Book Review - To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I was so excited when I saw this book because the cover is just beautiful and I love Asian epic fantasy stories. It essentially follows Ruying who is a girl who can pull life from mortals and kill them. She lives in Pangu (China) which has been invaded by Rome, and gets an offer from the Prince. He tells her that he will help protect her people if she becomes his assassin. But using her power comes at a cost, so is it worth it?

I thought that this book had a really interesting concept, and although I've read similar books it was still unique. That being said, some things could have been clearer. The magic system wasn't explained very well. Throughout the book, multiple references suggest that Pangu used to have more magical people and magic was more prevalent but didn't explain much further. I was also confused by the whole portal situation. Could the Romans just portal into Pangu from Rome? Also on the topic of Romans, does this book take place in a world where Rome never fell? Multiple modern-day references like cameras, melting polar caps, etc. make this explanation plausible, but it wasn't very well established. Also, Pangu seemed very non-advanced which makes me think that maybe I'm wrong. I thought this could be such a great book, I just felt confused by a few major details. 

I wouldn't classify this in the Romance category, as it's described on Goodreads. There was very little romance at all. In fact, the "romantic interest" basically abducted and neglected Ruying then forced her into agreeing to work for him. 

Overall, I didn't love a whole lot about this book but it was interesting enough for me to read to completion.