A review by fossilreads
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

5.0

"But I don’t care how indebted I am to the elders or the gods. If they don’t respect me because I’m the “wrong” half of the population, I’m not respecting them back.”

This was my third time reading this book and it's still holding up at the top of my favorite books. I re-read this to prepare for Heavenly Tyrant and as someone else put it so accurately: Iron Widow = f around, Heavenly Tyrant = find out.

Every time different parts speak to me in a new way. Previously it was the fiery feminine rage, this time it was Zetian's family relationship. The way she was desperate for them to show even a slight reason to feel for them. The feelings towards family are incredibly complex and I truly relate to that. Wishing to have a reason to love them and care for them, because 'they're your family' but struggling to find it.

The world is similar enough to our own that it feels easy for me to imagine it but different enough to keep it even more interesting. The spirit metal and chrysalises took a little extra thought for me to figure out, but I absolutely love them. There are some things left slightly unclear since we're learning about everything WITH Zetian, but most of these are well answered in the sequel.

Shimin and Yizhi tho <333333