Ah, how to review The Iron Widow? Such conflicting thoughts and emotions from start to finish! Putting it into words will be hard, but here we go.

For sure, the world-building was intriguing and seeped with the history the entire book is based on. At the same time, I don’t feel we really got to know anything about it. The Chrysalis’, the Hundruns, even the way the spirit levels are tested and the concubines chosen… it’s all a blur as to how any of this works. I couldn’t picture the different levels of Chrysalis apart from size. I reckon everyone imagines them very differently (certainly no bad thing!).

Despite the entire book being one long war, the pacing felt slow. Long stretches appear to have a small amount happening, other than Zetian’s internal monologue about her vengeance, the corruption of the system, and falling in love with two boys. Exploring the power of media and romance took up a vast amount of page space.

Which leads me onto the characters themselves. Zetian is powerful, headstrong, and determined to make a difference. She’s also unlikeable. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read plenty of books where the main character is not what you’d call a protagonist, but there’s always been something about them that makes you like them despite them being pretty messed up. There’s not with Zetian.

She’s driven by revenge and wanting to change the corrupt system. Her desire to protect women and stop their deaths is great motivation and you should root for her. But she also kills indiscriminately – not just those in positions of power, but innocents. People are destroyed just for being in her way, innocent of anything other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it undermines her message. She wants to protect women: she’s also killing women who have done nothing wrong other than be controlled by the men in their lives.

Finding a reason to connect with her is hard. She’s sent on this mission out of revenge for her sister’s death, but we know nothing about her sister, not even how close their relationship was. She also seems to forget about her sister once her revenge is playing out. Admittedly, it becomes about the bigger picture, but something was missing.

I groaned when I realised a love triangle was occurring. But then I took it back. This is the best version of one I’ve ever read. It’s a proper triangle: all feeling for each other; all happy to have two people to share their hearts with. This type of relationship isn’t often portrayed and it was done well.

I’ve got so many complicated thoughts about this book. There’re powerful messages within and the ideals are there. But it’s missing a connection to make it resonate with the reader. I don’t dislike it – I admire what the author has done, twisting a historical retelling into science fiction – but I wanted something more.

Like I said, a hard book to review.

This has to be one of my favourite fantasies of recent years. Propulsive and captivating, with a unique premise, this is a story of overthrowing oppressive systems and finding love in unexpected places. Zhao writes both humour and action incredibly well and the pacing is excellent from start to finish. No notes, this was fantastic.

I was very exited to read this book, since I follow the author online and I have heard them talk about this book a bit. From that point on I was interested in reading this book and it didn’t disappoint. I’m very much looking forward to the sequel, as I definitely want more from the characters and the world. But let me not get ahead of myself, I need to write my thoughts about this book first.

THE WORLD: I have never read a book that features mecha, even though I’ve watched quite a few anime about them. So that was quite interesting and I enjoyed learning more about them and why they are needed to protect the world. Another interesting thing about the world is that it’s inspired by Chinese history and the only female Chinese emperor. The combination of advanced technology and elements of Chinese history has been fascinating to read about.

THE CHARACTERS: Probably my favourite aspect of this novel. I adored all three of the main characters, though Zetian remained my favourite. I loved how headstrong she was and how much she was willing to do to get her way. I enjoyed her as the main character and I loved seeing her grow throughout the story. The two male main characters were interesting as well, I loved learning about them. One of my favourite aspects of the novel is the relationship between the three main characters, I adored seeing it form. They all come from different backgrounds, with different struggles, and it was wonderful seeing them understand each other and come together to achieve their goals.

THE STORY: I enjoyed the plot, as I always enjoy following people who are going against the norm of the world that they live in. I need to mention that this book contains quite a few heavy scenes that were hard to read – so I would advise you to look up trigger warnings for this book. Towards the middle of the book I felt like the pacing was very slow. It just felt like some unnecessary things were happening, which is also why I couldn’t give this book the full five stars. It just brought me out of the story.

OVERALL: I very much enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more works from this author in the future.

Beautiful cover? Check
Love triangles but make it LGBTQIA+? Check
Incredible fantasy? Check

This book was amazing

This sadly wasn’t my cup of tea, it struggled to hold my attention , it felt a bit flat , the World building needed more work to me . Unfortunately just not one for me


I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I'm behind on my NetGalley reading so sadly haven't got around to reading this one. Also it's no longer coming up on my kindle and the file has been archived.

I do own a physical copy of the book so fingers crossed, I will get to it soon!

Sorry!

the premise of this book was something i really didn't expect, it was something i was used to see in anime but never in books, i was hooked. i really loved the story but i think for the themes and the questions that it poses, that a bit more of depth was needed, especially in the main characters. i have huge expectations for the sequel!

Iron Widow is such a beautifully written fantasy. The world-building is outstanding. The story is well written with an enchanting storyline and well-developed characters that engage from start to finish. The world is atmospheric and feels real with vivid descriptions and rich imagery. Xiran Jay Zhao has earned himself a spot on my auto-buy authors list. I cannot get enough. Highly recommended. Be sure to check out Iron Widow today.

though this is reasonably fast-paced this took me a lot longer to read than I thought it would. intriguing sci-fi/fantasy tackling sexism in Chinese culture. the plot twists were kinda obvious, including the truth about the hunduns but maybe I've just read a lot of sci-fi so it was easy to see where it was going

Unfortunately this just didn't work for me, and it's largely due to personal taste and not because of the story itself. I'm very picky with the science fiction I read, and nine times out of ten if it involves anything mechanical or robotics, I'm not going to like it. And that's what happened here.

It's not subtle in its presentation, and I admire the story for that. It's full of action and fast dialogue, with characters that are loud and brash and colourful - especially Zentian. Seeking revenge for her older sister, she's determined to succeed at any cost and although at the start I found this interesting it got very old very quickly with just how obnoxious Zentian could be to literally everyone. She's incredibly narcissistic, cold and overall quite the hateful character. And everyone else? Underdeveloped and practically nonexistent.

I also found the writing to be very flat and one note, with not much nuance to it. I know it's YA, but it still could have had better dialogue and better world building in my opinion. Especially when creating a world as vast as this, a lot could have been done to build up the lore and characters early on. It had the potential to be vast in size and utterly breathtaking if the descriptions had been well thought out. Unfortunately they weren't.

Some good ideas but the execution of this really let it down.

Iron Widow… This copy was kindle gifted to me from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (submitted on Instagram)

I can not put into words how much i loved this book. The main character is such a strong heroine and the story line was enthralling. This was a beautifully written book and i enjoyed every second of the journey within.

I’ve been really looking forward to reading this YA fantasy book since the moment the author announced the book deal. A story inspired by East Asian mythology, with a MC fighting against the patriarchy and embracing a polyamorous relationship? This premise got me hyped up. Unfortunately, I felt quite underwhelmed: lack of world-building, extremely hypocrite MC, non-existent character development, sexist portrayal of every single female side character, uneven pacing and insta-love.

Do you wait to read a book because you're worried it won't be as amazing as you hoped, but then it totally smashes all your worries?? Well have no fear with this book because it is worth the HYPE!

was invested instantly in Zeitan and the plight of woman in Huaxia. world where boys dream of making a name for themselves as the pilots of Chrysalises, while girls just hope to survive. The Chrysalises are giant transforming robots (yes giant robots!) powered by the qi of the male pilots and their concubine sacrifices. Young girls can only hope to be paired with a pilot that might be her match, making her an Iron Queen. Zeitan has other plans- she is desperate to be joined to the captain that she is convinced killed her sister. I was angered by the treatment of girls in this world! The constant references to their deaths as nothing. Zeitan was the perfect champion in this book, she kicked butt and had no mercy. She screamed unpopular opinions and demanded to be heard! Not to mention she is a demon in the Chrysalis. loved the romance at the heart of this book, it was focused on love for your family, childhood romance and forbidden love. Xiran found the perfect balance for all the characters to feel wanted, heard and loved - and as you know triangles are the strongest shapes! could write forever about my feelings on this book, and probably have recommended it to everyone I've spoken to the past few weeks, so do yourself a favour and pick this one up!It truly is something special and a start to what hope will be an epic series! Long live the Iron Widow!!

(4.75/5) WHAT. A. BOOK. HANGOVER. 'Iron Widow' has redefined what this term means for me. It's been a while since I finished this yet still, like the wind, I feel the echoes of 'Iron Widow' whistling around my head. I need the sequel!!

The twists in this one were absolutely shocking and I was constantly surprised. Let's not even go into the last 20%; I don't think I've recovered yet. (Side-note: I think it's great that there were content warnings included at the beginning.) You get this building sense that something is deeply, deeply wrong - akin to the same horror I felt when reading 'Ace of Spades' (which is a huge compliment) - and I was so terrified as we drew inexorably closer to the end. There is a particular brand of reader fear that stems from knowing in advance that there is a sequel - because who needs sequels if everything is peachy at the end?!? - and I was literally breathless from reading so fast. If a book can make me physically clap my hand over my mouth, this is a great sign.

The characters are so distinctive and vivid, and when I say they're antiheroes, I really do mean it... I haven't really read any characters like Zetian, Yizhi and Shimin before. I became so invested in their relationships and dynamics, and I'm particularly hoping to learn more about Yizhi's backstory. I think we've only been privy to a small part of him, but gosh! The part that pops out at the end!! I want to protect all of this murder triangle. Yes, I know that sounds weird.

There were slight tinges of the 'not-like-other-girls' trope but it decreased as we went along and also (if I recall correctly) plays into Zetian's development. I also hope to see more of the White Tiger pilots (Dugu Qieluo and her co-pilot Yang Jian). It did feel a little strange to have only one major female/feminine protagonist in such a 'feminist' book, but the secondary ones were still very interesting in the scenes that they had.

'Iron Widow' was also way funnier than I'd expected, though given the author talk (with Chloe Gong) that I went to, I'm also not surprised. By and large, the writing is really engaging, and while sometimes the dialogue could feel out of place, overall it was extremely bingeable with plenty of emotion. The pacing is very fast with a cool magic system, though the diagram being properly formatted in my Kindle eARC would have been really helpful. (I had to ask my buddy read partner to send me photos of their physical edition.) I would've loved a map as well, given how striking the world-building was!

Overall, this was such a punchy, gripping debut and I can't wait to read more from Zhao. I'm extremely excited for 'Heavenly Tyrant' and it's firmly on the very selective list of books I'll be pre-ordering next year.

This was such a fascinating world and the characters are fabulous! I loved Zetian so much. She was strong and smart and totally unapologetic about it, in an environment where girls are supposed to be meek and subservient. Zetian refuses to conform to societal norms and I loved her for it. The relationship between her, Shimin and Yizhi felt authentic and honest and brought a sense of hope to what is, in essence, a very dark story. Zhao doesn't shy away from difficult topics here and forces the reader to examine their own prejudices, which makes for a difficult but rewarding reading experience. My only criticism is that the first part of the book feels a bit rushed and there is a lot of information to take in during the opening few chapters, which meant that it took me a while to get fully invested in the story. Overall, however, this was a thrilling read and I can't wait to see what happens next!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I DNF'D after the first 2 or 3 chapters, I normally give myself like 50 pages before I decide to give up on a book but this had a very immediate writing style and tone that I knew I would not enjoy. I normally wouldn't bother reviewing if I gave up this quickly but I had 2 other co-workers give up after about the same length so felt a bit validated to do so. It had a very simplistic 'rah rah Girl Power! Girl Boss!' tone that I feel we've evolved beyond in feminist fiction, I think, even in YA. female characters can have more complex motivation than just 'they said I can't do this because I'm a girl so that's why I AM going to do it'. I don't know, it could've easily gotten better later on and I just don't know; but, the writing level didn't give me enough hope to continue on. A super interesting concept plot wise though.

WHAT A BOOK!

I usually already love books with an Asian setting- because. the culture always has fascinated me. Also for the fact that girls seem to have less value in Asia. BUT this book just blew me away with its feminist and brutal content that gripped me by the throat and forced me through the pages. As a hetero woman, I also don't often like how authors picture polygamist relationships - but Yizhi, Shimin, and Zetian caught me right from the spot and have shown me that it's possible.

But let us start in the beginning. I always love strong female leads, that is a bit cruel and too much to understand at first. And Zetian was no exception here. I often asked myself how women can get this cruel. But to be honest? I think we all have the capacity to go down this path if treated badly enough. I loved that she never stepped down, never got weak, and fought with claws and teeth for her right. She was a grander-than-life character that bewitched me not with her likability but her authenticity.

The same goes for the other characters. You could trust no one in this story. And yet there always was Yizhi. Who would catch us and treaty us good, calm us and carry us if needed? I loved how his softness and love were pictured as his strongest trait! We need more men like him in the stories that are published nowadays. Shimin is the stark opposite and yet such a mistreated and misunderstood human being that it really hurt me to get to know him better,. The author made me feel the same way about him as Zetian and it was cruel and genius and heartbreaking to fall for him. What a love triangle. The first REAL love triangle I've ever read.

Coming to the content - which was exactly the Science Fiction/ fantasy mixture with an Asian Setting that I needed. right now. It reminded me. a lot of the movie "Pacific Rim" - but with an Asian. Setting and super strong female leads, show us what is wrong with society in general, depending on the standing of women in it. I really loved everything in this book. Even though I know some people will hate how brutal and nonchalant the murder in this book is. Also, there was a lot of killing your own parents for me going on - would sane people really do this?
What I mean to say is - the characters are not really morally grey - they are smoke black in their decisions and actions. But it's fine for me. I don't need heroes if i can have antagonists.

Xiran Jay Zhao has become a titan in the YA Fantasy sphere and for good reason. Iron Widow is a perfect showing of modern fantastical excellence. Believable, relatable characters that young people can relate to, going on adventures we can all only dream of. This was soo good I bought it in hardback and just bought her new middle grade, Zachary Ying too!

Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers for this ARC

Love the gritty no nonsense attitude, and i am incredibly excited to read the sequel. Shame the romance was rushed!