Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
my thoughts about this book are so complicated: the prose is just okay, the concept is fantastic (but the execution of that concept is just okay), and i think for a book about the trauma and horror of being a woman it spends too much time on men. despite all of that, it has some scenes that were stuck in my head for days. it's a fun read, despite not being a life changing one.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
wht fhe fuck
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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:
Complicated
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ok so i have pretty mixed feelings about this book and i cannot for the life of me articulate my thoughts. all i can say is by the end of this book i was fully charged with feminine rage. i support women's rights and wrongs.
i got through the first two-thirds of this book just for the sake of it, i haven't been reading with much concentration so i must've missed out on some world building and mechanics of piloting so i won't hold it against this book.
in the beginning i was intrigued but not entirely engaged. then,yang guang died so suddenly without any further details about zetian's elder sister and that threw me off.
i wasn't a fan of the romance element either. personally, it felt like zetian was the only one with good character depth and the others were lost opportunities. i never understood why anyone liked who they liked. felt like the subplot was there for the sake of it.
but when once the counterattack begins, i had the best time. looking forward to reading the next book though i'm not sure if i'll pick it up immediately!
i got through the first two-thirds of this book just for the sake of it, i haven't been reading with much concentration so i must've missed out on some world building and mechanics of piloting so i won't hold it against this book.
in the beginning i was intrigued but not entirely engaged. then,
i wasn't a fan of the romance element either. personally, it felt like zetian was the only one with good character depth and the others were lost opportunities. i never understood why anyone liked who they liked. felt like the subplot was there for the sake of it.
but when once the counterattack begins, i had the best time. looking forward to reading the next book though i'm not sure if i'll pick it up immediately!
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Clearly a lot of people enjoyed this book, so maybe this is a personal issue. But everything just fell a little flat to me… I thought the world building was lacking, the characters (especially Zetian herself) had little actual internal development and basically only revolved around a certain trope. The feminism was also a little meh. Nothing wrong with some feminine rage, but it really did feel as if every other line was intentionally placed to leave the reader with an “dammnn!!!” effect and the relationship of Zetian to other women in this highly patriarchal structure was superficial at best. I understand that Zetian is not supposed to be a model of a perfect feminist but her ruthlessness and her anger felt to me less of an actual part of her character and rather an instrument to make her seem the most badass most powerful most sexy main character that the reader is supposed to go like “yasss girl, go slay the patriarchy!” at. This also ties to the most jarring issue I had with the book: I could barely go two pages without cringing—either at the prose itself or at the girlbossness of it all. I can forgive a lot of things (including all the aforementioned criticism) and still have a good time reading but if I’m cringing, it’s very hard for me to enjoy even the story parts which technically still were intriguing.
I did of course enjoy the positive poly representation and the imperial chinese references/setting—I just wished it would have been more fleshed out. There were a lot of fun ideas, personally though I did not feel connected to either the characters, the relationships or the world and ultimately had to force myself through the last 40% of this book.
I did of course enjoy the positive poly representation and the imperial chinese references/setting—I just wished it would have been more fleshed out. There were a lot of fun ideas, personally though I did not feel connected to either the characters, the relationships or the world and ultimately had to force myself through the last 40% of this book.
adventurous
dark
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:
No
Novels touted as being about feminine rage almost always fall short for me (looking at you, Circe). Iron Widow was, happily, the first exception I've found. This book seethes with rage, and I loved every minute of it.
Zhao adapts and subverts the "league of fighter pilots staving off an alien invasion" trope in really exciting ways, and it's a genuinely fun read. The world building and magic/technical system are well developed; the intricacies of that system are revealed at an appropriate and enjoyable pace, rather than teased out over too long (a trap I think a lot of sci-fi/fantasy writers fall into). This also means that the twists and reveals are genuinely surprising.
It's also a very intelligent narrative, critically examining gender, race, sexuality, and late capitalism; despite its heavy cultural and political lifting, though, the book moves quickly and isn't bogged down by these themes. Zhao has walked the line perfectly between engaging narrative and sociocultural critique, and fair play to them for managing that balance so well.
I loved Iron Widow and am very much looking forward to reading Heavenly Tyrant. I would happily read a 10+ novel series set in this world (though I doubt Zetian will need 10+ novels to sort out her world, she's quite efficient!).
Zhao adapts and subverts the "league of fighter pilots staving off an alien invasion" trope in really exciting ways, and it's a genuinely fun read. The world building and magic/technical system are well developed; the intricacies of that system are revealed at an appropriate and enjoyable pace, rather than teased out over too long (a trap I think a lot of sci-fi/fantasy writers fall into). This also means that the twists and reveals are genuinely surprising.
It's also a very intelligent narrative, critically examining gender, race, sexuality, and late capitalism; despite its heavy cultural and political lifting, though, the book moves quickly and isn't bogged down by these themes. Zhao has walked the line perfectly between engaging narrative and sociocultural critique, and fair play to them for managing that balance so well.
I loved Iron Widow and am very much looking forward to reading Heavenly Tyrant. I would happily read a 10+ novel series set in this world (though I doubt Zetian will need 10+ novels to sort out her world, she's quite efficient!).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual harassment
Minor: Colonisation, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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