Huaxia has a problem. Mecha aliens lurk beyond its Great Wall, and it must send its youth to battle them in giant mecha robots called Chrysalises. The Chrysalises are piloted by two pilots, one boy, one girl, and for some reason, the girls don't always return home alive. It requires intense mental energy to be a pilot, but that doesn't dissuade Zetian, who wants to be a pilot so she can get revenge on the male pilot who killed her sister. She gets her wish, and when she strangles the life from him with her mind while they're in the cockpit, she's branded as an Iron Widow, a girl pilot who's turned the tables on the system, sacrificing her boy partners to battle the mecha aliens. When she's paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest male pilot of Huaxia, it's thought that she won't last long, but she's determined to use her mind to stay alive, interrogate the misogynist technology of the Chrysalis, and save the girls of Huaxia from their supposedly unavoidable fate as sacrificial pilots.

The story of a girl, raised in a patriarchal society, rebelling against the status quo, using giant mecha to fight giant mecha aliens. It's an interesting premise, and I was thrilled to see that my suspicion that anime Darling in the Franxx (which I adore) was partial inspiration for this story was true! Zetian was brought up like the other girls, but at every turn she's rebelled against the status quo. Sometimes, you just know that things are wrong, and I really get that in my gut, just as Zetian does. She sees something wrong, and even with others telling her it's not wrong, that girls being used and discarded like batteries is a distinct honor, Zetian knows that everybody is full of crap. Many aspects of morality are taught, but others can be discerned by imagining ourselves in the same situation. Zetian's empathy for others, and the grief of her dead sister, also drives her rage, and I felt it on a visceral level.

Zetian harbors disdain and derision for the world around her, and the people living in it. This is because the culture is built on doing things because of precedent or using people as if they are disposable and lack value. She even attacks other women at times because they also support and act within the system to support it. It is a common observation that for evil to become common and widespread, all that is needed is for people to stand by and do nothing about it, so how is Zetian supposed to feel if she is beset on all sides by people who believe she must feel like it's normal to walk with a crutch as a result of her foot-binding, or she must be honored to be considered as little more than a meat battery to be discarded as collateral damage, while boy pilots are hailed as heroes? How would you feel, being locked into a future with no tomorrow?

Zetian grabs the bull by the horns, figuratively speaking, and turns the equation of the Chrysalis upside down. She will survive, and the boys will function as the meat batteries, and see if they appreciate the honor. She doesn't always make the right call, and her rage sometimes leads her into bad situations, but the demure rarely ruffle enough feathers for freedom to take flight. This story is Zetian's, through and through, and I loved it and all of the references and easter eggs to contemporary and historical scenes and characters. Iron Widow is the story of a girl who can't stand the injustice she sees around her, and is determined to turn the immorality of it upside down, through sheer force of will if she must. Recommended for anybody who has ever seen wrongdoing legitimized by authority, and wanted to do something about it, because this is your story, too.

4 stars

Ever since Iron Widow came out, I knew I had to read it because it sounded that good. It's a futuristic sci-fi world where men can become pilots of the Chrysalis. However, they need concubines to use their minds & qi to achieve that. Most of the time, concubines don't survive the ride afterward because they usually don't have high spirit pressure like the pilot. BUT when one concubine does survive, she quickly becomes a true match for the pilot.

This story deals a lot with Chinese mythology, war & the ugliness of misogyny where you need to fight against a patriarchal system to take your place. Zetian is our female MC and is not your typical main character that you see in your YA books. I thought it was so refreshing to see a female character so unhinged and determined to make her presence known and fight for what she believes.

She's 18 and has lived with her poor family while her sister went on and became a concubine. Only for her to not survive the pilot who killed her. Zetian decides to have revenge and kill the one who took her sister away from her and in doing so, she becomes the iron widow. The one who killed one of the most praised pilots in the world. After being recognized for her high spirit pressure, she's forced to work with Shimin, the Iron Demon that everyone is scared of. They become quite a pair through their interactions and I'm honestly so hungry for more.

It's such a gripping story where our MC is quite the feminist (it makes sense tho considering her world). I'm telling you, you will want for all men to suffer in this book except for Shimin and her best friend :') There were so many times when I wanted to throw the book away because the men made me rage so much. I love that Zetian works so hard to show the world that women are being treated poorly and she won't stop until she gets the respect that she (they) deserve.

The fighting scenes did have me confused so many times because of the new terms and mechanical procedure of the chrysalis that made it hard for me to understand. Despite that, I truly enjoyed my time with this world and the characters and I can't wait to see what the author has in store for us.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance to review this book for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was stunning from start to finish. The characters were masterfully crafted and the worldbuilding was stunningly done. The plot was amazing, with twists and turns that I never anticipated. If you enjoy dystopian, feminist, YA fantasy with strong female main characters, I definitely recommend this book! 5/5 stars from me!

I had very low expectations going into this because I've been hurt many times before but it ended up impressing me and I cant wait for the next book. I wish it didn’t take me so long to pick this one up!

Zetian is the female YA bad ass character I’ve been looking for, for so long. It's been awhile since we've seen one, at least in my opinion. I loved her and her strength and how she really stood up for her beliefs and the ones she loves. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and was even willing to die. The characters felt real too and the world building was well done.

I will admit some of this was a little confusing to follow but I loved how action packed it is, this book does not slow down. 4.5 but rounding to 5 stars - definitely well deserved and especially for a debut! I'm terrible at reviewing books I enjoyed so thanks so much to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book!

A story that is a mixture of Chinese history and lore as well as Sci fi ,mixed with a bit of romance , that blends into a story that is hard to put down. And if your into the movies or TV shows like Pacific Rim,then this might be for you .As for main the character she's strong-willed to the point she's not afraid too stand up and fight for what she believes in, even though it could mean her death .

I didn't feel like the characters or world was developed at all. This seemed like a misandrist who needed to vent their frustration and chose a book to do so. I also found numerous inconsistencies within the book that I found irritating.

My Thoughts:
This novel has a polyamorous love triangle, a strong-willed girl who wants to change the gender inequity in her society, a superstar Chrysalis pilot who kills his concubine pilots without remorse, aliens, mechanical sci fi machines, Chinese historical characters, an Emperor pilot that has been asleep for two hundred years under the enemy hive. Add to that Game of Thrones style killings and you have an exciting ride with Zetian, historically the only female Emperor of China, now set on avenging her sister and destroying the misogyny in Huaxia. I am beyond thrilled at all of the minority-led sci fi and fantasy coming out. Send more!

Spoiler alert - this book is a wild ride that will end with no conclusion as well as no set date for book #2. If that is a game changer, then wait on starting this book until the next book comes out. Instead read other strong willed female sci fi/dystopia like Divergent, or Hunger Games. At least readers can devour and conclude the series.

From the Publisher:
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 objectively can acknowledge all of the aspects that have made this book successful so far - an interesting sci-fi premise, characters inspired by chinese history, the visibility/representation, and prominent feminist themes. The best way i can describe my feelings is this is too edgy for me personally.

I kept putting this book on the back burner, and now that I've read it I really don't know why. Talk about a total surprise! Not only is this book well written but the story line is so unique. I truly never thought I'd be reading something that merges history, culture, sci fi, fantasy, and power dynamics so well. If you like reading about strong powerful women this book is definitely for you!

Let me just start with what a wonderful book this truly is. I am so excited to have finally got around to it and it has really taken the book community by storm.

Xiran has a talent of sucking you right into the story. You have no time to prepare and that actually carries throughout the whole thing. There were twists and turns, action, drama, etc. & they just kept coming at you.
I really enjoyed the culture, beliefs and atmosphere. I was a tad confused at times, but it was never hard to understand - just needed to get my brain on straight.
Amazing build on relationships, friendships, and enemies. I just think the continuation will be even better.

All of this is high praise so let me just say that the missing star is because I felt like the end was the reveal then BOOM BAM so fast and it was over. One thing also seemed to convenient like I don't mind going for a bit more of a journey.

so many people told me to read iron widow and they were so right... yet i didn't listen to them for months lol. i had an e-arc and never got around to it before publication but i read it this month and it was such a good book!! i loved the writing style from the start of the book, i don't really know how to explain it but it was amazing, and surprising (in a good way!) considering it's the author's debut too. it was such an interesting world to learn about. i loved wu zetian as a main character and her personality. i love zetian, shimin, and yizhi's love for each other (and also the polyamory rep). i loved seeing them destroy dumb gender roles. so basically i absolutely loved everything! i also really want to learn more about the real wu zetian now! also the ending?? i need more rn please
also the author is an amazing person and i can't wait to read more of their work!

This book was an amazing mash-up of mecha, power dynamics, and political intrigue. The main character was delightfully feral, the love interests were appealing in their own ways, and the twist at the end came out of nowhere. I am dying for the sequel!

What a sucker punch of a debut!! IRON WIDOW was the actual epitome of badass, original, & girlbossing-straight-into-the-sun. The adrenaline rush I had while reading this book gave me such a high and honestly was an exhilarating ride from beginning to end; I absolutely cannot WAIT for the sequel!!

I got about halfway though before DNFing this book, unfortunately - although I wouldn't say it was bad. The characters were interesting and well-developped, but I had a hard time getting into the story, and just gave up when I realized I wasn't enjoying it. Fans of Pacific Rim might have way more fun than me with this story, though, so give it a chance !

Thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Random House Canada for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

With giant mecha fighting bots powered by a male/female pair, the drama kicks off with the protagonist mourning her sister who was killed in a giant mecha fight. Problem is, women voluntarily join the mecha fights knowing they have a very high chance of dying. The sister creates an undying hatred for her sister's killer and works her way through the system to be able to kill him and avenge her sister in the process.

There were some missing elements--like the fact that the protagonist was sad about the sister but we never really learned anything about the sister. It didn't seem like the protagonist *loved* the sister either, maybe she wanted an excuse for Murder. That would make sense and be up her alley anyway, ha. This book will definitely not appeal to everyone because the protagonist is pretty...mean by all accounts. Pretty much all the characters save for two are horrible people, the mecha fighting is sad knowing a girl dies each time, etc. Dark story. I loved it!

I will say that it's weird it's marketed as "feminist" but all the women in this book are awful people. I mean, so are the men, but it's not like the main character is aiming to save women entirely--she is out for justice and blood. The women have their understandable reasons for coping and the protagonist hates it, which is fair. I wouldn't really say the story is feminist in its positivity and overpowering injustice--it's more like a revenge story and the protagonist wages war on misogyny as a whole. It's still a really interesting perspective and different to see which was very entertaining as a book. I'd like to keep reading more books in this series!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get into this one at all. I feel like it might have been a case of wrong place and wrong time, so I might give it another chance later on, but I just couldn't be bothered with it. My mind kept getting distracted, and I'm not sure if it's my fault or the book's. The premise sounded amazing, though.

I ended up DNFingg this about 100 pages in. I really was not a fan of this book and I know that a lot of people have greatly enjoyed this but I am not one of them. I found the character to be whiny and underdeveloped in regards to her motivations

even though the writing is not something i like, the action sequences, the characters and the feminist message make me fall in love w this book. i can see myself rereading this every year.

This was my most anticipated book of the year and it did not disappoint. It took me a a few chapters to get into it, but once the story got going I could not put it down. It was amazing and I loved the characters.
Zetian is one of my favorite characters ever.
The whole story was interesting and written in a way that I could not put the book down once it got going.

Iron Widow was a fantastic read. Perfect for anyone who loves strong female main characters. The characters and world building were both fantastic. This is such a rich blend of mythology and science fiction.

Zetian is a fierce female that doesn’t let anything stand in her way to getting what she wants. In this world women are viewed as subservient to men and exist only to serve them. This is why Zetian is viewed as a problem, because she doesn’t want to conform. She wants to make her own way. When the book starts off she has her heart closed off to others, but I loved seeing her grow as the book progressed.

I love the Chrysalises too. Giant robots that can transform into different forms are pretty cool. Plus I like that they each take the shape of a different animal. Kind of reminds me of Power Rangers in a way.

All I can say is that I hope this book has a sequel, because the epilogue gave us an awesome plot twist. I need more of this world, and I need it now. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting something a little different than your usual YA Fantasy or Sci-fi book.