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A review by mboard
To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I tried I really tried to like this book but the main character drove me absolutely insane. The entire time she’s all mad and spiteful towards the Romans taking over her world, using their “science” against her people, getting her family hooked on Opian but then she just trusts the price of the Romans after like 10 mins???? How does that make any sense. At all. They set up this character to be all guarded and hateful but makes her the most trusting person ever? That makes actually no sense.
The writing also started to really aggravate me. How many times could the author shove in our faces that it’s “magic vs science” and “science is bad”? Like 2-3x a chapter. I get the metaphor for colonialism and the consequences of weaponizing technology you don’t have to be that on the nose about it.
I wanted to DNF multiple times but I got the most gorgeous copy from Illumicrate so I felt like I owed it to the sprayed edges to finish. It was not worth it. The “twist” was actually so obvious it just made me more mad that Ruying our FMC didn’t see it 1000 miles away.
I will say that the magic system and the use of Chinese folklore/mythology made for an interesting idea it was just the execution that made me dislike this book as much as I did.
The writing also started to really aggravate me. How many times could the author shove in our faces that it’s “magic vs science” and “science is bad”? Like 2-3x a chapter. I get the metaphor for colonialism and the consequences of weaponizing technology you don’t have to be that on the nose about it.
I wanted to DNF multiple times but I got the most gorgeous copy from Illumicrate so I felt like I owed it to the sprayed edges to finish. It was not worth it. The “twist” was actually so obvious it just made me more mad that Ruying our FMC didn’t see it 1000 miles away.
I will say that the magic system and the use of Chinese folklore/mythology made for an interesting idea it was just the execution that made me dislike this book as much as I did.