Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Iron Widow

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

172 reviews

devourerofwords's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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xx_salem's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The book was good but the main character upset me in a lot of her choices, I recognized she was tied but I wanted to see her put more on the line and take more and honestly be more evil. It got better in the end, I really liked the twist, but at the same time it took all of the sting out of the book, as if her actions didn’t really have consequences. I didn’t really feel sadness or attachments to any of the characters and really wished the Iron Widow didn’t feel as if she was made out to be the one truly strong girl, I wanted to see more scary powerful women if only in little actions behind the scenes. And all the love felt rushed and awkward and the lack of chemistry I felt was excused by this idea of accepting her sexuality, it’s a nice concept but felt really weirdly executed and off in this romance.

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aestass's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

4.75

Retelling of China’s only female empress as a polyamorous pilot in an epic science fiction world. Comp to Scott Westerfield’s Leviathan.

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mimiisbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

This book got me back into reading fantasy and science fiction novels.
I usually avoid fantasy because of the over the top, boring world-building that makes the book boring and a tiresome read.
It's actually feminist not like most depictions of strong women with a kickass female protagonist that literally destroys the patriarchy.
The only complaints I have this this book is that the ending didn't satisfy me and the magic system is a bit strange.

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_andviolet's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Don't read this book if you're sensitive to mentions of rape, femicide, and patricide.

I had high hopes for this book because I followed Xiran Youtube channel for many years but this book was astonishingly subpar.

The prose is too childish for a story with such heavy, dark topics it's almost embarrassing. It's a poor attempt at critiquing the patriarchy with no real resolve or clear message/call to action as the main character Zetian

ends up also killing women as well despite her countless narrations of being against femicide, but "only at the hands of cis-men" i guess right?

[At this point I feel like I have to iterate that I'm not white, I'm also a queer POC so it's not anything about "not relating" to Zetian or Xiran.]

I understand that a lot about the character Zetian is a self insert of Xirans own struggles with their culture and sentiments with identifying as nonbinary, but a lot of the narration felt like aimless venting. I'm sorry I dare say its virtue signaling because Xiran only further perpetuates the concept of binary roles instead of eliminating them ("All. Boys. Want. It."; and when Zetian gains control over the Dragon saying "I finally feel like a man").

The love triangle was also pretty subpar for how much people hyped a bi-poly team. The 2 male characters felt like role played side characters and Zetian was kind of insufferable, and way too fueled by hatred. That's not female rage.

Oh also the weird racism against Shimin for not

being a Han person?

That parallel exists IRL but why did Zetian have to perpetuates the barbarian stereotype against him even in the last 30% of the book?

The last half of the book was really a drag and the only interesting plot revelance happened in the last 10 ish pages, but at the cost of

Shimins faked death and Yizhis character assassination

. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel if it's just a poor attempt at critiquing

colonization

next.

We get it, bad thing is bad! Please for the sake of your followers that are still willing to read the sequel, give them some sort of resolve to your talking points.

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