Reviews Posted
Goodreads: Aug. 18, 2021
Storygraph: Aug. 18, 2021
TikTok @meghanlew_: Aug. 18, 2021

Okay I went into this book knowing very little about it, and wow I was definitely blown away. I am definitely not a science fiction person, bu this reads more like a fantasy. And the writing had a very poetic feel to it, which really pulled me into the world. The pacing of the book was super fast, which kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

I really loved the main character and her growth through out the book. I was literally screaming in my room every time she dismantled the patriarchy a little more. The more the book went on the more I wanted her to win and come out on top. But besides her the rest of the characters fell flat and I couldn’t connect or get myself to care about their journeys. I also had a hard time finding chemistry with the main character and anyone else.

The plot was so much fun, seriously I just wanted more, I wish the book had been longer. Don’t get me wrong I predicted a lot of what was going to happen, but I didn’t care cause the world and the writing were so enthralling. I found it hard to put the book down, or to leave the world behind.

Reading any book that is based off of Chinese culture makes my heart race. Growing up I never read a book with a main character that looked like me, or a read about a world that reflected mine. And I think Iron Widow does a great job of showing the good and especially the ugly that comes from Chinese culture and the misogyny that many girls have faced.

I don't remember what the tweet said that made me run to Netgalley and request an ARC, but I'm glad I did! Plus, the twist at the end surprised me!

Iron Widow features a strong female protagonist chafing against the strictures of her society. These kinds of stories usually annoy me a bit, because they rarely examine the ways that patriarchal institutions convince women to oppress each other, and instead just focus on how men are evil and most women just don't understand the problem. Not so with this one! Instead, Zhao presents a character, Zetian, who discovers the ways she herself has internalized oppression while also fighting the larger patriarchal structures that keep women passive.

Based on Chinese history, but with a fun science fiction element, Iron Widow is the story of humanity at war with aliens, known as Hundun, fighting with large mecha/robot-like weapons to keep the Hundun beyond the Great Wall. The universe in this book is full of well-developed science and interesting set pieces, alongside what might be considered magic in other settings. Each Chrysalis (these weapons) takes two pilots, one male and one female. That may sound annoyingly like biological determinism, and we find out in the end that it is! It was arbitrarily decided based on sexist ideas about gender. The female pilots often die in the process, because they are seen as disposable and willing to sacrifice themselves while men are strong and brave.

Zetian isn't a character who is extraordinary where others aren't (another trope I kinda hate) -- instead she finds the ways that women's potential is always dampened and used against them. There have been other powerful women pilots, but they are quickly "dealt with" so that men remain in control. There have been other Iron Widows before her (women who took control of the Chrysalis and killed the male pilots).

Iron Widow also includes three bisexual main characters, which might be a record.

I think this book would be great for everyone. It gave me pretty strong Tamsyn Muir vibes, so definitely check it out if you like the Locked Tomb series. If you like hard sf, strong women, male hunks of various types, and Asian settings, I think you will really like this book!

wow.

iron widow is a merciless, rage-fueled, and absolutely addictive science fiction debut that reimagines the rise of china’s only female emperor, wu zetian, against the backdrop of a world devastated by the aliens that invaded the planet millennia ago. huaxia is defended only by its great wall and the boy-girl pairs of pilots operating chrysalises—giant mecha—beyond it.

the male pilots become celebrities.

the concubine-pilots die from the mental strain, to be replaced by others in a never-ending supply of disposable girls.

but when zetian murders the male pilot responsible for her sister’s death through the psychic link that typically kills the girls, she is revealed to be a rare iron widow. suddenly too valuable to dispose of, she is paired with the military’s most powerful pilot, li shimin, in an attempt to control her and capitalize on her potential—but now that she has tasted power, she isn’t willing to let it go.

this book is just so entertaining. it’s fast-paced and action-packed, with a ruthless, scheming “chosen one” fighting back against an oppressively patriarchal society and one of the best cliffhangers i’ve come across this year. it reminded me of the hunger games, specifically regarding the fleeting celebrity of the pilots/tributes and the role of media as both a tool and a weapon, but iron widow’s focus is on themes of misogyny and patriarchy. they’re rooted through every aspect of zetian’s society; the male pilots draining their concubines in battle is simply a microcosm of all of huaxia.

i adored zetian from the very first chapter and i couldn’t help rooting for her, but i have to admit that i didn’t really care about her love interests, li shimin and gao yizhi. i liked the idea of the three of them and i’m curious to see it explored in the sequel, but the relationships all felt very underdeveloped—possibly because shimin and yizhi themselves didn’t have much development. this was an issue with many of the characters, if i’m being honest. i was really looking forward to seeing a variety of historical figures reimagined in this setting, but very few stood out.

there are a few other issues i noticed—the world-building felt awkward at times and the handling of certain themes was a little heavy-handed—but i enjoyed this book so much that i would drop everything to get my hands on the sequel right this minute.

iron widow is an amazing debut. pitched as pacific rim meets the handmaid’s tale, it would also be perfect for fans of the hunger games, well-written battle scenes (battles usually bore me to tears), and really neat robots.

I, probably like a lot of readers, discovered Xiran Jay Zhao due to her infamous Twitter thread analyzing Mulan. When she announced she was publishing a book, I knew I would read it. Iron Widow was a delightful read. Readers who are already familiar with the story of China's only empress, Wu Zetian, will see how she inspired Iron Widow's main character. And readers who aren't will want to read up on the empress after finishing this story.

The world building here was excellent, as well as the character development. I was emotionally attached to all three of our leads and enjoyed their interactions and growing bonds. And as always, I am thrilled by the queer rep in upcoming ya and adult novels, and Iron Widow was no exception.

The ending leaves space for a sequel, and I will absolutely be reading it.

DNF @ 27%

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of Iron Widow through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I loved the premise, the whole idea behind the book, and the idea of a strong female character who isn’t afraid to kill or push past boundaries. The writing was good and the descriptions were phenomenal. What really got on my nerves, however, was the main character. She’s excruciatingly annoying and honestly makes this unreadable. She’s perfect, everything goes perfectly for her on the first try, somehow she knows everything, she’s “not like most girls,” and her first-person POV reads like a poorly-written 2013 YA novel with “like,” “literally,” “can’t even” and other placeholder words thrown in every five sentences. It feels so out of place in this type of book. I wanted to like this so badly but I knew if I forced myself to finish it I’d probably get in a reading slump.

interesting characters, great plot, slightly slow at times but overall loved this book!!! definitely worth the hype, can’t wait for more from this author!

The main character, Wu Zetian, who was inspired by the only Chinese Emperor in history is full of rage and anger
fueled by the misogynist system holding women back. As a character she pulled the reader in and made you feel
how unjust the society is. Her unrelenting emotional and mental strength is what makes you want to root for her
although she wants to leave a bloody path in the wake of her vengeance. Her need for survival goes a long way which is shown in her partnership with Li Shimin, the strongest pilot in Huaxia. The world that was created by the author is mesmerizing and being able to follow along with the characters in the Chrysalises while they are battling was a great experience. I was able to imagine what these giant transforming robots looked like during battles because of the writing. Overall this book is such a great masterpiece that I will sell and talk about for as long as I can.

this book is gonna go places. if it does t blow up i will be severely disappointed. the writing was phenomenal

OVERALL:
In Huaxia, Chrysalises are piloted by males and females. The females’ qi is there to counterbalance the intensity of the male qi, which is needed for the Chrysalis to transform into robots. These robots fight mechanical aliens.

Enter Zetian, a female who is desperate to get away from her family, and eager to exact revenge on the pilot who killed her sister. And…she does.

After this she is linked with the strongest pilot (who is also a murderer—but has super high qi).

This is where things get fuzzy to me. It feels like an action book, where we need to figure why the Hunduns are attacking and how to finish them. But there’s a huge section just about Zetian, Li Shimin, and Yizhi being the capital…and nothing happens.

I suppose as a relationship story there is some progression, but it still feels a little flat at times.

And the book definitely feels historical, though it is clearly sci-fi. Language is very current, with words like “weird” and “hey” and other colloquial terms. That threw me off. I don’t know why I just could not adapt to this casual language in the book, but it bothered me.

In the end, the beginning fighting was frequent and fast, and I had trouble keeping up with that was going on, but then it slowed to a crawl for about 25% of the book. And then picked back up but went in a different direction…It just felt choppy to me.

15 SECOND “WHAT’S THIS ABOUT”:
Think Pacific Rim where male pilots need female concubines to combine their qi to be successful at fighting the Hunduns (I.e. bad guys). Include in heavy Handmaid’s Tale vibes with some serious misogyny, a poly relationship with two other males, and a woman who is ready to take down the entire system, and kill anything in her way to gain power she’s never seen, and welcome to Iron Widow.

FAVORITE PART:
The poly relationship is fantastic! I loved this rep, and was excited to see it in a YA book.

And down with the patriarchy—yes! Normally, I’m not rooting for people to be killed, but every time Zetian said shew as going to come back and annihilate a man later in the future (and did for some), I was like, fuck yeah!

ARC provided by Netgalley

3/5 Stars

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an early copy of this book. This in no way influences my thoughts or opinions.

This book started out so strong. It was everything it advertised to be: an epic sci-fi fantasy with influences of Chinese history and Pacific Rim. There were intense battles and a strong female character dedicated to taking down the patriarchy. It even fulfilled the promise to ditch the typical YA love triangle.

The first half was so good. I truly thought I had found my new favorite of the year. I was so ready to recommend this to everyone and anyone at work. It was intense and raw and didn't shy away from the failings of society. It also made me laugh out loud in places. I really liked the characters and their interactions really warmed my heart.

But then that second half kicked in and it just lost a lot of its fire, in my opinion. It was a lot of setup and background and political intrigue, which was a drastic change in pace with that explosive beginning. Then the ending really felt like a lot all thrown together. It wasn't written badly but it was still a lot to be expected to process and accept as realistic in this context.

The Quick Cut: An 18 year old girl gets more than she expected when she signs up to be a concubine pilot to get revenge against the male pilot who killed her.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing the ARC for an honest review.

Revenge is something everyone may think at one point they want, but it doesn't always turn out the way you want. In many cases, revenge may do nothing but continue your pain that you are holding onto. For Zetian, she discovers that getting revenge for the death of her own sister brings out a power she didn't know she had in this fantasy novel.

Zetian lives in a world where women are considered at best second class. While the men get excited at the prospect of flying a Chrysalis with a female pilot, the women end up forced into it knowing that it will cost them their lives eventually. When Zetian turns 18, she finally gets the opportunity to do what she's wanted to for years: she signs up to be a concubine pilot so she can get revenge on the man who killed her older sister. It all goes accordingly to plan.... except she ends up killing the pilot through the psychic link between the male and female pilots. This unexpected death causes Zetian to be labeled an Iron Widow: a powerful female pilot with the ability to sacrifice male pilots to power up the Chrysalises.They pair her up with the strongest pilot, one who is also quite controversial. Will their pairing be a match made in heaven? Or the beginning of Zetian's demise?

The concept for this book sounded very intriguing from the outset, but as I started reading I found myself frustrated. If you're looking for a story that is very driving and action oriented, this book will be a great fit for you. If you're looking for a story with strong worldbuilding that truly envelops the reader in a different world, you're going to be frustrated like me. I also have to put some major trigger warnings out there on this story since it talks about abuse and misogyny on a disturbing, culturally approved level. I would highly advise anyone on the younger end of the young adult reader scale not to pick this one up because it does delve into some very dark areas material wise.

While the story itself focuses mostly around Zetian, the basic plot around the reimagined world here is that aliens are attacking the planet and the Chrysalises are the way they fight off these aliens. I get that the focus is on the female character and the waves that she creates being who she is, but for worldbuilding purposes the author should have set the story better. Other than the fact that aliens attack, there really isn't much more backstory given. Why did they start attacking? What do they look like? Anything about how they discovered this planet and their purpose would have been nice to be discovered at any point in the plotline. It made what the author created environment wise feel a bit paper thin and those types of details are important to me when I'm reading.

Zetian herself lives in what can only be called a horror show of a society. Women are not only considered lower than men, but they are routinely sacrificed for the betterment of others. When questioned about it, the extremely sexist excuse of "that's what they are there for" is given. I could never imagine living in a society where one gender is so blithely underappreciated and abused. Not only does Zetian try to not let it get her down, but she fights against that viewpoint on every level. Her ability to stand up for what is right and be unafraid of the consequences is something that makes you root for her as a character. Seeing how she defends herself makes you want to see her change lives.

A story with a powerful leading character, but with a flimsy worldbuilding experience.

My rating: 3 out of 5

5/5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

On starting Iron Widow, I had extremely high expectations — it was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021, and seeing that friends of mine had enjoyed it only amplified that — and in the end, Iron Widow managed to completely exceed them.

Before starting, I was concerned that due to the nature of the themes of Iron Widow that it would be a slow read, perhaps one that was draining for the reader, but Iron Widow managed to be gripping and extremely entertaining, whilst also dealing with heavy and important topics. The plot is fast-paced and, honestly, I couldn't put the book down. The world created in Iron Widow is simply unlike anything I've ever read; taking any preconceived notions I had of what a Chinese-inspired historical fantasy would be and reimagining them further, creating something original and extremely interesting to read.

The characters in Iron Widow were, simply put, also excellent. Wu Zetian is an extremely strong female lead, the kind we need to see more of in YA literature. She's morally grey and unapologetic for her actions, and as a reader I was rooting for her throughout the book. She's angry, and rightfully so, and overall very well developed by the end of the novel. Along with Wu Zetian, I loved reading about the side characters in this novel, more specifically Zetian's tw0 boyfriends, and I was extremely invested in her relationships with the two of them throughout the book. I also loved that instead of conforming to the classic YA love triangle format, this book included a leading polyamorous relationship, something I'd love to see more of in YA.

Content warnings: gore, abuse, murder, torture, mentions and threats of rape, misogyny, femicide, suicide ideation, alcohol addiction.

This book is INTENSE. From the get go, extremely fast paced, and with one of the most morally gray characters I've ever read.

The book is marketed as Pacific Rim meets Handmaiden's Tale, and that's exactly what it is. It's gut wrenching to read about the way women are treated in this world, and even though Zetian uses methods I wouldn't approve of to get justice for these girls that are killed, I was cheering her on the entire way. The sci-fi portion of the book was fascinating for my STEM brain and I would gladly read an entire book on the technology/magic alone. The plot was well done, and I loved the characterization (Zetian is a QUEEN). Each twist took me by surprise and with that ending, I'm desperate for book two!

This book is a fierce read, and I can't recommend it enough! My minor critiques would be that I wished for a little more development from the side characters, and the ending was a tad rushed. But really, this book is incredible.

When Wu Zietan is taken as a concubine by the pilot who killed her sister, she only has one goal in mind - vengeance. But when she is the only one to emerge from their Chrysalis (battle mechs that connect to one’s spirit energy) she is given the title of Iron Widow. She is then placed with the most dangerous and controversial pilot, Li Shimin, in an attempt to manage her mental energy. But now that Zietan has had a taste of power, she is not willing to let go.

This book floored me. As a woman who has never been made to feel less than by my own family, Zietan’s story was so heartbreaking. Seeing her pain, not only in the brutal feet binding, but also in how she was raised to be sold off to her death was something I haven’t been put face to face with, especially in a YA novel.

Zietan is a delightfully morally grey character - she wants to burn this world down as much as she wants to control it. It’s a nice twist to have your hero literally murder someone in cold blood. Zietan challenges the norm of her society at every turn, given that a strong will would be enough to get any woman killed, in some cases by her own family. Woman in this society are meant to serve and bend to a male’s whim - and that is absolutely not her style.

There’s also some poly rep in the romance, which is a first for me in YA novels! I would have appreciated some more of the relationships developing, but there was plenty of other stuff going on to make up for it.

There are some trigger warnings that should be noted(and have been acknowledged by the author before the story begins!) including alcohol abuse, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation.

Overall, this was hard to put down, and was a tribute to women fighting for their power against all odds. Definitely worth checking out!

Iron Widow is a fun, adventuresome, exciting, and heartfelt book with amazing dialogue, well-rounded characters, and a really cool premise of mechs, spirit armor, and alien wars that give it a science-fiction and fantasy twist.

The main character's point of view is very well done, and I found it a quick read due to the fact I just didn't want to put the book down. I loved the worldbuilding and descriptions, and I hope the author can write more stories following these characters or even in this universe.

This book is worth the Arc read & a preorder; thank you so much Netgalley and Penguin Teen for approving this arc in exchange for a review!

Thank yous o much to the publisher for giving me the chance to read this book. I have to say, though, that I had a hard time going through it. I think it's mostly due to the fact that my arc was weirdly formatted (both on kindle and on the netgalley app) and that I think I'm in a SFF funk right now. I was hoping this would pull me out of it but no.

To anyone reading this: don't let my review discourage you from buying or reading this book! It is super interesting and I will definitely buy a hard copy once it comes out and give it another try! The author is amazing and deserves all the support.

"For the eighty-three days since then, this confrontation has constantly occupied a portion of my consciousness, thrumming like a second heartbeat, playing out in ten thousand different ways" -Iron Widow

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain. Iron Widow follows Wu Zetian, who offers herself up to become a concubine-pilot in order to find her revenge against the pilot responsible for her sister's death, and ultimately her quest in ridding the world of a misogynistic system that preys on the downfall of women like her.

I really enjoyed the general world of Huaxia, a postmodern, apocalyptic world. I enjoyed the idea of persisting technologies in super-tech cities juxtapositioned against the villages facing obvious hardships. The overall feel reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games in the capital city versus surrounding cities/towns/villages. I really liked the feeling of overall women empowerment, the idea that women can take back their autonomy & are not inherently weaker than men, as society often tells us. The main character was a good example of female rage and empowerment, while also having other characteristics that softened her and rounded her out. I also enjoyed the representation in regards to polygamous relationships.

Unfortunately I felt pretty disappointed by the story as a whole. While I was intrigued by the world of Huaxia I felt as though so much was unanswered. Overall, it felt as though much of the world, relationships, and situation was told to us, rather than shown. We were told about the aliens invading, but didn't understand their origin or what they were after, it felt as though the action was in place simply for the action. We were told about feelings rather than being shown them. We didn't quite understand what we were or weren't rooting for. Another disappointing element was the fairly quick resolution of what seems to be the main character's only motivations for her actions, we're then left scrambling for another reason to continue reading. I was excited about the prospect of representation for poly relationships, but I felt vastly underwhelmed with the development of connections on almost all portions of the relationship, furthered with very weak dialoguing to support the development of those connections. I felt the writing was not well done, characterizations were weak, dialogue felt almost childish. There were countless moments when dialogue and thoughts were written terribly, especially when seeing and compared to how well some descriptions and other moments in the book were written. I felt like I was dragging my feet through mud to get through the book. I did enjoy the maybe last 10% of the book, where I felt I had some semblance of what was going on and thought it was interesting, but I was only motivated to finish the book to finish it, not necessarily because I was compelled by the contents. In addition, I felt like there were far too many plot points with a few solved too quickly, a few dropped, and a few just wildly introduced

Overall, I did not particularly enjoy this book. There are enjoyable elements, but I felt disappointed by the lack of character and world development as well as the lackluster dialogue writing. I'm disappointed because the concept is incredibly exciting and I had very high hopes, and would loved to have seen so much more of the world as well as a better characterization. I would be hesitant to recommend this book. 2.5 stars rounding up to 3 because I believe this had potential and also want to promote the success of BIPOC authors

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

Starting reviews is the hardest part, I seriously feel like I'm writing essays again and trying to come up with a CrEaTiVe AtTeNtIoN gEtTeR. Lemme just start by saying, if Iron Widow isn't on your TBR yet, what are you waiting for? I even linked it for your viewing pleasure, so DO IT. PUT IT ON. RIGHT NOW.

So real talk, this book probably would've made it onto my five star list, and when I tell you that is rare, I mean it. There were a few things that I really was like "damn, that could've been better…" Obviously, I'll go over that in the review, but I have such high hopes for the sequel, and it will probably end up being better and GAH I'M ALREADY EXCITED AND THIS BOOK ISN'T EVEN OUT YET?

The Good. Wu Zetian: our fabulously bitchy, strong ass female MC who actually went through with her assassination? Clearly she popped off. It definitely helps that she's basically Rin from Poppy War, just slightly more sane.

The romance. I was going through the reviews on this book and I noticed so many of them literally said the main thing about it, and I'm like "damn, I am so happy I didn't see these before I started, reading it without warning and slowly realizing it might happen was so nice." I feel the need to be creative, guess the right option, I guess.
a) one love interest dies
b) the two love interests fall in love with each other
c) throuple
d) love triangle

Okay, the plot. Basically, the book follow Zetian as she plans to leave her household in order to become a concubine for a certain Chrysalis pilot in order to get revenge for him murdering her Big Sister. She expected she would be killed on the spot after killing their beloved pilot, but things took a turn. She instead becomes the Iron Widow and was paired with Li Shimin, a different pilot who also happens to have the strongest qi—10,000—of anyone alive. Old friends make unexpected appearances. Secrets are disclosed. And we can't forget to shout "Fuck the Patriarchy" a few times.

Can I also take a moment to give props to my boy Yizhi. Like he really was a winking king who didn't bat any eyelashes at the number of psycho things the others (Zetian and Shimin) did. Like this dude was really just casually frying some buns while Zetian and Shimin were away torturing a man.

The bad. I'm not saying bad, the bad over there is for the vibe and the song. Obviously. There weren't that many things wrong with this book, but that's not to say that there was nothing. The info-dumps at the beginning were kind of annoying, but they weren't that horrible, I've definitely read worse. But, the world-building was definitely confusing. I'll be honest, fantasy worlds usually confuse me forever and I end up making stuff up just to convince myself I understand it. Mostly, all the things with the elements and the ying-yang relationship with the elements confused me the most. Also, I really wanted a description of the Hunduns that wasn't just the size? I ended up imagining hellhounds basically.

And the dirty. That's my outro for the vibe, guys, the vibe, i don't care if it doesn't make sense, you should know this by now. In conclusion (the essay is showing), this book is incredible, it's amazing, the next book will probably be five stars, and you should read it the moment it comes out. September 21, guys. Mark them calendars.

This books was just amazing.

I have been itching for a fantasy like this, and it did not disappoint. Our main character, Zetina, is really one of my favorite main characters I have ever read.
The story though, that was what made this story so amazing. I was never once bored. I flew through this book. It handled so many important issues in such a wonderful way, and I cannot wait for people to read this book and find out.

Cannot wait for the sequel!!

Transforming robot suits with elemental affinities? This book is begging for a visual adaptation. Graphic novel, comic, live action, they would all be awesome.

Zetian enlists as a concubine pilot for the army, where she will pair her spirit energy with a male pilot to power a large mecha-like Chrysalise to fight the barbarian hordes - and also exact vengeance on the pilot who killed her sister. However, the path of vengeance launches Zetian into infamy, and she is forced to work with a notorious criminal to save the country, her own life, and the lives of the countless girls sacrificed to power the Chrysalises.

"Fight...Because this is not how we deserve to die."


Zetian lives in a harsh world, and she is unafraid to be equally ruthless. She's not blind to risks, but she accepts steep terms and faces her problems guns blazing. She and her companions are portrayed as an intelligent threat to those around them, but there were moments where I just could not take them seriously. (Please, never hire any of them to conduct an interrogation.)

The blend of historic Chinese practices with a Hunger Games-esque high society/media routine and the Giant Magic Robots creates an interesting setting, for the story and the underlying critique of institutional misogyny. Many of the women are submitted to horrible expectations, and even Zetian doesn't completely see how bad some of their customs are when seen through our modern lens. Given those extremes, I wasn't a fan of when characters dwelt on microaggressions.

The prologue affectively info-dumps everything you need to know about Chyrsalises and the magic system. The writing does smooth out from there, except for the aforementioned moments of startling unintelligence from the characters.

I appreciate how Iron Widow is a self-contained story with strong hooks for the sequel. While the ending resolved many of Zetian's (and my) overall questions, it also opened up a whole lot of new ones, but I decided to set them aside and just enjoy the ride.

**Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC**