Iron Widow

This could have been amazing if it had enjoyed a few more rounds of rewrites before publication. Characterizations are solid and the plot is intriguing with good thrust but the pacing is all over the place and the narrative lacks focus. It's very clearly a first novel; I am intrigued to read the sophomore effort.

Review to come!! I loved it.

From almost the beginning I realized where the story was going and what the big reveals might be, so I had a harder time staying focused. But I still loved some of the real character and lifestyle flaws and the underlying systemic issues.

This is certainly a Young Adult type of story, with a budding romance between characters throughout. 

For me this started off interesting and I wanted to know where the story was going but then as I got further into it my interest in the characters started to wane and by the last third of the book I didn't care what happened so I was just reading to end it. I will say it's an interesting world.

I read it because I saw the author on tiktok talk about introducing polyamoury. I'm not poly myself but I think it's really cool for it to be accepted as legitimate. I thought this was so fun and I loved the world she built. You do have to accept the world as it is rather than think too much into it. It's a different universe, so things don't make sense the way they would in our universe. I also don't agree with other critical reviews about the violent nature of the protagonist. Thoughtout history, violence has been necessary to enact change and while I hope we can rise above that in the modern age, this is fantasy/sci-fi about a world in dire need of change. The violence suits it. I think it would have seem fake if the protagonist managed to play nice with her oppressors.

I don't care what others said about this book, I'm giving it 5 Stars.

4.5/5. Ancient China and wuxia in a dystopia sci-fi Starship Troopers kind of universe. This is every bit as engaging as the premise promises to be and I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it. I blazed through this one in record time and almost missed my train stop being so engrossed in it. It's been a while since a book has captured me this deeply.

This book is heavily influenced by Chinese mythology, literature, history, and culture, but it mixes this with a very 21st century view on things. I usually am not a fan when historical fiction comes with a protagonist who is very obviously a 21st century self-insert for the readers, but Iron Widow makes things work because it isn't historical fiction. In many aspects, it is a basically an AU, imagining what would happen if ancient China clashed with futuristic technology. We have foot binding existing at the same time as iPads, top knots and flowing sleeves with spaceships and aliens.

I was also a little worried that this book would take on a very ultra-feminist perspective on things, sort of “all women good, all men bad” which is a pitfall that I've seen so many books fall into. It does start off that way and goes on for a good part of the book as if it'd espouse that sort of black and white dichotomy but, without spoiling anything, I'm glad to say that things got a lot more complex than that by the end of the book and I appreciated it.

Wu Zetian is a pretty complicated character and I can't say that I like or dislike her entirely. She has a ton of conflicting ideologies but I suppose that's to be expected for an 18 year old teenager who has been thrust into big-scale situations. I'm also glad that she learns and while she doesn't end up like a completely different person by the end of the book, she begins questioning some of the fundamental beliefs that the book starts with.

The magic-tech system of the book is also pretty complicated and I wouldn't say I completely understood everything by the end of it, but enough to get the gist of the action.

This book also subverts all your usual YA tropes completely and thoroughly and I really appreciated that. I expected it to be certain ways going in and it completely went in another direction.

Some spoilery thoughts: This might be the first time I'm reading a polyamorous relationship and I'm actually really here for it. I loved the dynamic between the main three, and I loved their philosophy that three is more stable than two. I loved this little insight into this relationship, and was truly devastated when Shimin died - or did he? I did feel uncomfortable when they were driven to murder An Lushan and then subsequently the Black Tortoise couple and even Wu Zetian's family, even though they “had it coming”. I also laughed out loud at some parts referencing some cornerstones of Chinese history and culture, such as about Sun Wukong being a pilot going to retrieve some documents from the Western stronghold. Such a clever way of “retelling” Journey to the West.

The only reason why I'm not raving about this more is just because I'm writing this on a tired-feeling day. I'd strongly recommend this book to just about anyone, whether or not you're into sci-fi since that's what it's commonly categorised under. I'm very much intending to continue this series when the next instalment drops next year.

This book was phenomenal! I couldn't put it down it was amazing!

This book is a new favorite - it had me hooked from start to finish. I was so impressed with how vivid the characters, culture, and world were. I listened as an audiobook and enjoyed it so much that I bought the hardcover so I could go back and savor the writing. I look forward to additional work by the author (as well as the narrator).

I'd put off reading this book for months because I didn't realize it was YA and was expecting a much harder read but when I finally got to it, I blasted right through because I was SO into it. This book moves fast and hits hard & heavy--Xiran didn't come to fuck around. They balance the tone & rating of YA with some very heavy topics phenomenally. It doesn't shy away from the horrors it discusses, but simultaneously never felt like it was crossing a boundary into Adult Fantasy. It completely impressed me all the way through, reading Mecha fights I could imagine like straight out of an anime, all the way to the polyamory which I knew about going in, but was still delighted by how it was portrayed and talked about by the characters. Absolutely cannot wait for the next book!

This book was mostly amazing. The only trubble for me is the ending.
She got an almost evil feeling over her after she woke the dragon. I could not make any sence of this. And that they wern't on the earth also make little sence and just came out of the blue for me.
That is why this book does not get 5 stars. The 2-3 last chapters ruined it for me

All I can say is: read this book.

It's badass, unapologetic, and somewhat awe-inspiring. I did not see that ending coming.

It's feminist, explores polyamory, and is sensitive about (yet not shy of) topics such as suicide and abuse. It's entertaining and is a must for fans of Anime and Sci-Fi.

The last quarter made up for a slow start.

I am WAY outside the target demographic for this, but it still had some lines that furrowed my brow, and let me consider my life for a moment.

Glad I finished it, probably won't tackle the sequels.

Updated review now that I've had some time to think about this book...

Things I liked :
1. The phenomenally brilliant Mechas! Super cool!
2. The ending!! Absolute roller coaster ride!
3. Some of the themes are extremely powerful. They really made me “feel” stuff. This book made me furious! It made me really really sad for and really feel for the characters.
4. The relationship in this book was beautiful. I loved the way it was handled. I loved how the author put forth their thoughts on polyamory. Beautiful

3.25/5 stars

This book started out really good, but by the end, I just stopped caring. I think it was because there didn't seem to be much of an actual plot behind all the action.

But the feminist themes and representation of different romantic relationships were worth an entire star.

El final me dejó en shock

Yes, YES! This really blew me away ~ I was impressed by the author's opening that talked about the reimagined chinese history that helped inspire her (and the encouragement to readers to learn more if they liked her book) and the content warning about sexual assault/situations and violence. AND that she said these things are not elaborated upon. I feel like usually when I see these warning (good) then they are very brutal interpretations. I am glad that she not only gave the reader a head's up but also let us know the level of expected detail. THIS was very helpful and I really appreciated it.

I was able to connect with this character right away, Our character is coming of age but has decided to do something drastic and seek revenge for her sister by murdering her pilot. She has a lot of strength and a lot of attitude to question the ruling patriarchy over her. I also like the descriptions of how these mechas are piloted and where the energy comes from. Reminded me of Neon Genesis Evangelion- but like the good bits I liked about it! (So, I think evangelion is good...but like sexist against the female characters since the pov is by an incel. There's a lot of great stuff about it but the mecha and the relationships are the best part they gave up on! ...yadayada. This story focuses on that relationship between the two powers of operation and the imbalance perfectly)

What I also like about this book is the pacing - no time is wasted, seems like each scene you learn something about the character, the world, something new, or plot! It is really a driving story and I really was engaged completely through-out the entire book!

The audiobook Narrator did a great job. I liked this particular book so much I listened to it at regular speed so I did not miss a thing!

Didn't so much smash the patriarchy than slit it's throat and stand over it whilst it bled out!

I couldn't put this down and chomped it down in a matter of days. Great engaging and graphic writing.

The book description of a cross between Pacific Rim and Handmaid's Tale is fairly close, though in some ways I can see how this system came to be (women being treated as objects) based on our reality moreso. I suspect this is helped by the author using real Chinese history to inform characters and features of the story.

There's some pretty bleak stuff in there, and some refreshing views on relationships and status quo.

Really good stuff. Definitely reads like it would relate to the YA audience, but still very engaging for old dudes like me!

PHENOMENAL.

rough start (hence the reason it took me so long to finish) but my god when it picks up... absolutely phenomenal

I might not have picked this up if it weren't for Anna's strong recommendation but WHEW it SLAPS, this is the feminist fury I needed! The smashing of love triangles! Exquisite!!!! Sequel when???

YA with giant mechs. Not something I have really read anything on, so an intriguing and enjoyable read! This was essentially a critique of the patriarchy inherent within military hierarchies so has a fascinating dose of gender politics included within it too.

The basic set up is that some (alien?) invasion has taken place and humanity is fighting to survive using salvages mechs to counter the hordes of invading alien ones. These mechs require 2 pilots, with a yin and a yang seat for a male and female pilot. However, this frequently ends up as the male pilot draining the female one to power the mech - essentially the female pilots are acting as sacrifices to power the robots - except in a few cases where a balanced mech results.

Our lead character is angry about this. Her sister was killed by a pilot (and outside of a mech so the family did not get the pay off for the sacrifice) and she is determined to avenge her. She volunteers to be a pilot to try and get close enough to avenge her sister, but this leads to unintended consequences.

One elephant in the room is the annoying love triangle that YA authors seem contractually obliged to include in every story. It is present in this story too. Fortunately the action outweighs the usual whiney teenage angst here, but I do wish some YA books would avoid this trope as it almost invariably makes books less enjoyable for me.

This was my last subscription book from illumicrate as I have now cancelled the subscription - I was getting too many doubles and have some changes to my life situation meaning I want to be more focused on my reading goals. That said, I went out on a high as this was genuinely an enjoyable read.

3.5

I could not stop thinking of this book as soon as I started it. It's amazing! It's full of rage, violence, and surprising humor. (“You can't shoot me, I'm rich!!”)

Perfect for people who like giant robots, brooding and/or pretty guys, and smashing the patriarchy.

Re-read: Great news for bad times - this book still FUCKING RULES! If you are feeling sad, hopeless, and/or full of rage this might be a good cathartic read for you.

In a world with an invading alien race and giant mech chrisalises that are run by the power of a boy and girl pairing, where the girl usually dies, Zetian finds herself on a revenge quest to kill the boy that is responsible for her sister's death. However, when she succeeds at this and finds uot she is increidbly strong, she becomes known as the Iron Widow. She gets paired with a boy who murdered his entire family, but is stronger than anyone has been in generations. When that still doesn't kill her, she does her best to start a revolution to free girls from their captivity. What follows is a fast paced, emotional debut novel.

I really liked our main character, Zetian. I felt like her anger resonated with me throughout much of the book. Her quest for vengeance against the people that have held women down using fear and physical violence felt warranted and real. However, this books prose was definitely a little in your face and felt like it lacked nuance. All the information that the reader gets is just given. There's no subtlety. Also, some of the dialogue felt childish. The relationships, while very insta-lovey, had enough chemistry and interest within them that I didn't mind all that much. Towards the end of the book, I felt like everything kind of went off the rails. I didn't really understand how the mechs worked as much, so a lot of the battle scenes I felt lost in. There were certain scenes I loved, then there were other scenes that I found myself either bored or bewildered. The ending was intense and suspenseful, so I will be picking up the second. Hopefully the second is a little more carefully crafted so that the interesting story matches up to the prose.

I would recommend this book to people looking for a badass heroine fighting the patriarchy. Also, there's a polyamorous relationship. Need I say more?

TW: misogyny, femicide, rape mentioned, physical and emotional abuse, suicidal ideation, alcoholism, blood & gore depiction, murder, torture

This gets a 4 ⭐ Loved the character interactions, loved Wu Zetian!

But the last revelation didn't hit as hard as it should have, the epilogue had more action than the last act, and it took me 3 days to get through part 4.

— Spoiler Warning (for 3 different books) —

* The major revelation in the epilogue is literally the major revelation from (avert your eyes