Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Iron Widow

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

1125 reviews

silverdawn02's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Worldbuilding was cool, but I didn’t really care much for the characters. They weren’t bad, I just found I didn’t care enough about them to keep reading. The main narrator is very blunt with how she descibes what’s happening and it throws me off sometimes. Though I suppose that’s part of her character, so I can’t fault her there.

There was something introduced the last few pages that was a cool

plot twist

but I don’t care about the story or characters enough to continue the series.

Content Warnings

mari1532's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I had first heard about the author when I stumbled upon them scrolling Instagram one day. I was immediately in love with their content and put the audiobook on hold at my library. Due to the book’s popularity, I spent several months waiting.

It was not only the author’s online content that intrigued me about their book. The descriptions I had read online described it as a science fiction book with loose references to China’s first Empress, Wu Zetian.

After finally reading it I can safely say, that I adored this book. It is full of political intrigue, messy relationships, and glimmers of historical references. The way that Jay Zhao writes is enthralling and by providing the reader with guide posts about the characters’ motivations/feelings and leads you along with the growth and development of the character without explicitly telling you what is going on. For instance, when Zetian has a confrontation with another female pilot in the bath, I was able to feel the character’s confusion, rage, and compassion in the scene and through the dialogue I was able to understand why various characters reacted the way that they did. Each of their characters is deliciously complex and Jay Zhao’s writing is exceptional.

I liked that there was a polyamorous relationship rather than a love triangle. It was a completely natural development and it was great that there was no focus on the development in the book. The relationships simply evolved and that was just the way it was.

There were several plot twists throughout the book that I did find unexpected and it made me want to keep reading. Jay Zhao’s plotting of this book was just exceptional and I am so excited for the next installment of the series.

Content Warnings

gemtheginger's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

jenny_d's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

sheyri's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

I'll end up rereading this eventually, and if just for Shimin alone.

Content Warnings

micah_mac's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

laurenthebibliofile's review against another edition

4.0

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

Stepped outside of my comfort zone with this one a little bit. What initially drew me to the book was the retelling of Chinese history. What initially made me wary was the science fiction aspect of the story. Well…i shouldn’t have been wary. Once you start reading this all of those aspects make sense. This was such an easy read. Zetian is a strong independent woman who is out for revenge. The government is sacrificing women in the name of war and Zetian has had enough, especially after her sister becomes one of the victims. She is a complete badass. This story was a roller coaster ride that i was only partially prepared to be on. Xiran did an amazing job twining history into a futuristic world. They are a fantastic storyteller and I am really looking forward to the second one.

Content Warnings