Iron Widow (Iron Widow, #1)

by Xiran Jay Zhao

[nannah]

(3.5?)

I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this book. It was definitely my most eagerly-anticipated read of the year, because I love Xiran Jay Zhao’s videos. In particular I’m a big fan of their organized and well-researched videos about Chinese history. And when I knew their debut, Iron Widow, would star the only female Chinese Emperor (Wu Zetian), I made sure to check out the other book about her on my to-read list first as a little intro to who she was in real life (she was very messy … but very interesting, too). Unfortunately, though there are elements that I absolutely love, I think the book suffers from an overly basic writing style that might be from a lack of experience. The good thing about that, though, is that Xiran Jay Zhao will get better from here.

Content Warnings:
- domestic abuse
- rape
- torture (shown on page)
- alcohol addiction
- sexism & misogyny & femicide
- suicidal ideation

Representation:
- the main protagonist is disabled and uses a wheelchair
- every character is Chinese (in a futuristic setting)
- the three main protagonists are bi and poly)

Huaxia, desperately trying not to lose more ground to invading aliens called Hunduns, created transforming mechas (Chrysalises) to fight back that use a yin/yang two-pilot system: one boy, one girl. But most often, girls (called concubine pilots) die from the mental strain. When her older sister dies in battle, 18yo Wu Zetian suspects foul play and offers herself up to be a concubine pilot. She kills the pilot responsible for her sister’s death through the mental link in the Chrysalis, surprising everyone, and is bestowed the title, Iron Widow. Paired now with the most feared pilot, Li Shimin, she needs to keep living through battles if she wants to find out why girls keep dying -- and to stop it from happening at all.

Okay, I’m going to talk about what I liked first and give credit to where credit is due. Refreshing the tired (and also extremely annoying) love triangle concept to make a polyamorous relationship between all three characters is everything I ever wanted. I think they all work together and balance each other out well; they’re truly a Balanced Match. It’s also perhaps the subtlest message here.

What world building there is is fantastic, too. I noticed it most near the ending, but it’s what made me stay up early into the morning to finish reading. We finally explore outside of Huaxia, and the world really enchanted me -- honestly, it gave me Princess Mononoke vibes. I wish I could explain, but then I’d have to hide this entire review for being spoilery.

The novel is also just ... cool. The transforming Chrysalises and the action scenes and just how unabashedly badass the whole book’s energy is left me exhilarated and wanting to smash the patriarchy! The cover is spot on, probably one of the few times a cover perfectly captures the feeling of what’s going on inside the book.

There’s a lot I don’t like, too.

Much of it comes back to the writing style, which is pretty rudimentary and relies way too much on telling (rather than striking any sort of balance with showing). Sometimes it gets in the way of the storytelling. The dialogue can get … painful to read, and Wu Zetian’s one liners and quips are everywhere. The more of these lines she had, the less their impact.

This book is also not subtle. At all. I think the constant in-you-face messages (even if I agree with everything said), dialogue, and explanations of everyone’s actions wore me out. Sometimes I just want to be able to draw my own conclusions from a character’s action or interpret someone’s dialogue my own way instead of the author telling me, “Ah, Zetian now understands by that glance that if she doesn’t do what he wants, she has no doubt he’ll turn against her instead …” etc.

Coming back to the writing style, a lot of the parts meant to be humorous had me physically cringing -- especially “You can’t shoot me, I’m rich!” scene and the “triangle is the strongest shape” scenes, especially the last, where Zetian physically makes a triangle with her fingers and looks through it, referencing their polyamorous relationship when they finally all get together. And in the same scene, her repeated “finally!” at that moment, when she had only just realized maybe Li Shimin thought about boys. I don’t think as much thought was given to how scenes would connect or feel with regards to timing when reading as was to the scenes themselves.

Zetian herself is also less developed and nuanced than I hoped she’d be. There are moments where she shines, like where she realizes she needs to try harder to understand other women’s situations, but she doesn’t have a whole lot of dimension outside them. I think the focus is on making her seem cool and badass more than anything -- which, in a book like this, I can see why that would be a priority. I’ll give that some credit, too.

I’m trying not to be too negative, because I didn't at all hate it! But I do also have to mention Zetian’s relationship with the other female characters, Qieluo and Xiuying. Unfortunately, in a book where Wu Zetian is meant to fight back against misogyny, she finds no friends in the women around her. They’re rude to each other, they fight over men, and ultimately, Zetian only makes allies and friends with men (the book mentions this once: “Can I really call myself a strong girl if I’m relying on two boys?” but it kind of feels like the author is writing themself out of the problem). The text mentions Zetian can’t be the only woman who feels the same way she does about living in a society as misogynistic as hers, but then does nothing with it. At the end, Wu Zetian says her weakness is someone holding girls hostage, but seconds earlier she had just destroyed part of an entire city … who does she think lives there?

The whole book sped at a breakneck pace, so if you like fast-paced books, this is the one for you. The last fourth was my favorite, and I kept reading till about 3am. The Hunduns until then were just kind of mindless attacking things, and then -- then it all comes together. And then there’s choices I just don’t understand, so I’m definitely going to have to pick up the sequel! I really look forward to seeing how Xiran Jay Zhao grows from here.