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A review by minzzi
Viúva de Ferro by Xiran Jay Zhao
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I liked this book, but not as much as I thought I would.
I liked the main cast, even thou they weren't the most well developed in the world. I love characters that are evil or assholes and following their journey into rage, cruelty and ruthlessness was so much fun. I hope with all my heart that Zetian goes full tyrant in the next book.
The polyamorous romance was also very intertaning and unique. A bold choice in a world of half baked love triangles. But, just like the characters, the relationship between then also deserved more development.
The discussion on institutionalized sexism was engaging and realistic, but not as in depth as i wanted for a book that has the topic of desmanteling the patriarchy as one of its core messages.
The biggest problem in this book by far was the world building and magic system. The premise was original and compelling, but the lack of action breaks to explain how everything worked stopped me from getting fully emersed In the scenes. The author almost always explains things imeditaly before they happen, stoping battle sequences to tell us how some kind of magical property works, rindering the smooth progress of the story.
Talking about smooth progress, the last 100 or so pages? Wow, amazing, could not put the book down! The first two thirds of the book? The passing is all over the place, it's crazy. There are many moments were we are only told that things happened when we should have seen then happening and some weird time jumps that made it difficult to grasp how much time passed between the begging and the end of the book.
In conclusion, it's a good and fun YA read with some good discussion on institutionalized sexism, but it lacks depth and development of characters and of the world.
I liked the main cast, even thou they weren't the most well developed in the world. I love characters that are evil or assholes and following their journey into rage, cruelty and ruthlessness was so much fun. I hope with all my heart that Zetian goes full tyrant in the next book.
The polyamorous romance was also very intertaning and unique. A bold choice in a world of half baked love triangles. But, just like the characters, the relationship between then also deserved more development.
The discussion on institutionalized sexism was engaging and realistic, but not as in depth as i wanted for a book that has the topic of desmanteling the patriarchy as one of its core messages.
The biggest problem in this book by far was the world building and magic system. The premise was original and compelling, but the lack of action breaks to explain how everything worked stopped me from getting fully emersed In the scenes. The author almost always explains things imeditaly before they happen, stoping battle sequences to tell us how some kind of magical property works, rindering the smooth progress of the story.
Talking about smooth progress, the last 100 or so pages? Wow, amazing, could not put the book down! The first two thirds of the book? The passing is all over the place, it's crazy. There are many moments were we are only told that things happened when we should have seen then happening and some weird time jumps that made it difficult to grasp how much time passed between the begging and the end of the book.
In conclusion, it's a good and fun YA read with some good discussion on institutionalized sexism, but it lacks depth and development of characters and of the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Misogyny, Torture, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcoholism, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent