Hello and welcome to this review of one of my favourite 2021 releases. Is Zetian one of my favourite protagonists of all time? Yes!!! But not only that, Iron Widow has a fast-paced, gripping plot that held my attention from start to finish in one of the strongest ways. I am blown away by how fantastic every element of this book is – it is a masterful use of first person present tense, which I usually strongly dislike, the characters are just perfect and the story is a complete banger. Please read this when it releases in September, you will not be disappointed.

Iron Widow follows Zetian, a girl who’s strong character immediately flies off the page and carries this book through its opening chapters. She offers herself up as a concubine pilot in a world that values men, with the aim of killing the pilot that killed her sister. Zetian takes no prisoners, she is fierce, she speaks her mind, she is cold and calculating. But she also has love in her heart, and a miraculous softer side given the world she has grown up in. After killing the murder, the strategists don’t know what to do with their new Iron Widow, a girl who can use boys to pilot rather than vice versa. She is paired with the strongest pilot of all, Shimin, a boy who murdered his family and is treated like a prisoner.

The other boy in Zetian’s life is Yizhi, a rich guy from the city who she has been hanging out with for a while now. To begin with, Zetian doesn’t let boys distract her from her goals but between Yizhi and Shimin, she has two who see the real her and don’t shy away. It’s no secret that this book is poly and I am here for it – it totally made sense in the story, these three characters have one of the most perfect dynamics and I couldn’t ask for more in the romance department.

I have to say it, I am obsessed with Zetian’s directness in a world where women are forced to be submissive. The plot is driven by her decisions and it’s a huge hit because of it. Her approach to everything is just no cares left to give, except for the people she loves. It makes for the most interesting of stories, and that’s not to mention the shocking but not that shocking on reflection twists at the end. I also really enjoyed both Shimin and Yizhi as love interests, they are both complimentary in different ways and have their own tragic backstories. These boys show that there is more to people than what you see and Zetian goes on a journey to realise that.

The world-building is very much drop a reader in it and let them figure it out, but Xiran Jay Zhao does a wonderful job of explaining some complex human-machine teaming style ‘magic’ in a simple way. It never took me out of the story which I am very grateful. Add to that the in-built misogyny that Zetian is trying to prove and it really is a frustrating story that inspires rage at injustice and inequality.

I could honestly talk about this book forever but I feel like readers should pick it up and experience it for themselves. I really don’t know how I’m going to wait for the next book because the ending is immense and sets up a follow-up that has the potential to be just as brilliant if not more so, expanding the world to include more and growing Zetian’s character. Overall, this is an absolute banger of a book that I can’t wait to read again before the sequel comes out.

4.75/5 ⭐

Iron Widow is speculative sci-fi at its best - absolutely bonkers, stunningly brutal and unabashedly bad*ss - and I adored every minute of harrowing, heart-rending mayhem it brought. The mesmerizing blend of mecha, myth and borrowed history it bases itself upon on makes for a sensational stage to take a stand on the mores and morals of heritage, and Iron Widow stands out for its serried and merciless brandishing of words and weapons against the systemic misogyny and male hegemony that buttresses Huaxia's status quo.

The brilliant matches of its magnetic mains and the harmonious bonds that burn meteorically bright between them are all the more strikingly believable because of the slow stripping of barriers and the sentimental breakthroughs that Zhao sprinkles through the story's advancement and its anarchic avalanches of action, and the mercurial movements of bridges being built and broken down between Zetian, Shimin and Yizhi (not to mention their malignant family members, the antagonistic pilots they find as their peers, their mercenary pit bosses and the bloodthirsty broader public that strong-arms them into putting on a polarizing show) only bolster the fealty you'll swear to this book's monstrously heroic and and supportively polyamorous focal ménage. I'm already anxiously awaiting the follow-up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Oneworld Publications for kindly passing on this ARC! 💫

“But I have no faith in love. Love cannot save me.
I choose vengeance.”


Xiran Jay Zhao has written an ambitious debut novel that should definitely appeal to Pacific Rim & The Hunger Games fans. Iron Widow is likely one of the most creative books that I've read this year (which is saying something given that atm my read count atm is at 150+) as it presents readers with a unique blend of genres and concepts: fantasy and sci-fi elements are incorporated in a dystopian yet recognizably historical Chinese-inspired setting.

“It takes a monster to slay a monster.”


Way back when I used to be quite a fan of mecha anime (fyi my faves were: macross, code geass & eureka 7) so I was rather looking forward to seeing this subgenre translated into book form. The robots in this novel are called Chrysalises and operated by a psychically linked male/female duo in order to fend off aliens called Hunduns. The male fighters are celebrities, their fights broadcasted to the whole of Huaxia. The female fighters, 'concubines', often do not survive these battles, as the boys more or less use them as their own energy bars. The way the girl fighters are treated definitely brought to mind the tributes from The Hunger Games. They are sacrificed without any care or regard, their certain death is deemed necessary for the ‘greater good', an honour even.

“If we want something, we have to push back against everything around us and take it by force.”


Our narrator, Zetian, has grown up in this extremely misogynistic world. She has been mistreated by her family her whole life, her feet were broken and bound at a young age, and she basically has no freedoms whatsoever. When her older sister dies after being forced into becoming a ‘concubine' Zetian seeks revenge. She wants to kill the male pilot responsible for her death.
Zetian does indeed succeed but in doing so reveals to the world just how powerful she is. After earning the title of ‘Iron Widow' she’s paired with Li Shimin, 'Iron Demon', a male pilot with a dangerous reputation. Forced into working together Zetian and her new partner discover more about their abilities and the Chrysalises themselves.

The story is very action-driven and has an ‘edgy' feel to it that will definitely appeal to many other readers. While I did enjoy the author’s take on mecha, their take on Yin/Yang, as well as the issues & relaties they touch upon (because of her bound feet our mc’s has difficulties walking and often experiences pain in her feet), I would be lying if I said that I enjoyed this novel.
This is one of those rare cases where I genuinely feel shitty for not liking a book as much as I wanted to (the last time it happened was with lindsay ellis' axiom's end).
Because I really love the author’s content on youtube I am not too happy about critiquing their debut novel so I will just list the things that prevented me from liking their book without going into that detail and without spoiling anything for anyone. Also, I feel the need to say (or write) that I don't want to dissuade anyone from reading this book. I wish the author the best and I do think that they have the potential of becoming a really good writer. They are definitely creative and throughout their novel there are some visually stunning scenes that attest to this (this is the kind of book that should be adapted to the ‘big screen’).

But, alas, here are the things that did not work for me:
the writing felt simplistic and certain words/expressions (‘ugh’, ‘duh’, ‘wow’, ‘yup’) pulled me out of the story; quite a few phrases had this ‘edgy YA' tone to them that didn't really do it for me either; personally, I would have preferred it if the story had implemented multiple povs or at least had been told through a 3rd person perspective as Zetian's inner monologue struck me as extremely simple and the constant questions she asks herself got grating, fast, (“what's happening? how did i get here? who am i?" “how could i have forgotten him? what does he mean to me?" ); I would have loved more detailed descriptions about the characters' surroundings or their different environments (and maybe less about their clothes/hair styles); I also think that the world-building would have benefitted from being more firmly established earlier on...we get some crucial lore way too late in the narrative & quite a few aspects remain unexplored; the romance (something i was rather looking forward to) also did nothing for me...the relationship between the boys seemed rushed and it struck me as...I don't know, I just would have believe in their relationship more if we’d been given their perspectives (their relationship to mc also was kind of meh); while the story was certainly fast-paced my interest waned early on in the story (there were a lot of repetitive and not-so-clear-cut sequences); all of the characters would have benefitted from some more depth; last, but not least, Zetian...I hoped she would be someone a la Zhu from She Who Became the Sun or like Lada Dracul from the And I Darken series (ruthless, knows what they want, may not be 'physically strong' but they are certainly intelligent)...but Zetian was low-key stupid and annoying, she had this vague OP/Chosen One/Not Like Other Girls quality to her that I find really offputting...also, for all her talk of girls supporting girls, the majority of the interactions that she has with other women (there are very fewn) gave me girls-hating-girls vibes (she has one token female friend).

There are a few other things that I didn't like but I won't go into them. I think this novel has a lot of heart and I'm sure that over time the author will hone their writing skills.
If you want to read this novel I recommend you give it a shot regardless of my review because I’ve been known to have shitty opinions.

Iron Widow is an INCREDIBLE book! The writing is so detailed I felt more like I was watching the story unfold on the big screen than on the page.

Zetian is not a likeable character, and I didn't like her at all. However, that didn't matter one bit - she is still a strong, uncompromising woman doing what she can in a world where everything is working against her.

I cannot wait for the sequel!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I want to begin by saying thank you to Netgalley and the publisher (oneworld publications) for kindly providing me with this eArc.

OH-MY-GOSH. This book is something special. With deeply feminist messages and an amazing East Asian setting/inspiration I ADORED this book. Love triangles? Forget it, there’s some great polyamorous representation in this book!!

With a content that matches this beautiful cover I cannot recommend this enough.

Some trigger/content warnings: gore, torture, murder, rape (mentions and threats), misogyny, femicide, suicide, alcoholism/drug usage and abuse.