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A review by the_ya_assassin
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
4.0
Thank you Penguin Teen, Netgalley, and Ziran Jay Zhao for sending me an eARC of Iron Widow to read and give an honest review.
"Be their nightmare."
Content Warnings:
- Violence and Abuse
- Torture
- Suicide Ideation
- Discussion & references to sexual assault (though no on-page depictions)
- Alcohol addiction
The girls of Huaxia dream of being a One True Match to a Chrysalis (giant transforming robots powered by qi that battle Hunduns, mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall) pilot so they can be elevated in life and serve their country. Most often though, these females are just concubines and can't handle the mental strain; they die.
When 18-year-old, headstrong Zetian offers herself up as one of these concubines, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and their concubines, which no one expected, and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is then called the "Iron Widow," a feared and silenced kind of pilot simply for being female - she has more strength than the male and therefore kills THEM instead of herself.
To tame her unnerving yet high mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, a murderer, but also the strongest pilot out on the field in Huaxia. But now that Zetian knows what real power feels like, controlling a Chrysalis on her own, she will not give it up so easily. She misses no opportunities to leverage their valuableness and infamy to survive. At least, until she figures out exactly why there is unfairness towards females in their society AND can stop more girls from being sacrificed.
First of all, the characters were well-written. I loved Zetian's fire, though sometimes I thought it was a bit much and that her emotions clouded her judgment. I didn't see much character development in her - even in the beginning, she was headstrong and fiery. I didn't really feel that the other characters had much personality besides going through some trauma or being kind like Shimin and Yizhi.
Secondly, the plot was fantastic. There was a lot of action and the pacing was on point. I think the polygamous relationship was an interesting touch as I've only read one book with that once before (Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare).
Thirdly, the worldbuilding was okay. I think there was just a LOT of it in Iron Widow. In the beginning, I almost stopped reading immediately because the words didn't make any sense to me (it was a bit of an info dump with "Chrysalis", "Hunduns", etc.). The world felt very dystopian to me, but I don't think it's on Earth, so I'm not sure if it would be dystopian then. There is a lot of extra technology, so if you like sci-fi books, this is a great new release for you.
The second half was my favorite part with all of the action and the subplots. I also enjoyed the ending - it was definitely mind-blowing, although I didn't like that Zetian became "Queen". She seemed a bit crazy at the end and more totalitarian than before. I look forward to reading the sequel!
"Be their nightmare."
Content Warnings:
- Violence and Abuse
- Torture
- Suicide Ideation
- Discussion & references to sexual assault (though no on-page depictions)
- Alcohol addiction
The girls of Huaxia dream of being a One True Match to a Chrysalis (giant transforming robots powered by qi that battle Hunduns, mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall) pilot so they can be elevated in life and serve their country. Most often though, these females are just concubines and can't handle the mental strain; they die.
When 18-year-old, headstrong Zetian offers herself up as one of these concubines, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and their concubines, which no one expected, and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is then called the "Iron Widow," a feared and silenced kind of pilot simply for being female - she has more strength than the male and therefore kills THEM instead of herself.
To tame her unnerving yet high mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, a murderer, but also the strongest pilot out on the field in Huaxia. But now that Zetian knows what real power feels like, controlling a Chrysalis on her own, she will not give it up so easily. She misses no opportunities to leverage their valuableness and infamy to survive. At least, until she figures out exactly why there is unfairness towards females in their society AND can stop more girls from being sacrificed.
First of all, the characters were well-written. I loved Zetian's fire, though sometimes I thought it was a bit much and that her emotions clouded her judgment. I didn't see much character development in her - even in the beginning, she was headstrong and fiery. I didn't really feel that the other characters had much personality besides going through some trauma or being kind like Shimin and Yizhi.
Secondly, the plot was fantastic. There was a lot of action and the pacing was on point. I think the polygamous relationship was an interesting touch as I've only read one book with that once before (Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare).
Thirdly, the worldbuilding was okay. I think there was just a LOT of it in Iron Widow. In the beginning, I almost stopped reading immediately because the words didn't make any sense to me (it was a bit of an info dump with "Chrysalis", "Hunduns", etc.). The world felt very dystopian to me, but I don't think it's on Earth, so I'm not sure if it would be dystopian then. There is a lot of extra technology, so if you like sci-fi books, this is a great new release for you.
The second half was my favorite part with all of the action and the subplots. I also enjoyed the ending - it was definitely mind-blowing, although I didn't like that Zetian became "Queen". She seemed a bit crazy at the end and more totalitarian than before. I look forward to reading the sequel!