A review by bookwormenthusiast
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

adventurous 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

5.0

I have so many thoughts about this book and most of them are about how in love I am with it. It's been so long since I couldn't put a book down or been so eager to keep reading. The writing of this book is phenomenal. Even though it's YA, the writing feels more adult and is one of my favorite writing styles that I've come across. I'm also absolutely in love with all of the characters (although Zetian really got on my nerves sometimes), so you can understand how thrilled I was with the relationship that formed. I feel like I'm going to be recommending this book for a while, and it's probably on my list of top books now. If you love sci-fi and dystopian-esque novels, then you should definitely give this a read (don't let the YA rating prevent you from reading it, it barely gives off the YA vibe). My one complaint was that it felt like there were a couple of things that weren't fully explained (though they were significant enough that they'll probably be mentioned in the second book). It's not like they were simply brought up once, they were referenced a couple of times which leads me to believe that it's not the last time we'll hear about it. Overall, the hype for this book is definitely worth it and I would love to be able to read it again for the first time.
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