Review: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Author: Xiran Jay Zhao
Edition: eARC
Publisher: Penguin Teen (September 21, 2021)
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Synopsis
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
My review of Iron Widow
Iron Widow is an explosive feminist YA fantasy filled with action and heart that ultimately didn’t quite deliver what I hoped for.
Trigger Warnings: violence, murder, femicide, misogyny, mentions of needles, suicide ideation, discussion and references to sexual assault (no on-page depictions), alcohol addiction, foot binding
I received a free digital eARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review
An Intriguing World
The world-building in Iron Widow had me hooked from page one. The way Xiran Jay Zhao manages to weave together Chinese history and mythology with futuristic elements is incredible! Huaxia is brimming with life and I immediately had a billion questions. It is also a deeply disturbing world in many ways. The society is patriarchal and incredibly misogynistic, and there are strong themes of settler colonialism as well. Zetian sees and despises all those aspects of her world. But as a reader, it was incredibly hard not to get caught up in the shiny futuristic fun of it all.
I constantly had to check my perception to not be fooled by the exciting veneer of pilots and mechas that hides a much darker truth. This dichotomy of intriguing world-building hiding a more complex and disturbing truth is one of the biggest strengths of Iron Widow.
Not Like Other Girls
I adore Zetian. She’s fierce and ruthless and funny. In her world, she truly is not like other girls. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t play with that trope as much as I hoped. The other concubines we meet are reduced to girly-girl stereotypes and Zetian has no patience for any of them. I feel like those interactions and characterizations had a lot of potential for a more feminist narrative than we ultimately ended up getting. Even though Zetian is very much a lone wolf kind of character, I feel like her uniqueness could’ve been shown without needing to put traditional feminity down as much. This led to me honestly just getting a little tired of Zetian as a character by the end of the book.
Getting Lost Along the Way
While the first half of Iron Widow had me hooked and eager to continue, the book lost me somewhere along the way. Unfortunately, I found myself struggling to follow the plot and at times I had zero emotional investment in what was happening. Part of that is because it felt that Iron Widow (and Zetian, for that matter) was trying to do a little too much. The world-building provides numerous threads to follow. However, the author wasn’t quite able to weave them together in a satisfying and engaging way.
The writing is quick and witty and not held down by too much flowery language. However, at times I felt a stark disconnect between the fantastical aspects of the story and the very modern language used, particularly in dialogue.
Overall…
Iron Widow was an enjoyable read in the first half but ended up being a little disappointing for me. It didn’t deliver what I hoped for! Despite loving the characters (and our little polyamorous love triangle!) in the first half, finishing this book was a slog and I’m disappointed I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
This book is for you if…
…you like innovative YA fantasy and sci-fi with strong female characters
…you are looking for a book that’s exciting and fast-paced
A post you might also enjoy: My Review of Bluebird
4 Comments
Celeste | A Literary Escape
Though I do still want to read this, your review isn’t the first I’ve seen to say similar things about the plot lines and mild disappointment. Sorry to see you didn’t enjoy it as much as you hoped!
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Karla
Thank you for this wonderfully written as usual!! And thank you for highlighting the elements that disappointed you because I hav had my eyes on this book for the longest time and it will help me managing my expectations 😅
Kal @ Reader Voracious
I’m still super excited to eventually read this but bummer to see the pacing is a little off. I am one who would prefer a slow start with an explosive ending rather than a strong start that winds up disappointing. Expectations are definitely managed, thank you for the great review!