Penguin Teen (Penguin Random House) and NetGalley?? you sure you meant to accept me for this? it's too late i have already read this and loved this, thank you for your choice or mistake, (if it was an accidental click, understood, thank you.)

CWs: mentions of rape, torture, gore, physical abuse, emotional abuse,

Like many people, I heard about Xiran Jay Zhao through their educational tweets and later, their YouTube videos. From hearing them talk, Iron Widow was quickly placed high on my *to-read* list, and I'm very happy I was able to listen to their videos as they explained how they used concepts in their book, including elemental systems. I knew a little about Wu Zetian before, so I was really interested to see how Mx. Zhao would reinterpret her, as they've spoken about how much they think Wu Zetian is a badass.

Which, of course, she is. And incredibly so. Though the style might be more at home in mid-10s YA books (I felt as if I had to adjust my brain for it), Iron Widow is absolutely pushed to limits that the mainstream books refused to go-- or perhaps, *could* not go. Zhao seemed to revel in pushing those past boundaries and have *fun* while doing that, something that absolutely came across. It almost felt as if the *least* of them was the love triangled-turned-polyam-relationship!

There is anger, pushed to limits, raw and real and unapologetic. Nowhere do we feel as if the anger is undeserved, nowhere is it felt there is a reason to apologize for the anger. Wu Zetian is angry-- and she is *gloriously* allowed to be so. Her anger, her ambition, her hurt-- they all allow her to push from Iron Princess to Iron Widow, and her development followed easily.

The Chrysalises were fantastic too, and my brain was scrambling to keep everything in, to hold and to imagine. Xiran Jay Zhao did a fantastic job of letting reader try to hold images and descriptions in their heads. Mx Zhao did an incredible job as well, with developing characters-- they weren't one-dimensional, nor did it seem as if the the plot was shaped only by their needs at the moment. I thought the discussions of morality, of power, of hate and justice and breaking systems too, was incredibly done. You don't wait around, Wu Zetian says, waiting for things to happen, you do them yourself.
And this she carries through to the fullest amount. Completely recommended. An extremely fun read that sticks with you!

I can't wait for my next reread.

I've been looking forward to this book since the deal announcement! It looked very, very interesting. Giant magical robots, a girl fighting against a patriarchal society to avenge her sister's murder, and it's queer. I was extremely intrigued and eager to see what I would think of it. Trigger warnings: mentions of rape, physical and emotional abuse, torture, gore

Holy shit. Holy shit, this book is GOOD. It is absolutely nothing like I expected it was going to be, and I absolutely adored. Seriously, I am writing this with a love for it burning in my stomach, and I want to scream it from the rooftops. It is GOOD.

I went into this book expecting it to be dark, and serious. Oh boy, is it the exact opposite. Yes, it deals with serious topics, and yes, it faces the harsh realities of this world head on. But at the same time, it's WILD, and it reveals in that. It's a fire devouring everything it's path, and laughing manically as it watches. Just holy heck, it come smashing in with a smirk and wink, tearing everything to pieces in the meantime.

I will admit, I had a bit of a hard time getting into. I was not expecting the drastic tone shift after the prologue, and I did not think I was going to like writing style or the direction that it was taking. I AM SO GLAD I KEPT READING. There was something about that hooked me, that kept me reading, that made me want to know more. That made me want to see exactly where this book would go. So even when I was unsure about it, there was something about it that already had it it's hooks in me.

Let's talk about Zetian, because I love her so, so much. She's angry. She's vengeful and determined and vicious and bloodthirsty and downright pissed off at the society she has been forced to participate in. You want a character who doesn't shy away from being the vengeful? Who will look a nightmare in the face and laugh, because she is a worse one? Oh, you've found one. You've found the main character who is ready to tear down the world to suit her needs. She lives in a world where girls are used as sacrifices for the men to power the giant, magical mechas to fight aliens (yes, this is as wild as it seems, and yes, it is as awesome as it seems), and are demeaned every chance they get. It's a world full of pain and suffering for girls, while boys get the status and celebrity of being heros. And Zetian is sick and tired of the system fighting against her. Of having no choice in the matter. And damn, if she's going to go down, she's going to take everybody down with her.

And then there's a tortured dork of a boy, who wears GLASSES. And another boy who is adorable and supportive and sweet. Plus, there's the other side characters who are just as vicious as the world crafted them to be. And it's a love triangle that ends in polyamorous relationship!

Speaking of this world, oh my gosh, wow. I feel like it was developed in the background, as the characters progressed through their plot. But, it became something incredibly fleshed out, incredibly intriguing, and just downright awesome. There isn't a ton of worldbuilding that feels like it's just dropped into the story, it feels like it develops through the characters actions; more is revealed as more situations arise and more information is brought to light with what the characters have to deal with. All this to say, I think it was wonderfully done.

And the world itself is just downright brutal. There is a war going on between the humans and aliens, and the humans. Boys pilot the giant mechas, and girls are used as power sources of sorts. Though, most of the girls die. It is a brutal system, one that relies on pain and suffering.

And this book threw some wild plot twists in there too!!! I AM STILL SCREAMING ABOUT THEM!!!

Also, while this book takes a balls to the walls, absolutely wild, tone to a lot of the story, there are a lot of dark, serious topics and moments included. It's painful, and bloody, and cruel, and horrifying. I want to give the characters a hug.

I fell completely in love with this book. It's the kind of book that has teeth, and rips into the skin. And dang, it's simply brilliant and I love it so, so much.

Man, where do I begin?

I had the utmost pleasure of getting Iron Widow in my hands early. When Xiran described her novel as "Pacific Rim meets Chinese history/culture", I was sold and very excited. I'm a big fan of Wuxia and Xianxia novels, so I was ready to gobble this up. I am glad to report that the book has not disappointed me at all.

I think the summary on the preorder site does a great job already explaining the plot without spoilers, so I'll just talk about what I like.

In Iron Widow, mankind is plagued with giant robotic monsters called Hunduns and nearly destroy life as they know it. In the invasion's wake, there is a futuristic world (Huaxia) with archaic morals. Only the rich and the government have access to alien technology while the poor live in villages and sacrificed for that technology.

I really love how the details of this world and its rules are fleshed out organically throughout the book. Between present events and memories explored through the pilots' dream/mind state, every location, mecha mechanics, and culture bits are revealed in a matter that pushes the plot or a character forward. I am all about exposition (I am a fantasy/sci-fi lover after all), but it feels SO good when it does right. I repeat myself a lot on this, but I will give credit for the good use and flow of world-building every chance I can get.

The next thing I love about this book is how it handles the idea of mortality. The book starts hard on family traditions, classism, and misogyny. It also ends that way. What I find most interesting about it is that faults are acknowledged and understood, but never forgiven or explained away. You meet characters who have done awful things and, even when you are given reasons for their behavior, it is never an excuse for those characters to get away with it.

This rule even works for the Zetian (main character) and her crew. Every choice Zetian makes, even if it can be argued for or warranted, has real consequences that the character has to live with and muse on. This makes the main characters twice as strong and just really relatable as people. There is no white, black, or even grey really. It more about characters having the courage to stand by their principles, mean it, and acknowledge their rights and wrongs. What is right is right, but it doesn't really matter in less you act on it and be right with it. The perfect example is Zetian's view on Karma: you can't just wait for events to turn around and give someone their just desserts. You have to make the karma, which sometimes means you have to BE the karma.

Alongside that, the romance is pretty dang good too! I honestly feel like the relationships in this novel grow and mature better than most actual romance novels. Once again, there is a really organic flow to this whole novel and the relationship between Zetian and the two main leads is no exception.

Iron Widow is an emotional ride with an amazing world to explore and engaging characters. I will be very, VERY stoked for the next novel in the series.

I literally want a mini version of this book to put in my pocket and carry it around everywhere... this has been my most anticipated read of 2021 and all I can say is IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!

Nor only was this well written, but the characters were so intriguing and strong, I literally love all three of them so much... I also LOVED how they threw away the generic YA love triangle trope and had a polyamorous relationship instead because I honestly have never seen this in a YA book before ! It’s so REFRESHING to see and read not only something new like this in YA, but also the sci-fi and robot aspects in this universe as well! I didn’t think I’d enjoy the whole idea of the robots, but it was written really well and I enjoyed every second of it.

I’m also usually a romance motivated reader but the fact that just the plot by itself had me HOOKED since the beginning, everything about Iron Widow was so compelling. This was seriously such a unique and powerful story I can’t wait to get my copy when September comes!

I was so excited for this book, and very excited when I got approved for the eARC, but unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. I found myself annoyed at the main character. I didn't get why she wanted to kill Yang so much—I understand that she was angry about her sister's death, but it seems like that anger should have been directed towards the larger system at play rather than one individual person who's also a victim of the system. I couldn't connect to the story for this reason. I usually really enjoy female protagonists like Zetian, but her anger towards Yang seemed a little unjustified and it made me dislike her (and not in a good way). I did enjoy the worldbuilding and the idea of the Chrysalises, though it made the beginning of the story kind of a slog to get through. I'm really sad I didn't enjoy this, because this story is so promising.

In the world of Iron Widow, Huaxian boys pair up with girls to pilot their Chrysalises, massive & transforming robots that they use to battle the aliens (Hunduns) lurking outside the Great Wall. We start off with the main character Zetian offering herself as the concubine pilot to her sister's murderer, Yang Guang. Miraculously she is able to achieve her vengeance, and does so through the psychological link between pilots. She's labeled as an Iron Window, and paired up with Li Shimin, the murderer and much hated pilot of the Vermilion Bird. And throughout the story we follow their journey, fighting evil, teaming up with others, and uncovering the impossible.

The depth of this story is of a much higher level than other Sci-Fi novels I've experienced. I was so immersed in the operating of the Chrysalises, both physically and mentally. This story could have easily been focused more of the physical aspects of these robots, but the psychological level the author took it to is what really made this story stand out from others to me. As a reader it truly brought me to another world being able to witness these battles of characters happening completely through their minds, yet still affecting them physically. There's simply nothing else in YA Sci-Fi (and also fantasy) that I've read that is at this level of development.

Iron Widow also indulged into a type of relationship that I've yet to read in YA, until now. The polyamorous between three of the characters was beautifully done, and will definitely set this apart from the basic YA love triangles seen so often. I love that they dared to take a path that has been little done in YA.

As for the character themselves, I thought their development through the period of the story was smartly done due to the story taking place in what I would say is a fairly short time span. I learned a refreshing amount about the all, and was also left wondering the perfect amount about them.

I loved Zetian!! She's a very promising main character and I'm very excited to see how she develops in the next book as she comes into power, and how it will affect her as a person.

The only thing I could have wished for with this book was maybe more setting changes? I also think a map to reference to would have been really useful, the geography was still very easy to understand without it, though.

An amazing debut, overall!! Will definitely be getting a copy when it's released in September.

Thanks to #Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me a digital ARC of #IronWidow in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, AHHHAHHAHAHAHAH.

Ok, now that that is out of the way. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao is a fantastic read. As a reader, I tend to prefer lighter and fluffier reads, but I have always loved books based on ancient history (or normal history) with a twist, so discovering this book, I decided to give it a go, and it was so worth it.

Wu Zetian, Li Shimin, and Gao Yizhi would not let me stop reading. They are all fantastic characters, and their romantic relationship is *chef's kiss.* These characters and their relationship with one another are amazing and everything I desire in my romance novels but can never seem to find, so finding them has been a breath of fresh air. I would not consider this a romance novel though. It is pure SciFi and I love it for being that.

While the characters are what kept me, the world build is superb as well. With the giant mech and the aliens they are fighting, that build to a fantastic twist that makes me hungry for more.

I will say there are parts of it that made it hard for me to read in its depictions of how society and people in power abuse those they consider lesser, be it someone of a different race or gender than the ruling class. Despite how hard it was for me to read, I could not put it down and recommend this novel to anyone interested in science fiction and giant mech.

Xiran Jay Zhao, your debut novel, has this Librarians's seal of approval!

This book is so angry and so ready to crush the patriarchy under one giant robot boot and I'm extremely here for it. Like an angry feminist Neon Genesis Evangelion, or the Echo Wife with more giant robots. Wu Zetian is a deliciously vicious protagonist who is done taking shit from the world. She's going to take what she wants and burn anyone who dares to get in her way.

As for romance, this is an antidote to the endemic young adult love triangle. Zetian has two love interests and doesn't need to choose between them. Triangles are, after all, the strongest shape.