Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC!! 4.5/5

Oh. My. God. Look, I'll admit I mostly requested it because of the cover. And then I read the synopsis...it's basically Handmaid's Tale meets Pacific Rim meets sci-fi meets dystopian and ALL the things. This book is a beautiful look at gender roles and norms in a patriarchal culture (ancient China) while touching on feet binding, yin and yang, colonialism, capitalism, and SO much more. Like, there is SO much within this book, and the ending opens the door to SO much more.

The qi elements and the fighting? Beautiful. The depictions of the Chrysalis and the world building? Amazing. Zetian is a strong, female character who is an ANTIHERO. Yes, do not expect heroics from her. She is an antihero dismantling a patriarchic system, and the antiheroism really comes out in the last 1/4 of the book. There's a POLY relationship in a YA book - outstanding. This book also looks at actions and consequences while building redemption within a flawed system. There are so many good things about this book. Like...wow.

.5 star deduction just because the ending caught me off guard and felt a bit out of character/world building, but makes sense in terms of the plot and building a series.

Wow, what a ride. So many thoughts on this that I'm not even really sure where to begin.

Fire and foremost, I want to preface: I walked into this book already a fan of Xiran Jay Zhao (having watched and loved their youtube videos for quite some time now). I am also a massive fan of Pacific Rim, The Handmaid's Tale, and Attack on Titan, and have a strong interest in Chinese culture (being mixed myself). This book was pitched as hitting all of those interests- I was, in no uncertain terms, stoked as fuck to read this. It almost seemed too good to be true.

In hindsight, I think walking in with such high hopes did more harm than good, and can safely say that after a few chapters my expectations had been adjusted, which made the rest of the book a much more pleasant read.

I'll start with things I liked, because there were actually a lot of them!

- Overall concept: This book's premise is a banger from the get-go, and it genuinely does deliver on its promise in the synopsis. This is definitely a mix between pacrim, chinese history, and the handmaid's tale. It's fresh and ambitious, and not something I've seen before.

- Pacing: There was never a point where I felt like I had to drag myself through a chapter or put it down for a break. I honestly could have finished this in one sitting; It's fairly short and easy to breeze through.

- The handling of the love triangle: <spoiler> Massive fan of seeing an actual poly relationship on page- this is the first time I've read one from a major publisher and I appreciate it a ton. While it felt a little rushed, there was at least decent set up and follow through. </spoiler>

- Overall branding and art direction: The author really does have impeccable taste when it comes to the visual accompaniments for this book. The cover is absolutely stunning and all of the official art is beautiful.

- For lack of a better word, Vibes: This book is cool! Truly and undeniably cool! I actually stopped multiple times throughout the story and audibly said "woah, that's so cool!" because it is! There's a lot of stuff in here that really satisfies my inner 10 year old boy who is obsessed with transformers. Definitely the same vibe as Pacific Rim (aka "don't think about anything too hard, just enjoy the coolness")

- Zingers. Zetian had some baller retorts in this book that definitely made me crack a smile.

Onto the issues I had with this book. Some are objective and some are just personal preference.

- Infodumping: The "show, don't tell" rule is thrown out the window here. The exposition is so heavy and shamelessly infodumps. This is the worst at the start, and evens out somewhat later on, with smaller infodumps throughout the rest of the book.

- Prose: The writing is objectively bad. I think there's often confusion between what's 'accessible YA writing' and what's genuinely bad writing, but I am certain this is the latter. This might not bother some readers (I know several people who don't care about the quality of prose at all and are character or story driven only) but it was a major issue for me. The dialogue felt especially stilted and there were parts that I had to stop and laugh out loud at because they sounded so corny.

- Unreliable morality of protagonist: I honestly have no idea what Zetian's morals are. One moment she was alright with <spoiler> condemning her entire family (including grandparents, aunts, and young children) to execution and the next, she's moving them to the capital city to protect them from harassment. She agonizes over every concubine death, only to kill another female pilot at the end of the book. I don't mind a morally gray protagonist- in fact, I think it's one of my favorite tropes, but the thing about Zetian is that she is maddeningly inconsistent and it makes it hard to understand her as a character. </spoiler>

- Lack of character building in general: Zetian's relentless feminism feels a little strange because we don't learn how she came to this belief system or why she believes in it so strongly. I would have loved more backstory on her breaking free from societal indoctrination. With regard to the male love interests, both were developed enough that I cared somewhat about them, but still fit pretty neatly into fanfiction character tropes (bad boy w/ a heart of gold and sensitive softboy).

- General weak worldbuilding.

- Just... general plot holes? This is one of those books that you can't think about too hard. Honestly just unplug your brain and enjoy the vibes and it becomes 300% better.

Overall, I can tell that a lot of love was put into this book and had a lot of fun reading it. I always do my best to be as honest as possibly in my reviews, and it may be that I simply wasn't the right reader for this book. There is no doubt in my mind that there is an audience out there that will adore this book, and I truly hope it will be very successful in that market.

Do I think it's an objectively great book? No. Did I enjoy reading it? Hell yeah I did. Is it a feminist revelation? No. But would I recommend it to a friend who needed a fast, fun read? Absolutely.

I have never read anything like this book before. Yes there are hints of other dystopian books in here (the whole description of outfits and media coverage of the pilots had some Hunger Games vibes), but this is still a completely unique novel where the author takes on the patriarchy, smashes gender norms, and obliterates the love triangle by turning it into a polyamorous relationship.

Zetian is a very complex character who doesn't always follow the hero agenda. She is flawed, but recognizes that the way she is treated is completely unacceptable and is willing to make sacrifices to set things right. I actually liked that she turned her back on her abusive family, because we shouldn't give in to toxic people and they don't always deserve our forgiveness. The relationship between Zetian, Shimin, and Yizhi is healthy and consenting, and I'm just so glad that the auther did not go with another love triangle (I hate those).

The plot and action are fast past and filled with Chinese culture, both good and bad. There's a whole storyline about bound feet and how that affects Zetian in her everyday life. I just really loved so much about this book and the ending throws a huge curveball that made me sad that I have to wait for the sequel! I can only hope that NetGalley will have that available when the time comes!

This cover, y’all. Absolutely gorgeous. It sets my cover-loving heart on fire. There was so much buzz about this book on Twitter that I couldn’t help but go looking for a blurb. So when I saw it described as “Pacific Rim meets Handmaid’s Tale” I knew I just had to read.

I would say the description is right on the money. Iron Widow introduces Wu Zetian, an 18-year-old woman who is angry and determined to become a concubine pilot in order to take revenge on the pilot who killed her sister. Zetian lives in a male-dominated society where women are sacrificed to the government in order to help males pilot Chrysalis in their war against the enemy. She is sick and tired of living by society’s rules and is merciless in her quest to bring change.

Along the way she is paired with Li Shimin, the Iron Demon, who is a fascinating character. Both a berserker like strong and ruthless warrior, but also a studious, academic young man who righted a wrong with violence and ended up tortured and used by the government machine. They are joined by the gentle, empathetic son of a business tycoon who fell in love with Zetain when she was still just a poor girl living in a small fishing village. But don’t worry, there is no love triangle here, this is the perfect polyam romance with all of these characters coming together to form a formidable triad.

Iron Widow is 100% a feminist battle cry fantasy with amazing world-building and well-drawn, interesting characters. I was riveted from beginning to end. This author left off the first book in this new series in such a way that I am aching to get back into this world to find out what comes next.

CW: death, gore, torture, addiction

4 or 4.5 stars

This book is really entertaining and gripping! It's a great story about the ugliness of misogyny at its worse, taking your place into the world and fighting for what you want and deserve. There are also hints at a bigger picture with the whole aliens have invaded the land, and there is more information about that particular part of the plot in the epilogue that promises a kickass sequel.

What's remaining of the Asian population has been at war against Hunduns for hundreds of years. Pilots are men with very high spirit pressure resistance that can control Chrysalis with their mind and their qi. However, a pilot cannot control the Chrysalis alone, he needs a concubine only so he can use her qi and drain her. A concubine is not expected to survive her pilot and when she does, it means that she is a "true match" for the pilot, and the pair becomes an icon of hope and strength (and also a media's dream way to make money really fast).

Wu Zetian, 18 years old, has lived her whole life under the thumbs and rules of men. Her only value is the money her family can get if they sell her as a bride, of the monetary compensation they will get if she enrolls in the army as a pilot's concubine and dies in battle. She is not happy to be treated as a mere possession and wants to be free to do what she wants. When her family sells her to the army to become a concubine for pilot Yang Guang, Zetian plans to kill him while he sleeps as retribution for him killing her older sister. What she was not expecting was to be forced into a battle on her very first night as his concubine, and to not only survive the battle but to kill him during the battle and take control of his Chrysalis, making her what is called an "Iron Widow". Having an unbelievably high spirit pressure, Zetian is then forced to work with Shimin, the Iron Demon that everyone fears.

I enjoyed the writing a lot, there is a lot of metaphors, but it was well done. The plot is intriguing and you get sucked in quite easily in this book. The pace is also constant throughout the book. It is a good mix of politics, fighting, and romance. The unfair way women are treated is the main theme of this book, and it's what drives Zetian. Every decision she makes is to bring her closer to her goal: showing the world that the women are being exploited and treated as objects in an unfair way, and showing women that it can be different, that they don't have to smile and accept every unfair treatment.

The world-building is also well done, but I would have like to have a little more details about the history or the status of the rest of the world. I was left with a few unanswered questions, but it did not prevent me from understanding or enjoying this book.

Wu Zetian is a great main character. She is strong, resilient, very determined, and
very feminist, but considering her life it's 100% understandable, (I'm telling you, I felt like -almost- all men deserved to suffer and rot in hell while reading this book). She has been treated like shit by her family because she has no value except the money they can get for her, and as a result, she does not really give a shit about them once she leaves her house. She is hell-bent on saving the concubines and destroying the toxic system the army is using to promote women as an accessory meant only to serve men and sacrifice themselves. she's hot-blooded, yet cold and calculating and I LOVED IT.

The other important characters in this book are Li Shimin, the Iron Demon, and Gao Yizhi, Zetian's only friend (who she also has a crush on). Shimin was sent to jail for the murder of his brothers and father until he showed unparalleled spirit pressure. The army removed him from prison, only to put a collar on him and to force him to fight even though he didn't want to and as the story progresses, we can see that he is actually grieving for all the concubines he's killed.

Yizhi is the sweet and empathetic friend that decided to follow Zetian anywhere she went because he believed in her and knew that what she was trying to do was the right thing. He is a great character, and even though he does not seem as important as Zetian and Shimin at first, he holds a key role in the story and in the Iron Widow and Iron Demon dynamic.

The romance was surprising, I was expecting some romantic feelings to develop, but I was not sure where this was all going until the last part of the book. I was kind of dreading a typical love-triangle between Zetian, Shimin, and Yizhi, simply because I really liked Shimin and I didn't want him to be cast aside. I don't want to give too many details, but I'll just say that I was pleasantly surprised with the way the relationships between those three developed. (view spoiler). Keep in mind though that the romance is not the focus of this book at all, it is present, but it is also very mild.

The ending was unexpected, and a great overture for the next book, and I will definitely read it when it comes out.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao absolutely blew all of my expectations out of the water! This book was phenomenal!

Iron Widow is a sci-fi reimagining of China’s only female emperor, Wu Zetian. In this world, humans pilot robots and battle with invading alien mechas. The pilot system is misogynistic and cruel. A man and a woman pilot each robot, but most of the time, the woman dies. When Wu Zetian’s sister dies at the hands of a pilot, she vows revenge.

Wu Zetian is quite possibly the strongest-willed character I have ever encountered in books or movies. Her resolve and determination make her exceedingly compelling, and despite her ruthlessness, she still retains enough humanity that she can fall in love. She defies gender roles and stereotypes and absolutely smashes the patriarchy. She is an incredibly well-written character and makes the book excellent. Yizhi and Li Shimin are also interesting characters who constantly surprised me with their depth.

While the pacing sometimes felt too fast, it was still a fantastic book. The plot twists were delightful and very well done! If you like a fast-paced, sci-fi story about a young woman risking everything for vengeance and power, Iron Widow is the book for you! It comes out September 21, 2021, so go preorder it now, request it from your library, or buy it when it comes out!

I have incredibly mixed feelings about this novel, hence the three star rating. I do seem to be in the minority, with this book averaging 5-stars so far, so this might just be the picky in me coming out.

What I Loved:
- Iron Widow has an incredibly cool and pretty unique world building and magic system, though its more technology than magic. Kinda both, kinda neither. Basically there are pilots of gigantic transforming robots, inspired by classical mythology. Most of these "Chrysalis" robots have a male and a female pilot, but the female typically dies. This isn't a rule, as there are "balanced pairs" where both survive.
- Our MC, Zetian, is determined and a hard worker, both basic components needed for a sci-fi/fantasy bad ass.

What I Didn't Care For:
- This book touts itself as a feminist novel and my god is that an accurate description. I like books with political and social messages, but I find the best of these weave their ideas through the text in a way that feels immersive but subtle. This book smacks you in the face with them. It definitely decreased my enjoyment of the piece to get bludgeoned with this message, even if its a message I agree with.
- The info dumps. Good lord, the info dumps. The world of this book is expansive, so I understand the need for exposition to let the reader know what's up. Unfortunately, those clarifying details are provided in large explainer passages that completely pulled me out of the story multiple times.

I loved the way Zhao weaved in Chinese culture into this new sci-fi fantasy series. Surprisingly hit on a lot of hard topics like sexism, rape, human trafficking. And of course Zhao has to sprinkle in a bit of romance to kind of mellow out a lot of the harder chapters to read. I was instantly drawn in. You have hate to love romances, love triangles, giant robots (think pacific rim), a leading female badass fighting for the rights of all little girls out there, epic battles to save the world, and a wicked plot twist. i found the characters very relatable. Maybe not the extreme situations but definitely the fundamentals of their personality and how they interacted with each other. I could definitely see this eventually becoming a Netflix series. I have some mix feelings about the ending cause a part of it you could tell was coming but the other part makes me excited to pick up the next book. Very interested to see where this series goes!

Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this feminist sci-fi inspired by Chinese history.
The cover, the description, the polyamory, so many things about this book made it a must read for me, and it was even better than I thought it would be! Although this story is inspired by other things, it feels so original and refreshing.
My favorite part about this book was the characters. Zetian might be one of my favorite book characters of all time! She was so complex that she might be considered an anti-hero by some, but I consider her to just be so real. I related to her so much! She’s not afraid to get dirty to get what she wants and I love the way she combatted all of the shame put on women by society and embraced what SHE wanted instead of what was expected of her. Shimin is another character whom I loved. He must be protected at all costs! I didn’t really connect to Yizhi that much, but I fell in love with the other two main characters. And I really enjoyed that the male characters showed so much emotion, more than the female characters actually. The author did a great job at throwing away gender roles and allowing people to just be.
There weren’t many things I found wrong with this book, but there were a few. The chrysalis/qi types could be confusing to some, but since I didn’t overthink it, I didn’t get too stuck on it. I also feel like the author should’ve made a bigger deal about some things that were briefly mentioned in the beginning that eventually became important in the end. And the last problem I had was that I didn’t understand where Zetian’s meanness toward Shimin came from. She was nice to him at first and then all of a sudden, she started taking all her anger out on him out of nowhere.
But overall, I really enjoyed this book! The characters were so lovable. I loved seeing the polyamory. And I need the sequel right now!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Teen for this arc! All opinions are my own.

TW: rape (mentioned), death, murder, torture, and intense misogyny

The girls of Huaxia are groomed from birth to make the men’s life easy. Being a concubine to share your chi with boys who pilot Chrysalises is part of the deal even if you lose your life in the process. But 18 year old Wu Zetian has another goal when she signs up. Avenge the death of her sister by assassinating the ace pilot responsible for it. But something shocking happens in their first fight as co pilots, that changes Zetian’s destiny.
Iron widow interweaves Chinese history with mecha science fiction to produce a stunning YA debut that completely blew my mind. This book literally smashes the patriachy!! The way it talks about sexism, taking control of our lives, our bodies, our destinies - glorious, GLORIOUS!!! I had goosebumps the whole time I was reading it. And THANK YOU Xiran for kicking that overused YA love triangle trope on it’s ass.
Wu Zetian is that badass everyone wants to write and everyone else wants to read. She is magnificent!!! Li Shimin is my next favourite and is to be protected at all cost!!
Action packed, exhilarating, freaking awesome YA debut of the year, Iron Widow should be high on all your tbrs!!

*Earc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Wow! Xiran Jay Zhao is out to pack a punch with Iron Widow. I've never read a single YA book like it, but if this is the direction the sci-fi/fantasy storylines are going to take in the future, I am all for it.

Okay, so Iron Widow was a lot crazier than I anticipated it to be, which lead to some mixed feelings while I was reading. What I really enjoyed was how different it was from all other sci-fi on bookshelves right now. There's a polyamorous romance, a female character who has a very strained relationship with her family, and a mysterious world that leads to a crazy cliffhanger twist at the end.

To really get into my review, I have to note how fast-paced this story is. It's almost too quick-paced once we get into the first third of the story. While the battles go on a bit too long, everything else, like relationships and character interactions, seem to snap by a lot faster. I felt like there could have been more pauses and slow moments to really feel the tension. Everything was kind of Wham! Bam! One revelation after another. I'd also say the worldbuilding is a little confusing at first. It's like Pacific Rim, Voltron, and Transformers with some more complex rules thrown in. Pilots driving giant magic-esque robots to fight monsters. You get used to all the techy explanation stuff once the series goes on, though. (Iron Widow definitely has some major Transformers movie sequel vibes with the battles going on just a bit too long. But, if you like longer action scenes, you may seriously enjoy those chapters of the book.)

Now, back to the characters. This is where the book lost me at times. Because while I enjoyed Zetian, our female protagonist, her emotions did kind of hop from one feeling to the next pretty quickly. I personally wanted more angst, especially with three teen love interests trying to figure their lives out during monster attacks and sabotages. I'm a character-reader though, so if you're more plot-based, you might appreciate the fast-paced emotional changes. I will say that Zetian never backed down from a challenge, and I was continually impressed by every decision she made. I was rooting for her to go all Daenerys Targaryen on everyone and everything multiple times throughout the book.

One of the male love interests, Li Shimin, is a shady figure at first. He's a pilot who killed his entire family. Yikes. But the author, Zhao, goes a long way in really delving into Li's backstory and making him a sympathetic character. Poor guy. He's just a gentle giant who doesn't deserve all the hate.

My major love interest issue comes from Yihzi, who kind of just shows up. He doesn't get as much time or care as the other two characters, and when he is involved with one or both of them, I didn't feel a connection to him. Perhaps because his past isn't really shared? I think Zhao has potential to delve into his background a little more and not just make him the childhood best friend with a rich daddy, and I have my fingers crossed that this is the case. His storyline could turn out to be great if he gets more page time.

While I will say that the premise of Iron Widow really drew me in, the execution didn't make this story one of my all-time favorites. However, I can totally appreciate what Zhao is doing with this book. Zhao is writing a female character who is taking charge of her life after she's been put through hell, and this female character is getting to finally experience power with two male love interests as her arm candy. It's great! But with all of these thoughts in mind, I'm not sure if I'll pick up the sequel; though, I do think YA SFF lovers should pick this one up and give it a try. It's worth the read, especially for fans of Pacific Rim, Voltron, Transformers, Power Rangers, The Hunger Games, or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

3.5 stars

*Note: I received an ARC of this book to review from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Xiran Jay Zhao, a first-time Chinese-Canadian writer, is already a powerhouse of an author, but here’s the truly impressive part: by the time the novelist’s debut, Iron Widow, will be published, they (the pronoun Zhao prefers) will be just 24 years old. It has been told to me that if you’re 35 and have published your first book, you are a baby in the publishing world’s eyes. I suppose that makes Xiran Jay Zhao a virtual fetus, if not a sperm or an egg. While Iron Widow is a piece of young adult fiction, that shouldn’t detract actual adults from reading this book. It has everything you’ll want in a good read: some action, a rather unconventional love triangle in some ways (I’ll say no more about this, not to spoil things), and lots of political intrigue along with some questions raised about sexuality, gender and the role that women (should) play in society. Zhao has created a masterful reading experience that is both daring and original, even if it wears its influences proudly on its sleeve: the book is being pitched as Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale, though there’s a little bit of The Hunger Games thrown in for good measure. But if you had any doubts as to the quality of young adult fiction, read this book. It shows that some of the most promising and exciting fiction out there is being written for young eyes, even if this book is meant for mature young eyes due to the themes of alcoholism, suicide ideation, and sexual assault (the latter of which happens off the page).

The story is a retelling of the rise of the real-life Chinese Emperor Wu Zetian, who was the only female emperor and lived some 1,500 years ago. Thus, as a blend of ancient Chinese history and futuristic science fiction, Iron Widow is about a Chinese society where mecha aliens threaten the survival of humans. Men and women are paired to fight this threat in giant transformable robots called Chrysalises, though the problem is that women often die during these battles due to the mental strain they are put through. Wu Zetian, in this book, is a young peasant girl who signs up for the army, not to help protect her nation but, instead, seek vengeance for her older sister’s murder at the hands of a fighter pilot. She exacts that vengeance rather early in the novel during battle, earning her the moniker of Iron Widow. Instead of being put to death, she is paired up with another male fighter who has murdered his family and, like her, is an incredibly strong pilot in terms of the spirit energy he can tap into during battle. Though the two are a “Bonded Pair,” meaning that they complement each other well in warfare and are expected to live as husband and wife, complications ensue when a young boy from her village — who is in love with Zetian — shows up on the scene.

The great thing about this novel is its pacing. Just when things start to turn a little too mushy, bam!, a battle scene emerges. And when the battle scene threatens to overpower the story, wham!, we’re sucked into court intrigue. Iron Widow is a compulsively readable novel that will have you turning the pages in a frenzy, though this bleak roller-coaster ride of a novel compels you to put it down and think about it for a while, too. The book’s setting is a misogynist one, where women are seen to be powerless, subservient, and willing to sacrifice their lives without asking any questions. They are mere husks to be disposed of, and that also makes the Wu Zetian character so entrancing. She has power, sass, and is willing to manipulate the system to meet her own ends — though sometimes she, too, has to make compromises simply to survive. She, like the other characters in this rollercoaster ride of a read, is a three-dimensional character who is believable and authentic. It doesn’t hurt that the book throws in a generous helping of Chinese folklore to explain its science-fiction aspect, which is an unusual and captivating blend of elements. Everything about this novel fires on all cylinders, and nothing feels out of place. That’s astonishing given the young age of the novelist and the possible fact that English may have not come naturally to the author. (They do mention in the acknowledgments section that they had a crack editor to help fix up some of the grammar, which is perhaps a strange admission when the book is so impeccably written. If they hadn’t mentioned it, I would have been none the wiser.)

All in all, Iron Widow is a near-perfect read. However, I’ll grant it the full five stars given that I haven’t read a novel that is this exciting and packed to the gills with riveting battle scenes, tender love scenes, and scenes of intriguing political manoeuvring— especially in a book meant for young readers. It is, as noted, a bit on the dark side and I did note that the f-bomb gets dropped at least three times, which would be enough (if this book was a movie, which I would be first in line to buy tickets for if one should come to pass) to merit an R-rating in the U.S. movie rating system. Still, for older teenagers (along with interested adults), this is one swooping thrillride of a book. It does end on a cliffhanger and I see that Goodreads already has an untitled second book listed, so the obvious sequel is coming soon. But you know what? I’ll be first in line to either score a review copy or even buy that book, too. I am hopeful that the follow-up is as good as this impressive first book in a possible series. Iron Widow is a one-of-a-kind work of young adult fiction, one that should make its influences proud, especially coming from someone so young and talented. With this novel, Xiran Jay Zhao shows that they are a master of immersive fiction that grabs you by the lapels and doesn’t let go, and we have a new voice to celebrate in both Canadian and young adult fiction. Enough already! At the risk of repeating myself, read this book!

holy fucking shit THIS BOOK!!!!!!

Okay so Iron Widow is being marketed as Pacific Rim x The Handmaid's Tale and that's pretty accurate but it's also so much more. I love how Xiran Jay Zhao has used Wu Zetian as inspiration for a story with freaking mechas. Speaking of Zetian, she's my favorite sort of protagonist: angry at a world that's treated her wrongly. Give me more books like this with angry girls who get to be angry and who the narrative doesn’t punish for it. (Needless to say, clearly some of the people around Zetian aren’t happy about it and try to change her but the narrative itself doesn’t punish her and that’s a very important distance.) Honestly, I loved everything about this book from the incredible rep to the characters to world building to…. yeah. Everything.

Also? More books where love triangles are resolved with polyamory, please and thank you.

Oh. And the ending. THE FREAKING ENDING!!!!!!!! The ending of a book hasn't made me feel like this since Gideon the Ninth and why YES that is absolutely a compliment.

This is absolutely a book I’ll be recommending to friends and also one that I reread once it’s out in the fall.

Wow, where do I even START with Iron Widow? This book was phenomenal! Giant mechs fighting aliens with bi & polyam main characters? It was beautiful.

Iron Widow is a blend of historical fiction & sci-fi with great feminist themes. It has action, political intrigue, discusses gender roles, and such a good cast of characters. The main character Zetian is terrifying and wonderful in so many ways. She is brave and powerful and absolutely merciless. And the other main characters complement her so well.

I got a little lost when it came to world building and how the powers and chrysalises work but I was able to power through it and enjoyed the book very much.

I adore the fact that instead of writing a typical love triangle we got a poly triangle. I wish more authors would do something similar with romances in other stories.

I loved this book. Not 5 stars due to being a little confusing at times but one of my favorite books I've read this year. I cannot wait to buy it when it's released.

4.5 stars.

Upon hearing that this book contains a polyamorous relationship, I was immediately intrigued and decided to get an ARC. Lately I’ve been in the mood to read Asian-inspired books and Iron Widow had caught my eye. Contrary to popular belief, Iron Widow is a sci-fi (not fantasy) book that is Chinese history-inspired.

The idea of having a polyamorous ship exist in YA excited me because it’s so common to see a love triangle happening between two males and a female. The author completely throws that idea out in this book and went, “why not make ALL of them happy together?” and suffice to say, it worked.

Besides the romance, the main female character is also unlike many I’ve read about before. Zetian comes from an unfortunate family background where she’s disregarded and a sibling of hers has died. To see Zetian break from the shackles of a family who has given her no love to a relationship with two characters who give her everything, I think that is beautiful.

I’m really excited for the release of the sequel and this author is definitely on my list to watch out for in the future!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opprotunity to review this! I was really looking forward to reading this book, since I'm a big fan of Xiran's YouTube commentaries and follow them on twitter. Unfortunatley, I really disliked this book, and found it not only lacking in almost every writing category, but actually detrimental to the message of feminism and female power it is supposed to portray.

THE CHARACTERS
The characters here lack development and depth, with glazed-over backstories and personalities that seem to change on a whim. It does not help that most of the characters act and talk like young teenagers, including the mature adults in professional situations (*cough* Sima Yi *cough*). I broke down my opinions character by character to hopefully streamline this review, because I have a Lot of Thoughts.

Gao Yizhi – I love a soft boy, and I love healers even more, so he was bound to be my favorite. He seemed to be the only beacon of hope in a bleak world and I liked that he was given a more gentle, nurturing role in the story, so when he killed his father at the end, I was left scratching my head. Is this really the same boy who was compassionate towards a convicted murderer when even the main character herself was not? It was incredibly out of character. In the end he just turned into a Zetian fanboy who enabled her murderous rampage.

Li Shimin – nothing to say, really. Just your stereotypical bad boy with a ridiculously tragic past that feels like a trauma bingo card and never really gets explored properly. He just got tossed aside at the end. He was fleshed out so little that I didn’t even feel sad when he died. And neither did Zetian, really.

Wu Zetian – to be blunt, I hated her from page one: she was cruel, disrespectful, and was perfectly fine letting her entire family die for petty revenge. She went on paragraph-long feminist spiels (which don’t make sense, since we have no foundation as to where she got her ideals from), but then the moment she met other girls her age, the first thing she did was assume the worst of them and scream in their faces. Also, she is constantly being rescued by men. Even at the climax of the book, her problems are solved by finding another man.

Nearly every conversation she has with women is about men. At 50%, this novel barely passed the Bechdel test. As for the two women she has the longest conversations with (her mother and the pilot Xiuying), both end up murdered by Zetian at the end of the book. It also put a really bad taste in my mouth that she murdered a mother and father for trying to protect her two *very* young sons, then showed no remorse. I really don't understand how this is supposed to send a feminist message.

The narrative does not frame any of Zetian’s actions as morally questionable. She maims her fellow soldiers, constantly disrespects her superiors (with no consequences to be seen), and is judgmental to other women - especially women who follow the rules of their society (as people in societies tend to do). Women bringing other women down is the exact opposite of feminism. By the end of this book, Zetian is a villain, but her actions are written like they are heroic.

THE WORLDBUILDING
This book moves at such a fast pace that I genuinely have barely any understanding of the world at large. Nothing is fleshed out – not the history, not the hunduns, not the development of Chrysalises, and especially not the magic system. There are different types of qi, I gathered that much, and they all work differently, but I could never keep any of them straight.

Zetian's world is a patriarchal, sexist society where women are treated as subservient commodities. Normally, this sort of structure means that a narrative has to have nuance, showing how such a society came to be and how these women are forced to remain in such conditions. This book does not have that nuance. It just beats you over the head with abusive men who are flat out terrible, who show no other personality traits other than being evil. Every man in this book is moustache-twirling villain except for the two love interests. It also felt very wrong to me that the only two positive influences in Zetian's life are men, in a book that is meant to be feminist.

THE PLOT
I wouldn’t even call this a plot. This is a random series of events that seems like the author just made up as they went along. The catalyst of the plot is the murder of Zetian’s older sister (I don’t think we ever learn her name), who seems to have taught Zetian all her rebellious values? But we know nothing about said sister and are never shown why Zetian loves Big Sister so much that she is willing to sacrifice the rest of her family to avenge her.

As a consequence of the lack of worldbuilding and fleshing out of the magic system, events just seem to happen without rhyme or reason. None of Zetian’s accomplishments with her Chrysalis (like the different forms) ever seem rewarding, because we don’t know how she got there. Even the final act is lackluster – Zetian just has the solution to their problem handed to her by a random nomadic tribe.

THE GOOD STUFF
Unsurprisingly, one of the few places this book shines is when Xiran is diving into their knowledge of Chinese history. I really appreciated the idea of combining ancient Chinese traditions and culture with futuristic tech and pacific-rim style mechas. There are also some lovely location descriptions that really put you in the situation and make you feel the grittiness of the world. A pity the worldbuilding and dialogue don’t reflect this at all. On another hand, the plot twist at the end was neat. I genuinely liked that, and it took me by surprise. Unfortunatley, I disliked the main character too much to want to continue with her story in the sequel.

IN CONCLUSION/TLDR;
Iron Widow is a book that needs work. It also needs a better editor, and at least 10k more words. And during that edit, it needs to decide what it wants Zetian to be: a villain, or a hero? Because the author presents her as a feminist icon, while in reality all she does is harm other women and gush about her two male love interests.

First of all, I would like to thank Netgalley for the ARC!!
I went through this book with really high expectations. I was really excited about the references about The Handmaid's Tale and the plot, unfortunately it was a DNF for me.
The worldbuilding wasn’t what i thougt it would be and I got into 70% of the book lost and with more questions than answers about the universe.
The trio's romance could have been better, it was weird how the things between them were fast mess. I know that's only the first book but the romance looked forced and without chemistry, it didn’t grew naturally.
I could have liked Zetian more. She pissed me off, she supposed to be the strong character who fights for what she wants even when people say she can't do anything to help the other girls, but there were times her feminism felt forced and it drived me crazy. And damn, she killed one dude and a bunch of people started to think about her like a goddess, making she became reckless and thirsty for power ??? what ???
This book really have a lot of potential, but it wasn’t for me.

As soon as I was read the words, Power Rangers meets Handmaids Tale and I was hooked.

Iron Widow became a "Read Now" book shortly after it was talked about in my numerous book groups. So I snatched it up and started reading immediately.

It is close to being one of my favorite reads of the year! While it did start out a little slow, I enjoyed the hell out of it. I admire the commitment to bringing down those that Zetian felt needed to go. I also loved the ending of the story. That twist was *chefs kiss* perfection. I now have so many questions and can't wait to see what the next book brings!

Oh my! This book. I was mesmerized from the beginning. This is a sci-fi YA novel that intertwines a reimagining of Empress Wu, who was the only female emperor in Chinese history, and Chinese harem stories. However, this book takes place in a different futuristic world that will leave you mind blown.

Zetian is looking for revenge for her sisters death and is ready to give her life up for it, but a wild chain of events happen and Zetian is now on a journey to smash the patriarchy, misogyny, and the system built against women.

There’s action from the beginning, I mean 23% in and my hands were clammy cause the plot moves so fast. I would have loved more world building cause at times I felt a little lost. The family she finds a long the way and the poly representation (touched on briefly) had my whole heart.

Towards the end I was crying and left wondering wtf is next because the end will leave you speechless.

Was i the only one picturing transformer type machines? Cause that’s what I was picturing when they were piloting but instead of turning into cars they turned into animals.

This was a delight and I cannot wait to read the next book.

TW: alcoholism, conversation about sexual assault (no on page depiction), scenes of violence, torture.

Iron Widow is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting stories I've read this year. I was drawn in by comparisons to Pacific Rim and promises of a poly ship, and I definitely was not misled.

Zetian is brutal and fierce and interesting; she is an incredibly flawed character at odds with a sexist and violent and cruel world. The author succeeded in presenting a main character that's easy to root for, who you want to see succeed. I found myself cheering her on as she tortured and killed those who'd wronged her. Both in her life before the story starts and throughout the story itself, she survives struggle after struggle without sacrificing herself; she's an incredibly strong character both in terms of her personality and willpower and through how well written she is.

Anyone whose listened to me talk about this book over the last week knows that I haven't been able to shut up about the polyamorous relationship. Even in the parts where I was struggling to get through it, I was drawn in and wildly invested in the growing tension and feelings between Zetian, Yizhi, and Li Shimin. I'm pretty sure I sent several all-caps messages each time two of them kissed for the first time. Like many readers, I'm not the biggest fan of love triangles, and I tend to be very critical of them. But this was never a true love triangle, and the author took care to ensure that it never really came across as such; there was balance and honesty and open communication between all parties involved. It never felt rushed or unexpected.

Hands down, the best part of the plot itself was the last 15%. Up until a certain point, most of the plot was pretty predictable--and I'm not complaining--but the plot twist during the final battle? I never saw that coming. The last 10% or so of this book, I read while in complete denial that was only a little bit validated by the epilogue. I found myself focusing harder on those chapters than I did on the rest of the book combined, frankly, because I needed to know what happened next.

While Iron Widow does some things incredibly well, there were several areas I had issues with. First, and most broadly, is the writing style itself. In the beginning, I just figured the writing style wasn't well matched to my personal taste, and admittedly it definitely got easier to read as the book progressed. But this book is incredibly dark and deals with incredibly serious topics, and while generally these were handled well, the tone of the writing just....didn't match. The writing and language felt very informal, no matter how serious the subject matter, and it left me feeling like there was a bit of a disconnect. At times, it definitely stopped me from really becoming invested in some of the internal and external struggles just because of how at odds the casual language felt to the matter at hand. This is something that I'll readily admit could just be a personal preference, though!

Especially in the beginning, the pacing could be a bit weird, too. There's a major romantic moment between Zetian and one of her love interests about 10% into the book, and at that point there just wasn't enough context or buildup for me to care. It was supposed to be this moving moment that just fell flat because it happened too early on. In the end, I felt like it took away from the later big romantic moment between the characters. I'm not sure if this counts as a pacing issue, but the description of this book begins with something that.... doesnt happen until almost a third of the way through the book. You spend the first hundred pages just waiting for the thing that you know starts the plot to happen. I don't know, maybe I just don't read enough book blurbs before I read the actual book, but it felt like this was too long a wait.

Unfortunately, my last problem with this book was Zetian herself. As I've already mentioned, overall I loved her character!! However, she tended to fall prey to the "not like other girls" issue. And, to be fair, as it turns out she literally isn't like other girls; the extent of her powers isn't what bothered me, though. Zetian views herself, and is presented as, the only woman who isn't happy being oppressed by men. Even when she meets other similarly situated women--the Iron Princesses--she finds that both of these incredibly strong women rely on their partners in a way that she doesn't. Of course, I understand that this is largely a product of how Zetian is viewing things, colored by her opinions and biases, and by the end I think this issue had definitely been improved, but it's something that stuck out to me throughout the story.

I struggled over whether to rate this 3 or 4 stars, but ultimately I decided on 4 stars for a few reasons. 1) This is a debut, and despite any issues, I still genuinely enjoyed Iron Widow. I have no doubt in my mind that this series will just continue to improve as it goes, and I can't wait for the next book. 2) The diversity and representation!!! Not only is it always refreshing to read a fantasy novel inspired by something other than medieval Europe, but the characters themselves were also incredibly diverse. We have, of course, POC rep, but disability rep and lgbt+ rep too. Iron Widow's love triangle ends in what is frankly the way all love triangles should end: with a poly ship. And 3) I just really fucking love anything that reminds me of Pacific Rim.

And if I had any doubts, between the last 15% of the book and the epilogue? Oh my god.