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bookboxbabe's review against another edition
Graphic: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Classism, War, Death, Drug use, Murder, and Racism
booksalacarte's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Grief, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Racism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Genocide, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, War, and Murder
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
the more i thought about the world and the potential the worldbuilding had, the angrier i got. you can't have a dichotomy of magic and science and fail to intertwine the two aspects to make a coherent magic/science system. is there something about diminishing magic that's affecting how scientific discoveries are made? are there new magic systems now that pangu is exposed to the science of the west? does pangu have it's own version of "science" via alchemy/divination? so much was thought about so little it makes me genuinely angry. so many books handle the magic vs science aspect so much better, even in books like The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang or The Vorrh by B. Catling.
even with how the "inspiration" for unit 731 was handled without grace and used to shock readers before even going into the meat of the story. if you want a better handling, read "The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary" by Ken Liu in his short story collection The Paper Menagerie.
and that doesn't even cover the gross orientalism and colonizer romance that this entire book devolves into. It left a bad taste in my mouth. One Star.
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death of parent and Drug abuse
Minor: War
caseythereader's review against another edition
- 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
- 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).
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
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
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!
Graphic: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Confinement, Blood, Colonisation, Addiction, and Murder
Minor: Police brutality
johanneke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Child death, Addiction, and War
acarballo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Colonisation and Death
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
Minor: Death of parent
book_gremlin42's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, War, and Racism
Moderate: Police brutality, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Genocide, and Drug abuse
gaby_readsbooks's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
This book was a very hard read for me, it was very dark and it really made me sad for all of my ancestors that were colonized by the Spanish in Chile. I really felt that pain while reading this book and I do not know how accurate or again believable some of the main characters actions were but how different people react in certain situations is so different that it could be accurate just not the way I would react. I really liked the slow reveal of some aspects of the plot, I thought it was well done and made me want to keep reading to find out how everything was tying together. I am not sure I would recommend this one or not, while there are some good elements there are also some very dark elements so I would just caution that this is not a light fantasy read at all.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and Del Rey for providing me with an eArc in exchange for an honest review.
Graphic: Colonisation and Child death
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Body horror
pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I was earnestly very excited for this book, but even before the first chapter was through, I had a bad feeling about it. My main issues are with the "romance", vague and shallow worldbuilding, repetitive dialogue, length of monologues, and the lack of action (despite marketing).
For transparency sake, I am a white, US based reviewer and am aware of the 1 star brigade this author experienced as a reaction to being an Asian Author. While I really hated this book, I plan on reading the other installment(s) after reviews are posted and will give other titles a shot as well. There were good ideas, but I had too many issues with the content and execution. Reviewers of global majority have done extensive analysis and provide in-depth criticism here, definitely read their words for more info! Hopefully the author is receptive.
As an abuse survivor, the "romance" definitely made me uncomfortable and furious-I kept waiting, hoping, for her to have been deceiving him into false security. But no, she's actually into it. Let's maybe leave romanticizing Stockholm Syndrome behind next time. Considering the amount of psychological, emotional, and physical abuse Ruying is put through by Antony, and then having it romanticized, this should not be graded YA... teens should not think this behavior is acceptable or normal from a partner.
The worldbuilding felt like it was supposed to be reminiscent of Nimona, a meeting of medieval China and cyberpunk... but it wasn't fledged out at all and was so confusing to digest with the little information given. It really broke the suspension of disbelief that Pangu (China) is given a fantastic name, but then we have ROME. Rome in helicopters and slinging guns? Like modern warfare Rome complete with hyper Latin names, statuesque blonde curls and handsome noses. And there's no real explaining where Rome is, they arrive via sky portals (which wasn't made clear until towards the end), and there are references to "their world"... but then it sounds like they ARE on the same planet?? This vague reference happens 2/3 through and threw me completely off. Do they have spaceships that were not talked about? What is going on?
The dialogue is either boring or immature, and much of the book is internal monologue of repetitive information dumps or rehashing traumatic events.
The description got me amped up for a high-action, dangerous fantasy (originally assumed that Baihu was the enemy-lover) but most of the action happens off-screen. There are a few fight scenes, but we only really see one assassination and it's not... action driven (which was best, in that case). Once I learned that these hyped up assassinations were her own people, I didn't want to read about it anyways.
Thank you Netgalley for access to this ARC.
Also, these content warnings are NOT given lightly!
Graphic: Misogyny, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Police brutality, Addiction, Confinement, Death, Racism, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Grief, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia