their culture and the world! I couldn’t believe any of it, but Ruying did, so we had no choice but to watch this awful man be mooned over by his victim. All the language surrounding him was soft and gentle and traditionally romantic. If they had used more aggressive words to subtly convey a sense of unease, this would have been MUCH better. And it would have given the sense that deep down, Ruying knew something was off. Antony’s own POV chapter highlights this issue. The entire chapter focuses on making him a love-sick boy who’s dreading the heartbreak he’ll experience when his VICTIM realises that he’s been lying to her and experimenting on people like her. This cannot be justified by the use of first person or an unreliable narrator because the chapter, titled “Antony,” is written in third person. It also didn’t take much looking for me to find marketing for the book calling it “enemies to lovers” and stating it is “Zutara inspired”. And we can’t dismiss those as referring to Baihu. There was no romantic subplot with him in THIS book, AND a lot of that marketing EXPLICITLY referred to Antony.
SPOILERS END
Issue three, the writing was very repetitive. While I understand the repeating of ideas in a text, there are times where it’s too heavy-handed. While reading, I noted I was going to pull my hair out if I read “girl blessed by death” one more time. Multiple characters use that EXACT phrase and it felt tired. It was like the author was worried the reader would forget Ruying’s power. Not to mention the same ideas came up over and over and over for Ruying to angst over. Which CAN work, but outside of Ruying angsting I can’t provide a solid story of what happened in the book outside of the occasional assassination until you hit the last 20%. This repetitive writing also threw off the pacing. The book could have been great if it had taken more time to tell a story that delved deeper into Ruying’s angst instead of just paying lip service to it. Because the themes it wanted to tackle could have been interesting and complex and added depth to the story.
Issue four, setting the scene. This is the lesser of my issues, but it is the only other one to make this list. (As this review is already 1,011 words.) I found the writing to set the scenes the characters were in to be lacking. And while this was adequate when nothing was happening, I felt lost in action scenes. I found it surprising and disappointing that the author did not describe the settings in beautiful, flowery language, especially considering the amount used to describe Ruying’s inner turmoil. And as mentioned, since I had no sense of the space in action scenes, I felt so lost in what was happening. I don’t need every leaf on every tree described, it just felt lacking.
Overall, I think this book needed a few more editing passes done, a couple sensitivity readers, and better marketing. Molly X. Chang DOES have a lot of potential, her work just needs polish. I am currently planning to read book 2 after it comes out to see if the story improves, because I think it CAN be a great series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Drug abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Vomit, Addiction, Death, Racism, Colonisation, and Drug use
Moderate: Child abuse, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Blood, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence
kbairbooks's review
I really wanted to like this book but at almost 60% I just couldn’t continue. I didn’t like any of the characters, the book was 75% inner dialogue and the rest actual things happening, I was bored, and found myself just trying to slug through it. I found this book to be affecting my mood anytime I read it and I wasn’t looking forward to picking it up. Im calling it quits with the hopeful thought that it will find the readers it’s meant for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, Classism, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Thanks to Del Rey Books for the free copy of this book.
- I had very high hopes for TO GAZE UPON WICKED GODS. It met some of them - an inventive magic system and a great world full of hard choices and morally gray characters. Plus, the staccato style of the writing kept everything moving at a breakneck pace.
- Where it fell short for me was characterization. Ruying has practically only one personality trait, a drive to protect her family. And we know this because she states it every other page, along with other basic facts of the story, over and over again.
- There is also a six month time jump in the middle of the book. During that span, we miss what sounds like some heart pounding action, and also the entirety of the budding relationship between Ruying and her colonizer captor. We’re simply told that she’s drawn to him, but we skipped the parts where she learned more about him and built trust.
- The trust part in particular is was very difficult for me to swallow. It’s glaringly obvious that he does not have the good intentions he professes, and yet Ruying is ready to follow him to the ends of the earth (and therefore, the end of her people and her country).
- I had very high hopes for TO GAZE UPON WICKED GODS. It met some of them - an inventive magic system and a great world full of hard choices and morally gray characters. Plus, the staccato style of the writing kept everything moving at a breakneck pace.
- Where it fell short for me was characterization. Ruying has practically only one personality trait, a drive to protect her family. And we know this because she states it every other page, along with other basic facts of the story, over and over again.
- There is also a six month time jump in the middle of the book. During that span, we miss what sounds like some heart pounding action, and also the entirety of the budding relationship between Ruying and her colonizer captor. We’re simply told that she’s drawn to him, but we skipped the parts where she learned more about him and built trust.
- The trust part in particular is was very difficult for me to swallow. It’s glaringly obvious that he does not have the good intentions he professes, and yet Ruying is ready to follow him to the ends of the earth (and therefore, the end of her people and her country).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Addiction, Confinement, Medical content, Violence, Racism, Grief, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Colonisation
elee2013's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
Superb narration by Natalie Naudus! The print book has the Chinese characters written for the proverbs that Antony and Ruying quote, and they’re read very well by NN.
I love the feeling I got from this book — I was reminded of mythology, fables and sitting down to listen to my own family lore.
Ruying is young and naïve, and her journey will be an odyssey, but I think we’ll all come out better in the end. I am really looking forward to the continuation of the series!
I love the feeling I got from this book — I was reminded of mythology, fables and sitting down to listen to my own family lore.
Ruying is young and naïve, and her journey will be an odyssey, but I think we’ll all come out better in the end. I am really looking forward to the continuation of the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Confinement, Blood, Colonisation, Addiction, and Murder
Minor: Police brutality
justinekorson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
EDITED TO ADD QUOTES AS OF 4/23/24
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
*I'm going to edit this later to add quotes to my review for the examples I'm about to give. I don't want to put the quotes now though because I'm not sure what I'm allowed to share since this is an ARC and the quotes may or may not have changed so I will compare them to my physical copy when it arrives.*
I'm sure many of you (If you follow Booktok/Booktwitter closely know about everything that happened with Molly and that other author I refuse to mention who was incredibly racist toward Molly but I'm not here to talk about that. What I do plan to talk about is what happened after. I've followed Molly for a while (even before that author debacle) because I'd heard about her publishing deal and the story sounded great! I was hyped for it and emphasized with her when everything started to go down. To my surprise, not long after what I'm sure was a completely terrible experience for Molly, I saw a lot of criticism over her novel being thrown her way.
Most of this criticism centered around the main characters Ruying and Antony. People were discussing how Molly had written a colonizer romance (Antony is a Roman and has come from a different world to enslave/decimate the Pangu people using drugs and weapons) and how this narrative was very harmful towards the Asian community, (as well as other communities that have also been colonized by white people). Molly ended up writing a few tweets about how her story is NOT a colonizer romance and the context of the story would show this. I couldn't find the tweet I was looking for to backup my point (so unless I dreamed it) but I remembered reading a tweet from Molly that said something along the lines of, "The next story in this saga is called To Kill A Wicked Prince. Do with that what you will." (EDIT: I HAVE FOUND THE POST SHE ACTUALLY SAID THE NEXT TITLE IS "To Kill A Monstrous Prince" which further solidifies my review in my opinion). So with that tweet in mind, I decided to go into the story with the mindset that Ruying DOES NOT love Prince Antony and that she is a victim of her circumstances. Because of this, I saw the story so much clearer.
Ruying does not love Antony and I say this with my whole chest because I watched Antony manipulate her over and over and over until she felt like she was safe with him. But a false sense of security does not equate love. I can not blame her for seeking comfort in him and his empty promises. Antony threatened her family from the very beginning and Ruying mistook his money and his protection as anything other than another way to control her, to keep her living with the fear that it could disappear. Meiya and Baihu argued with her over and over that she wasn't doing this for peace of for her family but for herself. "So what if I am? There is no sin in wanting to live, in wanting a better life for those I love." Who wouldn't fall victim to Antony though? Especially after the manipulation tactics he applied to make her believe he was going to save her and her people from destruction.
Ruying was also clearly terrified from the beginning of what it would mean to be on the other side of Rome's attention. If she wasn't Antony's guard then she was nothing more than something to be discarded. She is in constant turmoil with herself over what she's doing, struggling between wanting to trust Antony and knowing that she CAN'T trust him because he doesn't fully trust her. "His words were like sweet lies. I wanted these melodies to sing true. I wanted to linger in the world he painted so badly. But Antony couldn't make me a hero. If I stayed loyal to him, I would never be a hero to my people. Not after what I did." There was very little romance between them. Lingering gazes, and small touches barely mean anything. The two of them only kissed once and it was so brief and short it was barely there and Ruying's immediate thought afterwards was, "When tomorrow came, we could never be this close again. Because Antony Augustus was my people's enemy. Nothing could ever change this." Those are not the thoughts of someone head over heels in love. The only reason she's conflicted is because she wants to believe he's a good person even though she knows he's not.
Ruying wanted to believe Antony's lies so bad that she tried to convince herself that killing for him was better than fighting for herself, fighting for freedom for her people. She wanted to live and wanted to help her family and I think a lot of people in her position would find themselves in the same situation as her. "I thought I had to do this for them. For us. For survival. But if I was really doing this for them, I wouldn't fight on the side of our enemy."
I don't know if it was because I went in with the mindset that I couldn't trust Antony, but I didn't believe a word he said the entire novel. Especially after Taohau was never mentioned again I knew that something bad happened. I knew the other should would drop and Ruying would finally see him clearly and be able to shake herself free of him. Nobody should believe this is a colonizer romance after Antony gloats TO HER FACE, "You almost can't blame my people for what we are doing" about the genocide of her own people! She had a very bad visceral reaction to this. Ruying hates Antony she just can't show that to him. Even in Antony's own POV I hated him (there's only one chapter of it) and it didn't endear me to him at all. If anything it made me hate him more because of how he talked about Ruying.
Anyways, this was longer than I anticipated. Overall I truly enjoyed the story. I really liked the magic and the world building. It was like a fantasy world crossed with futuristic one. I'm interested how Rome managed to dimension hop(??) and if that will be explained in the other installments. I'm also curious to see if this mysterious third younger brother will make an appearance in the story. I wanted to see more of Meiya but what we got of her was brilliant. The angry, younger sibling (who will probably not make it until the end of the series judging on a few factors) who wants to save the world is always a fun trope! I also truly think Ruying's real love interest will make an appearance in the second novel. (It's either going to be The Phantom or Baihu himself.) I think the next novel will show more of Ruying trying to break free from Anotony and trying to help her people and I can't wait!
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
*I'm going to edit this later to add quotes to my review for the examples I'm about to give. I don't want to put the quotes now though because I'm not sure what I'm allowed to share since this is an ARC and the quotes may or may not have changed so I will compare them to my physical copy when it arrives.*
I'm sure many of you (If you follow Booktok/Booktwitter closely know about everything that happened with Molly and that other author I refuse to mention who was incredibly racist toward Molly but I'm not here to talk about that. What I do plan to talk about is what happened after. I've followed Molly for a while (even before that author debacle) because I'd heard about her publishing deal and the story sounded great! I was hyped for it and emphasized with her when everything started to go down. To my surprise, not long after what I'm sure was a completely terrible experience for Molly, I saw a lot of criticism over her novel being thrown her way.
Most of this criticism centered around the main characters Ruying and Antony. People were discussing how Molly had written a colonizer romance (Antony is a Roman and has come from a different world to enslave/decimate the Pangu people using drugs and weapons) and how this narrative was very harmful towards the Asian community, (as well as other communities that have also been colonized by white people). Molly ended up writing a few tweets about how her story is NOT a colonizer romance and the context of the story would show this. I couldn't find the tweet I was looking for to backup my point (so unless I dreamed it) but I remembered reading a tweet from Molly that said something along the lines of, "The next story in this saga is called To Kill A Wicked Prince. Do with that what you will." (EDIT: I HAVE FOUND THE POST SHE ACTUALLY SAID THE NEXT TITLE IS "To Kill A Monstrous Prince" which further solidifies my review in my opinion). So with that tweet in mind, I decided to go into the story with the mindset that Ruying DOES NOT love Prince Antony and that she is a victim of her circumstances. Because of this, I saw the story so much clearer.
Ruying does not love Antony and I say this with my whole chest because I watched Antony manipulate her over and over and over until she felt like she was safe with him. But a false sense of security does not equate love. I can not blame her for seeking comfort in him and his empty promises. Antony threatened her family from the very beginning and Ruying mistook his money and his protection as anything other than another way to control her, to keep her living with the fear that it could disappear. Meiya and Baihu argued with her over and over that she wasn't doing this for peace of for her family but for herself. "So what if I am? There is no sin in wanting to live, in wanting a better life for those I love." Who wouldn't fall victim to Antony though? Especially after the manipulation tactics he applied to make her believe he was going to save her and her people from destruction.
Ruying was also clearly terrified from the beginning of what it would mean to be on the other side of Rome's attention. If she wasn't Antony's guard then she was nothing more than something to be discarded. She is in constant turmoil with herself over what she's doing, struggling between wanting to trust Antony and knowing that she CAN'T trust him because he doesn't fully trust her. "His words were like sweet lies. I wanted these melodies to sing true. I wanted to linger in the world he painted so badly. But Antony couldn't make me a hero. If I stayed loyal to him, I would never be a hero to my people. Not after what I did." There was very little romance between them. Lingering gazes, and small touches barely mean anything. The two of them only kissed once and it was so brief and short it was barely there and Ruying's immediate thought afterwards was, "When tomorrow came, we could never be this close again. Because Antony Augustus was my people's enemy. Nothing could ever change this." Those are not the thoughts of someone head over heels in love. The only reason she's conflicted is because she wants to believe he's a good person even though she knows he's not.
Ruying wanted to believe Antony's lies so bad that she tried to convince herself that killing for him was better than fighting for herself, fighting for freedom for her people. She wanted to live and wanted to help her family and I think a lot of people in her position would find themselves in the same situation as her. "I thought I had to do this for them. For us. For survival. But if I was really doing this for them, I wouldn't fight on the side of our enemy."
I don't know if it was because I went in with the mindset that I couldn't trust Antony, but I didn't believe a word he said the entire novel. Especially after Taohau was never mentioned again I knew that something bad happened. I knew the other should would drop and Ruying would finally see him clearly and be able to shake herself free of him. Nobody should believe this is a colonizer romance after Antony gloats TO HER FACE, "You almost can't blame my people for what we are doing" about the genocide of her own people! She had a very bad visceral reaction to this. Ruying hates Antony she just can't show that to him. Even in Antony's own POV I hated him (there's only one chapter of it) and it didn't endear me to him at all. If anything it made me hate him more because of how he talked about Ruying.
Anyways, this was longer than I anticipated. Overall I truly enjoyed the story. I really liked the magic and the world building. It was like a fantasy world crossed with futuristic one. I'm interested how Rome managed to dimension hop(??) and if that will be explained in the other installments. I'm also curious to see if this mysterious third younger brother will make an appearance in the story. I wanted to see more of Meiya but what we got of her was brilliant. The angry, younger sibling (who will probably not make it until the end of the series judging on a few factors) who wants to save the world is always a fun trope! I also truly think Ruying's real love interest will make an appearance in the second novel. (It's either going to be The Phantom or Baihu himself.) I think the next novel will show more of Ruying trying to break free from Anotony and trying to help her people and I can't wait!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Classism, Violence, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Sexism, Addiction, Racism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Genocide, Grief, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, War, Misogyny, and Murder
devynreadsnovels's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Murder, Addiction, Death of parent, Genocide, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Violence
Minor: Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts
nerdybookqueen's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I received a digital copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for a review
I requested this one because the world sounded very interesting, and I was curious about the protag, Ruying. I love stories of badass women finding their worth and being amazing. And I did get that, though it took a bit longer than I personally would've liked, but then again, it is a series, so I don't want to judge it on that when there's at least one more book to flesh out the tale.
I found the world very interesting, and the magic system as well. I would love to learn more about how the magic works, and if possible see more stories like the myth Ruying tells about how her people have their powers.
The "romance," however, was questionable, and put me off a bit from the story. Not only was it rather clunky and awkward, the pairing was just a bit...uncomfortable. I enjoy a good enemies to lovers but I'm not sure "man who's the prince of the country that colonized mine" is a great pairing. With the ending, I'm hoping this relationship is not the endgame, and that the clunkiness and uncomfortable parts were meant to read that way, as to me, it really didn't read as a romance at all, and I mostly got the impression it was meant to be from the book description and things the characters said.
I'm looking forward to the next book, and did enjoy my time reading this one. I would especially love seeing her with her sister, I really like a good(or sad) sister dynamic.
I requested this one because the world sounded very interesting, and I was curious about the protag, Ruying. I love stories of badass women finding their worth and being amazing. And I did get that, though it took a bit longer than I personally would've liked, but then again, it is a series, so I don't want to judge it on that when there's at least one more book to flesh out the tale.
I found the world very interesting, and the magic system as well. I would love to learn more about how the magic works, and if possible see more stories like the myth Ruying tells about how her people have their powers.
The "romance," however, was questionable, and put me off a bit from the story. Not only was it rather clunky and awkward, the pairing was just a bit...uncomfortable. I enjoy a good enemies to lovers but I'm not sure "man who's the prince of the country that colonized mine" is a great pairing. With the ending, I'm hoping this relationship is not the endgame, and that the clunkiness and uncomfortable parts were meant to read that way, as to me, it really didn't read as a romance at all, and I mostly got the impression it was meant to be from the book description and things the characters said.
I'm looking forward to the next book, and did enjoy my time reading this one. I would especially love seeing her with her sister, I really like a good(or sad) sister dynamic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Violence, Addiction, Gaslighting, Racism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, War, and Torture
Minor: Slavery, Sexism, Misogyny, and Medical content
corabookworm's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
e-ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I’m going to be honest, I have very conflicted feelings about this book. On one hand, it’s a debut novel, so I’m inclined to give it some grace. The plot was interesting, with intriguing political schemes and mysteries twisted around the main conflict. I only wish we could’ve seen the main character and her magic in action more. (She murders so many people? But all of it’s off-page? What?) There were also some super interesting concepts that were only hinted at, like bits of mythology and the details of their magic, that were left as loose ends, hopefully for the sequel.
The writing also had a lot of potential. I wasn’t a huge fan of the style–there was a lot of info-dumping, repetition, and internal-monologuing, all in a bit of an overdramatic voice–but given it’s a debut, I’m not too upset about it! I particularly liked Chang’s use of metaphors and descriptions in weaving her world and its magic. (Which I also have mixed feelings about.)
The writing also had a lot of potential. I wasn’t a huge fan of the style–there was a lot of info-dumping, repetition, and internal-monologuing, all in a bit of an overdramatic voice–but given it’s a debut, I’m not too upset about it! I particularly liked Chang’s use of metaphors and descriptions in weaving her world and its magic. (Which I also have mixed feelings about.)
The world of Pangu was super cool and had a really interesting magic system! I’m a sucker for magic based around some kind of element/theme like wind, fire, healing, or, in Ruying’s case, death, and the Asian-inspired mythology and world was awesome. But the invading world? Rome? That’s where she lost me. These places are different “worlds” (planets?) and I’m not sure if Rome is supposed to be Earth? Or some made up place? It feels like Earth? But…an alternate version of Earth? And they lean into the Roman theme (mostly with mythology and names) while having *incredibly* advanced technology, which was just disorienting? I don’t know, the explanations there just felt lacking, and I’d love to see it expanded upon in book 2!
Finally, like many other readers, the romance just didn’t sit right with me. (Mild spoilers ahead?) The author has said her intention was to make Ruying an unreliable narrator, and if this WAS the intention, it was done pretty well. The main character comes off frustratingly naive because of it. Stockholm syndrome to the extreme. The real problem is that this book was STILL marketed as a romance. By the author. Like if you’re genuinely recognizing that it’s an abusive and unhealthy relationship (which it is), it feels very weird to call it “enemies to lovers” as part of your marketing scheme? Idk.
Overall, this book had a lot of potential! It suffers from some common debut novel and YA book flaws, but it’s pretty decent otherwise. I’m not sure if I’m interested enough to continue the series, especially if the author continues with the “love-triangle”, but we’ll see!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Death, Colonisation, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Murder, Confinement, and War
Minor: Genocide, Vomit, Torture, and Child death
kimwritesstuff's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I think if you like The Poppy Wars or Shatter Me, you'll like To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods. This book definitely lives in the morally grey and depicts Ruying as a character who is really stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Before Ruying was born, Romans from another world ripped a portal in the sky and invaded her world. Even though Ruying's people have magic, the Romans have science and weapons. For decades, Rome has kept their boot on the neck of her world and kept her people down by flooding the streets with opium. When Ruying is coerced into being an assassin by one of Rome's princes, she finds herself in a difficult position. She uses her powers to kill for Prince Antony and begins to believe some of his lies, that he is the lesser evil and really wants peace.
There were things I liked about this book and several things I almost hated. Let's talk about the good. I thought the brutal reality of colonization was wonderfully done, and I loved the alternate history of Rome not only being a superpower but powerful enough to punch holes in worlds. Oh, and I loved Antony as a character; he very easily represents a White Savior. Even when Ruying tries to object or show the evil of his actions, he always defends his actions with "the greater good" because he never really sees her people or world as anything more than resources. He's the most realistic type of villain.
Now what I didn't love, first, I thought the characters were all a little thin. Even Ruying as our main character didn't feel fleshed out enough for me. It wasn't until the last 25% of the book that I got a real sense of any motivation for any of the characters (beyond Ruying wanting to save her family). I thought it would have been interesting if Ruying would have been using her position of power to learn more about her own gift, but instead she just murders and relaxes, I guess. It's like she doesn't want to help herself. The writing was also incredibly repetitive. The same turn of phrase was used over and over.
I would be interested in the next book to see if the characters and writing get better. This was a quick read with an interesting plot; it just needed more oomph.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Before Ruying was born, Romans from another world ripped a portal in the sky and invaded her world. Even though Ruying's people have magic, the Romans have science and weapons. For decades, Rome has kept their boot on the neck of her world and kept her people down by flooding the streets with opium. When Ruying is coerced into being an assassin by one of Rome's princes, she finds herself in a difficult position. She uses her powers to kill for Prince Antony and begins to believe some of his lies, that he is the lesser evil and really wants peace.
There were things I liked about this book and several things I almost hated. Let's talk about the good. I thought the brutal reality of colonization was wonderfully done, and I loved the alternate history of Rome not only being a superpower but powerful enough to punch holes in worlds. Oh, and I loved Antony as a character; he very easily represents a White Savior. Even when Ruying tries to object or show the evil of his actions, he always defends his actions with "the greater good" because he never really sees her people or world as anything more than resources. He's the most realistic type of villain.
Now what I didn't love, first, I thought the characters were all a little thin. Even Ruying as our main character didn't feel fleshed out enough for me. It wasn't until the last 25% of the book that I got a real sense of any motivation for any of the characters (beyond Ruying wanting to save her family). I thought it would have been interesting if Ruying would have been using her position of power to learn more about her own gift, but instead she just murders and relaxes, I guess. It's like she doesn't want to help herself. The writing was also incredibly repetitive. The same turn of phrase was used over and over.
I would be interested in the next book to see if the characters and writing get better. This was a quick read with an interesting plot; it just needed more oomph.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Blood, and Torture
Moderate: Child death and Child abuse