Book Review: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Marketing material for Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow describes it as YA Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale. The author’s website has a “Bonus Summary for Weebs” that pulls on even more pop culture references to describe the book. And while you may need these comparisons to sell the book, and I have no doubt the author was influenced by all the media she referenced, Iron Widow stands on its own as a great coming of age story where the hero is a girl you can both love and hate.  

However, to go continue with comparisons for one brief moment, it ranks right up there with Naomi Novik’s Uprooted (my review linked) for one of the best beginnings I have ever read. Zhao gets you right into the character’s head and the story and builds her world along the way. The most important thing in the book is understanding the motivation of Zetian, our main character, a girl who will not simply accept the fate her family or her society plan for her, and instead fights to forge a new world. 

The book is a YA popcorn action flick, complete with a love triangle, except that this is an actual triangle, with all corners linked and every side lending strength to the other sides. It has what could be considered a twist at the end, though I never felt like the author was hiding anything from the reader, just that the world was hiding things from its people.  

Zetian is no paragon of virtue, no matter your definition of virtue. She is complex. She loves deeply. She is egotistic. She wants a better life for all the girls coming up after her, and she will give it to them by any means necessary. And I love her every step of the way. 

I listened to the audiobook, which was excellently done, and really hard to stop listening to, even when I needed to. If you like anything about how I, the publisher, or the author have described this book, I highly recommend you pick it up.