A review by incrediblefran
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

I really wanted to like this book. The premise is really fun, and in theory it has a lot of things I love (mechas! Angry women raging against the machine! Queer love! Alternate Imperial China!), so I went into it with pretty high hopes.

Unfortunately I found everything past the initial set-up deeply disappointing. It’s superficial and clumsy in its handling of its themes, lacks necessary character development and worldbuilding, and relies heavily on exposition in place of deeper storytelling. 

Zetian is a deeply unlikable protagonist (not in itself a problem – I’ve enjoyed a lot of difficult, unlikable protagonists, especially female ones) who lacks all nuance. The book’s feminist credentials have to be in question with a protagonist who despises or dismisses every other woman she meets (and is proven right – if this is meant to be an unreliable narrator detail it doesn’t work, as we don’t meet a single sympathetic or complex woman). Zetian rails against the misogyny of her world, but never seems to consider that other women, like her mother who Zetian hates and sneers at, are in fact victims of this world. The only woman she has a positive relationship with is her big sister, who is dead at the start of the book and whose death propels Zetian into action. But we learn nothing about this woman, nothing about her relationship with Zetian, beyond the fact that she once existed. 

The laudable effort to include a polyamorous romance also falls flat; the two male characters both exist to prop up Zetian (one has an interesting backstory, but nothing is done with this), and don’t really have their own motivations. The relationship between Shimin and Yizhi is almost entirely off-page, with only vague suggestions that they might be attracted to one another. There is no attention given to this side of the relationship, and after the two boys kiss (following getting Zetian’s approval) the entire relationship falls by the wayside, never to be mentioned again. A deeply disappointing romance.

The worldbuilding is shallow, everything is told to us rather than shown. A story about mecha fights that involves psychically linking with a fellow pilot should have some really interesting worldbuilding, but I found myself filling a lot of gaps with knowledge from mecha anime. The book is allegedly inspired by the historical Empress Wu, but I would much rather read a book about her life.