Iron Widow review

[alnair_tair]

Speed-read the Iron Widow and wow. Although the execution isn’t nowhere perfect, and could be better, I loved the charas and the worldbuilding! It was a pastiche but a nice one that worked with the book instead of against it, and I’m hoping we’ll see more of it in the second with that ending! Gave Ender’s Game vibes too… And also that creepy book where teenagers that behave badly are discomposed in a conscious operation to donate all their organs, what with Shimin state at the end. Gods I hope he comes back as a cyborg or something.

Wu Zetian rage and all of her, her ocasional blindness bc of it, for all the bad shit and trauma of her life, is such a good fem protag. Read someone saying it’d been better if she was meeker at the begining? And like, sorry, if she were she would have died on Yang G(whatevs) head on her first try. Or the story wouldn’t exist. There’s thousand of heroines that start meek, let Wu Zetian know exactly what she want and take all the steps to her ends and ambitions. Gods it was such a relief. How she wants so badly to love and be loved but no-one besides Yizhi and later Li Shimin (bc her sis is dead now) gave her that, and even then, how she doubts herself bc patriarchy fucked up her life so badly.

Also, everybody saying Yizhi is the sweet one, and like, compared to Zetian, sure, even with Shimin bc all he has suffered, but he’s a very determined fucker. Love to see him pulling strings for his two pilots and enabling their violence, and being down to murder. I feel like I was missing his and Shimin PoV’s sometimes. I just know those two had their conversations off page and i would love to have a window to their part of the triangle. Really more time in developing all sides all the relationship would been welcome, I feel like it jumped time very fast sometimes… 

I hope they three can get together again in the second book, but I’m holding my breath. Li Shimin doesn’t deserve to end on the hands of new jailers just when he had found  acceptance and happiness again ;_; (In my opinion, he’s the sweetest violence and murders non-withstanding, a rugged sort of kindness)

For the sexond book, chaos ahead. Qin Zheng and Wu Zetian acting rulers at the same time is gonna be messy I’m telling you xD I hope it ends if not happily with our trio alive and working to better the lives of people >_< Zetian can have a little tirany as a treat though.