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A review by flowerwineandbooks
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
Those last 50 pages were SO stressful!
WOW this is the most original story I have read in at least a decade. Zhao took some parts of Chinese history and reshaped them to serve their story (LOVED the nod to the terracotta soldiers!) but this is not a retelling.
I had so much fun learning about the world through the eyes of Zetian, (who has unlikable main character vibes, but I liked her and she wouldn't care who likes her or not anyway) who is full of so much rage.
Li Shimin - my beloved. From his first moment on page I knew he'd be my favorite character.
Poly and disability representation that I've heard from both communities is done well.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
<blockquote>I hate the way I've contorted myself into what people think a girl should be, ready to please, ready to serve.
Yet I love the power it's given me, a power that lies in being underestimated, in wearing assumptions as a disguise.</blockquote>
<blockquote>I <i>am</i> the force that quakes the earth.</blockquote>
<blockquote>I imagine the struggles that went down in the air around me. The voices that refused to be silenced, the hands that refused to be bound, the spirits that refused to be broken....It's hilarious. Men want us so badly for our bodies, yet hate us so much for our minds.</blockquote>
<blockquote>"So what am I supposed to do?"
"Your worst, of course."
....
"<i> Be their nightmare, Wu Zetian.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote>It was my grandmother who crushed my feet in half....
How do you take the fight out of half the population and render them willing slaves? You tell them they're meant to do nothing but serve from the minute they're born. You tell them they're weak. You tell them they're prey.
You tell them over and over, until it's the only truth they're capable of living. </blockquote>
<blockquote>Shame. That was their favorite tool. A tool to corrode me from the inside until I believed I could only accept whatever lot they threw at my bound feet.
It didn't work.
Despite their best efforts, I find myself worthy of happiness. </blockquote>
<blockquote>Dread hollows through me. We spend so much effort living these lives, yet every trace of their substance and meaning can be erased so quickly. So easily. </blockquote>
WOW this is the most original story I have read in at least a decade. Zhao took some parts of Chinese history and reshaped them to serve their story (LOVED the nod to the terracotta soldiers!) but this is not a retelling.
I had so much fun learning about the world through the eyes of Zetian, (who has unlikable main character vibes, but I liked her and she wouldn't care who likes her or not anyway) who is full of so much rage.
Li Shimin - my beloved. From his first moment on page I knew he'd be my favorite character.
Poly and disability representation that I've heard from both communities is done well.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
<blockquote>I hate the way I've contorted myself into what people think a girl should be, ready to please, ready to serve.
Yet I love the power it's given me, a power that lies in being underestimated, in wearing assumptions as a disguise.</blockquote>
<blockquote>I <i>am</i> the force that quakes the earth.</blockquote>
<blockquote>I imagine the struggles that went down in the air around me. The voices that refused to be silenced, the hands that refused to be bound, the spirits that refused to be broken....It's hilarious. Men want us so badly for our bodies, yet hate us so much for our minds.</blockquote>
<blockquote>"So what am I supposed to do?"
"Your worst, of course."
....
"<i> Be their nightmare, Wu Zetian.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote>It was my grandmother who crushed my feet in half....
How do you take the fight out of half the population and render them willing slaves? You tell them they're meant to do nothing but serve from the minute they're born. You tell them they're weak. You tell them they're prey.
You tell them over and over, until it's the only truth they're capable of living. </blockquote>
<blockquote>Shame. That was their favorite tool. A tool to corrode me from the inside until I believed I could only accept whatever lot they threw at my bound feet.
It didn't work.
Despite their best efforts, I find myself worthy of happiness. </blockquote>
<blockquote>Dread hollows through me. We spend so much effort living these lives, yet every trace of their substance and meaning can be erased so quickly. So easily. </blockquote>