Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Description from Goodreads:

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.

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My Review:

Warning! Minor spoilers!

I followed the author on Tik Tok for a while (still do!) and I have always been interested in buying their book, but I was in the middle of a self-implemented book buying ban for myself. I finally caved a few weeks ago and bought it from my local book store. I have to say, this book was definitely worth breaking my book buying ban for!!!! I am a pretty fast reader, but I little finished this book within half a day. I devoured this because it was so immersive and I could not put it down.

Zetian was likable from the beginning. I loved seeing her determination to avenge her sister's death and watching her grow and adapt as surprising situations forced her to adapt. I also really enjoyed seeing how open-minded she was. Of course, she was stubborn about a few things, especially when it came to Shimin, but once she learned more about him she even admitted to herself that not everything is black or white. Seeing her thought process was very refreshing and just overall really loved her as a character. If you're looking for a strong and independent female lead, this is the character for you. Honestly, this book is worth the read just for her, but there are still a lot of other amazing things about this book.

Shimin was a very complex character from the beginning that I really enjoyed exploring and learning about as the book progressed. At first, I was worried his personality would be the toxic bad boy that seems to be prevalent in stories like this, but while he did some horrible things, he owned them in a way I feel a lot of characters aren't geared towards. It was a pleasant surprise.

Not going to lie, I did not like Yizhi at first. I thought he wasn't trustworthy and just couldn't get over his manipulations at first. He grew on me a lot, especially during later scenes between him and Zetian. A huge theme with this book is that nothing is what it seems and the author did a great job portraying that in every one of her characters. Again, it was beautifully done.

There is romance in this book and surprise!!!! It is a polyamorous romance!!! I absolutely loved it for Zetian. It fit her so well and the author did a great job of making it flow very naturally. It was handled so well. I of course loved Zetian's private romance scenes with both Shimin and Yizhi, but I loved seeing them interact altogether. Honestly, my only complaint with this book was that I wish there were more scenes with all three of them together even if it wasn't in the romantic sense. I would 1000% buy a special edition with bonus chapters or extra content if that ever came out.

The storyline itself gave Hunger Games cross with Pacific Rim vibes and I absolutely loved it. It's the crossover I did not know I needed! Seeing Zetian navigate this horrible piloting system and destroy expectations was honestly breathtaking. I could not get enough of it. Seeing her go through her grief and horror felt heartbreaking to me. I felt so many emotions while reading this book. I even had to take minor pauses at times just to digest what I read because I was constantly surprised.

In final words, this is not a book you should skip out on. Xiran Jay Zhao is a wonderful writer that should be experienced. It's not often that I add books to my bookshelf. I donate the books that didn't thrill me or don't have the potential to be re-read. Iron Widow now has a special place in my book collection and I cannot wait to read the next book Heavenly Tyrant.