A review by takarakei
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The concept and world building is the best part of this book. The world is fascinating - the way qi is used, the Chinese culture is thoroughly infused (even though this is very sci-fi futuristic).  Unfortunately I didn't feel like this lived up to my expectations. Our main character Zetian is extremely morally gray and not in like a "I'm rooting for this person" kind of way. I really thought there would be a lot more critique or eschewing of gender roles (I actually thought the MC would be nonbinary or trans). Zetian does almost constantly talk about how women are poorly treated, how there are many contradictions between how women are expected to behave, how generally patriarchal cultures are crap. However, I didn't feel as though Zetian was 'in community' with her fellow women. Instead she actually just blatantly disregards them all. 
Apparently this was openly marketed as a
polycule
book I seem to have missed that marketing, so the romance just gave me whiplash until it finally clicked what was going on.

Because I really enjoyed the world, I will continue the series because I hope that there can be some actual character development in the next book(s).
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