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A review by k_anipines
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
this was not very good and i really thought i would love it.
to start out, the characters are half-baked. our second love interest and deuteragonist shimin never felt like more than a tragic backstory. at first i quite liked yizhi, the primary love interest, but he was never developed past his surface, with hints of a dark past and depths substituting any real discussion on what happened to him and why. zetian was a bit too self-important, and the reasoning behind her liberal views was murky. why didn't she turn out as conservative as everyone around? there was no exploration for why this is, despite it being a main plot point. it felt as though the author was trying a little too hard to make her a badass girlboss who's always correct and justified.
to start out, the characters are half-baked. our second love interest and deuteragonist shimin never felt like more than a tragic backstory. at first i quite liked yizhi, the primary love interest, but he was never developed past his surface, with hints of a dark past and depths substituting any real discussion on what happened to him and why. zetian was a bit too self-important, and the reasoning behind her liberal views was murky. why didn't she turn out as conservative as everyone around? there was no exploration for why this is, despite it being a main plot point. it felt as though the author was trying a little too hard to make her a badass girlboss who's always correct and justified.
(minor point, but- i also can't help but roll my eyes at how the only thing she needed all along to be traditionally beautiful was an eyebrow pluck. ya authors really are so afraid of making their protagonists ugly, or even just unconventionally pretty.)
my favorite was quielo, personally, because I found her unapologetic nature and legitimate wit much more charming than whatever zetian had going on.
due to my opinions on the characters, the romance was similarly underwhelming, even though I was looking forward to this subversion of the ya love triangle. all three romances getting together in the span of one book was certainly... a choice. yizhi x zetian had too little buildup and not enough yearning for me to feel any strong feelings about them. zetian x shimin was just an endless trauma dump, and the author seemed quite determined to skip all the scenes of them actually bonding. yizhi x shimin was so underdeveloped it was a little sad, with each respective boy getting one scene to openly admire the other until they were kissing. all couples lacked a lot of chemistry, leaving me majorly bored by their interactions.
it wasn’t all bad though; the plot and world-building were my favorite parts. the chinese-inspired sci-fi pacific-rim style concept was great, and i appreciate the research on history that went into this book. i found myself really intrigued by what was happening with the chrysalises and the hunduns and the complexities of piloting. the final plot twists, while predictable, set up a lot of interesting ideas to explore for the sequel. events did feel a bit all over the place at times and the book had trouble deciding what it wanted to focus on, but it didn't bother me too much.
the writing style was nothing special, a bit worse than the average ya. pacing was a bit too fast at parts, but nothing unbearable.
but let's dive into what i found truly bad about this book: the messaging. don't get me wrong, i love girl bosses who don't mind getting their hands dirty as much as the next person. but this book really missed the mark on what it was trying to accomplish.
the inciting incident in this book was the death of zetian's big sister, but she was nothing more than a plot device with no depth or personality, not even a single memorable scene of her doing anything. thus, her being being so important to zetian’s descions felt almost underserved and definitely underwhelming. zetian's other female relationships were with her toxic mother (who she kills for being a product of her surroundings), and her friend, xiuying (who she kills for wanting to protect her children), and quielo (who she dislikes for being rude). the only girls she shows sympathy towards are herself and faceless ones she doesn't know, leaving her 'feminism' very shallow.
the fact that zetian is almost always painted as correct is a problem, because I'd rather her feel emotions and regret and her being wrong as much as any other character, instead of elevating her to this person who can do no wrong in the eyes of the narrative and her love interests. she's a morally grey person. that's the point, and I don't have a problem with that. fiction doesn't owe anyone morality as far as I'm concerned. but I found her ruthlessness and overall ideals very tiring and hypocritical by the end. the key to doing a morally grey character like this is to make them relatable and likable despite their flaws, and I really lost my patience with zetian as the novel continued.
tldr: it was a really interesting concept with great ideas on world-building and some genuinely intriguing plot developments, but ultimately it missed the mark with it's characters and themes.
my favorite was quielo, personally, because I found her unapologetic nature and legitimate wit much more charming than whatever zetian had going on.
due to my opinions on the characters, the romance was similarly underwhelming, even though I was looking forward to this subversion of the ya love triangle. all three romances getting together in the span of one book was certainly... a choice. yizhi x zetian had too little buildup and not enough yearning for me to feel any strong feelings about them. zetian x shimin was just an endless trauma dump, and the author seemed quite determined to skip all the scenes of them actually bonding. yizhi x shimin was so underdeveloped it was a little sad, with each respective boy getting one scene to openly admire the other until they were kissing. all couples lacked a lot of chemistry, leaving me majorly bored by their interactions.
it wasn’t all bad though; the plot and world-building were my favorite parts. the chinese-inspired sci-fi pacific-rim style concept was great, and i appreciate the research on history that went into this book. i found myself really intrigued by what was happening with the chrysalises and the hunduns and the complexities of piloting. the final plot twists, while predictable, set up a lot of interesting ideas to explore for the sequel. events did feel a bit all over the place at times and the book had trouble deciding what it wanted to focus on, but it didn't bother me too much.
the writing style was nothing special, a bit worse than the average ya. pacing was a bit too fast at parts, but nothing unbearable.
but let's dive into what i found truly bad about this book: the messaging. don't get me wrong, i love girl bosses who don't mind getting their hands dirty as much as the next person. but this book really missed the mark on what it was trying to accomplish.
the inciting incident in this book was the death of zetian's big sister, but she was nothing more than a plot device with no depth or personality, not even a single memorable scene of her doing anything. thus, her being being so important to zetian’s descions felt almost underserved and definitely underwhelming. zetian's other female relationships were with her toxic mother (who she kills for being a product of her surroundings), and her friend, xiuying (who she kills for wanting to protect her children), and quielo (who she dislikes for being rude). the only girls she shows sympathy towards are herself and faceless ones she doesn't know, leaving her 'feminism' very shallow.
the fact that zetian is almost always painted as correct is a problem, because I'd rather her feel emotions and regret and her being wrong as much as any other character, instead of elevating her to this person who can do no wrong in the eyes of the narrative and her love interests. she's a morally grey person. that's the point, and I don't have a problem with that. fiction doesn't owe anyone morality as far as I'm concerned. but I found her ruthlessness and overall ideals very tiring and hypocritical by the end. the key to doing a morally grey character like this is to make them relatable and likable despite their flaws, and I really lost my patience with zetian as the novel continued.
tldr: it was a really interesting concept with great ideas on world-building and some genuinely intriguing plot developments, but ultimately it missed the mark with it's characters and themes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Torture
Moderate: War
Minor: Body horror, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts