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A review by joy_achill
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
4.0
People love to fluctuate between loudly demanding 'complex female characters' and fucking hating every complex female character they get anywhere ever.
Many authors, unfortunately, fall for the clamouring, making their female protagonists heartless femme fatals whose only personality trait is a sex drive and brooding over the nameless NPCs they wipe out along the way. I'm so very happy to report that Xiran Jay Zhao DID NOT take the bait.
If the marketing of this book confused you as much as it confused me - no, Zetian is not a mindless girlboss who 'kills her way to the top'. Her reactions are always justified and rarely disproportionate to the situation. If anything, I'd say most girls I know would react similarly to the circumstances she's in.
Or maybe that's just a desensitised fantasy reader's relief at not having to wade through pages of "OH... WHAT HAVE I DONE!?!?!?! HOW COULD I?????"
Zetian could because she's determined, angry and has nothing to lose. This is a good, consistent character build that pairs wonderfully with the whirlwind pacing throwing her from dire situation into dire situation into various boys' arms.
She is also funny as hell. Not something I saw coming based on the marketing but very pleasant nonetheless!
I've seen people complain that the world building in Iron Widow is weak. I would have to agree. That, the actual hierarchal structure of Huaxia's leadership and the commentary on sexism are, at best, explained sporadically and at worst, an on-the-nose afterthought.
But people who get hung up on this miss the fact that worldbuilding and set-dressing isn't what this book is built on. Iron Widow is a book about the Iron Widow. It's a story about a girl who goes "This sucks and I'm going to kill someone about it". And then she does. Banger.
Who cares if it's explicit? Who cares if Zetian's feelings about her and other girls' subjugation are raw and blunt and spelled-out? Girls' feelings about their subjugation are often raw and blunt. It's just that in real life, it's considerably more difficult to spell them out to someone who will listen. The story keeps going because of her emotions and actions and no amount of flourish in the backdrop could have significantly improved it, in my honest opinion.
Is it a feminist manifesto? Maybe not. Does it have a setting to rival George RR Martin and Brandon Sanderson? Maybe not. Does it have a FUCKING MAP anywhere? My version certainly didn't.
But that doesn't matter, because Iron Widow is banking on its greatest strengths instead - good old female rage, big fat mechs hitting stuff and a fulfilling romance.
That last bit is hard for me to judge, I'll admit. I'm not a romance aah connoisseur. I usually struggle to tolerate romantic (sub-)plots in whatever I read and I have very rarely caught myself enjoying them. i swear to god... Iron Widow was such a relief.
Without giving too much away, the factor that makes the equation of unnecessary and stupid problems in YA happen has fallen away, leaving the reader with joy and a kind of Chaotic Good tension whenever the boys are on page. They're tropey but not stereotypical, strongly characterised but not over the top.
And for you Spice Girls out there, don't worry - that doesn't mean they don't get it on. I know what you want, you filthy animals. And mother feeds us well with this one (within the bounds of YA)
A genuinely fun action adventure with subtle scifi fantasy elements. If you're like me, you will breeze through it.
And you will take note of the fact that Xiran Jay Zhao's writing skill happens to match their great courage, which continues to inspire.
Many authors, unfortunately, fall for the clamouring, making their female protagonists heartless femme fatals whose only personality trait is a sex drive and brooding over the nameless NPCs they wipe out along the way. I'm so very happy to report that Xiran Jay Zhao DID NOT take the bait.
If the marketing of this book confused you as much as it confused me - no, Zetian is not a mindless girlboss who 'kills her way to the top'. Her reactions are always justified and rarely disproportionate to the situation. If anything, I'd say most girls I know would react similarly to the circumstances she's in.
Or maybe that's just a desensitised fantasy reader's relief at not having to wade through pages of "OH... WHAT HAVE I DONE!?!?!?! HOW COULD I?????"
Zetian could because she's determined, angry and has nothing to lose. This is a good, consistent character build that pairs wonderfully with the whirlwind pacing throwing her from dire situation into dire situation into various boys' arms.
She is also funny as hell. Not something I saw coming based on the marketing but very pleasant nonetheless!
I've seen people complain that the world building in Iron Widow is weak. I would have to agree. That, the actual hierarchal structure of Huaxia's leadership and the commentary on sexism are, at best, explained sporadically and at worst, an on-the-nose afterthought.
But people who get hung up on this miss the fact that worldbuilding and set-dressing isn't what this book is built on. Iron Widow is a book about the Iron Widow. It's a story about a girl who goes "This sucks and I'm going to kill someone about it". And then she does. Banger.
Who cares if it's explicit? Who cares if Zetian's feelings about her and other girls' subjugation are raw and blunt and spelled-out? Girls' feelings about their subjugation are often raw and blunt. It's just that in real life, it's considerably more difficult to spell them out to someone who will listen. The story keeps going because of her emotions and actions and no amount of flourish in the backdrop could have significantly improved it, in my honest opinion.
Is it a feminist manifesto? Maybe not. Does it have a setting to rival George RR Martin and Brandon Sanderson? Maybe not. Does it have a FUCKING MAP anywhere? My version certainly didn't.
But that doesn't matter, because Iron Widow is banking on its greatest strengths instead - good old female rage, big fat mechs hitting stuff and a fulfilling romance.
That last bit is hard for me to judge, I'll admit. I'm not a romance aah connoisseur. I usually struggle to tolerate romantic (sub-)plots in whatever I read and I have very rarely caught myself enjoying them. i swear to god... Iron Widow was such a relief.
Without giving too much away, the factor that makes the equation of unnecessary and stupid problems in YA happen has fallen away, leaving the reader with joy and a kind of Chaotic Good tension whenever the boys are on page. They're tropey but not stereotypical, strongly characterised but not over the top.
And for you Spice Girls out there, don't worry - that doesn't mean they don't get it on. I know what you want, you filthy animals. And mother feeds us well with this one (within the bounds of YA)
A genuinely fun action adventure with subtle scifi fantasy elements. If you're like me, you will breeze through it.
And you will take note of the fact that Xiran Jay Zhao's writing skill happens to match their great courage, which continues to inspire.