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adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
dark
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I have rarely, or maybe even never, seen an author squander their potential so atrociously. I was a MASSIVE fan of Iron Widow, it is (was?) probably up there as an all-time favourite book of mine. This book was shit. I hated it so much. I don't even know if there are words to describe how terrible of a follow-up this was but I guess I'll try.
Maybe it's biggest issue is the sheer length. It was so torturously boring. There is so much time taken up in this book where Zetian is in recovery, and then learning, and then plotting and so much of this could be cut out or made more interesting. It was horribly done. This book felt like it wasn't thought out at all, almost like it was written in a stream of consciousness and never edited or condensed and certainly not carefully planned out.
The political parts feel written for the comprehension of a seven year old. You really don't have to hold my hand and tell me all the ways that women deserve rights, I'm already there with you. The writing in these sections (and there were SO MANY of these sections) was fucking dreadful. The pacing was a disaster, the internal dialogue was unbearable, and it felt both patronizing to the reader and also to the main character.
The characters are fucking awful and I hate them all. Congrats, you even made me hate Zetian, who was previously one of my favourite characters I had ever read. How do you take a character with the power and fortitude that she had in the first book and just make her into a complete doormat in the sequel? Controlled by men at every turn, never fighting against them and even willingly submitting to them IN EVERY WAY. Zetian from the first book would have rathered die than end up as Zetian in the second book and I'm furious on her behalf. Awful writing.
I don't understand why all of the "intimate" scenes in the first book, involving pairings who actually liked each other, were fade-to-black but in the sequel, the pairing who viciously hate each other have far more mature, detailed sex scenes. I can't help but question why it was more acceptable to write several fairly graphic scenes of what I would consider violent sexual assault, coercion and rape than it was to write graphic scenes of consensual sex. I do not care that they had safe words, Zetian felt obliged to say yes to him in the first place because of the immense power he had over her even if she's "using him" to preserve her own safety. That is an incredible power imbalance that is not rectified just by having trite little safe words. It is coercive at best and rape at worst. She was only with this man because she was threatened into it. There is no undoing that. You can't go back on that and suddenly make these scenes "sexy" instead of Zetian getting dubious sexual pleasure from being raped.
The massive disappointment of this sequel has changed how I view the first book in some ways. There was a lot of clumsiness and heavy-handedness in Iron Widow that I forgave/passed off as being camp and intentionally over the top but I think maybe the author just isn't a very good writer after reading this. Maybe the first book was a fluke. I wish it had ended differently and been a standalone because this was such an unbelievable flop.
If you loved Iron Widow, do yourself a HUGE favour and don't touch this book. I am not someone who buys new books without reading a library copy first but I loved the first book so much that I bought this sequel without hesitation and I regret it so much. I will be reselling it ASAP, I don't even want this thing in my house. I will be reading all of the spoilers and reviews of the next book before I consider even signing it out from the library, I don't know if it's possible for the author to fix the havoc they wreaked here.
Maybe it's biggest issue is the sheer length. It was so torturously boring. There is so much time taken up in this book where Zetian is in recovery, and then learning, and then plotting and so much of this could be cut out or made more interesting. It was horribly done. This book felt like it wasn't thought out at all, almost like it was written in a stream of consciousness and never edited or condensed and certainly not carefully planned out.
The political parts feel written for the comprehension of a seven year old. You really don't have to hold my hand and tell me all the ways that women deserve rights, I'm already there with you. The writing in these sections (and there were SO MANY of these sections) was fucking dreadful. The pacing was a disaster, the internal dialogue was unbearable, and it felt both patronizing to the reader and also to the main character.
The characters are fucking awful and I hate them all. Congrats, you even made me hate Zetian, who was previously one of my favourite characters I had ever read. How do you take a character with the power and fortitude that she had in the first book and just make her into a complete doormat in the sequel? Controlled by men at every turn, never fighting against them and even willingly submitting to them IN EVERY WAY. Zetian from the first book would have rathered die than end up as Zetian in the second book and I'm furious on her behalf. Awful writing.
I don't understand why all of the "intimate" scenes in the first book, involving pairings who actually liked each other, were fade-to-black but in the sequel, the pairing who viciously hate each other have far more mature, detailed sex scenes. I can't help but question why it was more acceptable to write several fairly graphic scenes of what I would consider violent sexual assault, coercion and rape than it was to write graphic scenes of consensual sex. I do not care that they had safe words, Zetian felt obliged to say yes to him in the first place because of the immense power he had over her even if she's "using him" to preserve her own safety. That is an incredible power imbalance that is not rectified just by having trite little safe words. It is coercive at best and rape at worst. She was only with this man because she was threatened into it. There is no undoing that. You can't go back on that and suddenly make these scenes "sexy" instead of Zetian getting dubious sexual pleasure from being raped.
The massive disappointment of this sequel has changed how I view the first book in some ways. There was a lot of clumsiness and heavy-handedness in Iron Widow that I forgave/passed off as being camp and intentionally over the top but I think maybe the author just isn't a very good writer after reading this. Maybe the first book was a fluke. I wish it had ended differently and been a standalone because this was such an unbelievable flop.
If you loved Iron Widow, do yourself a HUGE favour and don't touch this book. I am not someone who buys new books without reading a library copy first but I loved the first book so much that I bought this sequel without hesitation and I regret it so much. I will be reselling it ASAP, I don't even want this thing in my house. I will be reading all of the spoilers and reviews of the next book before I consider even signing it out from the library, I don't know if it's possible for the author to fix the havoc they wreaked here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wasn't salivating and freaking out about this one as much as I was the first book, but I still enjoyed it! Idk how a friend DNF'd it. I do think it feels like a middle book of a trilogy, like it's building and getting ready for the big finale. Lots of character development, including of the Emperor which I wasn't expecting (idk how anyone didn't expect her to kill him?? She was debating it for ages, and we know she does impulsive, potentially bad with huge consequences things in big moments lol) .
I did really miss the otherthird of our love triangle 🥹 , so that was definitely a bummer. The parallels to today were a bit too on the nose and stated rather than shown sometimes, but I didn't mind it. It makes sense knowing the author. I still can't wait for the third one, even if we have to wait years and years again ðŸ«
I did really miss the other
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Classism
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Grief
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence
Minor: Emotional abuse, Torture
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Yeah, this book still wasn't really for me, but I think I respect what it's trying to do more than book 1. IDK how to describe this, but book 1 was more of a fast paced book that had a slightly more popcorn/dramatic/almostly thriller-y edge to it (it was dark at times, but it was more on the entertaining side of things), where this book slowed down a bit and focused more on politics and the difficulties of actually changing things, particularly with a revolution that seemed to be to be reminiscent of the Chinese Cultural Revolution or other reforms throughout Chinese history. It still had the dramatic sounding edge to it (Zetian has the tendency to phrase things in a melodramatic way) though, which still rubbed me the wrong way occasionally. Oh, and there's still a lot of very modern/gen z sounding parts to it, which didn't bother me so much, but I can see that throwing other people off.
I did like the perspective on revolution and its brutality, although I can't really comment on how it interacts with/is changed from real Chinese history. So I guess know that there's a lot of very direct talk about communism and the theory behind it in this book. I'll add on here there were a fair bit of speeches and slogans and stuff like that, which were treated like they were brilliant by the characters that I didn't think were particularly impressive. They might also come across as preachy to some people, but IDK, I kind of feel like they come with the territory of being a (mainstream) book directly about revolution. Like, that will involve a lot of speeches, slogans, and teaching people about theory. If you don't want direct speeches and do want to be confused, read Rakesfall or something instead.
The characters, including the MC, continue to be more on the morally grey/unlikable side of things, which isn't what I typically prefer. Zetian in particular also spends a lot of time under the power of the new emperor and having both a lot of powerbecause she's the empress and very little, because she could easily be executed or punished by men. She does actually make some female friends though, and gets even more committed to trying to improve the status of women in general instead of just herself. The polyamorous elements of the last book weren't really here much, instead there was more of a like, dark romance adjacent sort of romance plotline a decent ways in (adjacent because it was pretty tame/relatively consensual, all things considered, but I think it was going for that sort of dark appeal still), which also wasn't my favorite (I mean, I'm never really a big fan of romance/sex scenes even with wholesome relationships, and uh, this wasn't that). But I also didn't particularly like the polyamorous parts of book 1, so that wasn't a huge difference for me.
I got curious and looked at some goodreads reviews for this book, and a lot of people didn't seem to like the direction change after book one (fair enough), but seem to be going out of their way to find moral reasons to justify their dislike of this book (which I find a bit questionable) (the funniest was the people complaining that the MC getting a surgery to repair her bound feet was an example of the magically healing disability trope, because 1) it wasn't magical healing and 2) I'm pretty sure there were Chinese women who actually did reverse the binding of their feet...)
I did like the perspective on revolution and its brutality, although I can't really comment on how it interacts with/is changed from real Chinese history. So I guess know that there's a lot of very direct talk about communism and the theory behind it in this book. I'll add on here there were a fair bit of speeches and slogans and stuff like that, which were treated like they were brilliant by the characters that I didn't think were particularly impressive. They might also come across as preachy to some people, but IDK, I kind of feel like they come with the territory of being a (mainstream) book directly about revolution. Like, that will involve a lot of speeches, slogans, and teaching people about theory. If you don't want direct speeches and do want to be confused, read Rakesfall or something instead.
The characters, including the MC, continue to be more on the morally grey/unlikable side of things, which isn't what I typically prefer. Zetian in particular also spends a lot of time under the power of the new emperor and having both a lot of power
I got curious and looked at some goodreads reviews for this book, and a lot of people didn't seem to like the direction change after book one (fair enough), but seem to be going out of their way to find moral reasons to justify their dislike of this book (which I find a bit questionable) (the funniest was the people complaining that the MC getting a surgery to repair her bound feet was an example of the magically healing disability trope, because 1) it wasn't magical healing and 2) I'm pretty sure there were Chinese women who actually did reverse the binding of their feet...)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Toxic friendship, War
Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Classism
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual assault, Abortion
General reproductive injustice.
Probably more stuff that I'm forgetting about.
adventurous
dark
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Miscarriage, Trafficking, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Abortion
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-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
Full RTC! This book should come with a seatbelt or something because more than a few of those twists were full-on rollercoaster vertical drops. Also I found myself most emotional over a character who doesn't even really appear in the book. (I'm FINE T-T)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, War
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Alcohol