This was a very well-executed book. I really loved the world building and the strong characters. I also love that it was drawn from Chinese history as that is a big academic and professional interest of mine!

Thank you so much to net galley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book. It was a pretty good book follow the Main character who was kind of a villain but I definitely will continue this series!

Iron Widow is set in a world that is a mix of Chinese history and science fiction. All 3 of our main characters have such strong voices and personalities that came across perfectly on paper. They’re also so well developed that they feel like actual people. The wait for book 2 is going to kill me off honestly!
Full review to come on YouTube

🔥DROP EVERYTHING AND READ IRON WIDOW 🔥
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@xiranjayzhao stuns in they/thems debut, Iron Widow. Set in China's Huaxia, women are forced to fight with men and transform themselves into energy sources. Basically, the men feed off of them for suit power and kill them off. YET Zetian refuses for this to be the gender standard. Avenging her sisters death, she is thrown on a journey of the mind, body and soul. But will she survive the darkness and every attempt on her life?
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Read this if you:
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🔥 loved Hunger Games - this is a violent Hunger Games ish story but much more beautiful
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🔥 Fantasy lovers? This book is screaming for you!
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🔥 want to say f society and gender roles

This fast-paced dive into a world of monsters, both human and alien, mech suits, and spiritual strength was so intense at times that I had to put it down and take a deep breath.

.5 stars
Totally adored this exciting YA SciFi inspired by Pacific Rim and Chinese myth and history.

Not only was the base setup really cool with the mechas and monsters, I especially liked how consciously it recognizes and deconstructs misogynistic structures and propaganda, as well as handles other topics like gender or addiction. Because holy shit, the setting was harsh. Please do mind the trigger warnings before reading this (some of them are listen below.)

The story was WILD. It was fast-paced, and just kept unfurling and unfurling. There's the action of the mecha battles, the typical "person from simple means being pulled into a situation much bigger than them", celebrity photoshoots, complicated social dynamics, not to mention battling the patriarchy, and of course love.
The latter was, to my delight, pretty much the least dramatic of all of these. I loved that, especially in combination with it being polyam! It wasn't in the foreground, and there, too, I loved how it was approached by the protagonist, who is overall much more pragmatic than anything else, but at the same time never cold or unfeeling. She does terrible things and makes very bad decisions, but I was nevertheless always rooting for her, both in her most ruthless and brutal and her vulnerable moments.

The writing was incredibly easy to read. I am currently not reading as much or as fast as I usually do, but I absolutely flew through the book. I read it in just a couple days. I have also heard from other people that they found it easy to read, and particularly from people with ADHD. So if that is a concern for some people that they have to consider before reading a book, this might be helpful!

Content warnings include: torture and mutilation, alcohol addiction, mentions of sexual assault, body shaming, misogyny, violence, murder, death

Iron Widow is a fast-paced fantasy influenced by Chinese history and culture. It combines elements of Pacific Rim, The Hunger Games, and The Handmaid's Tale.

In Huaxia, there's a neverending war against the alien Hunduns. Men pilot Chrysalises, robots that are the only defense against the Hundun. Women are second-class citizens who serve as concubines to the pilots and sacrifice their lives to the war effort. Although the male pilots are the war heroes, they need a female co-pilot to be the yin to the yang, and the Chrysalises need both a man and a woman to work properly. Unfortunately, the female co-pilots often die and this is considered a necessary sacrifice.

After Zetian's sister is killed by a star pilot, she vows revenge and enlists to become a co-pilot. She gets her revenge and somehow survives, something that isn't supposed to happen. She's now an Iron Widow and she's paired with a pilot who's also a convicted murderer, and the two form an uneasy alliance.

I was completely engrossed in this book. Zetian is a great heroine. She's prickly and angry at the world, and she decides to do something about it. Her world is brutal to women, and even her own family views her as disposable. She's underestimated by everyone and she uses it to her advantage. Her story is really gripping and I was rooting for her from the start.

This is the start of a series, and there were some unexpected twists at the end that left me anxious for the sequel. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes.

CW: mentions of sexual assault, rampant misogyny, alcholism, mutilation

This is simply truly the best book ever written. I am obsessed with the writing, the world, the characters, the fact that we have this beautiful and incredible polyamorous relationship... this was just the best thing I've read this year, and I'm so glad this book exists. I loved Zetian and her fierce determination to get revenge for what happened to her sister and how she stumbles into being one of the most powerful pilots ever. I love her relationship with Shimin and Yizhi both, and how those two fall for each other, how the three of them have enough love in themselves for each other. I just really loved this book and cannot wait for more of these three badasses <3

I cannot say enough good things about this book! It is absolutely BRILLIANT in about a thousand ways. Somehow, Xiran Jay Zhao managed to pack in tons of themes and thought-provoking commentary on gender, references to Chinese history, multiple compelling characters, surprising twists, steamy romance (for YA), freakin' MECHAS, and I'm sure plenty more I've forgotten to mention, without sacrificing ANYTHING. It is easy to understand, does not feel preachy in any way, and is well-paced. This book is a serious masterpiece.

I wish I could go back and give a copy to my teenage self (a Chinese American girl growing up at a time when we were completely absent from YA). Barring that, I'm going to tell absolutely EVERYONE to read this book (and the other brilliant Chinese diaspora books coming out now)! I could go on gushing for ages, but instead I'm going to end with this: read it and thank me later. You're welcome.

Thank you Penguin Teen for providing a free advanced e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book so many months ago. I regret that it took me until receiving my Illumicrate edition to finally getting around to reading this!

After the unexplained death of her sister, Zetain enlists to be a concubine for male pilots in the army. She leaves a family she loathes, and a boy whose social standing puts him out of her league that she loves, to go enact a revenge plot against this pilot prince knowing it is also likely to end in her own death. Instead, she discovers that her qi exceeds expectations and maybe everything her people, especially the young girls whose lives she aims to save from fates similar to her sister, isn't so simple and straightforward as they are raised and led to believe.

This book was more than I could have hoped for. I went in thinking that I would LIKE this book, not LOVE it the way I actually do. It had everything and more than I could have hoped for. There is a strong, badass female lead who doesn't let societies opinions or expectations control her or how she acts. A relationship and love triangle that actually didn't annoy or disgust me and constantly had me changing my mind on which way it would go-and let's just say, I was NOT disappointed in the outcome. The story and writing is done so well, and once I started, I did not want to put this book down.

This book was action packed and kept me on my toes. I CANNOT WAIT for the next book. At this point, I am more than a little invested in what happens next with Zetian. Definitely 4.5 out of 5 stars.

***4.5 Stars*** Review goes live on Lair Of Books on 12/14/21 at 8am EST

*•.¸♡ ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ, ɪғ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴅɪғғᴇʀᴇɴᴛ, ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ɢᴇᴛ ᴜsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪs. ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴄʀᴀᴅʟᴇᴅ ɪɴ ʜɪs ᴡᴀʀᴍᴛʜ ᴀɴᴅ ʟɪɢʜᴛ. ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴄʜᴇʀɪsʜᴇᴅ. ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ. ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ɴᴏ ғᴀɪᴛʜ ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ. ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ sᴀᴠᴇ ᴍᴇ. ɪ ᴄʜᴏᴏsᴇ ᴠᴇɴɢᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ. ♡¸.•*

THE 411...

This turned out to be the Feminist AF Sci-Fi story I needed to reignite my craving for SFF as a whole! It also made one thing very clear and that’s that I enjoy a good revenge plot especially when it’s executed by a female MC who feels she has nothing to lose. Zetian has been groomed from birth to accept her role in society as the weaker gender, her sole purpose if enlisted to fight in the war against the Hunduns (evil robots) is to serve as sort of an amplifier/conductor of Qi (spirit pressure) for the males. Accurately pitched as Red Rising meets Pacific Rim, in this world we have our main characters fighting in giant Chrysalis robots against the Hunduns over the wall. A Chrysalis is controlled by a male pilot and his female “Concubine.” While in battle, their bodies remain dormant in the husks of the Chrysalis while they battle using spirit pressure. Many times, the males thoughts & feelings will overwhelm his concubine and kill her. This is understood and accepted by all, until Zetian comes along with a mission to avenge her sisters death. What begins as a plot for revenge against one pilot turns into a much greater mission to strike against the patriarchy and question a system designed to keep women subservient and/or dead.

CW: Death of a loved one, domestic violence, murder, attempted rape, alcohol abuse, suicidal thoughts, misogyny, war themes, descriptions of forced foot binding, and organ removal

WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTS...

This book was hella quotable with social commentary delivering truths on the patriarchy and I absolutely loved it! My rating is a 4.5 only because the finale didn’t match up with the level of climax built up, it felt just a smidge rushed towards the very end.  This still wasn't enough to take away from the story, I found myself fully invested in the characters and overall world building. I'm not yet sure if I'd consider Zetian an unlikeable character, she harbors a ton of anger which I found justified given the crummy deck of cards girls are dealt from birth. We see her experience emotional and verbal abuse from her father as well as the physical pains of having her feet bound at the age of five. Zetian is always in a state of pain and in many ways she uses that as fuel to power through her quest for revenge. From the start when we meet her she makes it clear that she will not consider anyones life (including/especially family) who at some point treated her own life as dispensable. Zetian's hate/love relationship with Li Shimin was well developed, I honestly felt at some points that they'd never get on the same page. I enjoyed seeing Zetian come to certain realizations with regards to the world they live in and the whole Pilot/Concubine set-up. There were some awesome discoveries at the end that really set-up for the next book in this series. This is a fast action packed Sci-Fi with bits of romance sprinkled throughout haha! it's def more plot heavy. Our main characters are all queer, the Polyamorous relationship that developed was *Chefs Kiss*! it legit was the perfect balance of sweet and rough around the edges. I have some theories as to where the story will go next and hope to the Book Gods that at the very least we get a cover for the follow-up early in 2022 *fingers crossed*

Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars

Based on the description of this book, I was very excited to read it, but it fell a little flat in the execution for me. I probably should have realized this going in (based on it being partly compared to The Handmaid's Tale, which I was not a fan of), but the extreme oppression of women in this book was a struggle to read. Sometimes it's hard for me to read sci-fi or fantasy books that have really pressing issues that are occurring now (like misogyny and the patriarchy), so I had a hard time reading those sections, especially since it is not a subtle book in that regard. It is loud and in your face, and I think it worked for the book, but just not so well for me. I also struggled a little with the world building. Maybe I just missed something, but I didn't fully understand the armor and the ships and everything with that. Like I didn't really understand how it worked. And I felt that there wasn't much going in the character development area either - all the characters seemed to be about the same as they were in the beginning, or changed solely because they told other characters their backstory, without really showing us anything.

I think there is a lot of good in this book. I love the diversity and reading about a culture I am not as familiar with. The polyamorous rep was also really appreciated because I only know of one other book that includes that sort of rep. And the message in the book was also good - about overthrowing the patriarchy and not sacrificing women to save men. It just failed in the execution for me personally, making me struggle. I think I would still recommend this because, like I said, there is a lot of good. I would just go in with lower expectations if any of the negatives I mentioned might be something that doesn't work well for you.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Well, Indigo’s best teen book of 2021 was a bust. I wanted to love an Asian and Canadian written fantasy story so much but I found it… confusing? Irritating? Ok, first off, zero world building. And when I say zero I mean ZERO. i understand that a second instalment in a series normally delves more into that but at least give me a little something to understand!! It was walking in blind and …. Keep walking blind? It totally disengaged me in the story. Which is a shame because I think with more explanation it could have done the unique concept more justice. Second, the insta love. Holy fuck the insta love. If a man killed your big sister, I don’t think you’d be stating that his eyes were dreamy and not the eyes of a killer the second time you met him. For such a (supposed) bad ass heroine she sure forgot about her sister and her morals pretty quick as soon as a boy her age was introduced. Anyways, I’m pretty sure this put me into a reading slump. Again, not going to trash it entirely because I respect that this is the hard work of an author but I just didn’t get it at all.

What a stunning debut! A tale of a strong, powerful, and bombastic female pilot. I couldn't put this down and cannot wait for book 2.

This book was, for lack of a more scholarly word, badass. It was particularly refreshing to live in the head of a character who wasn't scared of her own power. Zetian has such a strong and ruthless personality - she made the perfect antihero.

The characters in this book are the reason to pick this book up. The plot can be a little confusing at times. I'm not the biggest sci-fi fan, so the concept of big robots being controlled by pilots didn't exactly click for me, but at the end of the day, it doesn't even matter. Those elements are just the setting for the greater internal conflict in this world.

If you're coming into this book for the romance, don't. It's a sub-plot, which is how it needs to be in a story like this. Zetian is the focus and while I'm so happy there's representation for polyamorous relationships in YA, she's the reason to read this book.

LISTEN, THIS BOOK DESTROYED ME! I took a break while reading Iron Widow and it wasn’t that I lost interest but because I did NOT want to finish this book.

The action scenes were amazing and reminded me how much I loved mecha animes when I was younger. Also, if you know me, you know I HATE love triangles, but the relationship you see grow and strengthen between the three main characters is the cherry on top of this amazing book.

If you haven’t read this book already, WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!! BUY IT NOW!!

*Thank you to @netgalley for my free advanced copy. All opinions are my own.*

One of the most visceral fantasy debuts I’ve ever read. I’m always appreciative of books that focus less on Eurocentric worlds and this one delivered, with a morally grey heroine to root for and a triad romance that I wish more YA novels would adopt instead of the tired love triangle. And THAT ENDING. I absolutely cannot wait for more from this series.

This is a stellar start to an epic YA sci-fi series. It is a re-telling of the rise of Empress Wu, the only female emperor in Chinese history. I studied her in college and she was an OG, badass, bad bitch! This re-imagined world is set in on a planet where humans battle hunduns with large mech warriors, powered by qi. Women are second class, raised to serve men and families, used as qi batteries to die in battle next to male pilots. Wu Zetian has a plan to murder the pilot who killed her sister. She believes that her life will be forfeit once she achieves this goal, but the path of her destiny is one she would never have imagined.

Another incredible aspect of this book is that there is a polyamorous relationship - in mainstream, YA publishing! The seeds to the relationship are planted in this book and I hope to see more of it. The ending is empowering and bold, with a cliffhanger that leaves you heartbroken and ready for more. One of the best YA reads of the year!

This book has a great premise. Woman power in a male driven world. I really enjoyed it, it felt like a manga book and a video game all rolled into one. My type of book. I can’t wait for the sequel.

Oh my god… This. THIS is one of my top favourite books of all time and my favourite read of 2021. This book absolutely blew me away in every aspect and I adored it.

The main character, Zetian, is really what made this story for me. Don’t get me wrong, the rest of the characters and the world building was phenomenal but she just captured my attention and held it until the last page, the last word. She is so unhinged and wild, set on revenge for her sister who was killed by a pilot. I love her dedication, her spirit and drive and power. She’s the baddest of badasses, truly.

The poly relationship too! I’m so glad this was part of the story— their bond just *chefs kiss*. AND THAT ENDING. I haven’t been that shocked by an ending of a book in a long, long time. Sequel soon? Please?

If you need an action packed story full of love and death, soft moments and edge of your seat, heart beating out of your throat moments— you need this story in your life. Honestly, read this regardless on if you like those things— Xiran Jay Zhao’s writing is stunning. A true talent!

5/5⭐️