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luxthepenguin's review against another edition
1.0
Dnf at 90%
I love Xiran's content, and I really hoped I would love this book. Unfortunately, the plot and the characters didn’t carry me through to the end, and representation can’t be the only thing that makes a book decent. I made it about 90% before I stopped. I tried to finish it, but I literally did not care about the story at all, and I highly doubt the ending would have turned that around.
Zetian is the epitome of Mary Sue. Everything she does screams "LOOK AT ME! I'M AN EMPOWERING WOMAN IN AN EMPOWERING STORY ABOUT EMPOWERING WOMEN." She’s the progressive, fearless girl boss who happens to be the only girl who sees past society's lies and oppression to expose the system. And her motivation? Her obedient Big Sister who died at the mercy of the system and never gets a single moment of character building or a single peek into their relationship other than the cursory "yes, I must get revenge for her."
One of the conflicts, besides the feminist message that the book tries to shove down your throat, is between the aliens and the humans. Aliens who just started attacking for no reason just for the story to do… something? To have a sense of urgency? There’s no purpose to the war. There is no one behind the aliens. There is no military strategy. It’s easily the most overshadowed part of the story, and it’s what makes this world so lacking. Besides the chi magic system and, of course, the oppression against women, the world doesn’t seem real.
And the romance… ah, the romance. Managing chemistry between one pair in a story is difficult to get right. Chemistry between two pairs is harder. Chemistry between three pairs—an "edgy" girl and a childhood friend, said edgy girl and the bad boy trope incarnate, and said bad boy and childhood friend? The most I felt for any of these characters was annoyance with Zetian being constantly paraded as a feminist icon when she didn’t have a single supportive relationship with another woman and when her actions were morally gray at best.
The book paints every man as objectively a pile of scum, besides Zetian's two flawless love interests. The book paints every woman as either a submissive cog in the machine or a vicious backstabber. For something with a selling point about feminism, it does a terrible job at actually showing women supporting women and not being completely dependent on men.
I love Xiran's content, and I really hoped I would love this book. Unfortunately, the plot and the characters didn’t carry me through to the end, and representation can’t be the only thing that makes a book decent. I made it about 90% before I stopped. I tried to finish it, but I literally did not care about the story at all, and I highly doubt the ending would have turned that around.
Zetian is the epitome of Mary Sue. Everything she does screams "LOOK AT ME! I'M AN EMPOWERING WOMAN IN AN EMPOWERING STORY ABOUT EMPOWERING WOMEN." She’s the progressive, fearless girl boss who happens to be the only girl who sees past society's lies and oppression to expose the system. And her motivation? Her obedient Big Sister who died at the mercy of the system and never gets a single moment of character building or a single peek into their relationship other than the cursory "yes, I must get revenge for her."
One of the conflicts, besides the feminist message that the book tries to shove down your throat, is between the aliens and the humans. Aliens who just started attacking for no reason just for the story to do… something? To have a sense of urgency? There’s no purpose to the war. There is no one behind the aliens. There is no military strategy. It’s easily the most overshadowed part of the story, and it’s what makes this world so lacking. Besides the chi magic system and, of course, the oppression against women, the world doesn’t seem real.
And the romance… ah, the romance. Managing chemistry between one pair in a story is difficult to get right. Chemistry between two pairs is harder. Chemistry between three pairs—an "edgy" girl and a childhood friend, said edgy girl and the bad boy trope incarnate, and said bad boy and childhood friend? The most I felt for any of these characters was annoyance with Zetian being constantly paraded as a feminist icon when she didn’t have a single supportive relationship with another woman and when her actions were morally gray at best.
The book paints every man as objectively a pile of scum, besides Zetian's two flawless love interests. The book paints every woman as either a submissive cog in the machine or a vicious backstabber. For something with a selling point about feminism, it does a terrible job at actually showing women supporting women and not being completely dependent on men.
kriste_reading_journey's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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
4.0
kathi_212's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.25
firesnowbell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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 i hate this book. it infuriates me.