Reviews

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

solly's review against another edition

5.0

This was sooo fucking good. It's been a long while since I haven't inhaled a 400-pages SFF book in a day, and this one was 100000% worth it. I will now be screaming into my pillow until the sequel comes out. Bye.

breezyruizy's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

dominguezraquel95's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

I don’t know any other books that distill the bone-deep rage teenage girls and young women feel when understanding the sheer scale of patriarchy as well as Iron Widow. Zetian is as angry and clever and hurt and vengeful and furious as so many of us have been and I love her all the more for it. My only criticisms of the book are that the worldbuilding is occasionally unnecessarily dense and the pacing is too uneven, but those are minor compared to how brilliant and fascinating and engaging it is.

atra's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

kkelley18's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

pinkblie's review against another edition

2.75

words cannot describe how much this book pissed me off

mopherad's review against another edition

4.0

Real fun, delivers on the premise. Also subverts a lot of YA tropes in a satisfying way. Biggest flaw might be the explicit social commentary, not because it’s wrong but cause was redundant since it was so well woven into the story.

I do think the last 3rd was weaker the the first 2/3rds, and I think a second POV might help.

kels_meister's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

2.5

mayastef's review against another edition

4.25

You say you want unhinged female leads? Well, this is the book for you, and it is not in the gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss way but in the Vengeance, Violence, and Vendettas way. I read this book so quickly and enjoyed it a lot. My gripes were that sometimes the protagonist's rage is a bit much, but I think that's warranted and an intentional part of the storytelling. It is more so the decisions the rage pushes her to make somewhat impulsively not the emotion itself. I had minor issues with the piloting system, but they were not major enough to go into detail here. 
I loved the Chinese cultural influence in this book; that type of integration into fantasy/sci-fi is always a drawing point for me in books. 

entropyseeker's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I didn't expect to love this book, but I was blown away. The world building, the love, the meaningful struggle of our protagonist. It wove together and created an amazing story thay I can't wait to get back to. 

AND ITS GAYYYYYYY