A review by missymoo93
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

DARK. It starts dark and barely ever gets better. Clearly cathartic for the author, and a solid rage piece against our unjust world.
 The action is fairly disorienting to the point of being truly hard to follow, and motivations for characters other than the main three often fall into an abyss of "I [the POV character] have barely any idea what's happening, so neither will the reader."
As someone who has also experienced similar suicidal thoughts and ideation to the main character, it was represented with upsetting accuracy and depicted honestly.
All in all, a good first book, but not my favorite, and I am hesitant to return due to the tone, despite the tantalizing out-of-nowhere bombshell cliffhanger dropped in the last literal two pages of the epilogue that offered a glimpse of the only lore questions that remained for me.
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