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read_intheclouds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, and Toxic relationship
griffinthief's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
solarel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Is it healthy? Probably not. Was it so so satisfying? Hell yes.
I feel like this is what men must feel like after watching those war movies or something. God it feels powerful to read of Zeitan’s rise.
That being said: I wish this was an adult book, not YA. It had potential to be more and go deeper. The romance line could have carried more weight if they had the ability to flesh it out more, beyond the YA label. Also the “girl” and “boy” phrasing felt juvenile. You’re 18 now, time to stop calling yourself a girl exclusively. And a man in his early 20s is not a boy. It was the only part I disliked.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Biphobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment
mssrquackers's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Gun violence, Rape, and Forced institutionalization
colinjames's review against another edition
Iron Widow would have been a better adult book (as it was originally planned and written). By turning Iron Widow into a YA the author has cheapened what could have been an intensely engaging narrative about a (probable) psychopath instead turning it into a story about an utterly unlikeable character who is over powered for no explained reason.
Throughout Iron Widow Zetian (the protagonist) is always right. If Zetian is wrong, she is in fact right (even when shes actually so incredibly wrong and it’s so obvious to the reader, but you’re just supposed to accept shes right). This phenomenon leads to our protagonist emotionally abusing her partner on several occasions.
The plot is predictable. Nothing about the plot is particularly unique. Iron Widow is Pacific Rim meets Hunters (Mercedes Lackey).
As far as the writing is concerned I’m more disappointed in whoever edited the book than in the author. It’s the editors’ job to make sentences flow naturally together and to make sure the general tone of dialogue etc. is consistent with the world building. Whoever edited this book did a poor job.
The world built within Iron Widow is beautifully crafted. It is deep, complex, with its own lore and traditions. I loved reading these sections the most.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Death, and Emotional abuse
fraxisle's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
norwegianforestreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
the13thmagdalena's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Sexism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and War
deedireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
TL;DR REVIEW:
Iron Widow is a fast-paced YA fantasy rooted in Chinese culture. It stands out among the crowd, with a vengeful protagonist, polyamory rep, and unconventional boldness.
For you if: You want to read fantasy with more diverse representation and don’t mind rooting for morally grey characters.
FULL REVIEW:
With a description of “Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in a polyamorous reimagining of China’s only female emperor,” how could I NOT read Iron Widow? What a ride, y’all!
The story takes place in a reimagining of China under siege by Hundun, gigantic creatures whose defeated “husks” are turned into the giant battlesuits that pilots — and the concubine girls whose qi (life force) gets sacrificed to power them — use to fight back. It follows Zetian, who enlists as a concubine to avenge her sister. But instead of her qi being sacrificed, she zaps the qi of the pilot, becoming an “Iron Widow.” Zetian turns out to be more powerful — and angry — than anyone could have imagined.
There is SO MUCH to love about this book. It’s bold. It’s angry. It’s original, but with a story structure that fantasy (and sci-fi) readers will melt right into. It’s got an unapologetic polyamorous triad. The central mystery is compelling (so much theorizing!). It handles layers of trauma, addiction, toxic relationships, and society-imposed shame with grace and heart. And it promises a LOT more to come.
The only thing I didn’t love was how hot-headed Zetian often was, in a very YA sort of way. It’s not that she was angry or vengeful, which I can totally get behind. She just doesn’t have enough wisdom (so far in the series, at least) to keep her from acting rashly or impulsively a bit too often for my taste. I was ready for her to slow down for a second and open her eyes, start to piece together what I had seen and realized as the reader.
Still! That’s minor, and overall I loved this wild ride. So…when does book two come out???
Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
smileyblue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
- Narrative style. First person tends to annoy me a lot especially in YA because I often find it to be artificially self-aware and on the nose, and unfortunately I felt there was was no exception here
- I kinda struggled to have a lot of rooting interest for Zeitan. It was wonderful to see the representation she brings, but her moral stance again felt kinda artificial, especially given the context. Some of the situations she found herself in seemed to me to be almost self-insert moments that, for me, had far too obvious. In fiction, I like my moral takeaways to be a little more unstated than they were here.
- At no point was I significantly surprised by any of the dramatic twists. Sometimes a predictable plot can feel satisfying. In this case, though, it felt like there was a great deal of untapped potential.
- The "twist ending."
This was a deus ex machina moment in a way that, for me, didn't succeed in getting me invested in the sequel. There was some foreshadowing throughout, but it was between too weak and also too on-the-nose. After Shimin's death, the story just becomes a sequence of convenient events. Since the twist happened right on the final few pages in the epilogue, it felt rushed, disjointed, and like it was thrown in there just to toy with the reader's emotions (but did not succeed in doing so for me). The only aspect of the ending that I found surprising was that it set up the next book for an anti-colonization bent. For a while I honestly thought it was going to be a sort of Hunger Games result, and I feel that might have been a more interesting outcome. - Themes. On top of the rest of the book's efforts to explicitly tackle feminism, gender theory, consent, polyamory, and ableism, I felt that throwing
anti-colonization into the mix converted the whole book into a space where every single one of the author's opinions can be justified. It's not that I think these topics are too much for one book. There are definitely ways to successfully address these issues in an integrated way. The way they were treated in Iron Widow felt, for me, a little unfocused and perhaps even preachy.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment