#to gaze upon wicked gods

[brehaaorgana]

2024 is not looking good for reylo writers (or just marketed for reylos?? I don't know if the second one is also a fandom reylo) trying to publish their romantasy like:

On the one hand, Cait Corrain (who is white) got their entire book torpedoed because they used sock puppet accounts on Goodreads to 1 star review bomb a ton of almost entirely poc authors with books also releasing in 2024.

On the OTHER hand, one of the YA books that Cait reviewbombed, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by debut author Molly X. Chang (who is 1st gen Chinese American), is now getting serious advanced reader copy reviews with 1/5 stars for being an "enemies to lovers" romance that actually involves the main character falling in love with a genocidal colonizing prince who has her kidnapped, bound, and blackmailed. People are mentioning a shock collar??? MULTIPLE people in good reads reviews mentioned parallels to the atrocities of Unit 731 enacted by Japanese forces during WWII being committed by the supposed male lead in this romance?????!!!!

And NOW she's attempting to doxx reviewers??

This shit is W I L D

#to gaze upon wicked gods #cait corrain #molly x chang

[alastairstom]

going through all of the books that cait corrain review bombed and most of them sound super good actually. this one looks especially phenomenal

can't wait for it, i'm going to preorder it now.

thanks cait corrain for giving me a perfectly-curated list of authors of colour that had books good enough for you to feel threatened by! really enhanced my 2024 TBR for sure.

#cait corrain #authors being stupid #authors behaving badly #to gaze upon wicked gods #!! #molly x chang

[icedsodapop]

Nahid Pekoe on review of To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods on Goodsreads is iconic:

Like what I'm getting is, hoo boy White man's dick will totally rearrange your brain chemistry!

#to gaze upon wicked gods #literature

[eulaties]

im fucking crying. we are in the goddamn end times why are people defending that one unit 731 romance book

#if you are not chinese SHUT UP!!!! #to gaze upon wicked gods #politics #my thoughts #eulaties #unit 731 book

[lesbianamalvada]

First ARC I ever received and it was straight ass. I get dark romances and enemies to lovers are hot, like I get it. But I'll never understand writing a fantasy story based on THE WORST atrocity that ever happened to your people. Probably up there as one of the worst atrocities of all time. And you make the main character a spineless pick-me traitor who falls in love with a colonizer prince who commits the fantasy version of Unit 731. 0/5 stars.

#rape of nanjing #nanjing massacre #japanese #chinese #chinese history #chinese fantasy #molly x chang #to gaze upon wicked gods #colonization #colonizer romance #fantasy #romance #ya

[reblogalanaartdream]

If there is any writer I’d recommend you follow on TikTok I recommend the writer/ author for Iron widow (not only is the book is awesome I’ve read it; my sister borrowing atm to read it but I may have to get the book again being as she’s taking so long with getting around to read it)

They are also giving us all the tea about Cait corrain drama and what they’ve done but they also recommends we give the victims of this drama books a chance

Witch is why I have a list of some of them here that sound interesting to me so I’m gonna try and check some of them out once I have some money again being as I have pre ordered to gaze upon wicked gods book and had to get some Christmas presents this month as well as been busy with work so I’m making my book list a a goal for 2024 so I can give these writers a chance (plus also some of these books sound like good reads so I might really like them)

#iron widow #cait corrain #cait corrain drama #booktok #books to check out #to gaze upon wicked gods #books #victims of cait corrain

[luminouslumity]

If you're still unfamiliar with the Cait Corrain situation, this video explains it! Under the cut are the blurbs for books of the authors Corrain targeted.

VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED by FRANCES WHITE

For a thousand years, Concordia has maintained peace between its provinces. To mark this incredible feat, the emperor's ship embarks upon a twelve-day voyage to the sacred Goddess's Mountain.

Aboard are the heirs of the twelve provinces of Concordia, each graced with a unique and secret magical ability known as a Blessing.

Except one: Ganymedes Piscero - class clown, slacker, and all-round disappointment.

When a beloved heir is murdered, everyone is a suspect. Stuck at sea and surrounded by powerful people without a Blessing to protect him, odds of survival are slim.

But as the bodies pile higher, Ganymedes must become the hero he was not born to be. Can he unmask the killer and their blessing before this bloody crusade reaches the shores of Concordia?

Or will the empire as he knows it fall?

MISTRESS OF LIES by K.M. ENRIGHT

FATE IS A CRUEL MISTRESS

The daughter of a powerful but disgraced Blood Worker, Shan LeClaire has spent her entire life perfecting her blood magic, building her network of spies, and gathering every scrap of power she could. Now, to protect her brother, she assassinates their father and takes her place at the head of the family. And that is only the start of her revenge.

Samuel Hutchinson is a bastard with a terrible gift. When he stumbles upon the first victim of a magical serial killer, he's drawn into the world of magic and intrigue he's worked so hard to avoid - and is pulled deeply into the ravenous and bloodthirsty court of the vampire king.

Tasked by the Eternal King to discover the identity of the killer cutting a bloody swath through the city, Samuel, Shan and mysterious Royal Bloodworker Isaac find themselves growing ever closer to each other. But Shan's plans are treacherous, and as she lures Samuel into her complicated web of desire, treason and vengeance, he must decide if the good of their nation is worth the cost of his soul.

TO GAZE UPON WICKED GODS by MOLLY X. CHANG

In this magical epic fantasy, a young woman cursed with the power of death must decide if saving her family is worth betraying her country—the first installation of a gripping new series.

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?

SO LET THEM BURN by KAMILAH COLE

Whip-smart and immersive, this Jamaican-inspired fantasy follows a gods-blessed heroine who’s forced to choose between saving her sister or protecting her homeland.

Faron Vincent can channel the power of the gods. Five years ago, she used her divine magic to liberate her island from its enemies, the dragon-riding Langley Empire. But now, at seventeen, Faron is all powered up with no wars to fight. She’s a legend to her people and a nuisance to her neighbors.

When she’s forced to attend an international peace summit, Faron expects that she will perform tricks like a trained pet and then go home. She doesn’t expect her older sister, Elara, forming an unprecedented bond with an enemy dragon—or the gods claiming the only way to break that bond is to kill her sister.

As Faron’s desperation to find another solution takes her down a dark path, and Elara discovers the shocking secrets at the heart of the Langley Empire, both must make difficult choices that will shape each other’s lives, as well as the fate of their world.

"By turns hopeful and devastating, So Let Them Burn is a masterful debut with a blazing heart. I was captivated from beginning to end by Cole’s sharp, clever prose and by her protagonists—two remarkable sisters with an unforgettable bond." — Chelsea Abdullah, author of The Stardust Thief

THE POISONS WE DRINK by BETHANY BAPTISTE

In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.

Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.

Then an enemy's iron bullet kills her mother, Venus’s life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother's killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.'s most influential politicians.

As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it's hard to tell who to trust… Herself included.

And because Corrain went after him as well...

DRAG ME UP

They say he’s a myth...

And Hades prefers it that way. He may do all the work, and Zeus may get all the credit, but at least it allows Hades to preserve the one thing he truly cares to have: his solitude. The mere mention of the Wraith of Khaos Falls is enough to keep order, and he is rarely forced to leave the shadows of Casino Asphodel.

She belongs in the spotlight...

And Persephone clawed her way out of Demeter’s shadow to reach it. Now she’s lead in Calliope’s Cirque production but not without great cost, and there is not enough money in the world to pay off the debt accrued for the simple mistake of trusting Zeus. Though it’s easier to ignore the bars when she still has room to fly.

Landing a residency at the legendary Casino Asphodel is everything she trained for. Meeting a man she’d been convinced didn’t exist? She could never be prepared for that. Hades isn’t prepared for her either, but it’s soon evident they’re a force when together. He gives her a soft place to land, and she makes him want to reach for the stars. But when Zeus ups the stakes, they must be willing to go all in, even if it means coming down from the sky. Or stepping into the light.

KEEP ME CLOSE

She is the closest thing Khaos Falls has to a goddess…

And Aphrodite is feared and worshipped in equal measure. She has dedicated her life to being a savior for the lost regardless of the risk, but when unknown enemies nearly assassinate her in her own club, she realizes her reckless vigilante tactics won’t cut it anymore.

He is the furthest thing Khaos Falls has from a hero…

In fact, Hephaestus is who you call when all the heroes have fallen. Still, he is the best at what he does, strengthening the city’s weaknesses and keeping his feelings out of it. When tasked with Aphrodite’s personal security, it’s easy for him to detach himself from their mutual disdain. Until disdain is no longer the only thing he feels for her.

With their enemies elusive and snakes in their midst, good hearts and sharp wit may not be enough. But he made a vow, and he will keep it. Even if it means turning newfound feelings into newfound strengths and using them as a weapon to protect her.

LET ME IN

She never cared about being perfect.

Raised under Zeus’s self-serving influence, Athena only ever cared about being right. But with Zeus gone and everything changing, it’s been difficult trying to break free of the chains he so expertly secured her in as a girl. Especially when constantly worrying about Dionysos.

And he never cared much about saving himself.

Raised under Hades’ self-sacrificing influence, Dionysos only ever cared about pleasing everybody else. But when the opportunity to prove he’s more than a winemaker presents itself —with the promise of spending more time with Athena— he has no choice but to take it.

In a bid for peace, Athena and Dionysos are sent to an ailing Thassos City to try and strike a treaty. But with war within reach and rules rearranged, wit and charisma may just fall short. But they’ve long since decided that to protect each other, blood is a small price to pay. Even their own.

LOVE ME NOW

Achilles loved playing the hero…

Being a mere man had never been enough for him. He wanted to be a great one. And when he finds out that Helen, his childhood best friend, has gone missing, taking the mission is instinct. Even if it meant returning to the place he was born and raised, a place he swore never to return to—Heraklion. But he goes nowhere without Patroclus.

Patroclus loved being one…

But being a hero was nothing like playing one. It was a senseless sequence of pyrrhic victories he'd carry forever. Yet when Achilles needs him to return to Heraklion and the arena he had been forced to claw his way out of, he says yes because… well, of course he does. He would follow Achilles anywhere.

Yet both had left more of themselves in Heraklion's notorious arena than they'd taken. So returning would not require heroes but something else, something worse, especially when Helen is not the only one in need of rescue. They both must determine not only what it means to be a man, but what it means to be a good one.

#books #bookblr #cait corrain #voyage of the damned #frances white #mistress of lies #k.m. emright #to gaze upon wicked gods #molly x. chang #so let them burn #kamilah cole #the poisons we drink #bethany baptiste #r.m. virtues #greek mythology #gods of hunger #drag me up #hades #persephone #keep me close #aphrodite #hephaestus #let me in #athena #dionysus #love me now #achilles #patroclus

[geekynerfherder]

'To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods' by Sija Hong.

Cover art for the novel, 'To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods', written by Molly X Chang, published April 2024.

#Art Of The Day #Art #AOTD #Sija Hong #To Gaze upon Wicked Gods #Molly X Chang #Books #Book Cover #Book Cover Art #Cover Art #Fantastical Art #Imaginative Realism #Female #Feminine #YA Books

[ryuutchi]

Final determination on To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X Chang: If you like romantasy with independent protags and have a high tolerance for both navel-gazing about the violence of colonization AND heterosexual relationships that involve White Privilege, you might enjoy it.

The main character is a poor woman from a formerly noble house in a China-analogue fantasy world that has recently been colonized by technocratic "Romans". The romantic lead is the second in line for the Roman throne (who wants to use her death magic to take over both worlds). OTOH, she walks out at the end and joins the rebellion, so the narrative is not unaware of itself.

IMO it's a little too hetero for me, and too focused on the protagonist's extremely narrow first person perspective. It feels claustrophobic and like there are a lot of political nuances that would have enriched the book if the author had been willing to let her protagonist talk and listen to more people.

On personal preference, I'd recommend "The Final Strife" duology by Sara El-Arifi, which covers a lot of similar themes, has a more expansive cast, and is sapphic endgame

#molly x chang #to gaze upon wicked gods #book review #books

[shinyasahalo]

*She read the book everyone's calling a "colonizer romance" | To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods review.

That is not Zutara, because Katara would never be that way.  

#youtube #To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods #Zutara #Molly X Chang #Book review

[onlyallytothesun]

If I said Rayla x Callum are Colonizer x Colonized, would I get flamed?

#to gaze upon wicked gods #the dragon prince #same romance #tdp rayla #tdp callum #rayla x callum #tdp critical

[szynkaaa]

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X Chang is out!

#szynkART #to gaze upon wicked gods #molly x chang

[tagapagharaya]

I have not read To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods, so I cannot speak about its contents.

I can, however, speak about the utterly vile way people are talking about Molly X. Chang, a Chinese woman.

Can someone explain to me why they think calling a Chinese woman a comfort woman as an insult makes them the morally upright party in this situation?

The way this person, and others who echo this line, is using the term comfort woman as if it means traitor — in particular, a woman who betrays her own people to demean herself for the pleasure of their colonizers — is abhorrent and ahistorical.

Let me set the record straight: A comfort woman is a woman (or a girl, some as young as twelve-years-old) forced or tricked into sexual enslavement by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories (e.g. China, Korea, Taiwan, Burma, Indonesia, the Philippines), and even Japan itself, before and during World War II.

These women and girls were kept in "comfort stations" where they would be raped, physically abused and tortured by as many as 40 Imperial Japanese soldiers in a single night. Every night. For what reason? As "stress relief" for the soldiers.

In the mornings, they were forced to do backbreaking domestic labor for the Imperial Japanese garrisons, and at night they would be raped, beaten and tortured. They were given little food and kept in unsanitary conditions. Venereal disease was rampant. Many comfort women became infertile because of sexual violence and venereal diseases. Many women became pregnant during their enslavement, and were still not exempted from the nightly rapes. Many women miscarried and were not given medical attention.

I would remind you that the term comfort woman includes girls, some as young as twelve-years-old.

The level of dehumanization was so extreme that they were treated as inventory.

Comfort women are victims of colonial violence.

To this day, the Japanese government denies that the comfort women were sexually enslaved. Thousands of comfort women never received justice or reparations for the physical, psychological and emotional suffering they were subjected to.

The narrative that comfort women were volunteers or professionals, that they were treated well and compensated fairly, that they got rich from it, is historical revisionism peddled by the Japanese right-wing to deny its war crimes. This exact narrative is used to deny the victims of colonial violence justice.

So to see the term comfort woman used as an insult against a Chinese woman (of Manchu and Hui descent, no less) and to pretend it means she's "in love with her ancestors' colonizers and betrays her own people because of it (through her writing)" — an "Imperial Japan dickrider," if we're being crass — is vile and disgusting.

What do these people think they're accomplishing exactly? How are they criticizing an alleged "colonizer romance" novel by parroting the misogynist and racist historical revisionism of a real life former colonial power to demean a woman of color?

#molly x chang #to gaze upon wicked gods #comfort women #were some comfort women volunteers? yes #many were japanese women from the early days of the “system” whose consent were vitiated #in the occupied countries: some women volunteered to spare others #in the philippines: sex workers notably volunteered to spare young girls #all these women are still victims

[icedsodapop]

2023: My book is inspired by my grandfather's storiea of Manchuria under colonization.

2024: Japan is not involved at all in my story!!

Molly, I understand the frustration when it feels as if no one is "getting" the story you wrote and that pple are twisting what was on the page. I also don't think pple should be begging for your death on social media.

But honey... you cannot talk about how your book, with a fictional kingdom meant to be a fantasy counterpart to China, was inspired by your grandfather's stories of Manchuria under colonization, Manchuria... which was colonized by Japan around the time your grandfather was young... and then have your fictional colonizer character participate in secret medical experiments on humans and then get upset when your Asian reviewers start connecting the dots to Unit 731, the lab formed by the Imperial Japanese Army that infamously conducted medical experiments on their colonized peoples, and criticize you for writing a romance between a colonized person and a dude who commits war crimes against her people?? No matter how much you whiten your colonizer's character's skin and lighten their hair and claim they are inspired by Rome becos ancient Rome did not infamously have a unit conducting medical experimentation on the pple they invaded.

And advertizing it as "enemies to lovers"?? Please get a grip.

#to gaze upon wicked gods #literature #not tagging author's name becos her 'friend' are on here

[azure-arsonist]

Hot take based on the Zutara and To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods situation* right now.

I genuinely don't think you can really pull off a zutara esque romance in a stand-alone book. (Or expect one to be pulled off successfully)

What makes Zukos arc so impactful is that the narrative gives him time. He has time to fuck up, he has time to learn and question what he thinks he knows about himself, about the war, about the other nations. He has time to redeem himself and endear himself to the audience n small ways (zuko alone, basically all his time in ba sing se, his arc in book 3). He has time to backslide and question what he really wants and he has time to earn the gaang's trust. Redemption is not the flip of a switch its a painful labor. It's not supposed to be quick and easy. It's work.

Also the thing about Zutara is that despite Zukos status, he never has any power over Katara. (Colonizer accusations aside) Other than like maaaaybe the situation with the pirates he's never in any position of power or authority over her. Yeah sure he's the crown prince of the fire nation but frankly katara doesn't give a shit. (It's just another reason to beat his ass to her) That's part of why their enemies to lovers narrative works so well, they're on pretty equal footing. Once you change that, you alter their dynamic fundamentally. While that's not inherently a bad thing, it is different and that's something to be mindful of.

Disclaimer i haven't read the book I'm basing this on the current discourse and what information I've found online. This also isn't an attack on the author either.

#zutara #prince zuko #katara of the southern water tribe #to gaze upon wicked gods #discourse

[violettesbooks]

A girl with the magical ability to take lives, struggles to survive in an alternate world where an enemy Rome has taken over her homeland. In a twist of fate she finds herself working with a Roman prince but when war looms, she no longer knows who to trust nor if her choices can actually ensure the survival of her people.

This was a quick read, a bit slow paced at points but emotionally charged and politically savvy. I liked the world and the author did well painting a picture of the desperation of the people of Er-Lang.

Out: April 2024

#book review #books by women #books #fiction #arc #new books #2024 tbr #molly x chang #to gaze upon wicked gods