Iron Widow

This is a YA sci-fi novel that takes Imperial China and puts it into a very tech-forward future. Our protagonist is a re-imagined version of Empress Wu, the only female Chinese empress. The world is at war with a mysterious alien presence, and they fight in giant mechanized animal-shaped structures called Chrysalises. For a reader of my age, it brought up lots of Power Ranger/Transformer vibes. But, of course, there are also enemies within a pretty messed-up military structure.

It's a bit hard to describe the mood of this book, but I will say it feels like it would translate really well into anime or manga. Very fast-paced with some pretty dramatic moments, some of which really did catch me off-guard. I thought I knew what direction this story was going to go in until a Big Event about a quarter of the way through, so that was fun. (I did see the Big Surprise at the end about a mile away, though.) It is also a pretty straightforward look at misogyny and how it impacts both men and women. Overall, I really liked it and have already told K she should read it.

Pretty damn awesome. It's got serious Pacific Rim vibes, but much more culturally sophisticated, using Chinese mythological elements, and the main character - despite being based (very) loosely on a Chinese Empress - is unpredictable and fierce. The action is constant, and the end was VERY cool.

Put simply, it checked all my boxes for what makes a badass story. I think my only holdback from a 5 star review was that aside from being super-cool, I didn't get much out from it. The relationships in the story were pretty unique, and the cast was good, but character-wise, it felt more like watching a movie than getting to know them. And while it was very emotive, I noticed more than felt the emotions... Except the emotion of "oh damn, that was badass."

I'd say with about half the trilogies or series starters I read, I leave it at that whether I like it or not, but in this case, I am DEFINITELY reading the sequel. Sometimes you need a fast-paced action story with crazy twists, and this delivered that in spades.

I loved the machines and the battles! The description of the machines and how they work was exciting. I loved seeing the pictures of the machines on her website. I loved picturing the battles between the machines and the ways that they used qi. I also liked how see what is going on in their minds while they are battling. I enjoyed the character development as well. Zetian has to change her mind about a couple people as she learns more about them. Li has to learn to open up to people. And we learn that so many leaders are awful! It is a great set up for a sci-fi world.
Some of the points that the author was making about society were a little too on the nose. I liked the commentary and points at first, but at other times it took me out of the story. The romance was a slow burn and I liked that. I'm not quite sure how it will be going forward. The ending was a huge twist and definitely leaves Zetian with quite a dilemma going forward.

Welcome To Your Nightmare!

Tbh i'm a sucker for alternate history/historical fiction type of story because of it's way to retell or bring up brand new story that would've happen and Iron Widow fits the criteria by having the only woman emperor in China, Emperor Wu Zetian, as the main protagonist in this futuristic nation called Huaxia with lots of intrigue and politics that happen in it.

I love how Xiran brought up the gender issues that happened in old China like misogynistic views about woman, beauty standards that make woman suffer (esp. binded legs) and concubines that are basically tools for men to succeed in a very realistic way and even though it maybe a bit controversial but some of it are still exist today whether you like it or not.

The characters are also written in a very solid way especially Shimin with it's background completely changed yet still manage to make me invested in the series and also MECHAS!!! THE MECHAS ARE AWESOME AND ALSO FROM THE FOUR SYMBOLS!!!

My inner Chinese History Geek side fills with joy 😹

In the end, Iron Widow is a book filled with potential and i hope i can read the sequel very soon!

p.s : So.... Zetian is basically Lelouch?

That was a wild ride! So many twists and turns, and all of it excellent!!
I'm seriously going to have to bother this author on Instagram about a sequel !!

I have mixed feelings about this book. The plot and premise is interesting, I love that Zetian doesn't stray from her path of vengeance, and it's a quick read. I also appreciated the true love triangle (not like most love Vs out there) and random jabs of humor from Shimin and Zetian. I didn't like the writing style or the oversimplified character development. It all felt very face value and lacked the complexity and depth that I look for in books.

I'll keep reading the series to see what happens next, but I'm in no rush.

The main problem I had with this book is that considering that it's in YA. I felt like all of the themes and character development were very shallowly done. I really liked the world and the whole polyamory relationship and how it developed but I found the dialogue very cheesy and the themes very on the nose and shoved in your face.
I would describe this book as angry feminism to the point that every chapter describes how men are oppressing women in this world or how FMC was angry that a male can do some things that she wants but can't do. While I did enjoy how unapologetic this book was in its messaging, it definitely wore on me as the book went on so it just became annoying by the end.

The author nicely integrated and updated several sci-fi tropes, but did it in a fun way. Not groundbreaking, but a wild ride. I am looking forward to the second one.

I admit that when I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure if I'd actually finish it. I've never been a huge fan of stories that revolved around mechas for whatever reason. I'm also an adult trans man so I felt like I would be way out of the demographic for the book.

Anyway, I turned out to be totally wrong. I LOVED this book so much.

The relationship dynamic had me enthralled. The fight scenes, which I had worried would bore me, were so beautifully written. I listened to it as an audiobook so I had the benefit of hearing a really awesome narrator as well.

There were so many scenes where I empathized with Zetian or wanted to shake some sense into her or wished I could just strangle someone messing with her. However, I never felt that her mistakes were forced to compel the plot. It felt natural to her character development. If you like a complicated protagonist and emotional character growth, this book provides.

Highly recommend this book and I can't wait for the sequel.

El principio me encantó. Me metió dentro de la historia y no podía parar de leerlo. Hasta que se convierte en piloto. Entonces las historia se vuelve predecible y repetitiva.
Ella me dejo de preocupar, entiendo el deseo de que ella no sea la “típica protagonista” donde al final tiene un gran corazón y perdona, sino que se convierta en alguien vengativa. Pero creo que no llegas a empatizar con su sed de venganza porque se vuelve bastante (a falta de otra mejor palabra) ridículo. Por ejemplo. Ella quiere salvar a las mujeres porque son tomadas por el ejército como meros instrumentos, sin embargo esta empatia hacia las mujeres, su sororidad, no existe frente a su familia. Es cierto que en un momento piensa que su madre y abuela son fruto de su educación, pero a los 3 capítulos se le olvida y vuelve a odiarlas.
No se, esperaba mucho más viendo la primera parte.

Otra cosa, ¿puede alguien explicarme porque desaparecen las escenas de sexo? Supongo que es para que el libro llegue a una mayor audiencia, pero realmente creo que en este caso donde la virginidad de las mujeres es un factor tan importante y usado por todos, no poner esa escena donde ella toma las riendas y nos lo dejan en el aire, me parece una mala elección por parte de la editorial. No digo que sea gráfico, pero hay muchas formas de representar una escena de sexo, pudiendo ser educativa.

Puntos positivos: representación de relaciones no monógamas, protagonista con discapacidad física que sigue siendo la puta ama, y abrir un debate de como la mitad de la población es considerada como escoria (debate muy interesante)

WELL OKAY.

Tbh I read this for the threesome, so once that part arrived (a bit late), I was satisfied. The dialogue sounds like a telenovela. I realized all the voices in my head sounded like dramatic English dubs about forty percent through and then I stopped listening to the voices. Of the dialogue.

Anyway, hoo boy, Zetian is NOT like other girls. Let me spell it out for you: this girl is SPECIAL y'all. It's like if Katniss was more angry, heck her Chrysalis even pulls out a goddamn bow like alright I see you. This book is very much Hunger Games but Mecha. I mean, we have the Capitol, the celebrity politics, Evil Government leader, “good” Government member, sweet murderous boy and hulking murderous boy, but the boys want to fuck each other too. Also being monogamous is being confined by the rules. Literally everyone would be poly if not for those pesky rules.

The positive is that I headed to Google early on to learn more about foot binding and it is fucking outrageous. My God. The hate to love thing between Zetian and Li though, ugh, cliche af. Also him being so built lmfao. But let's talk about the ending.

First of all I think torture is an absolutely unreliable means of extracting information but karma does as karma does.The final battle though, whew. I mean, it's clear to me that the gods are not actually gods. For some reason though, I didn't consider that they might be on another planet despite reading Bloodchild. I just figured it was some Maze Runner type shit. Like who the fuck just drops technology manuals lmfao.Anyway, it's Empress Wu to y'all heavenly cunts now and Empress Wu is absolutely going to crush y'all mercilessly.

This book was entertaining. Yeah I mean I could point out how much of an Nlog Zetian is and how cliche the triangle is despite its resolution being much appreciated, and how monogamy is depicted as just obeying the rules because “love is infinite”, how stilted the dialogue was, the entire prologue of info dumping, how much the plot is Hunger Games meets Maze Runner and how much filler there is in the plot and, wait, I just pointed them out. My bad.

Anyway, read this book.

I just finished this book and
W O W

The book was kinda hard to get through at first but once you get a feel for what the story is coming about, it reads better.
I enjoyed the characters generally and found the poly rep pretty cool.
I'm excited to see where the next book takes us after the wild cliffhanger ending we get here. Fun book overall.

 This one's a tad confusing for me. There are a lot of things I dislike about this book, but despite that it just has this vibe to it that kept me turning the page. That's vague I realize, but it is what it is. For starter's I actually like the main character. I mean she's very dislikeable, an anti-hero type for sure, but all her cognitive dissonance, rough edges, lack of empathy and sympathy and times...make sense to me given her life experiences. Life hits hard and it can really mess you up and I think she is the epitome of that.

The commentary on gender identity, the take on romance, and robots fighting monsters. There was a lot to like there. The big problem with the story for me is within the writing. The tendency to explain with info dumps rather than show, but yet on other hand at times be missing integral details important to character motivations or plot advancement.

The near insta-love between characters or the fact that every other woman but Zetian are painted in an incredibly petty and poor light were also sore thumbs for me. And finally the dialogue. It came off as very juvenile. Now maybe that's just me getting old, but given the setting for this novel you wouldn't expect internet slang and meme type language, but it's there in spades. Things like “You're the baddest of the bad boys. The ultimate alpha male” and other such one liner's. I would laugh in someone's face if they ever said anything half as cringy unironically. Can you even imagine?

But despite this long list of complaints, I was still engaged which is quite something. I can understand how someone could be fully immersed in this book. For me I'd say if the author's writing ever catches up to their creativeness, look out! 

Iron Widow is a great action science fiction story. The message is great.

Check out the rest of my review at Mx. Phoebe's Viewpoint. Link in bio.

I received a free copy of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

“It's hilarious. Men want us so badly for our bodies, yet hate us so much for our minds.”

When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure I would like it. After finishing it, I am glad I stuck with it. At first it seemed like another “rich boy defies his family and saves the poor girl” trope but I was very wrong. If feminine rage could be shown through one book, I would pick this one. Moreover, it is not just feminine rage but discourse over government power and how twisted the action of those in power can be to keep control.

I loved the development of Zetian and her journey of discovering just how deep the corruption lies. Misogyny is the main theme in Iron Widow, and the men play their part well. Modelled off of real evil in our current world (the misogyny rooted in Chinese history and governments), they are truly some of the most terrifying villains I've read. At first you think the villain will be Yang Guang or Li Shimin, but the real villain is the corruption that runs deep through every law and legislation they have. Fortunately, Zetian is a badass and takes every moment to kick misogyny in the metaphorical (or not so) balls.

Once again I have started a series that I can't yet finish so I look forward to the sequel, Heavenly Tyrant, at the end of august this year

“This is not true power. True power is when I stood on the Nine-Tailed Fox with Yang Guang's corpse at my feet, playing by my own rules. Victorious by my own standards. Reliant on no one but myself.” - Zetian pg 137, Ch. 15

After her sister is killed, Zetian offers herself up to be a cocubine pilot, one of the pair that powers a Chrysalis, a sure death sentence for girls.

But she kills Yang Guang through a mind link and is labeled the Iron Widow. She is paired with an even more powerful and feared pilot, Li Shimin, and together they just may be Huxia's last hope to save it from the Hunduns and maybe even stop more girls being sacrificed.

This book was dark, had some nice twists, and a hint of poly romance.

This book is not feminist or wholly happy. It full of war, trauma, and hard decisions.

I'm conflicted about this book because on one hand, I like it. On the other, I hated Zetian's characterization.

I liked that Zetian actually killed. She said she was gonna kill people and she did it with no hesitation. I like the inclusion of Zetian's disability and it's presence throughout the WHOLE book, not just half of it. I liked the poly romance and the fact the characters don't care what anyone thinks about it. Their relationship, however underdeveloped, was cute. I love the different Chrysalises and their names and the idea of Matches and Crownings. And the cover is BEAUTIFUL.

Yet, on the con side, Zetian wasn't really morally grey to me, she was just grey and acted on her emotions a lot without thinking of the consequences. Just literally just like Mare from Red Queen. Like almost textbook. Hates everyone (& women they met) around them, grew up in a different mindset despite not given a reason for them to, no real character development, just strong throughout the whole book. Zetian seems too much like “I'm not like other girls”. Every other sentence she says is dripping in sarcasm and cockiness. In fact, sometimes her dialogue seems very modern. Its feels very weird and out of place.

I hate that Li Shimin was just book's trauma bucket and Zetian seem more in love with her best friend than with Li Shimin & her friend seems more in love with Li Shimin than her. We never really see their relationship develop or when, it's just they're are there for each other, holding hands.

I've seen this book described and marketed as feminist but in my opinion, it's far from it. I don't see it AT ALL. Almost every interaction with another woman is negative. There is no coming together in solidarity moment. She barely even thinks about the other women unless the situation calls. I feel like she wants to destroy the pilot system and social norms way more than liberating all woman.

This book had some fun parts and awesome twists but the execution and dialogue could have been better. I may stay tuned for the second one.

Sima Yi was the real star of the show.

With that being said, I really enjoyed the book. The ‘unhinged-woman' trope was so entertaining and the presence of the villains were very intimidating.

Not like the other transformer operators hehe

Havia visto muita gente falando muito bem desse livro, assim como estava com um grande interesse de lê-lo pela quantidade de vezes que vi pessoas fazendo propaganda, mas, honestamente, a leitura não foi tão agradável quanto eu esperava.

Este livro promete muito e, num geral, entrega pouco. Com uma criação de mundo confusa e personagens pouco cativantes, eu demorei mais do que gostaria para me situar na história. Acho que ê autore tinha muitas ideias boas, muitas mesmo, e não soube como utilizar nenhuma delas, fazendo o livro parecer um amontoado de prompts de escrita unidas por conectores e uma finalidade em comum.

O desenvolvimento dos personagens é fraco, sendo que muito do que acontece é tão rápido e sem sentido que eu nem fiquei com o gostinho de “quero mais”. A personagem principal é especialmente irritante e toma decisões que eu não conseguia compreender, além de parecer um tanto quanto deslocada em toda a construção de mundo - sei que ela era para ser um ponto de divergência, mas não acho que o modo como tenha sido construída seja muito crível.

No geral, é um livro muito confuso, com muitas ideias boas que parecem nunca se concretizarem. Talvez seja uma questão de ser o primeiro livro de Xiran Zhao, então pretendo dar uma chance para a continuação.

Good YA fantasy, would've loved to read this when I was 15...unfortunately it doesn't work as much for me nowadays

That ending though

I picked up this book for the sole reason that the author's TikToks are funny and who doesn't love an author who can take themselves so unseriously that they'll sport a cow costume in their author picture? I had little to no idea what to expect and while it didn't have much humor it was definitely an interesting read with a lot of subtle references.

Endearing characters and interesting world, well worth the read even if just for the world building.

Review edited because I had initially used the wrong pronouns for the author.

Pazzesco, stupendo, spettacolare, meraviglioso, sublime, splendido, incredibile, eccezionale.

L'unico motivo per cui non ho dato 5 stelle è che ho faticato ad abituarmi all'ambientazione e ho trovato alcune parti - specie nella seconda metà - molto affrettate e i temi della storia leggermente ridondanti (voglio dire, dette le cose un paio di volte non c'è bisogno di ripeterle a ogni capitolo). Ma per il resto assolutamente perfetto, emozionante e coinvolgente. 

this book is the most sexist girlboss book i have ever read in my whole life and it's a tragedy because i wanted to read about big tang dynasty asskicking robots