Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Rache im Herzen

This book had me in a chokehold. It is a feminisism ICON. I fell hard for these characters and their mission. The world building is beautifully done and in a way that maintains the flow of the story rather than reading like a text book. I love the magic/chi power/spirit metal system. The main character is a fierce, passionate woman who doesn't just break glass ceilings, she shatters the whole building. I was enthralled with her plans the whole time. The ending is living rent free in my head and I absolutely HAVE to read the second book.

Content Warnings

ruisquared's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

1.5

so to preface, i was quite excited to read this book - i've seen some of xiran's stuff online, and being chinese myself i was intrigued by this concept. that being said, i knew going into this that this book wasn't really for me. 'iron widow' is a blend of YA dystopia, fantasy and sci-fi, all genres that aren't particularly appealing to me. for the target audience i think this book fulfils everything it should - it's accessible for readers of every level, action-filled and fast pace.

my personal gripes can generally be put down to a matter of taste and not being part of the target demographic, but that being said i didn't particularly love this book. the pacing, for one; while fast and suited to the constant action and plot development, i couldn't help but feel that it gave very little in terms of worldbuilding or character development.

for the former, details of this futuristic world are given in exposition as the plot demands. while i much, much prefer this approach over that of lengthy infodumps, it gave the world of huaxia a very skewed, half-finished feeling. the anachronisms themselves didn't bother me so much as the lack of explanation surrounding them - if the qing dynasty practices of the mc's village can coexist with drones and tablets apparently issued by the government, how far does technology stretch in this world? if people are plagued by "media" then how far does the internet exist? if at all? and how do the village folk even know how to operate tablets??? is everyone born an innate ipad kid without needing any instructions or literacy??????

of course, being fair, this is sci-fi. i get why there isn't an explanation for any of this, as it certainly wouldn't benefit the plot or the pacing. but it would be nice to at least see a better thought out world, especially as the concept is so fascinating - a post-apocalyptic society with divinely granted futuristic technology could make for a much more vivid backdrop than the mishmash that is convenient for plot purposes in the story.

for the latter, i have to say that i found none of the characters particularly fleshed out. wu zetian is the worst culprit of this - after the prologue i was surprised that this book was told from first person POV, and as i carried on i felt that zetian's narration gave the reader scarcely anything in terms of showing her motivations or personality beyond "righteous fury badass". in the early half this was especially bad, so much that reading her thirst for vengeance felt like sasuke's essence distilled - why does she want to avenge her sister so badly??? the rest of her family is abusive and neglectful so was her sister any different????? if she was, WHY was it never shown??? never even alluded to?????

the writing also at points descends into the cringe (as much as i hate to use that word). the end of every chapter seems to have a sentence specifically written to become a quote, and because this novel is supposedly from zetian's perspective, is the reader meant to believe these are her thoughts???? even though i don't disagree with the sentiment, the execution comes across as heavy handed.

the other characters don't get off much better. yizhi is two-dimensional and shimin not much better, although at least his background is expanded upon. the romance, too, isn't really given enough time to develop organically, especially between yizhi and shimin. the lack of 'good' female characters apart from zetian also is disappointing for a story so centred around women in general, and although mention is made of girls and women just like zetian they are nowhere to be seen.

all in all, i think this book is good for what it sets out to be. a more developed world and more developed characters would slow down the breakneck pace of this book, making it less YA fiction, but even though i understand why it still seems like a shame.

(i wanted to make a dynasty warriors joke about the assortment of historical chinese figures, but couldn't figure out how to fit it in. so just imagine that i made one. thanks.)

Content Warnings

leftovergarlicbread's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was so angry and raw and you could just FEEL the passion that this was written with. I loved the characters so much they were so interesting to read about i LOVED the parallels they drew between Zeitan and Shimin.

I absolutely LOVED that this turned out to be a corruption/go all the way down the path of revenge. It added a rather dark tone to tue book at the end and i ate it UP!! I fucking love when characters shlnap and completely lose it. Also seeing Yizhi shift from timid rich boy to "screw a cabin in the mountains, let's rule the fucking world" was SO WELL DONE. It creeped up so slowly until it finally hit and uou saw it all at once.

I only have rather minor complaints. Mostly in the form of little threads left unanswered. Like, what did Yizhi's tattoos mean? What happened to the Nine Tailed Fox chrysalis? I have some more thoughts but im writing this on my phone at 6 AM, i might come back and add more later.

COMING BACK TO ADD MORE!!! I've also been looking at some other people's reviews of the book and found myself agreeing with some of their points. I saw a lot of people talking about how the writing did feel a little immature and would simply tell instead of show in a lot of situations. I do agree with that. I found that the writing didn't take away from the reading experience for me, but i do definitely feel like a more refined writing style would have absolutely benefited the story.

The critique I saw that i did really enjoy was someone talking about how this is a feminist story. This is a story of how women get systematically oppressed through entirely artificial reasons and the men who create them often go entirely unpunished and even benefit from these actions. Despite this, all of the supporting characters are men. By that I mean all of the characters on Zeitan's side are men. ALl of hte other women in this book are mean, or spiteful, or traitors, and are just not supportive at all. Every other female character plays a somewhat antagonistic role in the story, and all of Zeitan's true allies are men; which feels a little antithetic the main themes of feminism and female empowerment of the book. We see so many women who were so thoroughly beaten down by the system and we never see any of them break free from it or try to. It's only Zeitan who "escapes" and I feel like if we got to see her influence inspire other women to try and change things or at the very least question their role in the world and their position in society that they fully accepted. It gave Zeitan this very strong "not like other girls" presence that I feel like didn't work out quite like the author was hoping.

Overall though I did have a good time reading this, the twist at the end was very interesting, and I will be reading the next book when it comes out!

Content Warnings

katizeluka's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

0.75

Was really looking forward to this, was very disappointed by it.

Content Warnings

otakatoe3's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Content Warnings

happysoullovesyou's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Xiran, take my soul already.

Content Warnings

traciereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

Content Warnings

jacksons_books_and_music's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? It's complicated

5.0

This is one of the best books I have ever read.

I do want to clear something up, though:

I see a lot of people saying this book is about revolution. That is actually not true. What happens in the plot is a coup, not a revolution. Yes, the main character is fighting for the common people, but there is no people’s movement. It’s just a main character and a friend or two seizing power.

That being said:

This is a strong book both narratively and on the line level. Any critiques I have are extremely minimal, and often more to do with preference.

Some people are really critical of the main character. I doubt they’d be as critical if the main character was a man. Readers deserve a wide range of women and nonbinary characters, including those who are messy and ruthless.

I do wish we had gotten to see the not-YA version that existed, but I am glad this version exists so the story is more accessible to young people. Given the themes, characters, and situations, I just feel a more adult version would have made perfect sense.

I loved this book and highly recommend it! I am definitely going to read the sequel.

Content Warnings

More...