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A review by vinireadsbooks
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
4.0
SCREAMING WHAT AN ENDING !!
“Love isn't some scarce resource to battle over. Love can be infinite, as much as your heart can open.”
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 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 kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead. To tame her unnerving mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily.
Before reading this book, I was in a reading slump (and a review-writing slump)! Mostly because my rwrb reread and the news about the Henry POV chapter left me unable to think about anything besides Alex and Henry. So after picking up and putting down quite a few books, I decided to try this one!! And I was hooked from the very first page.
Xiran Jay Zhao's writing is super easy to read and get into. I've mentioned before how sci-fi scares me. I'm intimidated whenever I start one. But this one wasn't confusing!! I thought the world building was really well done; it was a little simple but still fascinating with the blending of new and old, technology and mythology.
What initially drew me in to this book was the polyamorous relationship. I love when books have a love triangle and end in a poly relationship. I haven't read many books with that trope (the only other ones I can think of are The Dark Artifices and probably Legendborn if Sel/Nick/Bree actually happens), but I love it every time!!
I know the main comp title for this book is Pacific Rim, which makes sense because of giant robots, but it really gave me Hunger Games vibes. Especially in how big of a role the media takes place in the story. So much of the story is about the management of mass media, with Wu Zetian trying to manipulate the public into rooting for her and liking her.
There are so many interesting discussions here that I thought were dissected brilliantly, while they were a bit too on the nose sometimes, but it's a YA book, so I don't think it's a bad thing!
The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that I could not picture what was happening in the battle scenes. Like I understood what was happening, my little brain just could not imagine it
“Love isn't some scarce resource to battle over. Love can be infinite, as much as your heart can open.”
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 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 kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead. To tame her unnerving mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily.
Before reading this book, I was in a reading slump (and a review-writing slump)! Mostly because my rwrb reread and the news about the Henry POV chapter left me unable to think about anything besides Alex and Henry. So after picking up and putting down quite a few books, I decided to try this one!! And I was hooked from the very first page.
Xiran Jay Zhao's writing is super easy to read and get into. I've mentioned before how sci-fi scares me. I'm intimidated whenever I start one. But this one wasn't confusing!! I thought the world building was really well done; it was a little simple but still fascinating with the blending of new and old, technology and mythology.
What initially drew me in to this book was the polyamorous relationship. I love when books have a love triangle and end in a poly relationship. I haven't read many books with that trope (the only other ones I can think of are The Dark Artifices and probably Legendborn if Sel/Nick/Bree actually happens), but I love it every time!!
I know the main comp title for this book is Pacific Rim, which makes sense because of giant robots, but it really gave me Hunger Games vibes. Especially in how big of a role the media takes place in the story. So much of the story is about the management of mass media, with Wu Zetian trying to manipulate the public into rooting for her and liking her.
There are so many interesting discussions here that I thought were dissected brilliantly, while they were a bit too on the nose sometimes, but it's a YA book, so I don't think it's a bad thing!
The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that I could not picture what was happening in the battle scenes. Like I understood what was happening, my little brain just could not imagine it