Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Iron Widow

I really wanted to love this one more than I did, and I think it was really the ending that fell flat for me.

The characters are interesting, and the plot feels really unique. I also liked the concept of the Chrysalises.

I just felt like the ending happened too fast, and we see Zetian go from calculating and thinking things out before acting to just acting out of rage without thinking. To me, that felt like her character growth was taking a few steps back.

The very last plot twist was a bit interesting, so I'm really torn if I want to pick up the sequel.

I will say that while this book wasn't for me, it was by no means a bad book, and if it sounds like something that might interest you, definitely give it a try!

Content Warnings

spockrocket's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

d13_chels's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

bevlovesbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

april_does_feral_sometimes's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I loved ‘Iron Widow’ by Xiran Jay Zhao! It strikes the precise emotional tone I feel a lot because of my own life experiences! However, gentlemen might feel a little, well, unappreciated, depending on their views about gender roles. Unless such gentlemen have seen the suffering of women (and gays) under patriarchal religions and political regimes and know it is devastatingly wrong and unjust.

This is book one in the Iron Widow series, which is certain to be banned under the emerging Nazi Trump administration. Perhaps, given the capitulation of all of the techbros, along with the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, readers should buy a hard copy.

I have copied the book blurb:

<i>Goodreads Choice Award. Nominee for Readers' Favorite Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2021)

An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA readers.

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected--she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia . But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way--and stop more girls from being sacrificed.”</i>

I love this book and world-building, but it is sometimes difficult to understand or imagine, partially because of the horrors that the protagonists undergo, and partially because of the descriptions of invisible powers and how they work, such as qi and spirit metal. I also found it difficult to understand/imagine how the Hunduns/Chrysalises look or work. The Hunduns, which are somewhat like huge insects who are at war with humans, can be transformed into not-alive war machines when they are killed (?), the husks being renamed Chrysalises, that humans use to fight the living Hunduns.

The social/political world the author builds her story on is a Chinese one, culturally, where girls have foot-binding forced on them. Women are given to men, most supposedly as wives, but they are really slaves, having no rights, even when they are discovered to have strong powers of qi and spirit pressure. Girls with powerful spirit pressure and qi are extorted into performing as pilots of the Chrysalises alongside male pilots with high qi and spirit pressure. However, the girls always die in the battle with Hunduns, supposedly because they weaker in qi and spirit pressure than the male pilot they are partnering, who must kill them in joining the girl’s qi to his own, to pilot the Chrysalis. So. The girls are dead after their first and only battle with the Hunduns, but no one cares. They were only girls, who are not respected in any way in this culture.

However, occasionally, there is a girl with such high qi that she survives the Chrysalis battles with Hunduns and her male human pilot who is sucking her dry of qi. She even kills her male pilot. Such women are called, tada, Iron Widows!

This is a vicious torturous world of war, war, and more war. Readers who are sensitive will probably find the Iron Widow books too violent. Trump supporters will hate the book after awhile because of the disapproval and momentary downfall, which appears, eventually, of their beliefs about gays and females being inferior and fit only for torture, sexual enslavement and death. For myself, a victim of the American social and political patriarchy which was in force until the 21st century, it is a positive wish-fulfillment story.

I can’t wait for the next books in the series! A mystery and a huge lie has been revealed near the end! Omg! Wow! What will happen next?????

Content Warnings

alice52's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Content Warnings

augustsreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense

4.0

Content Warnings

merlynnefae's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and it made me want to learn more about the history that the book is based off of. I enjoyed the strong female representation and resilience of the main character and her refusing to give in and that she kept her morals throughout the book. However at the same time, I feel like there is character development both with her and several of the other characters while she's still remains true to her roots. So good character development while staying true to themselves.

I'm also not a big fan of mech stories, but this held my interest throughout and I found myself wanting to continue this story and find out what happened.

Please do rig to your warnings before reading this book. But overall I did enjoy.

Content Warnings

More...