To Gaze upon Wicked Gods

By: Molly X. Chang

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus, Molly X. Chang

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?

“A thrilling tale of magic and murder, intrigue and betrayal.”—Cassandra Clare, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sword Catcher

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?

©2024 Molly X. Chang (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“With hauntingly poetic prose, Molly X. Chang spins a tale at the intersection of science fiction, fantasy, and the very real devastation that colonialism brings down on colonized peoples.”—Xiran Jay Zhao, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Iron Widow

“This book is a thrilling gut punch, both lavishly magical and devastatingly human.”—Laini Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of Strange the Dreamer

“Readers will be on the edge of their seats wondering what’s going to happen next.”—Adalyn Grace, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Belladonna

Not the ended I wanted

The story overall could’ve been better , the ending definitely wasn’t what needed to be to end the book out the way we deserved. It’s basically a book about a woman falling in love with a colonizer .

Intriguing and refreshing

This book was an interesting meld of worlds with characters that are complex and realistic in the actions and emotions they portray. I’m excited to listen to the next one.

A great story that opens us to a new world mixed with culture and fantasy

I thought that this was a great story to the open us to the world and people in it, and can not wait for more to come.
Some may not agree, but growing up in a traditional Asian household, women are brought up to be passive to men. This story brings to light the struggles a lot of us find in learning to stand on our own feet while balancing love, honor, and duty.
I see in the comments that there are some that can not relate to the main character, but I can simply because she is just one person trying her best to save her family. This is a world where everyone is against each other in some form or another and betrayal is hard to see until it is too late, so her reaction to everyones choices are realistic to me. You can't hide important information about something and expect others to blindly comply, so her choices are just in the moments.
Every character is fighting for what they believe in, each with their own cause for it being just.
Overall this brought a great story that I enjoyed and am excited to see where everyone's choices leads them to in the end.

Temu poppy war

Noooooooo.
This has been my ted talk.

Talking heads

Two scenes of action

The relationship was weird and I didn’t like it. It reminded me of the weird relationship in Faebound

Temu The Poppy War without the war school and falling for an “good” heir.

I understand why she had to do what she did but I wish she was a double agent

The main characters powers are cool. But the entire time I was reading this I was like I get it you’re doing this all for your family but stop saying that out loud. We know you’re doing this for your family.

Narrators saved it tbh.

Morally grey done wrong 🤮 🤢

Nothing happened

The build up was great for nothing to happen in the end. I get a good cliff hanger and all but literally nothing happened. It felt like everything that would have been worth the read was saved for the next book, which if there was a next book already out I’d be reading cause I need to know what happens next.

eh

The main character just on a basic storytelling level is not likeable at all. No hate for what the story is trying to do, but it’s hard to get attached to anyone in this tale. Every character feels like a skeleton, with no flesh to grab onto. there is nothing to get invested in - and why, why, why, did we have a 6 month time-skip? The book itself is already not super long, and those 6 months of assassin training would’ve reallllllyyyy helped flesh out Antony, Ruying, and their relationship we are supposed (?) to care about. This book tries so hard to be so many things at once, it ultimately becomes nothing.