5 stars

THIS BOOK!

After reading this book it made me rethink every 5 star I have ever given.

Read this if you like poly relationships, enemies AND friends to lovers, and disability rep.

While I was reading the story, I had told a friend, it is like the Matrix crossed with Hunger Games, but with way cooler fighting machines. With that said, I know that comparison does the book a disservice. There is so much more to Iron Widow that I will be thinking about for a long time.

Some thoughts:

1. It is hard not scream ‘hell yeah’ and ‘you go girl' (while still being so sad for the world they live in) through most of the book. Zetian is a woman on a mission and will stop at nothing. She is such a juxtaposition of nativity, caring, anger, revenge, cunning, and brains. Her strategic and uncompromising path while she burns the world down is well written. She is a leader from the very first page. Like any strong leader, she risks all, she plays the game to learn and further her goals, and she surrounds herself with those she can trust and who strengthen/build.

2. I cannot tell you how much I love the evolution of the relationship between Zetian, Li, and Yizhi. I could not imagine it another way - each of them are strong independent people yet come together to form a shape that is so integrated it cannot be broken. Let’s be honest, how they are still mentally intact by the end of the book is a feat onto itself.

3. The world building is well done. I never felt lost or like I was missing pieces of the framework. There is a lot to absorb, from the fighting factions, the machines, the power structure, but there was never a feeling of info dumping.

4. The story was a race. There is rare down time and even when you think you can relax, everything in the book is purposeful, you really cannot put your guard down.

5. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is aggressive, uncompromising, beautiful, epic, morally ambiguous, and thought provoking. There are moments when you want Zetian to back off and be ‘the better person’, but that is not this story - the good female ‘smile and wave’ hero is not who she is and not why this story works so well.

There is another book that I read this year that made me feel the same way: Poppy Wars, by R. F Kuang.

Very much looking forward to the next book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for an early copy of Iron Widow! All opinions are my own.

I can get the appeal of why Iron Widow is an interesting book. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't "wow this book is amazing!" love. I think what happened for me is that I didn't connect with Zetian. I really did enjoy learning more about Shimin. He was probably one of my favorite characters.

Also, what was that ending?! That ending pushed the rating up a bit because I didn't see it coming. I'm almost half tempted to read the sequel (because it has to have a sequel after that ending) just to see what happens next.

This was an absolutely wild ride and one of my top books all year. I love the characters so much. They are all very different flavors of lets commit murder together because we love each other. I think the scifi setting made it work a lot more with the use of a "retelling" of the first chinese empress because it was done loosely rather than very narrowly. Made for a great read and that ending had me wanting more

Well this book certainly packs a punch!!
Seriously it is so action packed!! When I heard handmaids tale meets pacific rim they weren’t kidding!
I loved the blend of traditional Chinese influences mixed in with futuristic elements. It gave such a unique and culturally interesting world, the world building was also very distinct and intriguing. I honestly can’t wait to learn more about it.
Ok but let’s talk about Zetian, one of my new all time favourite characters! She is strong and courageous from the get go. I loved that she knew what she wanted and just went for it.
This also had such a good bunch of supporting characters with lots of depth to them. Li Shimin is also a new fav.
I really enjoyed the feminist message that came through the story and also the inclusion of polyamory, which is not as often seen or even touched on much in fantasy novels.
Basically I adored this book and I honestly don’t know how I’m going to wait for book two!!
Of course I gave this one 5⭐️!

This is a girl power book if I've ever seen one!

Huaxia is the teenage boy's dream...piloting a giant robot with a girl in order to thwart the enemy. But that isn't the case for the girls. The girls are used as concubines solely to make the male more powerful. After Zetian's sister's death as a co-pilot, revenge is all that is on her mind. She is stronger than she thinks and ends up being the most powerful pilot, even more so than the males. She later finds out the reasoning for that.

Zhao pushes the limits of typical Chinese norms in a fantasy way that hasn't been addressed before. This was a novel I couldn't put down and look forward to following Zetian on her next part of the journey!

I appreciate this book for being an impassioned and deliberate indictment of patriarchy and for making room for polyamory in YA, but with its stunted and awkward dialogue, a worldbuilding with very scarce clarity, characters who are reduced to mouthpieces for a popular debate, and writing that dances back and forth over the line between "easily-accessible" to "plainly bad"--I spent most of this book feeling hideously bored, swiftly turning the pages and skimming passages for the necessary information to learn what happens. No one is more heartbroken about this rating than I am :(

I love the strength in this book. It radiates from the page. The story is new and flashy and the characters are well developed! An author to watch for sure!

What a memorable debut from Xiran Jay Zhao!

I confess, I found some parts particularly difficult to read. I flinched at the description of foot binding, and all mentions of Zetian's feet. I raged at the unfairness of it all, the girls whose lives meant nothing to the system. I shared in her satisfaction when she avenged her sister's death. I celebrated when Zetian made them realize they couldn't ignore her, or the power she possessed. Zetian was a refreshing FMC, I liked the polyamorous relationship, and how they used the power of the media to their advantage.

Okay the book was just too chaotic at times for me. Well I love the authors youtube videos. I did like the basis of it being a science fiction reinterpretation of China's only female emperor. Well maybe it would have made more sense to me had I fully known her life. Well the romance was endearing and true polyamory. Well it is a debut maybe the sequel will feel more fluid. I suspect live action series coming out of this within a decade.

Taking place in a futuristic realm of ancient China in a country called Huaxia, girls and boys are paired to operate Chrysalises, giant robots used in battle. Oftentimes, however, the girl ends up dying from the mental strain they go through.

When Zetian's sister dies from operating a Chrysalises, she sets off to join the fight in hopes of avenging her sister's death. Using her anger as her fuel to keep her going, Zetian ends up accidentally killing her male co-pilot and labeled an Iron Widow.

Now that she has power, she's paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest male pilot. Continuing her journey, she must figure out a way to survive as a female pilot in the corrupt pilot system.

I loved the fantasy world the author created. I thought it was so magical and cool to see how everything came together in the book.

This story also gives a good insight on the prejudice that women face, in this case, Asian women, in society. If you think about it, it's normally the male that is dominant and the females are always the ones supporting the other, but Zetian represents the few women that break past these boundaries. #girlbossmoments

Overall, Iron Widow was a great, unique debut novel. It has one of the best covers for 2021 YA new book releases and I can't wait for its second book to come out!

<i>"I've been told endless lies since I was born. That I was not kind enough, considerate enough, humble enough, honorable enough, pretty enough, pleasing enough. And that if I failed to meet the needs of those around me, I did not deserve to live.
Propaganda. All of it. Propaganda to keep me chasing after the approval of others on my bound and broken feet, as if being a good servant is the only thing I should be proud of.
Now, I see the truth.
The world does not deserve my respect. It is not worthy of my kindness or compassion."

TL;DR: This book has 4+ stars, which I am a bit baffled by, because there are waaay too many problematic things in it for me: it's written like better-than-most self-insert fanfic, where the author wants power and adoration. It's billed as a book where the empowered heroine takes down a misogynist system -- but this is NOT a feminist story, and I don't think I'd recommend it to others, especially true-YA readers who might not be able to parse through the nuances. This is a graphic, violent story about a cruel and self-loathing protagonist who gleefully murders to get what she wants. There's a line near the end that kind of sums up the book:

<i>"It's a disturbing cacophony of death and destruction."</i>

Vibes: Sci-Fi Mulan + Transformers + How-Game-of-Thrones-Should-Have-Handled-Khaleesi's-Character, but make it a Shakespearean tragedy doused in white-hot-seething-rage

Genre: Sci-Fi...ish?
Apparently, first in a series. *cringe*

Character MVP: Honestly? None of them.
Maybe Big Sister who dies off-screen. She seems okay.
Or Qieluo. Because she speaks her mind forcefully, but hasn't murdered anyone in cold blood. Yet.
IDK. No one is particularly likeable.

Verdict: If I was reviewing the Author's Note at the beginning and the first few chapters, it'd be a 4-star read for me. The way Zhao describes the set-up and premise of the story is intriguing, and divorced from the context of the actual story, what they wanted to accomplish/depict is fascinating. But the end result is just...*shudder* It's clear that Zhao *can* tell a story -- stripped away from the disturbing content, there is an intriguing premise here, and the story does rip along at a nice pace. The Chinese history blended with sci-fi is a cool twist...I just found myself baffled by how much anger, self-loathing, and contradictions were thrown into this book.

I get what they were trying to do and, again, objectively, I can get behind that:
--You want to normalize -- or, at least, increase representation of -- polyamorous / bi / queer relationships? Sure. Totally fine with that.
--You want to send the message that, historically, civilizations have been toxically patriarchal, resulting in generations of women who have internalized beliefs that they are lesser and weaker than men? I dig that. I even appreciate how Zhao approached the "women have weaker qi levels" and it's parallel to "women are biologically weaker."

But:
<i>"Perks of refusing to play by the rules: you don't have to choose between the boy who'd torture a man to death with you and the boy who'd welcome you back with pastries after."</i>

But, again. The end result is a very violent, angry story. The entire book is characters raging, screaming, tearing, fighting, gushing, rampaging. There are very few, if any, moments of quiet or calm emotions in the whole book. Everyone suffers and is in pain, or inflicts pain and suffering on others, and it is an exhausting book to read.

And I *get* that that might have been what Zhao was going for -- and it is absolutely exhausting to be a minority trapped helplessly in a reinforcing cycle of patriarchal dominance -- but it just felt like that there were no moments of empathy to balance her out. She felt like an unequivocal villain -- like Danerys was supposed to be in Game of Thrones. Like, if this is how the showrunners had portrayed Dany -- cruel, merciless, gleefully killing -- her villain-turn at the end of the series wouldn't have been as "WTF." But here, I feel like this is billed as a triumphant overturning of a f*cked up system, and Zetian is NOT a hero or someone to be admired.

It's Zetian's cruelty that I can't handle. I get that she's been abused and mistreated and beaten down by the society she lives in. I get that. But...she doesn't make sense to me. She wants to make the world better for other women -- and Zhao is SO HEAVY HANDED with the messages about the worth of women -- but she is callous and haughty and disdainful and cruel to everyone she meets, including all the other women.

And that is a big Pet Peeve of mine. I HATE when authors "build up" their female characters by belittling the men around them and tearing down other women. The only female character Zetian doesnt seem to hate is her sister, who we never see, because she was 86-ed off screen in a brutal way. The other concubines she meets? She rages and spits at them and starts a fight. The other Princess-class pilots? Enemies. There is not one meaningful female-to-female relationship in this book, and I can't celebrate that.

✖️ -- And then there's the vengeful, cold-blooded murder. The story opens with her seeking revenge for her sister, which is like GoT seasons 3-5 Dany. It's not a *great* first impression, but if the pretentious prick pilot killed her sister, then we, as readers, can understand that motivation.
But boy oh boy does it escalate. This is by no means an exhaustive list but Zetian:
--vengefully and violently kills another pilot (yes, he did attempt to rape her, but this is presented almost as a reason/justification for Zetian to kill him)
--waterboards a high-ranking senior strategist and dumps his body in a bathroom
--kills the only other female character who was remotely nice to her because, as it turns out, Xiuying was just a pawn of the men in charge, never mind the fact that she was being blackmailed with her children's lives
--storms and stomps parts of the Great Wall and city just to get to the men in charge, whom she also kills
--kills her family in cold-blood because they are products of the self-same cycle of patriarchal dominance she's raging against and trying to break...and because they love her brother more.
--And apparently turns that sweet baker boy (Peeta much?) into a cold-blooded killer too.
Given the fact that she's piloting a dragon while most of this happens, it's very Danerys Targaryen -- but without Emilia Clarke's relatability and vulnerability.

✖️-- Plot / Worldbuilding.
There's not much, as many other people have noted. There are vague sci-fi elements and even though Zhao is telling the story of a historical empress -- which they noted in their Author's Note at the beginning and gave the story a historical-fiction vibe -- its set in the future? With aliens? Who knows.
Also, the qi is fascinating but is SO CONFUSING. There are 4 different types -- wait, no 5 which only the emperor at the end can wield? -- but combined with the yin and yang and the fact that you can have a primary and secondary qi and one is strong against this one and weak against another -- it's a lot. And info dumped as needed. It's not neatly laid out in the exposition -- or even in a chart/glossary at the beginning. Zhao only gives you the info as you go, like she was discovering the rules as she was writing. Like, it's mentioned that Zetian's secondary qi is water but then, near the end, turns out she actually has TWO secondary qi, WHICH IS SUPER RARE YOU GUYS, water and fire, and WOULDN'T YOU KNOW? Sima Yi helps her channel that water into fire which is absolutely NOT going to come back into play later. At all. Nope.

✖️ -- Plot Conveniences. Mentioning this again, because it bugs me. The plot moves along nicely, which is great, don't get me wrong. Like, I first thought Zetian was going to fall in love with the pilot she was seeking revenge on and we were going to have an enemies-to-lovers plot, but, nope. She kills him pretty easily. (Although we do still have an enemies-to-lovers plot.)
But things just conveniently fall into place in order to keep the story moving:
<i>"I convinced Central Command to belatedly grant Shimin the King of Pilots title that he's been deprived of for the past two years."</i>

✖️ -- Plot Twist. There's a "twist," in the Epilogue (one which was clearly telegraphed throughout the book) and...meh. If you want a twist of that nature, [author:Scott Reintgen|14593331] did it better in [book:Ashlords|55779901].

✖️ -- The writing alternates between good and cringey, particularly the dialogue. Like, <i>"Yeah, we're not the ones who want you dead, you unhinged bitch!" Sima Yi says, sounding winded.</i>

I mentioned this above, but the story read to me like self-insert fanfic where authors get to live out their fantasies and play by the rules they want. I finished the book, which is important, because there was a strong start and an interesting premise. The bones of a really good story are there. But...an editor needed to spend a lot more time with this book. I read their bio online, in which they talk about they became a YouTuber and started writing during the pandemic. Which...is not that long ago. A year and a half. Maybe someone was trying to strike while the iron was hot and get the book to press right away, but...I genuinely hope someone spends more time with the sequel.

Had I avoided picking up this book because I was worried my expectations were entirely too high and that it would devastate me if it didn't even close? Yes.
Did this book still devastate me? Yes.

So let's start where I always do, PROPS for including Content Warnings at the beginning of this book.

I have tried my best to express my feelings regarding this book without including direct spoilers.

But it was also everything my Queer heart has ever wanted as the person whose response has always been "WHY NOT BOTH?"
I loved seeing the relationships between the characters developing and honestly truly enjoyed not dealing with a constant bout of Will They, Won't They?
While I enjoyed Zeiten and Yizhi's conversation about him being okay with her pursuing a relationship with Shimin, I feel like I wanted more covered than we saw on-page.

I had the most mixed feelings about the "cause" shown behind Shimin's addiction. As someone who works in the field, this left a sour taste in my mouth, which I hadn't had until that scene. Addiction at its core is a disease, and while this is shown quite well in some parts. I feel like thrusting the blame onto one particular person altogether avoided the fact that there are a lot of factors that lead to addiction. And it wouldn't have made Shimin less of a person to have just been using alcohol to try to cope with what he had and was going through.
(I have strong feelings on this as someone who works in Mental Health & Addiction Services)

Overall I enjoyed this book, though, and will be picking the next one.

Human existence in Huaxia is constantly threatened by mechanical aliens. Their only true means of protection the Chrysalises, giant transforming suits of robotic armor, and the pilots who fight within them. Boys celebrated for their prowess in protecting their home and the girls who pair with and support them. The girls who die from the strain, their ki drained and their minds broken. Zetian volunteers to be one of those girls, a concubine pilot, not to support her family or protect her home but for revenge. To kill the pilot who murdered her sister. All seems lost when they are called to battle. All seems lost until Zetian wakes and the pilot does not. She won. She killed him and in doing so proved herself too valuable to simply execute. Now she will have to deal with the consequences of her power and her new situation as an Iron Widow. She will have to find a way to make her new assignment as the paired pilot to the Iron Demon, Li Shimin, the most dangerous male pilot in Huaxia work for her as she tries to figure out why the pilot system is rigged against girls and how to end it.

It has been a while since a book grabbed me like Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow. There have been books that I read faster and books that I wanted to spend more time picking through, but none that made me want to see more of the world and how it worked as things were revealed and the protagonist made more of her situation. I find myself left with so many questions about the setting and the Chrysalises and the whole situation with the gods, but not in a way that feels unsatisfying. It winds up being more that the world feels rich and full and I want to see as much of it as Zhao is willing to share in this series.

That actually sort of makes this difficult for me to write. There is so much I enjoyed about the setting and the world building and the characters, that I find myself unsure where to start, so let’s start with what Iron Widow feels like. This being a science fiction reimagining of the story of China’s only female emperor I was not sure what to expect or if my lack of prior knowledge would leave me lost, but rather than feeling like a story based in history it felt like really solid science fiction. It flowed really well and the progression felt really solid. The whole idea of the Chrysalises was fascinating and I wanted to know what decided the shapes they took, if they were designed after beings from Chinese mythology because that would be good for the people of Huaxia’s moral or if the designs were set by the mysterious gods of the setting for another reason. Taken with that, I wanted to know more about the mythology of Huaxia. There are rumors about Zetian being a fox spirit after her first battle and the death of that pilot, and I would have loved to see more about that. It would not have fit with the plotting, but I do hope that more can be shown in later novels.

The characters feel three dimensional and interesting and delightfully human. Zetian’s anger is glorious and it builds and shifts to accommodate the people she comes to care about and those who have harmed them. She is deeply ambitious, with that ambition only slightly tempered by the fact that it needs to keep her and hers alive and safe. Li Shimin, the much feared and loathed Iron Demon, has this almost lovingly tragic backstory of trying to improve his situation only to fall because of his better nature, he follows Zetian’s plans as a partner rather than trying to drag her where he wants to go. The balance between them was fantastic. Even more, the way Zetian’s friend Yizhi fits into things, bringing another layer to how the setting works as well as backing Zetian and Shimin’s play for safety and power. I am very about these characters and how they work as a group.

Ultimately even the thing that usually annoys me with first novels, having an ending that heavily implies the next one, just left me excited because it meant more of this. Plus it stands really well on its own. I have no complaints about Iron Widow and I have total grabby hands for the next book in the series. Iron Widow gets a five out of five from me. I greatly enjoyed Zhao’s writing and cannot wait to see where they go from here.

Big thank you to NetGalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review

I went in with high hopes and I felt most if not all were met in this book! The writing at times can feel a little choppy, but in a way, I would think would happen with a new author and overall is something she will only get better with the more novels she writes.

I want to say so much about this book from the plot I found inventive and just gripping from the start to the characters that had a good blend of reliability but also being these badass mech pilots as well, but this book I believe is even better if you go into knowing as little as possible. I read this only knowing the basic idea that is was a mix of mech suit fighting and Chinese history/myths and in my mind made the rea even more fun!

Side note also there is some Poly rep in the novel even though it is not a romance and I don't think people should go in thinking it is. Romance is more of a little extra side plot while the main plot has more to do with action and the underlining feminist message of the story and characters' journey.

4.5 Stars

I could not put Iron Widow down! The Pacific Rim meets Handmaid's Tale description couldn't be more accurate. Zetian is the rage-filled, badass female character I have been searching for and she's not afraid to embrace her inner villainy. The book felt very fast paced the whole time and my only real complaint was that the writing style has room for improvement, particularly towards the end. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was but something about it just didn't flow.

I hope Xiran Jay Zhao is frantically writing because I cannot wait for the sequel!

Thanks so much to Netgalley for the e-arc!

For sure this book is a five stars and a favorite of mine! zetian, shimin and yizhi are the lovers of my life and I can't put into words how good this book it is. it has been weeks since I read Iron Widow and, even now, it's a strange, good and amazing sensation about how well-done, well-written this book is. I can't wait for the next one of this series!

Adding representation to my bookshelf has been a priority goal of mine for 2021, so I was so excited to receive this ARC! It's a feminist story with bi representation rooted in Chinese history. Zetain is also a morally grey character, which I oftentimes find are my favorites, If you like futuristic sci-fi reads, this is definitely one you will love. I am usually not one for sci-fi and to be honest some of this story just went over my head. I can understand why it has rave reviews, but unfortunately, I'm just not the right audience.

This was SO good! Theories and guesses I had about the plot and relationships were proved wrong which I always love. A surprising book will always be rated highly by me! It was impossible to pause the audiobook and so much was happening but yet it was not overwhelming. I could easily follow it and then my mind could catch up to the next scene because the action and intrigue does not let up!

Iron Widow reminded me of Pacific Rim but instead of robots, living, evolving creatures and story elements/politics/and society that is inspired by past Chinese culture and history.

There are very few books that have astounded me so much and taken me so aback that it takes me weeks to formulate words to review them. Not in the same way life is too busy for me to sit down and finish a review but more I can't find words. This is a book that is greater than words. Iron Widow is the latest in that line.

I've had this book on my radar since I started watching Xiran Jay Zhao's videos earlier this year. I've never been quite what I'd call a history nerd but I do have a tendency to focus on random countries, periods or figures and read or check out all I can about them. One of those was Wu Zetian. I would recommend the authors own video on her to get the full details but safe to say she fascinated and terrified me.

We follow Wu Zetian in this fantastic, reimagined in an alternate scifi world where women are seen as consumable objects to fuel an ongoing battle against the beings known as the Hunduns. Women pilots are needed to fuel the mecha suits, pilotted by male ones, in an attempt at a balanced match in something called spirit pressure. When we meet Zetian, she is reeling from the death of her sister after her being forced into the becoming on of these pilots. The depiction of how Zetian and her older sister are valued by their family, is depicted very bluntly. There is no detail spared to her true feelings about them. She details her father's rage, her sense of betrayal at the loss of her sister, the brutal process of when they bound her feet.

It's hard not to join in Zetian's rage and burning desire for change. Her (justified) outrage as the world fails to value her for anything else other than her ability to boost the campaign of a man. Something I loved about Zetian from the start was she's not only willing to do any thing, no matter how savage, to change things. But she is also very flawed. I have mentioned in many a review I love nothing more than a morally grey, more nuanced character. Especially when that character is a woman. But this book is YA and it's so interesting to see a character like Zetian in that demographic. No sooner than when she meets her new partner, Li Shimin, do we see her own internal logic confronted as maybe being a bit too skewed. Later on, the same applies to when she meets other Iron Princesses. She seeks to use them, and some are wise to it. She is suddenly not the strongest one in the room. It's an excellent deconstruction of the protagonist.

The really outstanding world building is easy to see in the images of the mecha suits on the authors website but even without them, it's so easy to visualise. The different types, from wood to fire, the different transformation potential they can go through, all the way down to how within the spirit realm how both pilots manage them. It's all so immersive and rich in references to history, culture and (even) pop culture, it's hard not to love it.

I feel I can't admire the book as well without commenting on the success of the throuple. I'm not someone who practiced polyamory at any stage of my life but this book really nails the most positive depiction of it I've read. Zetian, Shimin and Yizhi work perfectly in sync together. It's later explained in the narrative how they work on a deeper level for fighting and how they might shatter the notion of couples being the best for balanced piloting as well. But they have so many tender moments, intercut with some really difficult conversations that lend the relationship far more credibility and is far from the fetishization.

I am still reeling from the ending of the book as well I might add. I honestly can't wait for the sequel, mostly because of how this one wraps up but I am also so looking forward to reading more of the authors work. Thankfully for the meantime, I have their videos to keep me going. Thank you to the publisher for the digital copy in exchange for this review. Thanks for checking in guys, happy reading!