I literally just finished reading Xiran Jay Zhao’s “Iron Widow” fifteen minutes ago and my emotions are just all over the place. In an attempt to try and sum up some of these feelings, I’m going to list three words:

Holy

Moly

PleaseGiveMeMoreHowCouldYouJustEndItLikeThis?!

So that’s more than three words, but yeah.

This is the author’s first book and I just cannot convey how much I’m in love with this book. It is an action packed, heart racing — and heart breaking — debut. It is a book that blurs the line between heroine and anti-heroine — but don’t get that confused with villainy.

The protagonist in “Iron Widow” is the Daenerys Targaryen you want to root for (and I mean the character as a personality reference and without anything else that comes along with GOT).

Thank you so much to netgalley, the publisher, and author for providing me with this arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book was one of the most amazing books feminist books that I have ever read! It combines a unique sci-fi plot with a feminist character fighting back against the misogynistic gender roles that have been forced upon her by her society. The polyamorous relationships and the plot twists definitely made this book hard to put down. I can't wait for the second book in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for the ARC!
This one really had me with the synopsis and concept, however, in execution, I found myself a bit disappointed.
What I liked:
-The queer rep, with both bi rep and a poly relationship. This is the kind of thing I would have loved to have seen when I was more of the YA reading age, and I’m excited to see it more and more in YA books.
-The gender discussions here. Again, we love to see it. This book is filled with discussions that again, I’m so happy to be seeing in YA.
-The concept. I was so so thrilled at the idea of this, and I do think the broad strokes of this story are really cool in concept.

All that being said, this book overall just didn’t work for me. This might partially be an age thing - this book reads quite young. Not in content so much as writing style. While it handles really complex themes in a way I respect, the writing itself felt so surface level that I didn’t feel like we dug into those themes emotionally. It might have also been the first-person style that made this feel awkward, but there was a ton of telling the reader things rather than showing them. It felt like every emotion the MC had we were just told they were having, rather than being walked through their mind’s processes, and as a result the writing felt awkward and simplified to me, like we were being told only the most simplified end result of a thought a character had, and not shown the process and emotional journey they took to get there. This was the same for the dialogue, which left me with the feeling that everything was being rushed. Again, I know that I’m older than the target audience for this, but I think it does a disservice to YA to say that this is just a ‘YA thing’ as I have many YA favorites that don’t feel this way to read.

So, all told, the writing kept this one from really working for me personally, but again, I cannot stress enough how much I appreciated the concept, themes, and representation of this one, even if the execution wasn’t for me.

This. Book.

Okay I don't even know if 5 stars is actually my rating for this it might be 4 or 4.5 but I have slept on it and I just feel like a 5 so we are doing it.

I have to say this book is not what I expected it to be, in the best possible way. This book is more like a The Hunger Games meets idk Pacific Rim (though I haven't watched it) and a touch of Star Wars I think. I didn't think this would be such a sci-fi and tech book but it is and it is good. I did think (because I don't really read synopsys) this would be more historical fantasy or something but it is full blown sci-fi and I was amazed by it.

For me it was confusing at first to get into the worldbuilding, I don't think the author gives us all the explanations but then after some point it just kind of clicks and you go with the flow and it all makes sense. It was not my favorite type of writing either, but it just worked for the story really well.

Zetian is a great protagonist, one hell of a woman, I adore her. Her fierceness, the fact she doesn't hold back against the injustices commited to her. She is a real badass.

Also I didn't know this would be a series but it obviously is and damn the cliffhanger is REAL what is happening I need more now.

I can't not comment about the love triangle. Damn, the triangle is indeed the strongest shape. This book features the standard thrope of a girl who can't choose between two boys but guess what she chooses both. And the boys choose each other. Making it a three way poliamorous relationship. Hell yeah I did sign up for this.

If you want a fast paced story, and amazing and fierce MC and characters made of layers that unravel across the narrative, plus fighting robots and intrigue and plot twistd then I recommend this book for you.

This is one of the most incredible books I've read in a long time. I've been waiting for a renaissance of YA sci-fi, and Zhao delivers in spectacular fashion! IRON WIDOW is the dark, lush, feminist sci-fi of my dreams.

4.5-4.75 Stars but gonna round up
Trigger Warning: SA, attempt SA, sexism, violence, domestic abuse, abuse of power, murder & genocide.

A cross between Chinese mythology, tradition mixed with sci-fi monster/machine (think pacific Rim, but they use the monsters' bodies as their weapons). We follow a young woman willing to take revenge into her own hand and take down a system build to destroy women who threaten the patriarchal system.

I am down for any book that is about revenge. If that book also happens to have sci-fi and fantasy elements, with LGBTQ+ represent and diversity, ALL THE BETTER! I loved that Zetian really showed how hard it is to get above in a system forged against you and how you have to play a part and take things into your own hands to change mindsets. Also, even though Zetian was a boss, she let some things slide, and although I was not too fond of it, I knew that this is realistic.
In the last 100 pages or so, it did cool off a lot, and it was a little long, at moments making it a struggle, but that ending was so intriguing!
ALSO, I GOT A TROUPLE! When lI Shimin & Yizhi saw each other, I knew that they were gonna like each other just like they liked Zetian, I was screaming at the book to please let it happen, and it happened! Why have a love triangle when you can have a safe, loving trouple!

THANK YOU NETGALLEY FOR THE ARC !!!

Wow. I’ve had Iron Widow in my TBR for a few months now, & I was totally over the moon once I received the ARC. I was drawn in by a “smash the patriarchy” vibe, but definitely stayed for the characters, dope world building, & badass MC.

If you want “Transformers” x “Handmaid’s Tale” with chinese culture, READ IRON WIDOW. I was blown away by the world the author has built & am so excited for book 2!

Please let my babies Zetian, Shimin, & Yizhi be okay thanks goodbye

💛💛💛💛

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3999488837

***ARC received from Penguin Teen and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

Iron Widow is a mashup of science fiction giant battle mechs, female dystopia break the patriarchy while paying honor to the authors Chinese heritage. It also draws on and is inspired by the story of the great Empress Regnant Wu. It doesn’t sound like it should work but its a surprisingly fun read with strong characters you can’t help but root for.

Zetian joins the program for revenge, she knows as a woman her life is only as valuable as her assistance to a man can be and being a concubine pilot is the ultimate sign of a woman’s value. Zetian is incredibly single minded and once she becomes the Iron Widow I will admit that I struggled with liking her particularly with the way that she treated Li Shimin who I truly adored from the first time he is on the page. Zetian is incredibly blunt and in your face, she has an agenda and she is not going to let anyone forget it and while she will try to get assistance from the other women, she won’t let them stand in her way. I wish she had warmed up to Li Shimin a little sooner but I understand why she is tentative. Eventually they do forge a tentative alliance and as she comes around to Li Shimin I found myself liking Zetian more and more. Yizhi is the third member of our trio and he is just the sweetest. All three play well off each other and create a strong bond that carries them throughout the book. They each face their own unique struggles, Zetian a woman who despite her immense ability will never be seen as anything of worth on her own, Li Shimin a pawn to be used so long as he remains compliant and Yizhi fighting against his controlling and manipulative father to protect the two that mean the most to him. The book makes a good point that they work well with they balance off each other, knowing when to step back to let the other shine.

I also don’t really want to spoil anything because it looks like a love triangle staring you right in the face but oh my was I incredibly happy with the way the relationships turned out in this book. Thank you Xiran Jay Zhao for making this reader a very happy girl.

I loved the way this book dealt with the control that the government has over its citizens. While the book is fantasy it does draw on the way courts were run not just in China. Zetian is not the first Iron Widow only the first that the government couldn’t hide since she basically introduced herself on live television over the body of her copilot. Its frustrating as a reader to see a government that is more than willing to throw away their best bet of defeating the aliens but its all about control. They need to control the pilots and the co-pilots by creating a system that rewards both in a certain way, men for their heroics and women for their sacrifices for the men. Its a commentary on the way societies even today value women for their humble sacrifice and nothing more so watching Zetian be unafraid to destroy it was so nice.

The world building was a little weak, there was no real explanation that I got from the book that explained were the aliens came from. We don’t get to explore more than a little bit of the world but the ending I think helped explain at little bit of that.

Speaking of that ending, that certainly came out of left field and I loved it after I recovered from my heartache. I was not at all expecting what the author did and I finished it hating that I now have to wait another year to see where the author takes us next.

I really enjoyed this book. There are a lot of things that haven't been done well before that I think the author does really well. The poly aspects are amazing to see. The fact that the hero isn't necessarily heroic in all their actions is so realistic and incredible to read. The world and plot itself are super exciting.

I really can't wait to read the next book, and that leads into my only real criticism and that's the fact that everything felt so rushed the second half of the book, and the more I read the more rushed it felt. I'm hoping the second book slows down a bit and we get to dive more into various aspects of the world now that more is revealed, as well as into all the characters, rather than jumping from one super exciting main event to the next.

I was given a digital arc of Iron Widow through the publisher but my thoughts on this book are my own. First off I am glad this is not considered YA as I originally thought. It's a little too dark in some places for me to feel comfortable recommending it for kids under 18. That being said, I really enjoyed the book. I found the main character the Iron Widow, troubled and complex to say the least. Sometimes I was rooting for her sometimes I was horrified by her thought process and her questionable actions. Other main characters were a little more predictable but I liked them. I will definitely read book 2 when it is published. I liked the way that this book ended and left open the story for the next book. I sometimes had a hard time actually picturing in my mind some of the descriptions of the war machines and the battles but I could follow the plot easily enough to understand what was going on. All in all a very good read!

A darkly unique spec fic book for Older teens and adults. I loved the characters and the plot though I thought the world building could have been a little better. Only thing I didn’t love is the total binary gender system.

4.5 STARS

I truly think there is no better feeling, as a book lover, than being entrapped by the blurb of a new book, of thinking, “wow, this concept is so cool, sounds like something that would be a new favorite”, of getting so excited and unavoidably setting expectations so high, of loving the first page, loving the hundredth page, loving the last page, of closing the covers with a delighted smile and realizing that said book blew your mind just as much as you had hoped.

Iron Widow is that book.

To say I am absolutely, irrevocably in love with this book is an understatement. Let me tell you, when I hear something being compared to Pacific Rim (a favorite) but with a dystopian, feminist twist, all inspired by Chinese history, philosophy and folklore, I can’t help but set the highest of expectations. I’m happy to say that I could not be more pleased with every aspect of this story. The Chinese folklore, philosophy & culture, the way Yin and Yang are woven masterfully throughout the story, the strong and menacing heroine, the cruel and oppressive world, the groundbreaking love story. Everything written so beautifully, done so well, the characters so enticing, the plot so fun and action packed, I could weep.

As a heroine, Zetian is a new favorite. I honestly don’t know if I’ve read another YA heroine who is as cunning, maniacal, and low-key terrifying as Zetian and I love her for that. The way she used her sexuality as a weapon, was truly impressive, not only as a YA heroine, but as a woman in general. She was so unpredictable and such a girl’s girl, I love her.

There is so much to love about this book, it’s hard to pick a favorite, though I would be lying if I didn’t say that what delighted me the most was how Zhao set the tireless & infuriating Love Triangle trope (WHICH IS MY LEAST FAVORITE) aflame by writing her characters into a loving, healthy, and equal MFM polyamorous relationship. Yes, as in why-only-choose-one-love-interest-when-you-can-have-two- and-why-shouldn’t-they-also-love-each-other? “A triangle is the strongest shape” after all. Finally, a heroine who doesn’t spend the entire book pinning after two boys, when she should be saving the world, but instead has her cake and eats it too.
Queen.

Lastly, this would be a five star rating, I just wish there was little bit more development between Zetian and Shimin’s relationship. I feel like their romance didn’t get much development before they were “together”. I would have also loved more on page development between Yizhi and Shimin, but the way it was written was still really sweet and believable.

This is the story of Wu Zetian, who is based on the only female emperor in Chinese history. Similarly to that Wu Zetian, this one overcomes a mountain of misogyny and gender roles to become something that nobody expected that she (or any girl) would.

This takes place in the world of Huaxia, where young men team up with girls in order to pilot giant mechs to battle the fierce alien Hunduns that attack their planet. However in ‘teaming up’ the girl is nearly always sacrificed, dying from the mental strain. Nonetheless, girls across the world enlist with the hopes of becoming a pilot’s ‘Perfect Match’ and earning all the fame and notoriety that comes along with that. Zetian’s big sister was sacrificed in battle, and she’s enlisting with every intention of assassinating the pilot who killed her. When she goes into battle with him and succeeds in her plan, the army labels her an Iron Widow, and sticks her with the strongest and most infamous pilot, Li Shimin, who has killed every girl he’s ever gone into battle with. She teams up with him hoping that together they can figure out why the piloting system works the way it does.

I read this book in two sittings, because it was that engaging. I absolutely loved Zetian as a character, and she’s very easy to cheer for. She’s been oppressed by the patriarchy her entire life, as has her mother, and grandmother, and she is just super fed up with the way things are and takes changing the world into her own hands. She’s 100% done with everyone’s BS and is a bit full of snark on top of that. She’s exactly the sort of character I love to cheer for.

Iron Widow is a tale that takes inspiration from Chinese historical and mythological figures and imagines them in an alternate universe that’s a giant mecha anime with real designs on smashing the patriarchy (and then when it’s smashed, smashing it some more). It reads like Evangelion meets The Handmaid’s Tale with some Hunger Games sprinkled in, but while I can compare it to those things, it is its own unique story that has all kinds of twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. There’s swearing, torture, giant mecha alien battling, and a love triangle that says ‘lol, no’ to love triangles and turns into a poly relationship. I mean I looked at this book a few times and muttered an unironic ‘yasss’ at it. It was one of <i>those.</i>

If you like mecha anime, strong female leads, and just… doing a massive smash on the patriarchy, do read this book. I absolutely loved my time with it, and have already recommended it to a dozen people.

Wow. There is so much to say about this book. It left me reeling, honestly. It is action packed, subversive, and revolutionary.

I was entertained the whole time. The battle sequences were exciting, but I also loved the in-between moments of connections with the characters. I loved the theme that cooperating with another person is different than submitting to them. I also loved how independent and ruthless Zetian was, even though her recklessness stressed me out sometimes. I think this book will be a hit for readers who are tired of the same YA tropes playing out again and again.

There were times when I felt like this book was shouting at me: "I'm not like other YAs!" and that was irritating and distracting for me. It was also extremely violent and heartless, which was a little too much for me, but might be fine for other readers. The writing style was also nothing too special, but it didn't detract from the reading of the plot much.

Overall, a great read and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

I loved this book so much.
It was amazing to see a world with East Asian mythology, which is something I grew up with and am familiar with. Zetian is someone I aspire to be like, and I was truly holding my breath with each page in anticipation of what was to come next.

Thank you so much for this arc. This was incredible.

4 stars!

"With bound feet, you learn the value of the bonds between family."

I didn't expect to love this book as much as I ended up loving it! Iron Widow is a futuristic space opera set in a world inspired by Imperial China, specifically the Tang dynasty. It draws inspiration from Chinese mythology in its fantasy and sci-fi elements, as well as bases the main character on Empress Wu Zetian, China's only female Emperor. It features a sexist society, where girls are used as "concubine-pilots" aka qi batteries that their male co-pilots drain during battle, killing the girls. Our main cast consists of three bisexuals in a polyamorous relationship.

Let's talk about my complaints first:
The writing was mediocre but the plot and characterization made up for most of it My biggest complaint about the writing was the overuse of the word 'mellow'. A simple Ctrl+F will show you that the word is used at least 30 times in the entirety of the book, often in consecutive chapters.
My second complaint made me feel pretty uncomfy because the thing is this book just barely passes the Bechdel Test which is something you would not be expecting from a book marketed as 'feminist'. There are only 2 other female pilots who are the only women Zetian talks/interact with. Yet these women are one-dimensional flat personas that seemed to be added as an afterthought. Zetian has a very close and special bond with her older sister but then again, her older sister has been dead since before the book starts. I do hope that the author improves on this point in her sequels because it was a very big reason this book did not be an insta favorite for me. (also the reason for 4 stars instead of 5)
Another thing that disappointed me was the lack of development of Yizhi and Shimin's relationship. Maybe if we had one of the guys' POVs we would have been to see their relationship blossom better, but through the eyes of Zetian, there isn't much depth between the two. Another thing i hope the author will explore more in the sequel.

Other than that, I loved the imagery used in describing and building up the pilots' minds and yin-yang realms. The Chinese mythology was also very well explained and didn't feel like an info dump. I enjoyed learning about the different types of qis and spirit pressure etc. The magic and sci-fi system with the Transformers-esque battle robots was also pretty cool.

Unapologetically feminist, iron Widow leaves no room for any kind of misogyny. It tackles subjects from grief to addiction, to sexuality, to the concept of shame, and how ingrained a woman's dignity is in our Asian cultures.
"Shame. That was their favorite tool. A tool to corrode me from the inside until I believed I could only accept whatever lot they threw at my bound feet."

The characterization was one of the strongest points of this book. Wu Zetian's character is such a dominant and fiercely angry character that it feels like standing too close to a roaring flame. But her anger is justified, at the world and the society for breaking the will of young women every day and instilling the internalized misogyny that just perpetuates the abuse and toxicity. Though, as some readers pointed out, it does seem weird that Zetian is so 'woke' when she's been crushed under the same sexist society as the rest of the girls.

Lee Shimin and Gao Yizhi, the two love interests were also surprisingly well developed for a YA novel. Though, tbf, I feel like Iron Widow breaks a lot of the traditional YA boundaries. (by turning a love triangle into a polyam relationship/threesome) I adored Yizhi at first but despised him for trying to 'buy' Zetian into marriage to prevent her from being enlisted. He did develop drastically over the course of the book so that was nice to see. Lee Shimin and his battle with addiction as well as his battle of wills to let countless girls be sacrificed in the concubine-pilot drama was a major part of his arc. It was nice to see his soft, nerd persona underneath all that anger and violence.

A must-read for fans of YA and SFF, Iron Widow comes out Sept 22 so be sure to check it out and show some love to the author <3

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

NO ONE IS READY FOR THIS RELEASE. THIS MATCHED EVERY EXPECTATION I HAD FOR ONE OF MY MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASES. this has so much hunger games/chinese dramas vibes when i read it which i didn't even know was a good combination until i couldn't put my kindle down.

iron widow was incredibly engaging and fast paced. it didn't feel like i was reading a book, more like i was watching an action filled anime (and honestly someone needs to get on that adaptation), because of how well done but not overcomplicated the writing was. i had to read this all in one sitting because i needed to know what happened next to the characters. i'm very attached to wu zetian and am rooting for her increasingly insane choices as she descended down a path of very grey morality due to the misogynistic hand the world has dealt her.

as a chinese american, i also appreciated the chinese themes woven throughout the worldbuilding and daily life. example: iron widow is set in a mixture of sci-fi mechas, contemporary technology (tv and media is highly involved), and historical china (everyone has long hair, similar to a historical chinese drama, and wears old fashioned hanfu like robes).

xiran jay zhao did not miss with the romance, either. the ride or die nice boy who bakes pastry for you when you come home from torturing a scholar official x the tired boy with an angsty backstory that helped you torture the scholar official x the personification of girlboss gaslight gatekeep who ships her boyfriends is THE superior throuple. the fact that the author really took cliche childhood best friend or bad boy love triangle trope and made it both queer and polyamorous is just. mwah. i loved it. all three were so cute that i had to put the book down at intervals to giggle madly.

some cons though: some of the dialogue was a bit clunky. the book's feminist themes were thrown in your face without any subtlety in the form of the character monologues, causing them act out of character at times. some of the scene changes were very sudden and sometimes zetian's motivations for her actions weren't very clear, like how she suddenly decided that she wanted to sleep with yizhi that first time when they first moved into his suite which was very out of nowhere, right before shimin collapsed from withdrawal. also, i wish shimin's and yizhi's backstories were developed a bit more, same with some of the side characters, like the xiuyang (the girl in the turtle, i might have forgotten her name), but i assume that might be on hold for the next book.

anyways, besides all that funk, this was absolutely a 4.5 star book. i enjoyed it SO much and i am so so so grateful for an arc and i am DEFINITELY telling everyone to buy this book, and buying it myself when it comes out. the sequel CANNOT come sooner!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Damn, I've been waiting for this one!!! Clicked it so fast when it was available to read on NetGalley, and then avoided it for a few weeks because I was scared of being disappointed. Newsflash — I was the opposite of disappointed.

Was this book perfect? No. At the beginning, a lot of the dialogue was clunky and unnatural, and in many places, the overall prose and descriptions either lost me or didn't work well for me. As the book continued, I definitely felt both of these aspects improved immensely. Even more importantly, so much of the plot, characters, and messaging drew me in enough to grow used to it and overlook it anyways.

There is absolutely nothing subtle about this book, and for some people, that might be a negative. But for me, that made this book all the more powerful. Never have I ever, especially in YA, read such a searing indictment of the patriarchy that did not shy away from itself, did not attempt to hedge and soften itself for consumption. *Iron Widow* is unapologetic in ways I didn't think a book could be, in ways I did not think *we* could be. It incorporates common platitudes just to challenge them and tear them apart, and so many times I found myself right there with Wu Zetian, being drawn in for a moment to accept an explanation too soon before being reminded that it isn't enough.

There are giant mecha-robots, glorious world-building inspired by Chinese history and mythology, and a main character who is fearless in the face of death, because she has realized there is simply no other option. There's a brilliant representation of a polyamorous MFM relationship, that hits where it needs to even though at times I thought there could've been more development. I have never read anything like this, and all I want is more.

Buy it buy it buy it you will not regret it for a second. September 21 can't come fast enough.

CW: Murder, torture, mentions of and threats of rape, sexism, alcoholism, physical and sexual abuse, suicide ideation

5/5 ⭐️

*SCREAMS* everyone needs to preorder this book, immediately. This may have been my biggest surprise of 2021. I thought I would enjoy it, but I had no idea I would love it THIS MUCH! I read it over the course of one weekend because I could not put it down!

Why?
-It's a dark upper end YA sci-fi that is a great crossover for fantasy readers. Honestly, this book could have been marketed as adult and wouldn't have been misleading at all.
-It's set in the future but loosely based on Chinese history (Empress Wu)
-It's super action packed, but also has excellent character development.
-Polyamory representation
-Feminist as hell!!!
-Recommended for fans of The Hunger Games, The Handmaiden's Tale, Transformers (I know, sounds weird right??), and maybe Binti (there are somewhat similar themes, but Binti is less action packed than this).
-There are aliens!!
-If you want to bring down the patriarchy, this is the book for you!!

I REALLY enjoyed this book, but can't really talk about why without giving away the ending! All I can say is...THAT ENDING!!!!

Lastly, this book gave me super vivid dreams. It will definitely stick with me for a long time! I can't wait for the book to release so I can display the physical copy! And of course I can't wait for the sequel!!!!

TW: gruesome deaths of family members (including patricide and fratricide), off-page rape, attempted rape, attempted murder, systemic murder of girls and women, feet binding/mutilation, mass casualty events, alcoholism, torture (mostly off page), death of partner, murder of women and girls by men, extreme patriarchal structures, needles.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is genuinely stunning. I was fully gripped from the start and the writing and plot really made my love for the character grow so organically. I loved how complex and interesting each and every character was. None felt like they were only one thing. The story itself was also just incredible! It felt like I was watching an insane action movie in my head as I was reading. I could not recommend this book enough!