The Iron Widow (Xiran Jay Zhao) - ★★★☆☆

Me before reading this:


I can't believe I actually got an ARC! *jumping up and down and screaming*

Chinese mythology + female Asian protagonist + defying gender roles + aliens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Me after reading this:


What the hell does that cliffhanger mean?????????????????????????????????


I loved the themes of feminism and rebellion against societal expectations, especially in the backdrop of Chinese mythology and magic. One thing that was really interesting was the name for the weird alien monsters, the Hunduns. Just a little context: I'm half Chinese, and I grew up speaking the language. My Chinese grandparents like to make these soup dumplings called Hunduns (disclaimer: this is not pinyin and therefore does not reflect the authentic Chinese pronunciation of the word). So whenever I saw the word Hundun in this book, it was really funny and added to my appreciation of this book.

However much I enjoyed Zetian's rise to power in a male-dominated world, it wasn't very realistic. Now, before you judge me, I'm not referring to the improbability of a woman ruling as empress. I'm just saying that it's not very likely for her to just declare herself empress out of nowhere, without any political experience or knowledge of how to rule a country. Sheer qi (which is basically magical power in this world) and reviving the dead emperor can only get you so far. 

A more realistic version of Zetian becoming empress would involve lots of political plotting and PR stunts, in which she would rise to power because of her intelligence and cunning, not because of her brute force (well, the magical equivalent) and recklessness (since when is spontaneously declaring yourself empress not reckless). 

I know the author didn't intend it to come across this way, but to me, it's like saying that you can only defy the patriarchy and change the world if you're special. Because Zetian is, indisputably, special. Her qi level is 5 times that of the other girls at the beginning of the book, and it only grows. What about those girls, the ones who aren't lucky enough to be swimming in qi? They are sacrificed, they become cannon fodder for a society that doesn't care about them.

I want to hear a story about one of those nameless girls, who weren't powerful or chosen, who the world never gave anything for free. I think the author meant to write Zetian as one of those girls, but, in the end, got carried away with all the magic and romance.

So, in conclusion, this book had a lot of promise. But I think I was expecting it to have more depth and meaning than it actually did.

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