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A review by sreddous
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
WOAH. This is some powerful, scary, super engaging stuff.
The first 1/3 is paced PERFECTLY. I blew through it fast because I was SO drawn in to the world and so anxious and so immersed in everything. The stakes are always high and terrifying. The way that the magic is described to us I also found to be well-paced and natural as the story went on. The romances might have been a liiiiittle rushed, BUT given everything these characters went through, I enjoyed them just fine and found them to be realistic enough. I am a SUCKER for all the communication and speaking out about wants and needs and boundaries too. Great stuff here!!!!!!!!
Overall though, a few things stopped this from being quite as good as it could have been, in my opinion: I think a little too often we lost the "we're doing this to save the girls who die!" plot. There's a point more than 2/3rds of the way in where Zetian rather suddenly realizes there might be a scandal, and that's what kicks off pretty much the wrapping-up of the plot -- where'd that come from? I feel like sometimes nearing the middle and the end, there wasn't enough buildup to some of the hard-hitting plot points, which is a shame because the first 1/3 of the book was SO ELECTRIFYING. The final battle stuff was a bit too fast since a lot of super interesting secrets were revealed, and I think if some of the stuff with the rich dad and such was cut in the middle, we would have had more room for stuff that was way more hard-hitting.
Additionally, we never really meet any of those girls -- even the sister just feels like a tool instead of any actual, fleshed-out people, and so it starts to feel too close to the "woman dies offscreen which inspires Hero to go on Their Journey" trope. It's a little jarring that in a book so centered on womens' suffering, Zetian only exchanges words with pretty much five other women in the entire book: two of them are just outright catty and mean and competitive with her because they're jealous that men like her, two of them are her mother and grandmother who are just as stuck in their traditions as anyone else, and the one who is kind to her isn't all she seems to be (without spoiling too much, not in a way that I thought actually led to a diverse cast of women with many valuable strengths and perspectives).
Still, this is super. freaking. cool. It's bold and brave and awesome. I feel like this book will give people an OUTLET to be angry, and that's pretty dang valuable. Definitely interested in anything else this author writes.
(Content warning: body horror, mentions of sexual violence, substance abuse)
The first 1/3 is paced PERFECTLY. I blew through it fast because I was SO drawn in to the world and so anxious and so immersed in everything. The stakes are always high and terrifying. The way that the magic is described to us I also found to be well-paced and natural as the story went on. The romances might have been a liiiiittle rushed, BUT given everything these characters went through, I enjoyed them just fine and found them to be realistic enough. I am a SUCKER for all the communication and speaking out about wants and needs and boundaries too. Great stuff here!!!!!!!!
Overall though, a few things stopped this from being quite as good as it could have been, in my opinion: I think a little too often we lost the "we're doing this to save the girls who die!" plot. There's a point more than 2/3rds of the way in where Zetian rather suddenly realizes there might be a scandal, and that's what kicks off pretty much the wrapping-up of the plot -- where'd that come from? I feel like sometimes nearing the middle and the end, there wasn't enough buildup to some of the hard-hitting plot points, which is a shame because the first 1/3 of the book was SO ELECTRIFYING. The final battle stuff was a bit too fast since a lot of super interesting secrets were revealed, and I think if some of the stuff with the rich dad and such was cut in the middle, we would have had more room for stuff that was way more hard-hitting.
Additionally, we never really meet any of those girls -- even the sister just feels like a tool instead of any actual, fleshed-out people, and so it starts to feel too close to the "woman dies offscreen which inspires Hero to go on Their Journey" trope. It's a little jarring that in a book so centered on womens' suffering, Zetian only exchanges words with pretty much five other women in the entire book: two of them are just outright catty and mean and competitive with her because they're jealous that men like her, two of them are her mother and grandmother who are just as stuck in their traditions as anyone else, and the one who is kind to her isn't all she seems to be (without spoiling too much, not in a way that I thought actually led to a diverse cast of women with many valuable strengths and perspectives).
Still, this is super. freaking. cool. It's bold and brave and awesome. I feel like this book will give people an OUTLET to be angry, and that's pretty dang valuable. Definitely interested in anything else this author writes.
(Content warning: body horror, mentions of sexual violence, substance abuse)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Drug use
Minor: Sexual violence