Reviews

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

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samhain's review against another edition

3.0

Past the Hunger Games inspiration and a final plot twist that lacks originality, Xiran Jay Zhao manages to write a believable story of female rage, one that she sees through completely with no fear of alienating her audience. Some of the characters' dynamics could and should have been given a little more time to naturally evolve but, given how action packed the last part is, it makes sense the author wanted to get there as quickly as possible, no steam lost on characterisation.

All in all, this is a very promising start. My only complain would be that

Spoiler

Zetian is still weighed down by men at the end and willingly so this time

, but I trust the author to turn this around, the same way she turned the

Spoiler

“you need to stand in solidarity with every woman, no matter what”

discourse these books (and a certain branch of feminism) always spout.

Iron Widow is what The Scarlet Throne set out to do but couldn't deliver on: an ode to a female rage that's powered by hate and has no time for pesky things like morality or remorse; the world is just reaping what it sow.

jsegers's review against another edition

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3.0

Overall I really enjoyed the book, just got kinda confused sometimes. Loved Shimins character and the ending was great. Don’t know if I’m gonna read the sequel though. The whole big robot idea just didn’t sit right with me.

gloomyday's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

buffyreads's review against another edition

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5.0

"You've been living a dream for long enough! Welcome to your nightmare!"

The Good
Zetian is amazing. I love her anger and desire for revenge. I also love how she manipulates the system and men around her to her advantage. She's a master strategist with nothing to lose. The lore is amazing. Once the action starts and we get more information I was hooked into the story. Yizhi and Zetian have such sweet relationship. He is so devoted to her and though he has a difficult perspective in life, he understands her. Li Shimin is the love of my life. Forreal. He's a mess but cares so deeply and is protective of Zetian in a way no one had been before. This book is such a "fuck you" to love triangles and I'm obsessed. I like how subtly it was built and worked up to. They each have something the other needs and complete each other. I love how this book tackles sexism, classism, and even colorism. It also shows these issues in a more nuanced way. Women have have internalized misogyny. Misogyny in men is also deeper than hatred. It's about control, dominance, and power. I also loved how high the stakes were. Ever action or non-action had a consequence and ever win had a loss. Nothing is perfectly and that makes it all the more real. There is also a twist at the end I wasn't expecting at all. I love not being able to anticipate where a story is going.

The Bad
The biggest problem I had was visualizing the fights. It was difficult for me to really imagine what it looked like so it made the battle sections very confusing and hard to track what what happening. It might be due to me never watching shows with mecha's but I often got lost reading these parts.

The Rating
I give this book a 5/5