Iron Widow

Iron Widow
Xiran Jay Zhao, 2021

Premise: When Wu Zetian finally allows her family to sell her into servitude and certain death, they don't know about her plan. All she wants is vengeance for her sister, but how far will she eventually go?

Wow. Big, big wow. I've been following this author on YouTube for months for her funny and insightful takes on Asian representation in media, so I reserved her book at the library when I heard about it. I was unsure during the first prologue chapter - by that time I'd heard only that the book had done very well. Then I hit Zetian's narration in chapter one and there was no turning back.

This book is a rocketship: holding on is terrifying, but letting go is impossible. It somehow fulfills the marketing promise of being a blend of Pacific Rim, The Handmaid's Tale, and Chinese history and mythology while being an incredibly compelling read. Like, an if-I-wasn't-a-parent-with-a-full-time-job-I-would-have-stayed-up-all-night kind of read. 

The world is amazing. The combination of elements drawn from history and science fiction completely worked for me. It's mostly a rotten future, full of both impressive technology and sexist things you might hope the human race will leave behind but fear we won't. The giant mechs, the way the tech is integrated with the society, it's all fascinating. 

The book is marketed as YA, which I think is a bit odd, and just solidifies the term for me as a marketing buzzword that means little. The protagonists are a bit older than teenagers, their problems are complex and their world is brutal. There's sex, although not much explicit description. (Apparently there was more before the author's editor told her to aim harder for YA - I want to read the longer version...) The romance is great; the characters are awesome.

I loved this crazy ride through every twist and turn. Fair warning, this is no optimistic feel-good save-the-world story, it's a scream of women's rage that turns into Zetian's mission to destroy everyone who stands between her and the power to obliterate the patriarchal system and everyone who benefits from it. I adore her. 

5 Stars - An Awesome Book