The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

Reader Reviews

mina reads™️

(3/5)

445

Nov 21, 2024

Polyam instead of love triangles in YA? We stan. The rest of the story left alot to be desired though.

Anna

(1/5)

241

Take a shot every time you read the line "nipple eyes"Let me preface this review by saying I am genuinely a fan of Xiran’s other content. I have been following them since their book deal was first announced and I love their insights into Chinese history, so naturally I was so excited for this novel. To say I'm disappointed is uh... a severe understatement.I wanted to like this. I could have forgiven a lot for this book. But when I finished, I ended up feeling like Zetian – full of feminist rage,...

anna (½ of readsrainbow)

(5/5)

673

rep: Chinese-coded cast & setting, disabled bi mc, bi mcs, polyamory tw: gore, murder, torture, mentions of rape, threats of rape, misogyny, femicide, suicide ideation, abuse, alcohol addictionReview also on Reads Rainbow. ARC provided by the publisher.Irow Widow is the feminist agenda, actually.It’s almost impossible to pinpoint one single thing that ensures Irow Widow is such a spectacular novel, and that’s because all the ingredients are equally amazing. Let us start, though, with arguably th...

Xiran Jay Zhao

2592

ENFORCE YOUR LAST PATHETIC GENDER ROLE, PATRIARCHYPS You can find more pretty art, memes, and the mecha designs on my website! 😛Been seeing some confusion about this so thought I'd clarify here: this book is not historical fantasy or alternate history! It's a story set in a totally different sci-fi world with characters who are only inspired by historical figures from across Chinese history (not just the Tang dynasty). Lots of creative liberties were taken for thematic purposes, so the character...

Elle

125

Now a Goodreads Choice finalist in Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction! Iron Widow is utter insanity. I couldn’t get enough of it. I haven’t seen Pacific Rim, but if it’s anything like monster Transformers beating the crap out of each other while tiny humans operate them from the inside, then yes. Yes, that’s exactly what this was.Zetian has a plan. It’s not a particularly well thought-out plan, but it’s the one she’s sticking to. It’s all really pretty simple; she will volunteer as a concu

Elle (ellexamines)

135

GOOD FOR HER

chai ♡

724

"Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in a polyamorous reimagining of China's only female emperor" I have finally gotten around to reading this book and I AM SO GIDDY WITH EXCITEMENT LET’S GO

Lexi

560

Okay, I need to preface this by saying I enthusiastically requested this arc because Xiran is one of my all-time favorite influencers. Their commentary, videos, etc, I love them. But this book is bad. TLDR:-Feminist story- Alt love triangle (MFM poly it seems?)- Scifi/alt-history- Chinese history inspired- Big robots- Bisexual rep Back to the book itself, the tagline is Pacific Rim meets Handmaid's Tale (It does rely a lot on Pacific Rim) Zetian is a young girl who offers herself up to pair with...

Althea ☾

(4/5)

173

*ARC sent by the publisher -Penguin Teen/Penguin Random House Canada- for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.* You know what… the most accurate analogy for this book really is Attack on Titan but it make it mecha Sci-Fi set in a dystopian era inspired by historical China. By that, I mean the vibe with how vulnerable it can be but also violent, and how the lore is made to be. I do think the writing style could have been a tad more whimisical and nuanced because this one really is in you...

luce

138

| | blog | tumblr | ko-fi | |“But I have no faith in love. Love cannot save me. I choose vengeance.” Xiran Jay Zhao has written an ambitious debut novel that should definitely appeal to fans of Pacific Rim & The Hunger Games. Iron Widow is likely one of the most creative books that I've read this year (which is saying something given that atm my read count is around 150+) as it presents readers with a unique blend of genres and concepts: fantasy and sci-fi elements are incorporated in a dystop...

Lia Carstairs

118

I got some Skyward vibes from this and I just loved it so much.Also Zetian, please marry me.↪ The Hunduns who are dangeous creatures and are trying to destroy society which lies in the Great Wall ~ the Krell who are also dangerous and mysterious creatures trying to destroy the human race/↪ Fighter pilots who use Chrysalises (aka mechas) to battle against the Hunduns to defend their home ~ Pilots who use fighter jets to battle the Krell and defend their land↪ Society is against this one girl

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