A review by mlllll
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

adventurous dark mysterious relaxing sad 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? No

4.25

I really enjoyed The Iron Widow. It was compelling enough to keep me entertained as a reader throughout the story and to entice me enough to read the sequel. I do think the latter half of the book is a bit rushed.

Someone else wrote how the writer didn't add any measurements of time so it's hard to fall in love with the relationships portrayed because you don't know how slow or fast they developed and I do agree with that criticism. If time measurements would have been given, it would have helped make the relationships more believable.

That said, Zhao manages to create really loveable characters who you want to root for even though they aren't the most morally just ones and as someone who usually sticks to the morally white ones, it was interesting to see how I loved the characters that weren't morally white.

 
Lastly, Zhao created an amazing love triangle, honestly. One that developed very naturally and, in my opinion, wasn't written in a fetishizing way, which is often the case when polyamory is involved, unfortunately. This was also the first YA novel or novel in general that I read that included a poly throuple because it's still really underrepresented, so a shout-out to the Zhao for including that as well. 


So all in all, this wasn't a perfect book but I did really enjoy the romance aspect of it, which I never in a million years thought I'd say about a "love triangle" cuz I hate those. The latter part was a bit too rushed but overall I loved, loved, loved the enormous fury that the main protagonist has. Is it a healthy way to cope ... I'll leave that  up to interpretation but as a woman, her fury is so recognizable. It's this all-consuming feeling sometimes that always has to be kept under lock and key but she lets it out instead. And I freaking loved it. 
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