"YOU SHOULDN'T ASK THE GIRL BLESSED BY DEATH WHOM SHE'LL DIE FOR. YOU SHOULD ASK HER WHOM SHE'D KILL FOR."
She has power over death. He has power over her. When two enemies strike a dangerous bargain, will they end a war . . . or ignite one?
Heroes die, cowards live. Daughter of a conquered world, Ruying hates the invaders who descended from the heavens long before she was born and defeated the magic of her people with technologies unlike anything her world had ever seen.
Blessed by Death, born with the ability to pull the life right out of mortal bodies, Ruying shouldn’t have to fear these foreign invaders, but she does. Especially because she wants to keep herself and her family safe.
When Ruying’s Gift is discovered by an enemy prince, he offers her an impossible deal: If she becomes his private assassin and eliminates his political rivals—whose deaths he swears would be for the good of both their worlds and would protect her people from further brutalization—her family will never starve or suffer harm again. But to accept this bargain, she must use the powers she has always feared, powers that will shave years off her own existence.
Can Ruying trust this prince, whose promises of a better world make her heart ache and whose smiles make her pulse beat faster? Are the evils of this agreement really in the service of a much greater good? Or will she betray her entire nation by protecting those she loves the most?
publication date: april 16th, 2024 | source: tour arc
page count: 368 | genre: fantasy, romance, sci-fi
Molly X. Chang’s debut novel To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is out today!!! I honestly have never been more excited to read a book and I hope I can relay some of that excitement here. This book absolutely delivered a plethora of emotions and I need to talk about them like right now so grab your favorite bubble tea and let’s chat about the beautifully complex book that is To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods.
The book follows Ruying, a girl blessed by Death with the ability to pull a life right into her hands, who’s doing everything she can in order to survive and protect her family with her country invaded by foreign invaders. When her gift is discovered by an enemy prince, he offers her an unfeasible deal that he swears is for the good of both their words: work for him and become his private assassin in order to eliminate those who are in his way and never have to worry about her family starving or being harmed every again. But to agree to his deal would mean Ruying would be turning on her own people and giving into her Gift which will ultimately cost her years of her own life. Will she be able to trust this prince by using her powers for his claims of the greater good? Or will Ruying end up betraying her own nation in order to protect those she loves most?
First of all the world building: it’s incredible albeit a little bit confusing. The world is purely magical rich, enriched with beautiful folktales that I could not help but vividly imagine everything Ruying ended up describing the beautiful but broken world that she lived in. The stories were so cool and I am an absolute sucker for fairytales so that in itself was a huge bonus because the fantasy was real people and I was having a grand old time. The Chinese proverbs sprinkled throughout the book was an astute test to my deteriorating Chinese skills but honestly made me appreciate them even if they sounded like they came out from a fortune cookie. While the overall world was a bit complex, think that Molly X. Chang handled the world building pretty solidly and I was nonetheless still very intrigued by all the magic that was happening all around.
As for Ruying and Antony, I have honestly never felt more conflicted. On one hand, I understand Ruying’s intentions of being desperate enough to agree to work with the enemy in order to give a better life to her family but on the other head, I didn’t want her trusting Antony because I’ve read way too many murder mysteries to be as trusting as she is. Antony is also like the most morally gray love interest I have ever read and frankly I’m not sure what to think. I think that both he and Ruying are torn by their obligations to fully trust each other and they do have their own reasons for doing what their doing but as I watched their cautious love bloom, I could only screech from the sidelines and pray that everything ends up okay. As for Ruying’s sister and Baihu, honestly their goals stressed me out even more because everyone’s goals are against each others and there’s conflict and betrayal and I am too stressed for this I swear I’m not okay anymore.
In the end, I was way too emotional and I think my older sister can attest to me screeching throughout the house when I got to certain parts of the book. I did really love how Molly X. Chang conveyed the complexity of morals during times of war and I was nothing short of heartbroken for Ruying’s internal struggle in coming to terms with the actions and choices she made throughout the book. This debut novel isn’t perfect by any means but I do think that the central message and beautiful portrayal of so many emotions made this more worth it at least in my end. I do think there are some more heavy topics that people might not be okay with but I do think that this book is worth checking out and I hope that if you do pick it up, you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
thank you so much to Colored Pages Tours for allowing me to participate on this fantastic tour!
- A U T H O R B I O -
Born in Harbin, China, Molly X. Chang was raised on folklore told by the grandparents who taught her to take pride in the heritages and cultures that shaped her life, and the harrowing history of the ancestors who'd come before her. To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is her debut novel.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.mollyxchang.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23053455.Molly_X_Chang
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mollyxchang
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mollyxchang/
"聪明一世 ，糊涂一时.
Intelligent and cautious for a lifetime, it takes a second of stupidity to unravel it all."
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