Iron Widow (Book 1)

Wow… this is everything you could want from a science fiction novel.A must-read, brilliant story of feminine rage, robotic symbiotic chrysalises, epic battles, social commentary, incredible world building and questions about humanity and its role in evolution, destruction and survival (nature vs science vs humans). I loved every second of this book. If you love a good, thought provoking, message driven, character based novel then you have to read this one immediately.Zetian is the hero and the driving force behind this story. She is anger personified and I love her so much! She is forced by society and cultural norms into a subservient role and breaks free from those expectations in a spectacularly violent fashion. She is a woman who takes no prisoners and fights for her beliefs with a no-holding back glorious viciousness that is a joy to read.Beautifully written and a breathtakingly honest, this is a heartfelt story.I flew through the novel but also dwelled on every page. There are some brilliantly written lines and parts that took my breath away.This book is violent, brutal, thought-provoking, and the best of all that science fiction has to offer. It is part one of a duology and I cannot wait to see how it ends. Honestly, all the reviews I have read give it justice and put it so much better than I can. If you love scifi – read this one.

Gripping, vivid and poignant.This book was a whirlwind. I picked it up, and when I set it down every last page had been turned. Wu Zetian felt real. I was a little worried that she'd be a flat Mary Sue who was all Badassery with no heart and no weakness, and damn, was I proven wrong. From the beginning to the end we watch Wu Zetian resist the temptation to give up, we watch her take her resolve by the throat and will herself to live. Her tears were practically dripping from the pages. Greater so, felt her triumphs.But she didn't succeed alone. Li Shimin and Gao Yizhi bring out her repressed empathy in brilliant ways. Instead of losing all humanity she turns her attention to improve humanity itself, and her worldview challenged by the loyalty, empathy, and ethics that Yizhi and Shimin hold to. Their traumas and tragedy light her incandescent fury into a purifying fire that will burn.And wow, do I look forward to the inferno.

I don’t read a whole ton of sci-fy but when I do it alway fells like a magical escape and “Iron Widow” was no different.What I loved - I absolutely love the main characters. They are broken. They are angry. And it’s broken and angry characters that make the best stories.What I didn’t care for - the love triangle that everyone wins. First of all, I have hated love triangles since “Twilight”. It’s probably my least favorite trope, even more so than “surprise pregnancy” trope. And this love triangle is brought to the next level (which I didn’t care for in the least). Because I hate this trope so much it took away from the climax of all the fighting action and dragged the ending out for me. But if you like this trope this book will probably be a five star read because the writing is fabulous and the futuristic world is different from anything you have experienced.

I just want to start by saying this book is freaking amazing. It brings in elements of old school China, including the brutality of foot binding, and the way women are supposed to defer to men in all things. But it puts it all into a futuristic context. It’s like our historical China in many ways… but the author makes it clear it’s not.Before I go on you should be aware that this book is extremely dark in places, especially for YA. It’s handled very well at all times, but you should be aware there are triggering issues in the book and in my review going forward.Zetian is a young girl from a rural area. She has kept herself looking unflattering in terms of the styles of her village, specially so her parents can’t easily marry her off. She knows eventually it will happen, but she’s been avoiding it.Zetian is angry-- angry all the time and for good reason. Every step she takes is agony. She is unable to move without pain, or quickly because when she was five her family brutally broke all the bones in her feet and bound them so she would have lotus feet. This is a historical part of Chinese history.It's left her seething about the things that have been done to her because she's a girl. After her older sister is killed, her plans change. She decides to offer herself up as a Concubine pilot for a Chrysalis which is basically a death sentence, at this point she doesn’t care if she dies, but she does have a plan to take care of before that happens.Chrysalises are giant robots built from the spirit metal of the aliens who continually attack their planet. They are controlled by people with high Chi. The men are the pilots. The women are used as batteries (Iron concubines, consorts, or Princesses.) and many of them die unless they are lucky enough to find a perfect match with a male pilot so that instead of being drained of her life, they can feed each other energy.She volunteers to be a concubine for the very pilot her sister was with, and for good reason. She thinks he killed her sister—not in the normal way of draining her life to fight aliens, but murder. She can’t save herself. She can’t save her sister, but she can get revenge.A lot of the things usually used to control women don’t really work on her. Because she no longer cares if she dies, and even welcomes it. Even knowing her family can be killed if she misbehaves doesn’t work, because they did this to her. It gives her a certain amount of freedom when she is accepted into the program.During testing her chi levels are found to be very high for a woman. Not the highest ever, but higher than usual and she’s assigned Consort status, instead of concubine. The pilot chooses her immediately from among the volunteers, which is what she wanted. From there things move quickly.She finds out that the world isn’t what she thought it was. It’s even worse. I’m trying not to include too many spoilers here, but I’d like to mention a few quick points.I identified with her emotions. That feeling of being trapped by the demands of people around you. The unfairness of it all. I understood her constant seething rage.The way they evaded the typical YA love triangle was AMAZING, perfect, and exactly where I hoped it would go.The ending twists took me by surprise, but in a good way. I didn’t find it predictable until it happened end then it made sense.I binged through this and didn't want to put it down. It's unique and brilliant but feels like it’s grounded in real world history and issues.

This is one of the most refreshing sci-fi books I've read in a long time. The characterizations of all the characters are consistent with fantastic bits of growth scattered throughout.This book had me cheering, laughing, and crying along with Wu Zetian. 10/10. I couldn't put this book down.

The media could not be loaded.  a história é muito boa e impactante, estou no aguardo para a sequência. o livro é muito bonito e de um tamanho bom.único ponto que tenho a comentar é que ele veio sem plástico, por isso tem umas manchinhas pequenas nas bordas de cima das páginas.a entrega ocorreu dentro do prazo.

Hice la compra un viernes y decía que tardaría 5 días pero solo tardó 3 días en llegar. Entrega rápida. No sufrió daño en el envió, estaba en una bolsa de papel burbuja. Buena calidad de hojas, impresión y empastado. Resistente al abrirlo y no se daña el lomo. En mi opinión creo la impresión del texto desperdicia mucho espacio en la hoja por los margenes amplios pero la calidad es buena. Si recomiendo comprarlo por aqui.

I actually borrowed a copy from the library to read first. But I loved this book so much I had to own a copy of my own and ordered it asap.Usually I am not that keen on YA novels, or first person pov. But this one felt like everything I always wished for in a YA novel. The characters are interesting and compelling, the world building is intriguing and I keep wanting to know more but what we do get still leaves me satisfied with the plot and characters. The mental imagery I got from reading was vivid and colourful.I also loved what felt like a fresh take on the love triangle and romantic resolution.There was a twist at the end I loved but also felt like it made complete sense.

This was a very fun book to read. Wu Zetian is a badass who takes no prisoners and gives little mercy, and she makes for a very compelling and fun main character. There is a fair bit of violence in the book, but quite a lot of it is very much cathartic in nature. And when it isn't, it still serves a purpose, whether in storytelling, world building, or character development. And the lack of a messy tangled disaster that the term "love triangle" usually conjures to the mind, and triangles in the romantic department here are very much sturdy and strong with all three sides. Which is extremely refreshing.I am looking forward to Wu Zetian's continued journey in Heavenly Tyrant when that releases. I am excited to learn if she will achieve the same lofty title of Emperor as her real world historical counterpart, and how she will go about this in a world that is determined to tear her down.All in all a good read. I would recommend it to anyone who is fed up of the messy love triangle trope, likes some powerful mech action and political manouvering, enjoys ruthless and driven main characters, and isn't afraid of a little bit if violence.

I love it, the writing is engaging, dynamic and just sucks you into this world.The protagonist is relatably infuriated with the world and has believable growth.Cannot wait for the next book