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A review by booksonawednesday
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I was really hooked for the first 40%ish of this book, and then felt more and more let down the more that I read.
The concept of The Handmaid’s Tale-esque world mixed with sci-fi and giant robots controlled by humans sounds interesting - and it was! But, ultimately, the feminist themes got weaker (were there any other notable female characters aside from Zetian? Did Zetian achieve any of her aims of saving young girls? Maybe the next book will be more promising).
I also had a big problem visualising the battle scenes for some reason. I ended up just not gelling with the magic system and the world setting as a whole.
I liked the polyamorous romance and bisexual rep, and Yizhi was a cool character. I am sort of intrigued to read the next book, but I’ll look at the reviews.
The concept of The Handmaid’s Tale-esque world mixed with sci-fi and giant robots controlled by humans sounds interesting - and it was! But, ultimately, the feminist themes got weaker (were there any other notable female characters aside from Zetian? Did Zetian achieve any of her aims of saving young girls? Maybe the next book will be more promising).
I also had a big problem visualising the battle scenes for some reason. I ended up just not gelling with the magic system and the world setting as a whole.
I liked the polyamorous romance and bisexual rep, and Yizhi was a cool character. I am sort of intrigued to read the next book, but I’ll look at the reviews.