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A review by veronicachp
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I really like author as a youtuber and personality so it pains me to say this, but I didn't love this one. I really wanted to love it, but unfortunately it just didn't check the boxes for me. The writing feels... amateur, is the best way I can describe it. I was stunned to learn the author had been working on it for seven years because it reads like a hasty first draft that could have used some more polishing.
The good: I love the concept and setting, I think it has a fantastic premise. I love a good political scheming storyline, I love nontraditional romantic dynamics, I love big scary men who are soft for Their Person, I love scary women.
The bad: The dialogue often feels stilted and like it cannot decide what era it's trying to mimic. The main character throws out a lot of feminist rhetoric but doesn't do a lot of showing how she realized those things/her process of unlearning things engrained in her by her upbringing in a deeply patriarchal world, so it gives a real Mary Sue "I am the only woman strong and smart enough to stop being subjugated" vibe.
The MAIN problem I have with it though, is that there is simply too much stuff packed in here and not enough building any of it. The escalating series of events and conflicts to the end of the book give the impression of a bewildering 10 days or so, rather than the several months I think it's actually supposed to be, and it's a very underwhelming cycle of "oh my gosh how will they get out of this- oh nvm it's over." I saw other reviews saying this book would have benefited from multiple POVs and I wholeheartedly agree. At one point (without spoiling) a certain ~something~ happens and the main character thinks "Is this finally happening?" when it feels like the idea was only planted like....10 minutes ago and there is almost zero building to it in the story. I think that could have been helped so much if we could see things from the other POVs and get some dynamics going without the main character plunked in the middle always.
In short: Amazing idea, but the execution could have used some more polish IMO.
The good: I love the concept and setting, I think it has a fantastic premise. I love a good political scheming storyline, I love nontraditional romantic dynamics, I love big scary men who are soft for Their Person, I love scary women.
The bad: The dialogue often feels stilted and like it cannot decide what era it's trying to mimic. The main character throws out a lot of feminist rhetoric but doesn't do a lot of showing how she realized those things/her process of unlearning things engrained in her by her upbringing in a deeply patriarchal world, so it gives a real Mary Sue "I am the only woman strong and smart enough to stop being subjugated" vibe.
The MAIN problem I have with it though, is that there is simply too much stuff packed in here and not enough building any of it. The escalating series of events and conflicts to the end of the book give the impression of a bewildering 10 days or so, rather than the several months I think it's actually supposed to be, and it's a very underwhelming cycle of "oh my gosh how will they get out of this- oh nvm it's over." I saw other reviews saying this book would have benefited from multiple POVs and I wholeheartedly agree. At one point (without spoiling) a certain ~something~ happens and the main character thinks "Is this finally happening?" when it feels like the idea was only planted like....10 minutes ago and there is almost zero building to it in the story. I think that could have been helped so much if we could see things from the other POVs and get some dynamics going without the main character plunked in the middle always.
In short: Amazing idea, but the execution could have used some more polish IMO.