Reviews with content warning for Death - Viúva de Ferro

I really enjoyed the concept of this book. The mix of traditional Chinese philosophy with fantasy and sci-fi, the awesome Chrysalis battle scenes, and the fact that Chrysalises are a somewhat equal battleground of minds rather than physical power all make for a quick and interesting read.

One thing I have to commend Zhao for is their commitment to female rage and a truly vengeful, violent heroine. Zetian’s prime motivation is revenge — revenge for her sister’s death, and revenge for everything she and countless other women are being put through —, and when she discovers the power she can wield as a chrysalis pilot, she uses it for just that. She has little remorse over torturing and killing people to achieve her goal, and she perhaps comes to enjoy that power a little too much. (An interesting factor, to me, is the way her physical disability — the bound feet — plays into this enjoyment and feeling of freedom.)

Zetian is a great example of a protagonist who is compelling despite not necessarily being likeable. On the one hand, you see the danger of her impulsivity, ruthlessness, and lack of compassion for others. On the other hand, it is satisfying to see her reject the misogynist messages and restrictions imposed on her, destroy the system she (and other women) suffer from, and make men uneasy or afraid in the process. In fact, the very satisfaction that is easy to find in Zetian’s violent revenge makes said violence easier to understand. At times, however, her extreme "badass-ness", like the way she quickly not only graps but dominates the Chrsyalis system, verge on "Mary Sue"-ness.

Zetian’s personality and the fact that she is physically vulnerable without a Chrysalis but mentally powerful also add an interesting dynamic to the romantic relationships of the book. Traditionally “masculine” and “feminine” roles and behaviours get muddled and mellowed in a gender role-critical way,

with Yizhi often taking up the sensitive, caring aspects of the relationship

while Zetian struggles with accepting help and being vulnerable because she is working so hard to be strong and powerful. I would’ve loved to have more of the

poly

relationship because the dynamic was really interesting to me and is a rare sight in popular literature in general, even more so in YA.

Unfortunately, the book grants few other characters the same kind of complexity which, in my opinion, really impedes its feminist potential. From the beginning on, Iron Widow has strong feminist themes. Not only are the misogynistic views of her society forced onto Zetian — often violently, in case of her feet even permanently disabling —, she also has a lot of explicitly feminist, critical thoughts about this system and believes. These scenes often seem very heavy-handed, and Zetian's thoughts a little too explicit and well verbalised for a woman who grew up without the concept of feminism or even female resistance. They also sometimes let Zetian fall into the “not like other girls” trap of writing strong female characters.

While most men are portrayed as misogynistic and violently oppressive, there are at least two, at best four male characters who show a more complex attitude towards the system, Zetian, and her goals of destroying it. The same cannot be said for the female characters as Zetian is apparently the only woman to ever oppose or even openly criticise the system. All other female characters appear to, at worst, submit to men and encourage Zetian to do the same (her mother and grandmother), and, at best, find their one, restricted way of retaining some power while still lacking any truly revolutionary instinct or feminist solidarity (

Qieluo, the White Tiger pilot

It might be Zetian’s lack of compassion and empathy that complicates any way the book could give other female characters and motivations more depth.

With Li Shimin, she ends up acknowledging the way the system forced him to commit murder because his memories and feelings are forced on her through their Chrysalis bond, so she can’t help but see his point of view. She does not have the same compassion for — or even interest in learning the perspective of — Xiuying, a woman victimised by the same system as Zetian and her sister, whose children’s lives are threatened. If anything, Zetian’s earlier thoughts implicitly blame her by wondering why she would even choose to have children — completely ignoring the possibility and implication of domestic violence and sexual assault which Zetian knows is prevalent in the pilot system.

This lack of empathy makes sense for a vengeful character like Zetian, who is powered by grief and rage most of the book (

including when killing Xiuying and her partner

), but it is also very frustrating from a feminist perspective because it prevents the book from exploring other female perspectives and ways of dealing with a misogynistic system. To be fair to the author though, they confirmed on Twitter that this is very much a deliberate choice and part of a character development they planned for Zetian in the sequel, Heavenly Tyrant.

Content Warnings

blkbltchic's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I've been wanting to read this for a very long time. I really enjoy a completed love triangle no matter how brief the moment is. Based on the epilogue I'm wondering if there will be a sequel I haven't been keeping up in that regard. I loved all of the real world cultural details that were interwoven into this fantastical sci-fi story.

Content Warnings

kmart_ceo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense fast-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

3.5

It was massively entertaining (and cringe at points too) and fast but at the same time you can't carry a whole book on just edgelord antics lol

Content Warnings

beckahh_i's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

This was fucking incredible. I didn't really know anything about this book going in, other than it was a booktok favorite. It is now in probably my top books I've ever read, and for sure top 5 of the year I think. The feminine rage was palpable through this entire book. It was fantastic. Highly recommend.

There's definitely a lot of horrible things in this book so definitely check trigger warnings, but it's so worth it.

Content Warnings

slimejules's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

larajgriff1's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

I honestly have not been this excited while reading a book in years. The mix of an old society with science fiction was fascinating. Not mention the

POLY REP.

As a

poly person

I never rarely see it portrayed so well in media. The world was so rich with the lore of the science fiction aspects I never once felt confused about how everything worked. I am desperately excited for the next book and will be preordering immediately!

Content Warnings

leafhead's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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