Reviews with content warning for Gore - Iron Widow

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Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

153 reviews

ender24's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

DAMN.

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fromthefoxhole's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

oh my god, my brain is the meltiest it's been in a long time!!

In Huaxia, women hope for one of two fates - marriage or to be a concubine-pilot for one of the male Chrysalis (think Pacific Rim style mech suit) pilots. After losing her Big Sister to the hands of one such pilot, Zetian has concocted a plan to avenge her sister's death by infiltrating the pilot system and killing the man responsible. Generally, women are expected to die from the mental strain of the co-piloting, but Zetian refuses to give up quite easily. Instead, she winds up utilizing their co-pilot neural link to murder him, becoming the Iron Widow.
Rather than freeing her, this feat results in her being paired with Shimin, the strongest Chrysalis pilot in Huaxia - who also murdered his father and brothers. As they begrudgingly work together, they uncover each other's past and develop a partnership. Alongside their friendship, though, they find more corruption than Zetian could have ever imagined.

I won't lie, the first chapter really didn't grab me. I didn't understand a lot of the world-specific language, but oh my god, it's so worth it to work past that. Iron Widow is a masterclass in continuous world building, slowly unfurling the history of Huaxia and Zetian like the first blossoms of spring. I've had other 5 star reads this month, and reading this makes me want to retroactively downgrade them, or petition Amazon for a higher option.
Zetian is DELIGHTFUL, so full of righteous fury and grief, and she's stunningly clever. She's brash and unrefined, and I'm obsessed with her. Her desperation to fix the misogyny and mistreatment of young girls in her society is so admirable. Honestly, even though she's ending the book kind of unhinged, I would probably trust her anyway.
The romance element is refreshing, avoiding the traditional YA love triangle in favor of a thoughtful portrayal of polyamory.
The writing is captivating, straddling the line between Chinese history and its futuristic setting. Zhao is incredibly effective at touching all of the reader's senses, so I really felt like I could see the entire book come to life around me.

TL; DR - YES, it really is that good.

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miggyfool's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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maximumhonesty's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Não sei nem por onde começar MUITO BOM. Finalmente um triângulo amoroso que é de fato um triângulo. Personagens complexos, humanos que cativam. Eu terminei o livro completamente apaixonado pelos personagens, e o final quebrou meu coração. Como alguém trans tenho a sensação que o descontentamento da protagonista com sua posição como mulher é mais que apenas insatisfação com o machismo, muitas menções indiretas que podem ser lidas como não binariedade. Também amei o relacionamento bicentrado, mal posso esperar pela continuação.

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the_reading_kat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

wayward_sister's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Content Warnings

leweylibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Y'ALL. I AM SCREAMING BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS SO FREAKING AMAZING!!! I was hooked from the get go by Zetian's rage and dedication and general badass-ness that just increased with every turn of the page. She's everything I've ever wanted in a badass female MC. I love Yizhi and Shimin so freaking much, especially Shimin, holy f has he been through the wringer and I just 🥹😭 I just want to squeeze and hug him. The three of them are such an incredible triangle and I really shouldn't be writing this review right now because THAT ENDING is still so raw and fresh and just gahhhhh I need the next book like NOW 😭 But it's fine, I'll just get to reread this one again before the 2nd one does come out 😁

The writing was so good, the storyline and feminine RAGE kept me sucked in, and I just absolutely could not tear myself away in the final 60 or so pages. Everything about this book is perfection. I love the love triangle, the characters, the story, the writing, even the absolutely gut wrenching ending.

Can I just say that I FREAKING KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING GOING ON and that the Hunduns weren't the real enemies!!! I knew something was fishy, but I wasn't thinking like entirely wrong planet fishy, and I just audibly GASPED reading the epilogue. It freaking figures right of course the entire PLANET is rigged and corrupt. And OF COURSE they're now going to use Shimin as leverage to get her to kowtow and behave which is just so on brand for them and I just ahhhhhh

Quotes:

Female. That label has never done anything for me except dictate what I can or cannot do. No going anywhere without permission. No showing too much skin. No speaking too loudly or unkindly, or at all, if the men are talking. No living my life without being constantly aware of how pleasing I am to the eye. No future except pushing out son after son for a husband, or dying in a Chrysalis to give some boy the power to reach for glory. (17)
It's as if I've got a cocoon shriveled too tightly around my whole being. If I had my way, I'd exist like that butterfly, giving onlookers no easy way to bind me with a simple label. (17)
He can't change anything. He doesn't own me. Nobody does. They may think they do, but no matter how they scolded or threatened or beat me, they can't really control what goes on in my head, and I think that frustrates them to no end. (20)
I close my eyes, picturing myself. Taking commands of a Chrysalis, towering over buildings and smashing the earth with my colossal limbs or luminous qi blasts. I could crush anyone who's ever tried to crush me. I could free all the girls who'd love to run away. (23)
Some of us were born to be used and discarded. We can't afford to simply go along with the flow of life, because nothing in this world has been created, built, or set up in our favor. If we want something, we have to push back against everything around us and take it by force. (36)
But I have no faith in love. Love cannot save me.
I choose vengeance. (37)
It's hilarious. Men want us so badly for our bodies, yet hate us so much for our minds. (94)
"When you cherish someone for how amazing they are, you don't pluck them from their roots just to watch them wither in your hands. You help them bloom into the incredible thing they're really meant to be." (163)
The notion that men and women must be with only each other tires me as much as the pilot system. (171)
This is wrong. All wrong. He and I are the two most powerful pilots in Huaxia, by a gigantic margin.
He should be the Iron King and I should be the Iron Queen.
Yet Iron Demon and Iron Widow is all they'll let us be. (199)
How do you take the fight out of half the population and render them willing slaves? You tell them they're meant to do nothing but serve from the minute they're born. You tell them they're weak. You tell them they're prey.
You tell them over and over, until it's the only truth they're capable of living. (210)
This world can make monsters out of anyone. (256)
"Do you know how karma really works, Shimin?" I snarl. "It's not something that can be prayed into existence or counted on to fall from the sky. It has to be hand-delivered." (317)
"Why?" I cry out, my voice clanging off the chamber walls. "Why would the army do this? Why wouldn't you just make it equal? Wouldn't you get so many more Matches?"
"Spirit pressures...too unpredictable. This is...only way. To be sure who comes back."
"The boys," I say, tongue and lips going numb. "To be sure the boys will come back."
"Can't get eager pilots...if they're afraid of their partners...every battle."
"You don't think girls are afraid?"
"Girls...know how to sacrifice." (324)
"You Know what I think?" I say. "I think this whole concept of women being docile and obedient is nothing but wishful thinking. Or why would you put so much effort into lying to us? Into crippling our bodies? Into coercing us with made up morals you claim are sacred? You insecure men, you're afraid. You can force us into compliance, but, deep down, you know you can't force us to truly love and respect you. And without love and respect, there will always be a seed of hatred and resistance. Growing. Festering. Waiting"..."Before you die, let me confirm something for you: girls like me are everywhere, barely putting up the facade of wives and daughters and concubines. And I don't think they'll be very happy about the army's lies." (327)
Perks of refusing to play by the rules: you don't have to choose between the boy who'd torture a man to death with you and the boy who'd welcome you back with pastries after. (328)
How did I not ask that crucial Wait, why? for so long? How many aspects of the piloting system--and the world in general--are based on sterile facts, and how many are just illusions? Illusions that reinforce themselves generation after generation, because people don't question the convenient boxes they're pinned into, the arbitrary rules they live by? (329)
This is unconventional, yet another implicit rule we're breaking, but you know what? It works for us. And I think the three of us are done with letting this world tell us what's okay and what isn't. (332)
"Wu Zetian," a medley of voices whispers in my head. Not just Shimin's but Big Sister's as well. And Yizhi's. And my mother's. And my grandmother's. And so, so many nameless girls who have suffered under the lies I must expose. "Be their nightmare." (373)
Redemption story, they said?
There will be no redemption. It is not me who is wrong. It's everyone else. (380)
I've been told endless lies since I was born. That I was not kind enough, considerate enough, humble enough, honorable enough, pretty enough, pleasing enough. And that if I failed to meet the needs of those around me, I did not deserve to live.
Propaganda. All of it. Propaganda to keep me chasing after the approval of others on my bound and broken feet, as if being a good servant is the only thing I should be proud of.
Now, I see the truth.
This world does not deserve my respect. It is not worthy of my kindness or compassion. (388)
"So much for that cabin in the mountains, huh?" I mutter, just loud enough for Yizhi to hear.
"Fuck the cabin in the mountains," He says in the Dragon's head. "Let's rule the world." (388)