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A review by flightyreads
To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Note: I received this ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book has great potential, but ends up falling flat in several ways. Despite BookTok’s insistence that it is due to the supposed male lead being a colonizer, I’d argue that the biggest struggle of the book is skipping the entire middle of Ruying’s journey. I am not kidding when I say we spend roughly 50% of the book with Ruying grappling with her decision to fight for or against Rome. Once she makes her decision, we get an instant 6 month timeskip. We literally skip over the entirety of the book’s couple’s trust-building and getting to know each other. We immediately jump into the two crushing on each other, but due to the lack of buildup, they feel like brand new characters. It felt as though the book just did not want to show the story, only tell us the end. Even for a YA book, I found this missing exposition harmful to the story.
I think the naïveté of Ruying is as realistic as can be. She’s never experienced someone treating her kindly as an adult, so falling for the enemy is expected when he feeds her honey-coated words. I also appreciate the descriptions of how her magic is visualized, which leads to detailed scenes of her using it.
Overall, I think this book would have benefited from some more edits. With just a few more additions to the story, it could have been very solid. For now, I rate it 3/5 stars.
This book has great potential, but ends up falling flat in several ways. Despite BookTok’s insistence that it is due to the supposed male lead being a colonizer, I’d argue that the biggest struggle of the book is skipping the entire middle of Ruying’s journey. I am not kidding when I say we spend roughly 50% of the book with Ruying grappling with her decision to fight for or against Rome. Once she makes her decision, we get an instant 6 month timeskip. We literally skip over the entirety of the book’s couple’s trust-building and getting to know each other. We immediately jump into the two crushing on each other, but due to the lack of buildup, they feel like brand new characters. It felt as though the book just did not want to show the story, only tell us the end. Even for a YA book, I found this missing exposition harmful to the story.
I think the naïveté of Ruying is as realistic as can be. She’s never experienced someone treating her kindly as an adult, so falling for the enemy is expected when he feeds her honey-coated words. I also appreciate the descriptions of how her magic is visualized, which leads to detailed scenes of her using it.
Overall, I think this book would have benefited from some more edits. With just a few more additions to the story, it could have been very solid. For now, I rate it 3/5 stars.