Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Title: Iron Widow
Author Name: Xiran Jay Zhao
Age Rating: Older Teen
Star Rating: ✦✦✦✦
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Futuristic
Summary:
When Wu Zetian’s sister dies at the hands of the arrogant and guiltless pilot of the Nine-Tailed Fox Mecha, she plans gruesome revenge. In a land where women are doomed to have weak spiritual power, girls are always sacrificed to power up the robots that defend the earth: Chrysalises.
These Mechas are eerily reminiscent of power rangers (oh my childhood shows!) and the anime Darling in the Franxx (which the author says is a major inspiration) where boy and girl partners are made to fight against Hunduns, little wolflike creatures that remind me of the Rifthounds from Genshin Impact.
However, I’m not sure if the Hunduns are supposed to look like that. When Zetian finally gets her revenge, the whole society goes into an uproar. Will Zetian be able to deal with her conservative society and figure out why girls always die during battle? Or will she die before she can find out?
Favorite Character:
Well, obviously Wu Zetian was my favorite! However, Yizhi came at a close second. Zetian is not only vengeful and angry, she is vicious and sly. She is ready to go the extra mile for what she wants, and she doesn’t care if her family is caught in the crossfire. (Why should she? When her own family made her sleep on a straw bed and treated her as less than an animal?)
This book opened my eyes more to the blatant sexism of the past, and the fact that many areas still display this level of discrimination against many women. I feel lucky to have a loving family, I think anyone would after reading this book.
Despite the fact that people refer to her as a temptress in a negative light, she takes it all in stride. We also see the self-imposed standards during concubine choosing, as the other prospects sneer at Zetian for being on the heavy side (or as the author would say, “she’s thicc”). Clearly, the book demonstrates how women were oppressed not only by men but also by the beauty standards that are pushed onto them and therefore accepted by them.
Storyline Development:
Dayum, the way that the author solved the love triangle isn’t much of a mystery, since the book is marketed to have a polyamorous relationship. I think that LGBTQIA representation in YA is already becoming widespread, but it’s not common to see polyamorous relationships.
For those who think poly relationships are cheating… bro, use Google! I think the author did a good job of representing poly relationships, however, it would be better to ask someone who is actually polyamorous how they felt about it.
Overall, though, the story moved at a good pace, with some parts feeling slow to accommodate romantic scenes while others were fast-paced and charged with Zetian’s anger and fear during battles. I think the story developed in unexpected directions for sure.
Worldbuilding:
The story is set in a futuristic version of Ancient China. Footbinding is still in practice. Not going to lie, before I read this book, I cluelessly thought that footbinding was when women wrapped cloth strips around their feet very tightly in order to make them smaller.
I had no idea that the feet of little girls were so gruesomely mutilated at a young age, and that (according to one of the characters): “I had a dream I was walking on daggers, but I guess that’s just your life.” Like, the amount of pain that women had to go through in Ancient China… the beauty standards… it’s honestly horrifying. Then, when I researched footbinding, I found pictures of ruined feet, with toes in weird directions.
Anyways, this book definitely taught me a lot about Chinese history and I also want to touch on one of the things I feel is important to acknowledge about sci-fi:
My Thoughts:
THE CLIFFHANGER AT THE END! Please, no god, the questions I have! I loved the book a lot since I love the author’s youtube channel as well. I’m not giving five stars solely for the fact that Li Shimin’s fate remains a mystery at the end of the novel (or perhaps I am in denial).
The dynamic between Zetian, Yizhi, and Shimin was sweet and pretty cute, and I loved seeing the gradual growth in the relationship between Zetian and Shimin. Zetian slowly went from hostile and mistrusting, to understanding, and ultimately loving Shimin.
The story also shows character development (we love to see it). Zetian understands the reasons behind other characters’ actions and apologizes for either treating him wrong or accusing him. I think this shows that Zetian acknowledges her mistakes and grows from them. In conclusion, I can’t wait for the sequel: Heavenly Tyrant!