📕 Title: To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods
✏️ Author: Molly X. Chang
📖 Genre: Fantasy
⭐ Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

BOOK BLURB

Yang Ruying was born in a world long ago conquered by the Romans, invaders who broke into her realm and used their advanced technologies to defeat the people of Pangu whose only defense was magic. While Ruying has a Gift, the ability to pull life from mortal bodies, she must hide her magic to keep herself and her family safe.

When a Roman prince discovers her Gift, he coerces Ruying into becoming his personal assassin, using her magic to eliminate his political rivals. In exchange, the prince promises that her family will be safe from harm—but using her magic comes at a cost to her own life.

REVIEW

Note: This story was inspired in part by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria during World War II, so it is notable that Chang chose to recast the Japanese as white romans for her fantasy. I recommend researching this history, especially Unit 731.

I was sold on the idea that this was a “Zurara” inspired romance and I thought this book would be a great fit for me, but unfortunately I didn’t find the story very compelling. This book felt like it was mostly dialogue and very little action. Ruying’s job as an assassin is vastly oversold, as most of it happens off page and is skipped over via a time jump.

The author routinely info dumps by inserting melodramatic monologues into character dialogue. Ruying and her friend Baihu have known each other since they were kids, they both grew up under Roman occupation, so why are they monologuing about politics to each other? They are clearly aware of current events and the other’s feelings on the same; in fact, at one point, Ruying’s narrative response to Baihu’s monologue is to think to herself, “as if I didn’t already know.” And it’s not just them–it seems like every character must monologue at some point, and often, even when it doesn’t make sense.

The worldbuilding felt superficial, though it was adequate. The intro and first chapter clearly spell out how Rome (science world) invaded Pangu (magic world) and noted that a portal in the sky keeps the worlds connected. In the first chapter, Ruying notes, “The shimmering portal high in the somber sky that now joined our two realms. A glistening fracture, looming over my broken city”. A few chapters later, Ruying notices airplanes flying through the portal. However, there isn’t a whole lot of explanation beyond that. Science is an overpowered weapon against magic, leaving the people of Pangu with no real way to fight back.

As for the supposed romance, it is a slow burn and a weak one. Ruying and Antony’s relationship felt poorly developed; there was no spark between them and very little action. The concept was interesting but the execution felt unsuccessful–it felt less like The Cruel Prince and more like Stockholm syndrome. Between the unbalanced power dynamic and the idea that this is ultimately a colonizer romance, the idea of Ruying falling for someone who is so manipulative and evil felt problematic. It also felt unclear whether Antony was truly the endgame, or if the romance could pivot to another character. This felt like deceptive marketing.

Ultimately, I would recommend reading up on history before tackling this book, and keep your expectations low as far as the romance.