Iron Widow is an explosive start to a new scifi series which draws on Chinese history and combines it with a futuristic world and technology to create something truly unique. With queer characters and a polyamorous relationship at its centre, a morally grey main character and a feminsit narrative within a patriarchal society, this book is right up my street.

I have been highly anticipating this book since the deal was announced years ago and although it has not become a new favourite as I predicted, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it. The action was explosive and constantly moving the story forward, the fight scenes with the Chrysalises well written and engaging. I enjoyed the politics of the world of the pilots and the focus on the glorification of the pilots and battle online. I would have liked a bit more worldbuilding, however, as I felt like I really didn’t know much about the world.

My main reason for picking this book up was the romance and although it played a smaller role than I imagined, I still really enjoyed it. The characters were all so different but worked so well together and I adored their scenes. Zetian’s relationship with each of the boys was well developed but I would have liked a bit more focus on their relationship as a whole to make certain plot beats hit harder. I enjoyed Zetian’s journey and how her character developed, especially as she leaned further into her own villainy. I’m excited to see where the sequel takes us and how her story will conclude.

I had two main gripes about this book, the first being that some of the language used just didn’t fit the story and drew me out of it at times. In particular, some of it was very internet-y and some sentences could have been lifted from a Wattpad novel (and not a good one) which had me cringing. This doesn’t even make sense within the context of the story as Zetian, as a woman, is not allowed internet access. In particular, the language our main character used and how she described herself.

Which leads me onto my next point: Wu Zetian is not like other girls. This book falls victim to one of my most hated tropes and to see it in a book trying so hard to be feminist was disappointing. She is the only woman to see society for all its issues, the other women written off as too weak and demure. Even the other two female pilots we meet don’t compare to our main character in her view. In fact, what disappointed me most in a novel with such strong feminist themes: Zetian is the only significant female character. The feminism itself seemed rather surface level and Zetian struggled to sympathise with other women who were just trying to get by in a society that hates them. There was no care or understanding given to the other women of this world, and many weren’t seen as having their own agency. Which makes sense with Zetian’s character to some extent but I did find it annoying.

Overall, Iron Widow was not the new favourite I hoped for but still a good book. If you want something with charged battles and a fast moving plot, a morally grey narrator and a polyamorous relationship at its centre, I recommend you pick this book up.

I wish I could've gotten more into this read but sadly i couldn't. I feel that this is likely a personal opinion and not something that's actually wrong with the book!!

A fast paced fantasy with morally grey characters trying to survive impossible situations. Physically and morally.

This book majorly explored themes of inequality amd sexism especially the societal norm of sacrificing daughters for the enrichment of sons. The purposeful devaluing of girls and women's lives.

For me this read as a very plot centred book, so I did struggle a little to feel overly connected to the characters. Some didn't feel fully realised to me although the aspects that were there I did enjoy.
I loved how unapologetic Wu Zeitan was in her anger and rage towards this world and leaders who regard women's lives so cheaply.
It seemed as if she not only harnessed her own rage but those of the countless women and girls and the injustices against them.
However this was really all I could feel to her character, I'd really like to see more of her personality. Same with Li Shimin. Who had been so beaten down and remade into nothing but a mindless weapon. As his character arc grows I'd be really interested to see him come into his own person and not the monster they tried to make him be.
As much as I appreciated the exploration of an unconventional romance I really struggled to feel much chemistry between the thruple. Especially with Yizhi. He seemed the least fleshed out to me of the three main characters.

There was a really interesting theme and conversation raised in this book of "the cult of the celebrity" and the good and bad associated with that. I thought Wu Zeitan's pragmatic approach to using this as a tool really fascinating.

The world building in this story did feel quite insular as a lot of it happens while the main characters are detained. I'm hoping in the future to see the world expanded upon as the book did leave off very open ended.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars.

This was unlike anything else I have read this year.
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao grabs you by the throat and does not let go under any circumstance.
The characters are incredibly complex and so is the world but the pacing and the writing is easy (and beautiful) to follow and so it becomes a very easy book to read - even as it reflects on tough topics..

I clearly saw the inspiration from Darling in the Franxx (which I honestly thought was a fever dream anime because Id never found anyone else to have watched it) as well as the inspiration taken from transformers but Zhao makes it entirely their own with a completely unhinged main character whom you cannot help but root for.

The only thing bringing down this book for me was the plot feeling like it was rushed in certain places.
But honestly I just cannot wait to see what comes next in this series as well as what else this author comes up with.

Wow, what a ride! This was an intense experience, filled with thought-provoking moments and exciting action - I wasn't sure what to expect from the start but very much enjoyed it!

Bits I liked:
- Strong, complex characters that break convential tropes in unexpected ways
- Great mix of action, fantasy, sci-fi and romance, even for a non-romance-fan like me
- Queer characters and a poly-am relationship, which was brilliant to see, and done well IMO
- Insightful look at gender, sexuality and traditional roles within the frame of the Chinese culture, as well as more general gender/sexuality equality
- Interesting mecha & "magic" system based around ideas of qi and different essences
- MC develops well throughout, making mistakes and learning from them,
- A very exciting ending with a hell of a cliffhanger!

Bits I liked less:
- Going into the book, I wasn't sure I'd like it at first as there's romance straight off, which felt too soon, but that's really more down to my personal feelings on reading romance
- Feels like it starts a little slow and I wasn't sure it'd be for me, but then steadily grows, becoming more and more compelling and really peaking toward the end in an exciting finish

I am now fully invested in the story and characters, and very much hope the next installment will be on its way soon. Definitely an author I'll watch out for!

Iron Widow is a fierce, action-packed YA sci-fi/fantasy inspired by historical figures from Chinese history and set in a dystopian world where girls are sacrificed so that boys can pilot giant mechas in the war effort. The main character has a very strong personality and I love that the author wasn't afraid to make her unlikeable at times (though her decisions were always understandable). I love the queer rep—the subversion of the love triangle trope was a delight—and the unapologetic smash-the-patriarchy theme. A truly epic story with an awesome ending!

This was incredible. Full review in my vlog and almost 5* videos.

I loved the main character's grittiness and "I don't give a fuck, I do what I want" attitude. The romance was a tiny bit rushed but this ended up a 4.75* for me and I'm incredibly excited for the sequel. Also immediately preordered the Author's new middle grade coming out as I loved her writing so much.

Iron Widow is the gripping start to an incredibly unique science fiction YA series, and a book I can promise you won’t be able to put down. Taking inspiration from East Asian mythology and featuring a heroine that is based on Wu Zetian, the only female emperor of Chinese history, Xiran Jay Zhao wrote a story that left me utterly breathless in its wake. With a fierce and very much morally grey protagonist, a war-torn world that’s been devastated by battles between the alien hunduns and giant mecha beings that are, at once, humanity’s only hope, but also the reason of countless girls deaths, Iron Widow takes the reader on a violent journey. And yet, there’s no doubt in my mind that, once the first page is turned, you will not want this story to end—I didn’t, in any case. And I’m already desperately waiting for the sequel (the reveal at the end destroyed me)!

Xiran Jay Zhao has the sort of writing style that is easily captivating, entertaining, even. The prose itself felt to me, at first, to be especially appealing to readers on the lower side of YA—mostly, because, despite the incredibly grim premise and the violence of the world Zetian, the protagonist, lives in, it’s undeniable that there are certain moments, however few, that are just absolutely hilarious. Don’t let that deceive you, though, because the story gets dark very, very quickly.

I found myself intrigued by Zetian herself from the start. Her decisions are made from a place of pure emotion, of despair. She wants to live, and, more than that, she wants to live in a world in which there’s more to her existence than dying to further the success of a man. She’s ruthless, and it’s impossible to anticipate what she might’ve planned next. I’ve called her morally grey before, because she is so intent on achieving her goal that even murder doesn’t stop her from pursuing it. And yet, her actions are inspired by a wish for change: that no more girls will have to die pointlessly, that she can be more than just something to be used for someone else's profit.

That’s why Iron Widow reminded me of Natasha Ngan’s Girls of Paper and Fire. Simply because of the feminist themes, and discussions surrounding things such as (bodily) autonomy, in a world that regards women as something to own, to use. Zetian is a character that exists very much outside of these views, in a way that reminded me of Lei and Wren.

The way Iron Widow examines oppression, especially female oppression, broke my heart and simultaneously made me so angry that I was very happily on board with Zetian’s idea to just—burn the world down. Because Zetian lives in a world in which women are worth nothing more than what they can accomplish for others; they just exist to be used. As concubine-pilots, as qui-supply, to pleasure, to bear children, and more. Not a day goes by without a girl being sacrificed for the “greater good”. And all of this is so entirely normalised that, before Zetian, no one even dared to imagine that anything else could be possible—or if they did, they disappeared from the surface very, very quickly.

So, yes, the world of Iron Widow is a cruel one, and not only for the reasons mentioned above. It’s also been torn apart by war for years, centuries, even; a war between humans and so-called hunduns, an alien race that invaded years ago. The only thing keeping them from taking over entirely are huge mecha giants called Chrysalis, made out of hunduns shells themselves, and piloted by a boy and a girl—but, in way too many cases, only the boy comes out of the battle alive. Very soon Zetian finds herself in this world of war and violence, and although she’s much more powerful than anyone could ever have anticipated, the question remains: How powerful can a girl be, really? Well, Zetian’s going to show them exactly how powerful she can be very, very soon. Joining her along the way are her best friend, Yizhi, as well as the ever-feared Iron Demon himself, Shimin. The three form an unlikely alliance, and, together, manage to commandeer the Vermillion Bird, one of the fiercest Chrysalises of all time.

Truly, Iron Widow delivered on so many levels. It’s so captivating that, every time I sat down to read a few pages, I always read more than I had planned, but I just couldn’t stop! Xiran Jay Zhao has a very particular kind of writing style, incredibly compelling, and so vivid that all the epic battles that played out throughout the story were so, so easy to picture. If you’re looking for an action-packed read, I’d be hard-pressed to think of something that had me stuck to the pages in a similar way (maybe Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward, which I found my thoughts drifting to a few times while reading Iron Widow).

Another thing that just made me love Iron Widow is the way that, despite the grim theme and the horrible situations Zetian finds herself in, she never, ever bows down. Also—some of the passages were just hilarious. I literally laughed out loud multiple times while reading and even highlighted some of my favourite exchanges, because they were so genuinely funny. It sounds impossible to infuse humour into a book with such dark themes, but Xiran Jay Zhao actually managed it.

I also loved how norms & stereotypes regarding gender and sexuality were challenged throughout the whole book. Not only through the portrayal of a poly relationship, but also because Zetian refuses to bow to her destiny as the predestined “weaker” gender. Talking about the relationship between Zetian, Yizhi, and Shimin, though: I loved it. Going into the book I knew that it would feature a poly relationship, and it didn’t take much in terms of deduction skills to figure out between who it might develop, but wow was it done well! We have best friends-to-lovers and enemies-to-lovers in this book, as well as reluctant allies and forced proximity, and a whole array of other top-tier tropes. I do want to say that I felt like the relationship as a whole developed rather quickly, but it honestly didn’t lessen my enjoyment of it in the least.

Overall, Iron Widow is a YA sci-fi debut you do not want to miss! Xiran Jay Zhao does a phenomenal job of portraying a world that is utterly riddled with prejudices and oppression, and world in which girls are always the ones to suffer, the ones with the least power—and she throws Zetian straight into it, who says, “Not with me.” This was such a captivating, powerful book, and one I know I won’t soon forget. Featuring giant mecha beasts, the pilots who control them, a war-torn land, and an absolutely world-shattering reveal at the end—this book is the definition of action-packed. Add a fantastic poly relationship (love triangle who?), and a fierce protagonist who wants to see the world that hurt her burn down to ashes, and you’re left with the brilliance that is Iron Widow. Honestly, there’s so much more to this book, still, but I hope this is enough to make you want to read it asap!

I wanted to love this book. Everyone else loved this book. Everyone raved about this book. It sounded like it had everything I loved in Space Opera Scifi, and it did but there was so many things about it that didn't work for me.
First of all I enjoyed the concept, the writing on a narrative level was easy and flowed well. I thought the fight scenes were done well and I enjoyed our protagonists perspective and the way the love triangle was resolved. However, these things didn't balance out the things that just didn't work for me as a reader. Even though I loved our protagonist, her anger and the way she was a villain written as a hero, I found her motivations to be lacking and pretty filmsy. Although I understand her anger at the patriarchial structure of her universe, there were so many mentions to her Big Sister as to why she in particular wanted to kill the pilot who was responisible for her sisters death but her sister always felt like an excuse for her anger. There wasn't enough in the narrative for me to believe they were close, I don't even remember the name of her elder sister (if she even had one), it felt like this unknown person was just a way to give our protagonist a reason to get to where the author wanted her to be and so I didn't completely connect with her anger. You could take the sister out and still have the same story. Zetian's anger (which I loved about her) kind of disappeared for the middle part of the book, she suddenly lacked the fire that was the main pillar of her characterisation. I think for me this was because it was suddenly about these two boys in her life that she suddenly had feelings for. As someone who was so so angry at the men in her universe I would've expected her to be a little more suspicious of finding two men who are "good" to women, I would've expected her to rage against her feelings, instead she blindly accepts them. I think this could've easily been solved by making this a slow burn series in terms of the romance, she should've been developing feelings for Li Shimin in the first book and then her childhood sweetheart should've returned in book two for her to have more conflict in book two - it still would end in a poly relationship but it felt to fast and almost shoved in to where it didn't need to be. I didn't believe she had feelings for either of those two boys whose character development felt filmsy at best the poly element was the only highlight there.
The pacing and worlding building was also off, I wasn't sure if the things they were battling against were villains, I had no concept of what tech they used or how their power structure worked. Or even how their armour worked. And as someone who has read a lot of complicated fantasy I don't think it was me who had the issue. Everything felt like it was happening at a break-neck pace and it didn't give you time to feel grounded in the world before the story had already moved on to something else. I realise some of this was probably done to hide the end realisations from the reader but it still wasn't enough. (There was so much about ice skating why was there so much about ice staking?)
I can see why people love this book, it just wasn't what I was expecting at all. I will still read book two in the hope that my initiall issues are ironed out.

I love a good female character who is brimming with rage because of what society expects and boy does the Iron Widow deliver this. Zetian is sick of her family discarding female relatives like her big sister for her brother to have a better life and of the army for killing concubine pilots to save the lives of male pilots. The best scenes were of Zetian screaming against it all, like when she climbs out of a Chrysalise with a dead pilot and welcomes the world to their worst nightmare. She was an absolute joy to read and I can’t wait to see more of her.

The poly relationship was great. Whenever there is a love triangle in a book I always get disappointed when they don’t all end up together. But for once it actually happened! It was one of the sweetest scenes with Zetian rightfully pointing out that a triangle is stronger than a pair.

Overall I liked the world-building even if some of it went over my head. The mix of Ancient China and a pacific rim sci-fi setting was captivating and now I need to learn more about the real Empress Zetian was based on. It’s only in the specifics of the Chrysalises and Chi system that I got confused. I felt like the concept of fire chi, earth chi and water spirit metal was introduced too late for me to understand fully.

Such a wild ride of a read that had me on the edge of my seat constantly! Incredibly feminist, funny and action packed, I can't wait to see what's in store for the triangle of terrors! ;)

When her sister is killed, Zetian goes in search of revenge on the boy who killed her. Little does she know where thing journey will take her.
I loved the world building in this book and all the nods at Chinese culture and folk tales. Zetian was a good main character, you could feel and understand her rage and desires to change then ways of how men treated women, the overall plot was good and intrigued me.

My No 1 book of 2021.

I read this book at the end of August and nothing beat it. I read it again with a book club in December, managed to get an Illumicrate edition from a friend and have gotten multiple friends to read this book because I just can't shut up about it.

Serioualy, nothing I say can compare to you reading this book, but Zetian is everything we want and need in a main character and man.. She's just incredible.

I love her.

My original Goodreads review read- Actual review to come when I can think - but read this. If you haven't read it /preordered it already, do it. You won't be sorry.

Iron Widow’ is an ambitious, Chinese history inspired YA fantasy with elements of sci-fi, romance, and social commentary. It packs a lot into its 400-odd pages, and while it tells an entertaining and fast-paced story, it does at times struggle with trying to do too much.

Huaxia has been at war with the mecha-aliens beyond the Great Wall for generations, with their best means of attack the giant Chrysalises – giant transforming robots powered by a powerful male pilot and a female concubine. The fact that the female often dies is a necessary sacrifice. Zetian, however, will never forgive Huaxia for her sister’s death – and when she enlists as a concubine-pilot, it’s purely to assassinate the male pilot responsible. When she achieves the impossible – overpowering the psychic link between them and ensuring he is the one who dies instead – it rattles Huaxia to the core. In revenge, they pair her with the most controversial of their pilots – Li Shimin, powerful and renowned for murdering his entire family. However, Zetian is not giving up her new power so easily – and by leveraging their combined infamy, she’s determined to bring the entire misogynistic system to its knees.

Zetian is fierce, determined, and full of anger and vengeance. She’ll stop at nothing to bring down her sister’s killer – and once she’s done that, to turn the entire system on its head. Her motives are admirable – she clearly loves her sister, and hates that most women simply accept being mere vessels or batteries for male power – but gradually, as her influence grows, she also starts to crave power for power’s sake. Its subtly and cleverly done, and even when Zetian doesn’t seem to be doing the right thing its difficult to stop rooting for her after growing so attached.

Li Shimin is a more nuanced character, kept a mystery for a large amount of the book. There are horrors in his past, and its difficult to know whether to pity or revile him. However, as more is revealed, its clear his story is a more complex one than first meets the eye. He provides a good counterpoint to Zetian.

The other major character is Gao Yizhi – Zetian’s only friend from her original village and the son of one of the richest and most influential people in Huaxia. Unlike Zetian and Shimin, Yizhi always comes across as a genuinely nice and supportive person – not perfect, but a breath of fresh air amongst the darkness. Yizhi clearly adores Zetian, and their dynamic is always excellent.

‘Iron Widow’ is one of the only mainstream YA books featuring a polyamorous relationship, and this is exceptionally well handled. The chemistry is authentically written and the characters have some wonderful open discussions about polyamory.

The worldbuilding is solid, although clearly not the novel’s main focus – this is a plot and theme driven novel rather than anything else. The system behind the Chrysalises and the origins of the aliens is one of the most intriguing parts, and from the ending its apparent this will be delved into much more in the sequel. The ending, again, is strong, satisfying but leaving plenty open for the next chapter.

The main issue is that so much is explored that none of it can be explored to its full depths. Feminism is a key theme, but there’s minimal delving into the origins of the current patriarchal system. Power is another – but again, while this is explored, it doesn’t feel entirely satisfying. Admittedly, this is the first book in a series, so it has to leave itself revelations for the sequels – but after reading, little of the book lingers, which is a sign it didn’t quite have its intended impact.

Overall, ‘Iron Widow’ is a fun, fast-paced read, audacious in scope and solid in execution. It might have benefitted from an extra hundred pages to help it go slightly deeper into its subject matter, but if you’re looking for an action-packed YA fantasy this should fit the bill.

Wow, one of the best young adults books I've read in awhile, perhaps ever. This is such an interesting world. A mixture of historical and futuristic. The political undertones are blatant and in your face but they feel fully weaved into the world and are not out of place.
I adore how vicious and unapologetic the three main characters are. Its kind of a breath of fresh air. There is very little self dealt in the main character and that is super interesting and its also nice to read. I loved the polyamorous relationship, I wish it was multiple point of view, I would have loved the boys perspective.
Only complaint is the ending felt a bit rushed. I lot of big things happened very quickly. Not necessarily bad but wished we got to sit with those big things for a bit. Nevertheless, I am very excited for the sequel, the reveal at the end makes me very excited for what is to come!

This book went beyond my expectations. I was a little wary of the language and possible themes after chapter one where it’s just the male pilot, but my gosh, it’s brilliant!

I’ll be making sure to hand sell this to as many people as possible.

“Redemption story, they said?
There will be no redemption. It is not me who is wrong. It’s everyone else.”

At the beginning, I was so sure that I was going to DNF this book, mainly due to the main character and the abrasive narrative. But I’m so glad I didn’t, that ending was so good!

I also really enjoyed how visual everything was: I could visualize every scene perfectly in my head. I think this book would work so well as an anime!

Overall, I didn’t love this book, but I’m curious to know how the story continues.

This was so good! A great setting, with very good worldbuilding and a fierce main character, who is ready to destroy everything around her if needed. Looking forwad to the next book!

It's a book that I found hard to classify as there's dystopia, sci-fi, fantasy and some elements from historical China.
That said is one of the best YA fantasy I read in some times and one which is thoroughly YA, not a fantasy marketed as YA.
The characters talks and act like young adults, there's a lot of action and the world building is fascinating.
It's gripping and highly entertaining story but it also deals with issues like female oppression.
An excellent debut, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This book started off so well - the first 50 pages were intriguing and very strong. I adored the main character and her extreme feminist outlook on life that made for a very interesting morally grey character.
However it fell apart a little bit for me towards the end - to the point where I don't know if I'd continue with the series.
This book reminded me so strongly of The Hunger Games but it didn't have the same clarity in its world building. During the first couple of action scenes I was happy with being a little confused because I assumed everything would get explained thoroughly. That didn't happen. By the end, I was reading fight scenes thinking "Who? What? Why? How?" Because I still didn't understand how the technology worked or what the history was.
I did, however, love the characterisation. All 3 of our main characters were intriguing and morally grey to some extent. I also adored the romance side of things because it was so unlike anything I'd read before.
I'd definitely recommend this book if you're into sci-fi and strong female characters!