Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Iron Widow

This is like a Pacific Rim fanfic, but it's really good! 20 minutes after I finished it, I'm still thinking about the ending and I'm really excited for the sequel.

So in this book there are these monsters that attack the cities that the main character Zetian lives in and around, and these male celebrities with their female concubine partners get in giant animal shaped robots and they fight these monsters. The woman often die after going into battle so there's always a need for female concubine pilots. The main character has a big sister who was sacrificed in battle as a concubine pilot and she wants revenge. Her plan is to get chosen to pilot along side the man responsible for her sister's death.

Okay, so I really love how the

love triangle was handled, and as a polyamorous person, I'm so happy to see polyam representation in this book. This is the first time I've read a book where the author decides to make a trio out of the "love triangle" and it works perfectly!

I liked how much action there was and I loved how the action scenes played out, it was like I could imagine the scenes in my head while I listened to the audiobook.

I really loved the twists and turns in the book and I'm so happy that I didn't get anything spoiled for me, because those surprises were worth the wait.

Does Zetian fall under the "evil cripple" trope that is apart of the "magical disabled persons" trope? I don't think so, I don't think Zetian is evil, though I think she's emotionally evolving. I think her character walks the line of the "evil cripple" trope though, so I could easily see how some people think she falls under that trope.

<blockquote>"Typically, the disabled characters are limited to four types: the “magical cripple,” the “evil cripple,” the “inspirational cripple” and the “redemptive cripple.” An Evil Cripple is a villain or generally morally perturbed character who also suffers a debilitating physical condition, often taking the form of paralysis requiring the use of a wheelchair. The Evil Cripple doubles as the Genius Cripple a lot, providing an intellectual threat to compensate for their physical frailty. Alternatively, the Evil Cripple can become a physical threat if they use futuristic enhancements to overcome their disability, such as replacing missing or defective limbs with super-strong Powered Armor or cybernetic parts."

- tvtropes.org</blockquote>

Overall, this was a really good book and I enjoyed it very much. I'm giving this
5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

libbyapp.com

Content Warnings

rubybastille's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

I would never have thought anyone could pull off blending elements of imperial China with sci-fi mecha warfare and Hunger Games-esque media manipulation, not to mention a dazzling love triangle (*not* the kind you’re thinking of), but this book DOES IT. Zetian, who has bound feet and a limited education because of her patriarchal society, enlists in the fight against alien invaders in order to get revenge on the male pilot who murdered her sister.

That gets accomplished almost immediately. After that, it’s Zetian unleashing potential she never thought she had, plotting to overturn the pilot system and possibly the entire government, and piloting a majestic mecha to new heights while she’s at it. She does it with the help of equally mistreated male pilot Shimin and media scion Yizhi, possibly the only decent males in the entire world.

Zetian starts off already overflowing with cutthroat, righteous anger, and she shaves away any and all traces of kindness or compassion as the book progresses. YMMV on how much you enjoy a protagonist like that. For the most part, Zetian is easy to root for, but I get the feeling the second book will be a very different Zetian.

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