Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Iron Widow

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Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

401 reviews

katie0528's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.75

I couldn't put this book down! A blending of Chinese history/mythology with Voltron and Hunger Games style sci-fi elements led to a really unique story that still felt familiar to Western sci-fi fans. In a futuristic world bombarded by aliens known as Hundens, male/female pairs pilot giant mechs called Chrisalises. However, the females are concubines to their male counterparts in every sense, including using their life force to power the mechs. After Zetian's sister died as a pilot's concubine, she volunteers to become one as well to enact her revenge. She quickly becomes a powerful pilot in her own right, as an Iron Widow, and decides to enact revenge on the system that sees women as nothing more than objects.

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hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.25

The content of this is adult, but the writing style is YA for a majority of the book. The premise was completed within 100 pages, and I was never clear on Zetian's end goal after that (it was either short-term or vague). The pacing was too fast for me, and I wished we could ahve lingered on specific topics and experiences (i.e.: exploring gender identity). Because it was so fast, I wasn't fully attached to the relationships. However, I was angry when

Li Shimin "died" (thankfully it was a fake out)

. The last quarter of the book was strong because I finally believed in the brutality of Zetian (I kept comparing it to She Who Became the Sun and was disappointed). I was not expecting the twist at the end, and am not sure if I like it or not (it was WILD). Next book will tell me.

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kdegroote905's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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r3ader's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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

4.75

This was... an experience. A book that is filled with pure female rage and feminism. A book that shocks you, that makes you angry, sad and happy. An ending making you wish to be able to read the next book INSTANTLY. Still, something was missing for me to give it the full 5 stars.
I'm looking forward to part 2 and seeing how it will all play out.

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bisexualbookshelf's review against another edition

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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

4.75

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao is a fierce, unapologetic masterpiece that blends science fiction, Chinese history, and feminist rebellion into a searing tale of vengeance and liberation. In a world where girls are sacrificed to power giant war machines, Wu Zetian, the novel's protagonist, stands as a force of unflinching defiance, determined to dismantle the patriarchal society that seeks to destroy her. Zhao’s direct, sharp prose brings Zetian’s rage to life, grounding her personal quest for revenge in a larger critique of the oppressive systems that devalue and discard women.

Zetian’s journey begins with a personal vendetta—the murder of her sister by a male pilot—but quickly transforms into a mission to tear down the very system that treats girls as expendable. When Zetian kills the man responsible for her sister’s death, she earns the title of "Iron Widow," a rare and feared female pilot capable of sacrificing men to power the war machines known as Chrysalises. Her defiance becomes a symbol of feminist resistance, challenging not just the men who uphold the system but also the women who enable it. Inspired by the real-life Chinese Empress Wu Zetian, Zhao’s heroine is a force of nature, her journey fueled by fury and a hunger for liberation.

The world-building in Iron Widow is nothing short of ambitious. Zhao draws on Chinese history and mythology, creating a richly imagined society that blends futuristic technology with ancient traditions. The concept of girls being sacrificed to power mechas feels both chillingly futuristic and deeply rooted in historical patriarchal violence, making the novel’s feminist themes all the more potent. Zetian’s rebellion isn’t just personal—it’s a full-scale war against the systems that have oppressed women for generations.

Zetian’s relationships with co-pilots Li Shimin and Yizhi add another layer of complexity to the story. Their triad challenges traditional ideas of romance and loyalty, exploring themes of polyamory, interdependence, and bisexuality in subtle but powerful ways. The emotional depth of their bond, especially as they navigate a brutal world together, underscores the novel’s exploration of non-traditional relationship structures and challenges gender norms with nuance and care.

At its core, Iron Widow is a defiant rejection of societal expectations. Zhao doesn’t shy away from heavy themes, tackling patriarchal violence, gender roles, and systemic oppression head-on. While the novel’s feminist critique is often intense and at times heavy-handed, this only reinforces the urgency of its message. Zetian’s rage, her refusal to bow to the world’s demands, and her unrelenting pursuit of justice make Iron Widow a powerful, exhilarating read.

For anyone seeking a story of rebellion, resistance, and the reclamation of power, Iron Widow is a must-read. Zhao’s fierce writing, bold themes, and unforgettable characters make this novel an electrifying entry into the science fiction canon. I can’t wait to see where Zetian’s journey takes her next.

📖 Recommended For: Fans of feminist rebellion and fierce heroines, readers who enjoy stories blending science fiction with historical influences, those interested in themes of dismantling patriarchy and non-traditional relationships, and anyone who loves unapologetically powerful characters like in The Hunger Games or Chain-Gang All Stars.

🔑 Key Themes: Feminist Resistance, Patriarchal Violence, Reclamation of Power, Polyamory and Non-Traditional Relationships, Vengeance and Liberation, Chinese Mythology and History.

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catperspective's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

0.5

So incredibly disappointed this book is marketed as feminist. Feminism isn’t about women also committing war crimes. The dialog is poorly written and the characters are cheesy in the worst way. I wish I DNF this book but it has such glowing reviews I figured it at least had a good ending: it did not.

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ellius's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

Wow. I absolutely loved this. Never in my life have I had a reading experience like this. Never in my life have I had a book engage me so much that I’ve felt physically nauseous but in the BEST way. This is absolutely one of my new favourite books, and for good reason.

I fell in love with the world building immediately. It was absolutely impeccable and i thought it was a really informative and creative depiction of Chinese history and culture.

I 100% fell in love with the main characters. Their motivations were all so interesting but ESPECIALLY Zetians. She is truly one of the most fascinating characters I have EVER read about. Plus her being based on the only ever female empress of china is so fucking interesting and added a whole other level to this book.

And the society that this was set in was so raw that it was kinda hard to read at points but it was a really important discussion on misogyny that I have never seen done in such a powerful way before.

But that’s all I can really say without getting into spoilers.

All in all this was an incredible book and reading experience. It covered important topics in a serious way while still being a creative and lively story (with a really cute romance). My only complaints are that the ending wasn’t as engaging as I wanted and I thought that the final twist was really cliché seeing as I predicted it since the beginning, other than that, a truly stunning book.

9.7/10. Polygamy *rizz*

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astrangewind's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

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

2.25

I’m so genuinely disappointed that Iron Widow was not as good as I thought it was going to be.

“Way of the Fox,” the first of four parts, is flawlessly executed. Wu Zetian is a firecracker of a character - she is single-minded in her goal

to kill Yang Guang

, utterly uncaring about her family’s wellbeing and throwing aside her love for Yizhi, throwing away even her life. It’s this deep, feminist rage that characterizes Zetian early on and differentiates her from other “strong female characters” in the YA dystopia genre.

When she’s ultimately successful in her task, her violent anger so complete that all she can do is laugh into the cameras, I get chills.

I want Zetian to succeed. I want her family, her country, every man who’s ever wronged her to suffer. This opener promises a novel full of righteous fury, of taking what belongs to her and all the women and girls of Huaxia, of vengeance.

This is a promise that the remaining three parts breaks.

I don’t know what happened here. It’s only speculation, but it seems to me like the author ran up against a deadline before they finished editing. It doesn’t read like a first draft, but it doesn’t read like a final one, either. In contrast with “Way of the Fox,” the rest of the book is disjointed, unsubtle, agonizingly dull at times, inconsistent. The “plot twists” come out of nowhere, and then they’re overexplained; because the foreshadowing is so weak, they require severe, barely-believable retconning.

Everything that follows “The Way of the Fox” in terms of plot makes little sense. Zetian had accomplished her goal - that makes sense. As punishment, she gets paired with Li Shimin, the Iron Demon, a huge, frightening boy who killed his family, with an incredibly high spirit pressure - yeah, okay. Then...

they become really invested in the war and do everything they can to convince the army to stage a counterattack against the Hunduns

? I feel like I must have missed something. Neither Zetian or Shimin was ever portrayed as taking an interest in the war; in fact, they both are very clear about wanting the violence (against the girl pilots) to stop. It’s not even clear what Huaxia thinks the Hunduns have done. They, what? Took over a province? Yeah, okay, I can see Huaxia being mad about it, but it’s common knowledge in Huaxia that the Hunduns never even attempt to breach the Great Wall - this is stated explicitly. There’s no clear reason why a counterattack is a good idea, or even why Zetian, Shimin, and Yizhi want it to happen. And even after Zetian survives piloting with Shimin, there’s no obvious reason why the army would want someone as dangerous as her to survive. Why did they not try to stage an assassination

beyond Xing Tian’s rogue attempt, which wasn’t even state-sponsored

? And her plan to just say out loud to all of Huaxia that girls are sacrificed on purpose? The author should know that that never would have worked, even in fiction. The whole “war” angle is uncompelling.

Speaking of... Zetian is so furious about girl pilots being sacrificed that she doesn’t mind sacrificing herself and her family to stop it. But she doesn’t mind literally committing genocide against the “mindless” Hunduns. She doesn’t mind

squashing Xiuying and Zhu Yuanzhang,

crushing the army vehicles

. Zetian does have feelings and a moral code, so it’s inconsistent for her character to just kill indiscriminately (unless the target is a young girl).

At the end, when something in Zetian snaps, it makes sense for only the young girls to give her pause. But it doesn’t make sense what actually convinces her to try to take over the whole of Huaxia. It’s so... bizarre.

Iron Widow claims itself as a feminist work, but it’s not. Beyond “The Way of the Fox,” most of the “feminism” reads like it’s been copied and pasted from a Tumblr post. People don’t talk like that in real life. At the very beginning, the author takes great pains for describe Zetian as kind of ugly - the first scene is of her getting her monobrow plucked. She’s tall and chubby, despite her family telling her that she needs to lose the weight to be pretty. But then, later on, she talks about how hot she is. It’s not necessarily un-feminist for a female character to be either ugly or hot. But, uh, how is she both? Just wondering. She’s supposed to be independent, but she gets saved multiple times by men out of nowhere. I thought she could defend herself - so why can’t she? It’s not just Zetian, either; the other female characters are shockingly one-dimensional. Xiuying is a mother character; Qieluo is a bully. Even Zetian’s Big Sister is only described as the obedient, pretty, dead daughter. Here’s a quote that I wrote down because it was so insane: “My pain is solely due to being born a girl [...] But for [Shimin], it’s complicated.” (p. 314). You’re telling me you’re a feminist, and you write this bullshit? Come on!

I think there are some things that Iron Widow does well. The scenes related to sexual assault / harassment are accurate without being unnecessarily descriptive. Zetian’s response to being alone with Shimin - and even having sex for the first time - are an accurate portrayal of PTSD. All three main characters are bisexual and kind of in a polycule with each other, which is one of the departures from a love triangle you can choose. (But I think that the author has no idea of the communication required to maintain a polycule because these three cannot communicate well.) I think that

the planet not being their native planet

is a good concept in general, because you kind of forget the sci-fi elements of the book by that point.

To summarize: I’m bummed that Iron Widow couldn’t maintain itself. I am not inclined to continue the series, and I don’t think I would recommend it to anyone else. In an alternate timeline, the author had enough time to finish editing, and Iron Widow is the next Hunger Games. Alas, we are not in this timeline.

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kathi_90's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

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pastelhxrmony's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Picked this up because I watch Xiran Ray Zhao on YouTube. It took me a little bit to get through this. I don’t think this book is very bad but it’s not the best either

Things I liked

Loved the concept and story
Female rage
Insane ending with a great plot twist
I don’t know if I’ve read anything that made me feel so many emotions so strongly at once
Second half

Things I didn’t like

Poor writing; the writing is a big reason it took me so long to get through this book. The writing felt a bit childish at times and a little odd
I can tell the themes the author wanted to convey but again, because of poor writing, the execution didn’t quite make the landing
First half was kinda difficult to get through but things picked up in the second half

Most of my gripes stem from poor writing choices so I won’t list off everything. It’s also hard to remember some of the early parts because it had been a few months since I had started reading. I will most likely read Heavenly Tyrant when it comes out and I hope improvements can be made

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