A review by beesreadingshelf
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

adventurous emotional lighthearted tense medium-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

I have had Iron Widow on my TBR for the longest time and I am so glad that I finally picked it up.

From the very first page, I was absolutely hooked.

Iron Widow follows Zetian who lives in a world that is lives under attack by alien creatures known as Hunduns. In this world, women only have two choices in life. They either be married off with no choice on who they’re marrying or they volunteer to be concubine co-pilots of the giant Chrysalis robots, that are created by the harvested parts of defeated Hunduns to protect and defend humanity against them. Zetian is set on following through on her mission to assassinate the man responsible for the death of her sister. She enlists as a concubine to avenge her sister and is determined to destroy the Chrysalis system and its dependency on the sacrifice of female pilots.

I tried my hardest to go into this book completely blind and surprisingly, I was successful. All I knew as I started the first page was this book was queer. All I knew was that.

Did I know there were robots? Absolutely not.

Was it a welcomed surprise? Absolutely Yes.

This might be a funny comparison for a moment but as someone who loved the transformer movies and has had them as a hyperfixation for years, I became so giddy when I saw that there were robots included in any type of way.

The fact that the characters were bisexual and they were polygamous…. When I tell you I screamed and scared my dog in the process, I mean it.

This book is in a league of its own and I truly don’t think I have ever read anything quite like it. The world building is phenomenal and it’s one that I would love to continue to become lost in. It’s a book that you can read and forget how long you’ve actually been reading. 

Zetian is such a fantastic main protagonist and one that you can’t help but root for. I will always support women's rights and wrongs. Her ferocity and strength actually made me reminisce about Fang Runin from The Poppy War Trilogy. I love my girl Rin and I’m happy to add Zetian to my list of favourites.

I am so excited to pick up the second book and get immersed in this world and characters once again.