Is there anything I can even say that hasn't been said better by other readers and reviewers? I don't know, but I will try.

This book is risky in the sense that it is unapologetic. It is unapologetic about its rage, its indignance, and its desire for revenge. At the risk of sounding like a conservative, now is a time fraught with the potential to be judged, mocked, and doxxed if you dare to voice an opinion that is even slightly aberrant from the norms of online society. In this context, Iron Widow, a book about female rage and revenge starring queer, feminist, polyamorous characters, one that doesn't pander even the slightest towards soothing the anxieties of men, white people, or any other majority not being represented favourably in this book, is groundbreaking to me. And you can disagree - I've seen less flattering reviews that point out valid things about the book - but for me, the sheer nerve of Iron Widow is its biggest strength, and for that alone, for the indulgent revenge scenes, the ruthlessness of the main character and her unwillingness to compromise her opinions, that is what sets it apart.

Get in, we’re taking down the patriarchy.

Wu Zetian takes on men and machines and doesn’t care what happens, which makes her a good character. She’ll do whatever it takes to get it, making her a very powerful force compared to other YA female leads. And the cover has Zetian posed like a Yugioh character, which is kind of cool.
Based on the Handmaidens Tale, Pacific Rim, it has Chinese inspiration (Zetian being based on a real empress), feminism, and a polyamorous relationship, all of which I looked forward to.
But. While there is a polyamorous relationship between Zetian and two other men (not found much in other stories), the characters themselves don’t seem like they’re meant to be in a relationship with the others and their interactions feel forced and rushed.
The worldbuilding isn’t very detailed, more as if we’re thrown into the story without knowing the background. Little of the world they live in and the empire is explored and explained, and it’s difficult to connect to a story if i don’t know the world it takes place in. It’s hard to know why they’re fighting the aliens, and the ending that’s supposed to explain it makes it more confusing because of the little worldbuilding there is.
While it seems that the pilots she’s paired up with seem to be what the darker side of the story is focused on, it’s more of her binded feet and their graphic description that do it.

Iron Widow has both good and not so good points, but it has a nice plot line overall.

Thank you to Penguin Teen Canada for sending an ARC of Iron Widow to review - all opinions are my own.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4065625748

Quick Premise: In Huaxia, girls must pair up with boys to pilot Chrysalises, giant transformers used to battle and defend Huaxia from alien invasions. The catch is that these concubine-pilots often die from the mental strain. Aching for revenge after her sister dies in this way, Wu Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot with a singular objective: assassinate the pilot responsible for her sister’s death.

This book had a lot of potential to be one I loved, but it ultimately fell flat in every possible area.

I've put off writing this review for so long due to the amount I loathed my experience of reading this book. Xiran Jay Zhao’s prose is sloppy. The writing is choppy and underdeveloped.

Zetian’s initial motivation of avenging her sister’s death is not given enough background to feel like a major part of the story. Things were constantly being told to the reader.

One of Iron Widow's biggest flaws was the worldbuilding. The world was so underdeveloped, but the reader is expected to go along with the action even though the world isn’t explained. They use robots to fight aliens in an ongoing war but this major conflict is never expanded upon. The politics of the world isn’t explained either.

In addition, Zetian as a femininist didn’t work for me. Her world is deeply misogynistic, but it is never explained how Zetian became an outspoken feminist in her society. Her character development in the book is poor and her backstory is even poorer. In addition, she doesn’t have a single positive female relationship in the book. Despite the other women in the book only having negative on-page appearances, it’s clear the author wants you to root for Zetian. Her beliefs actively go against the way she treats and perceives the other women. Her motivation seems to be to correct misogynistic systems, but instead, she tears down other women and consolidates power for herself (and herself only).

I must point out again that things were told to the reader, and the reader was expected to take it at face value without asking the “why” behind the information. The plot is messy, underdeveloped, and predictable.

While I applaud the presence of a poly romance within the book, the romance was also underdeveloped. Them getting together feels abrupt, and it didn’t feel like the characters had formed an emotional bond.

I think this book, with a lot of editing to the prose and more thought going into Zetian’s feminism, could have thrived as an adult sci-fi novel with multiple POVs. This gives more development on the romance, as well as developing the love interests to an immeasurable degree. It gives insight on all the politics and societal systems that didn’t make sense in the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this more than I expected.

I will update the review with the link to on our blog as soon as I can.

I'd like to thank the publisher Penguin Random House Canada, Penguin Teen Canada and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic debut filled with Chinese history and action. Loved the retelling of Wu Zetian and the unorthodox romance aspect. I had some issues with the story but overall it is a solid book that definitely worth the read.

This is objectively a very beautiful story, but sadly, it's not for me. This is 1000% a me issue and nothing wrong with the book. I started the book on a very high note, but it didn't stay that way throughout, no matter how badly I wanted that. The writing is great, as are the characters & the plot. But somehow, it didn't work for me the way I wanted it too, maybe because I'd hyped this book a little too much in my head and then it ended up not living up to my sky high expectations. But that is not the book's fault because it really is amazing.

This novel is a feminist take on Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian is a feminist and believes in women’s rights. I like how the novel had elements of science fiction, history, and mythology. I thoughts these elements blended in perfectly. This novel is about ambition, friendship, and beliefs! I am excited to see where the sequel takes us and what will lay in stall for Wu Zetian! I recommend this for fans of Julie C. Dao, Elizabeth Lim, and Sherry Thomas!

There were some neat elements - I liked the concept of chrysalises and the way the system had been manipulated in secret - but much of the plot seemed disjoint, and so many elements were introduced and then abandoned before they seem to have played any major role or were explained sufficiently. I also disliked Zetian not because she was power-hungry or cruel but rather because she was inconsistent and annoying. She vacillated wildly between motivations and direction of decisions without there being any understandable reason to the change, and she also didn't seem to have any consistency with her reasoning for doing anything.

IRON WIDOW was a high-octane, stunning debut novel that is a testament to the sci-fi genre. the protagonist’s desire for vengeance is such a compelling motivation, one that drives her to combat the mysoginist society she’s in & be the catalyst for change. the inspiration from real chinese history combined with the sci-fi elements of mechas made for a world that was equally beautiful as it was terrifying. the poly relationship that also takes place in the story, which avoids a love triangle & instead allows all the characters to love multiple people, was also central to the plot in a beautiful way; as dark as this book was, the love that was present also made the characters stronger, and brought hope to the novel.

I sped through this book. The story has some Chinese mythology and has some medieval-esqe quality to it. There is a polyamorous relationship in the book, which was a nice, unexpected surprise.

I can't wait to see what the author does with the next installment of the series.

"Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in a polyamorous reimagining of China's only female emperor" YES.

This book is amazing. I love that the characters are inspired by Chinese history. The author keeps us guessing, turned stereotypical tropes on their head and everything was so refreshing. Why have a love triangle when you can put them in a polyamorous relationship instead? Feminism is a main theme but Xiran doesn't shy away from the violence and ugly parts of history. The writing was great. This book is worth the hype. I look forward to reading more of the author's work in the future.

I really enjoyed this book! I am not usually into sci for YA. But this book hooked me in right away. The world building and storytelling seem like she is a veteran author! I am really impressed and can’t wait for more by this author!

I enjoyed this book. But I really wanted to like it more because so many friends and fellow bookstagrammers gushed about it.

Now, I did like a borderline villainous main character. There's nothing I love more than a plot driven by revenge. So, that was definitely a bonus in this book. I also found the world super interesting. It's like a futuristic Asian inspired world with giant mechanical fighting machines that connect to the consciousness of pilots. Really loved that idea.

On to what I didn't like. I found the romance to be kind of meh. While I appreciated the idea of a polyamorous relationship in a YA book, I pretty much exclusively hate the hometown boyfriend character in all books, so I started at a disadvantage with the romance plot given that I didn't like one of the characters from the jump. I also found the enemies to lovers element with the main character's new partner to be a touch underdeveloped. I think if this book had been a bit more slow burn and revealed the romance in a later book, I'd have enjoyed it more but it felt rushed and under developed.

I think this book and series have a lot of potential and I'd keep reading. I think some of my qualms with the romance can be solved in subsequent sequels.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5 stars! Thank you to Penguin Teen for the eARC of this highly-anticipated read. This book is the definition of a wild ride; you get swept up in Zhao's momentum so quickly and they do not let you go until the last page! Zeitan is an absolute force and I was cheering for her to smash the patriarchal system to smithereens from the get-go. The Chrysalis battles were incredible to imagine—this whole book felt like it was made to be an animated film—and the system of Qi and Spirit Metal was the coolest blend of mythology, fantasy, and science fiction. This is also the first book I've read that features a polyamorous relationship and I loved how the strength of their bonds contributed to their ability to fight.

I do agree with critiques about Zeitan's disdain for other women (although the same people complaining about this are also the ones whining that "it's unrealistic that she learned how to be a feminist in such an oppressive society," so, wouldn't they also be upset if Zeitan magically didn't have internalized misogyny towards other women?), since I'm completely over this not-like-other-girls behavior. But this just means that Zeitan has room to grow in the sequel, which I will 100% be reading. 2023 can't come soon enough!

I was given this book by the publisher in return for an honest review.

Future China is being attacked by aliens in a battle for land and dominance. However, humans use the alien carcasses to assemble their own megazord battle bots and try to win back their land. These great are piloted by a male and female but females usually don't survive even one battle.

This was a surprise favorite for me. The MC woke up and chose violence. It's refreshing to not have the MC bend to societal pressures and be the good girl she's supposed to be.

She fights against the patriarchy for women. Females are treated as less than and our MC says "not today". She makes some judgments and realizes that she does have room for a little growth but she's savage raining down her judgment throughout her story.

The world pulls you in and has your routing for the under dog. There are a few twist and even then she surprises you with her choices.

That final couple of pages "chef's kiss". I cannot wait for the next one! 10/10 recommend your read this story.

This has been selected for my LGBTQ+ book club due to the intriguing nature of the relationships between the main characters and the stunning characterizations of the characters.

I was super excited to read this book, I ended up trying it with a good friend. She really loved the story however, I found I did not enjoy it as much.

In a future society based on traditional China, complete with female subservience and foot-binding, young men and women pilot vehicles called Chrysalises, powered by qi (life force) to fight the Hunduns, who have taken over their planet and threaten their civilization. The only catch for the “concubines,” however, is that they are usually drained of qi and die in the process, and as in so much else, the men get all the credit. Wu Zetian, a poor but strong-willed young woman, volunteers as a concubine with the aim of avenging her older sister’s death, but things go differently than she had planned. The pilot she blames for her sister’s death is killed, but by means of her qi rather than the mundane hairpin she had taken with her, and she is hailed as an “Iron Widow” and paired up with the strongest and most dangerous of the other pilots, Li Shimin. She then must work with Shimin; Yizhi, a rich young man from her village who is in love with her; and with other, much less savory characters to defeat the Hunduns and the battle strategists alike and to ensure that no more young women will die. In the process, she will discover explosive secrets about both the pilot system and the war itself.

The world-building in this book seemed a little vague at times, and I’m not sure whether that is a weakness or a strength. Hopefully, we will learn more about the society and its backstory in the next book, particularly considering the revelation at the end. I found Zetian to be a compelling and at times terrifying character, particularly after the final battle, and at least at that point she is not sympathetic, even though we have been in her head and understand her motivations, but again, I hope we will see her grow into wisdom and compassion as her story continues. I do not demand characters who are “likable”; I just want them to be well-rounded people who make me care about what happens to them, and Zetian fits the bill. I eagerly await the second installment.

The author notes at the beginning of the book that Zetian is inspired by Empress Wu, the only woman who ever ruled China in her own right, and this book makes me want to know more about her as well.

I received a copy of Iron Widow from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Iron Widow's prose, like its narrator-protagonist is a bright, sharp, and righteously vengeful towards systemic and individual cruelty alike. There's something deeply cathartic about inhabiting a disabled, AFAB character who makes no apologies for her rage and her ambition---and the series of dazzling mecha battle set-pieces that drive the interpersonal and intergalactic conflict forward are pretty cool, too.

Great read! It was a bit slow to start, but once the action starts it was hard to put this book down.