A review by hln
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

challenging dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

This was definitely an interesting one. 

  • I liked the relationship, I feel like it was well portrayed.
  • I don’t think this should be classified as YA, I think it’s too violent for that.
  • The setting was interesting, I liked how it was inspired by Chinese history.
  • The fantasy part was cool, but it was not explained how exactly it worked, how it came to be that humans started fighting in robots etc. Also, it was not well explained what exactly the “hunduns” were.
  • It was definitely a bold choice to make the main character achieve her goals with violence. While it is refreshing to have a badass female protagonist that is cruel and who does everything to get what she wants, I don’t think it was the right choice for a YA book.
  • The end, which was supposed to be the epic finale, was kind of boring to me. Everything happened very quickly, it felt of unnatural. And it was just very confusing, which is why I did not really feel for the characters.
  • The ending was interesting though, and made me want to read the second part.

All in all, this was an interesting read.
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