It is an important book to be written. I liked that it was loosely based on actual historic characters. And it was an intriguing story but I also found many parts of the book hard to follow. The story is neither high or low science fiction. I struggled to understand the world built.

Iron Widow was quite a fun book to read and I flew through it—its fast pace kept me on my toes, and I was fascinated by Zetian slowly becoming more and more maniacal. Unhinged women are my favorite types of characters, and she was no exception! The writing was also easy to read (if a bit too simple at times), and there were parts that made me actually laugh. This is a very unique and refreshing book to see in the YA scene, from its inclusion of polyamory to how it breathes new life into historical figures in a sci-fi world.

Unfortunately, as more time has passed, I’ve realized that this was too fast-paced for me, even though I’d enjoyed it at the time. I didn’t like how quickly the romance developed, and some of the characters had no chemistry (or an interesting personality...), in my opinion. And while I love how fiercely Zetian fought against patriarchal expectations about her and other women, I do wish that there had been more insight into how such a mindset formed when she grew up surrounded by an intensely misogynistic society. This book overall could have used a lot more depth, in both its characters and themes—but it still makes for a highly enjoyable read. Is the content of the book very memorable to me? No, not really. But I’ll surely remember the fun time I had while reading it.

This was just fine but nothing incredible. There were some really positive things about it but I think overall it just fell short for me and I had to force myself to finish. The characters didn’t really interest me and the plot wasn’t as good as I expected it to be.

This book deserves all the hype and even more. Xiran is such a master of tension, romance, and I am so excited that there is finally a poly-romance in a YA book. That ending too omg!!!!! I need the second book IMMEDIATELY PLEASE! And also the cover? Perfection. Give me more ;)

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.

This new author is truly a master. Beautiful story telling, beautiful characters, and leaves you thinking about it forever.

Xiran Jay Zhao’s IRON WIDOW is the most creative and memorable YA novel I’ve read this year. Giant mechas (some of which take forms inspired by Chinese mythological creatures), characters based on Chinese historical figures, and a polyamorous relationship! This sci-fi novel was fast-paced and action-packed, and I didn’t want to put it down. 
 
The main character in IRON WIDOW is based on Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history. I love that Zhao’s reimagining brings Wu Zetian’s rise to power in a patriarchal system to a sci-fi world, capturing her spirit and determination while creating an original narrative. The sequel is set up to address colonialism and I cannot wait to see what Zhao has in store for us.

Okay, when I first started to read this, I DNF'd it. I think it was the idea of these girls being so used and abused that just put me off. I was kind of afraid it was going to be one of those books where rape gives a girl her superpowers.

It's not.

On this read, I got further and realized it was about one girl who decides to simply take all her power back. She was spectacular. And it wasn't abuse that sparked the power. She just basically decided that she was going to go out there, kick butt, take names, and kill a dude if she could (don't worry - it was deserved).

The book has some brilliant battle scenes, spectacular mecha, and a surprising not-a-love-triangle romance.

I enjoyed it. Glad I decided to give it another try!

This was one of my most anticipated 2021 releases, ever since I spotted one of Zhao’s tweets, stating that they were working on a polyam Pacific Rim inspired novel, retelling the history of China’s female emperor, Empress Wu Zetian.

What I Liked
--The use of concubines as qi source is quite horrifying. It’s quite a bleak work that Zhao paints, with the use of woman as sources of qi (or spiritual energy than can power the Chrysalises) to be sucked up by her male partner to fight, which leads to her death every time.
--I thought it was an interesting choice to start the novel from the POV of the man that killed Zetian’s sister and started her on the path of vengeance. It was unexpected but different.
--I most enjoyed listening as Zetian fought her partners in the dream state. I followed that more clearly than the fights between Chrysalises and their giant enemy, the Hunduns, but then again, I’m not a huge mecha fan. Pacific Rim was my exception.
--Another aspect I thought was interesting was the aspect of media coverage. Although the world seems fantasy-esque, there is the sci-fi element of the Chrysalises but there also exists cameras that record and TVs, plus photoshoots and celebrity culture around the Chrysalises pilots.

What I Didn’t Like
--So unfortunately, this novel does one of my least favourite things in these recent feminist novels, which is a lot of talking about the role of a woman and flashbacks to things Zetian has seen, where I would have liked it to be more subtle. Zhao does a lot of show, which I appreciate, but they also riddle the book constantly with phrases like “…because that’s a woman’s role” or “a woman’s role is supposed to be…”. I would have liked to see those phrases only a few times, and the rest of the time is showcasing the society’s actions.
--I wish we’d gotten to see more memories of Zetian and her older sister (who’s never named, if I remember correctly) together so it makes sense that Zetian wants revenge so badly. In the end, I couldn’t understand why she risked her own life.
--The major letdown for me was the romance. What made this book so anticipated was the promise of a poly relationship–something I wish happened more often instead of a love triangle. While we do get the poly relationship, it was disappointing in that the boys were soft and polite, while Zetian was like a yapping puppy, and so the dynamic was very dull. Plus, the attraction between the boys was hardly touched on, mainly because we’re only ever in Zetian’s POV, so it felt instalove-y, another trope I dislike. And the build up between Zetian and Shimin was barely there. This would have benefited from more POVs. Guess I was looking for more spice, not in a sexual way but in dynamics and personalities.
--As I touched on above, I tended to lose track of the action scenes, which made getting through the novel difficult.

Conclusion
Maybe I need to stop anticipating books so much; the last few have let me down to varying degrees. Unfortunately, this was a near total miss for me and I won’t be continuing. However, I’m still inclined to follow Zhao’s career and pick up their next book.

My Rating: 2/5

Wow! What a rollercoaster! I have so much to say, but to keep it brief: I loved Wu Zetian, and while I support women’s rights, more importantly, I support women’s wrongs!! She was such a badass heroine and I had so much fun watching her burn down the world. Can’t express how much I loved the development of the love triangle (more poly relationship representation pleASE), and while that was a cliffhanger I hated (to love), it’s made me so excited for the upcoming sequel!

Iron Widow is an empowering debut cementing Zhao's status as an author to watch. I could not put this book down because as soon as the action begins, it doesn't stop. Well paced, and with the literal fierce main heroine I've ever encountered, this book is a force of nature. Like Zetain, Zhao is unstoppable.
It is a book I find myself only being able to rave about as I wait anxiously for the sequal.

Thank you to Netgalley for my eARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this one! I’ve been in a bit of a Fantasy slump lately and this really pulled me through!

The world building is rich and detailed without just info dumping, and the character development is unapologetic and fierce.

I was thrilled to see a sequel coming our way and highly recommend you read this ASAP!

Perfect, no literally, that one word could be the whole review.

Do you understand what level of brilliance you need to be struck with to develop the concept of gendered power sources in mechs as a means of enforcing systemic misogyny??? I simply have to stan!

I cannot wait for the second book!

Absolutely loved this! This was a book I could really sink my teeth into and take my time with. From the characters to the relationships to the plot, I loved everything about this. Xiran Jay Zhao is an auto-buy author from here on out!

This book is amazing. The mix between oracle reality and science fiction is so well done in this novel that I read it in less than 24 hours. The main character is a phenomenally strong girl who stands up for what she believes in no matter the cost. I highly recommend reading this book.

3.5 I felt that this book was not exactly for me. There were some amazing parts, especially the first half and the poly relationship. But the second half I started to lose interest. Though the ending made me interested in another book in this series, I do think this is one of those scifis I didn’t vibe with fully.

I was excited for the book as soon as I heard about it. I was already going to love it because giant mechs fighting monsters is already amazing but to turn almost every trope upside down was so empowering to read. I loved the imagery of the world and cultures and after that last chapter, I’m even more excited for what is coming next.

Huaxia has a problem. Mecha aliens lurk beyond its Great Wall, and it must send its youth to battle them in giant mecha robots called Chrysalises. The Chrysalises are piloted by two pilots, one boy, one girl, and for some reason, the girls don't always return home alive. It requires intense mental energy to be a pilot, but that doesn't dissuade Zetian, who wants to be a pilot so she can get revenge on the male pilot who killed her sister. She gets her wish, and when she strangles the life from him with her mind while they're in the cockpit, she's branded as an Iron Widow, a girl pilot who's turned the tables on the system, sacrificing her boy partners to battle the mecha aliens. When she's paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest male pilot of Huaxia, it's thought that she won't last long, but she's determined to use her mind to stay alive, interrogate the misogynist technology of the Chrysalis, and save the girls of Huaxia from their supposedly unavoidable fate as sacrificial pilots.

The story of a girl, raised in a patriarchal society, rebelling against the status quo, using giant mecha to fight giant mecha aliens. It's an interesting premise, and I was thrilled to see that my suspicion that anime Darling in the Franxx (which I adore) was partial inspiration for this story was true! Zetian was brought up like the other girls, but at every turn she's rebelled against the status quo. Sometimes, you just know that things are wrong, and I really get that in my gut, just as Zetian does. She sees something wrong, and even with others telling her it's not wrong, that girls being used and discarded like batteries is a distinct honor, Zetian knows that everybody is full of crap. Many aspects of morality are taught, but others can be discerned by imagining ourselves in the same situation. Zetian's empathy for others, and the grief of her dead sister, also drives her rage, and I felt it on a visceral level.

Zetian harbors disdain and derision for the world around her, and the people living in it. This is because the culture is built on doing things because of precedent or using people as if they are disposable and lack value. She even attacks other women at times because they also support and act within the system to support it. It is a common observation that for evil to become common and widespread, all that is needed is for people to stand by and do nothing about it, so how is Zetian supposed to feel if she is beset on all sides by people who believe she must feel like it's normal to walk with a crutch as a result of her foot-binding, or she must be honored to be considered as little more than a meat battery to be discarded as collateral damage, while boy pilots are hailed as heroes? How would you feel, being locked into a future with no tomorrow?

Zetian grabs the bull by the horns, figuratively speaking, and turns the equation of the Chrysalis upside down. She will survive, and the boys will function as the meat batteries, and see if they appreciate the honor. She doesn't always make the right call, and her rage sometimes leads her into bad situations, but the demure rarely ruffle enough feathers for freedom to take flight. This story is Zetian's, through and through, and I loved it and all of the references and easter eggs to contemporary and historical scenes and characters. Iron Widow is the story of a girl who can't stand the injustice she sees around her, and is determined to turn the immorality of it upside down, through sheer force of will if she must. Recommended for anybody who has ever seen wrongdoing legitimized by authority, and wanted to do something about it, because this is your story, too.

4 stars

Ever since Iron Widow came out, I knew I had to read it because it sounded that good. It's a futuristic sci-fi world where men can become pilots of the Chrysalis. However, they need concubines to use their minds & qi to achieve that. Most of the time, concubines don't survive the ride afterward because they usually don't have high spirit pressure like the pilot. BUT when one concubine does survive, she quickly becomes a true match for the pilot.

This story deals a lot with Chinese mythology, war & the ugliness of misogyny where you need to fight against a patriarchal system to take your place. Zetian is our female MC and is not your typical main character that you see in your YA books. I thought it was so refreshing to see a female character so unhinged and determined to make her presence known and fight for what she believes.

She's 18 and has lived with her poor family while her sister went on and became a concubine. Only for her to not survive the pilot who killed her. Zetian decides to have revenge and kill the one who took her sister away from her and in doing so, she becomes the iron widow. The one who killed one of the most praised pilots in the world. After being recognized for her high spirit pressure, she's forced to work with Shimin, the Iron Demon that everyone is scared of. They become quite a pair through their interactions and I'm honestly so hungry for more.

It's such a gripping story where our MC is quite the feminist (it makes sense tho considering her world). I'm telling you, you will want for all men to suffer in this book except for Shimin and her best friend :') There were so many times when I wanted to throw the book away because the men made me rage so much. I love that Zetian works so hard to show the world that women are being treated poorly and she won't stop until she gets the respect that she (they) deserve.

The fighting scenes did have me confused so many times because of the new terms and mechanical procedure of the chrysalis that made it hard for me to understand. Despite that, I truly enjoyed my time with this world and the characters and I can't wait to see what the author has in store for us.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance to review this book for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was stunning from start to finish. The characters were masterfully crafted and the worldbuilding was stunningly done. The plot was amazing, with twists and turns that I never anticipated. If you enjoy dystopian, feminist, YA fantasy with strong female main characters, I definitely recommend this book! 5/5 stars from me!