A review by _fallinglight_
To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-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

2.25

The book had an interesting premise and Ruying's character as a concept could've been interesting, too, but the execution wasn't even middling at best. The writing was clunky, repetitive, and languid despite Chang's efforts to give it lyrical vigor and the pacing was stagnant. So many chunks of this book were just long expository dialogue chapters, and other multiple telling not showing paragraphs to the point I got increasingly unmotivated to pick up reading it again from when I left off. I also think the romantic angle from the Antony and Ruying relationship was unnecessary and the time spent on that could've been used on much needed actual character development shown on page.
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