Iron Widow (Iron Widow #1)
Publisher: Penguin Teen
Pub Date (Original): 21 September 2021
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction/Fantasy
Panda Rating:
(3 pandas)
📖 SYNOPSIS
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.
⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS
Misogyny & femicide, rape (mentioned), sexual assault, physical & emotional abuse, suicidal ideation, alcoholism, blood & gore depiction, murder, torture
TL;DR: Well, I’ve finally read Iron Widow and I have very mixed feelings. When I first started reading this, I was sure it was going to be my next 5-star read because it gave me all the tingly and excited feelings I tend to get when I’m reading something I’ll love. But the further I read, the more disappointed I became because this had so much potential and IMHO, it failed to deliver. While I’m glad that I’ve finally read it (and with one of my book besties too!), I’m pretty sad that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I do get why people love this though, so if you’re still curious about it and own a copy, I think you should still give it a try cos I found the concept unique. Plus, if you like doggedly relentless revenge-fuelled MCs that would go to any extreme to successfully stick it to the man, with plenty of giant robot battles and spirit energy magic, then there’s a chance you could enjoy this more than I did!
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