Iron Widow (Iron Widow #1) by Xiran Jay Zhao --> Restarting January 7th 2023

[Dannii]

Andy wrote: "78% [spoilers removed]

Finished [spoilers removed]"

This entire book was freaking incredible!! Definitely a new favourite read! I can't believe we have to wait so long for a sequel

[Brittany]

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Date changed. Restarting March 1 2022. Happy Reading ☺

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[Maddie]

Thanks I'm excited for this one finally!

[Delitealex]

Anyone started this yet?

[Maddie]

I'm starting it today! How come?

[Brittany]

Yup! I am loving how it doesn't hold punches or flinch from hard realities.
Chapter 8 (view spoiler)[ I was kind of hoping that Yang wasn't the actual murderer of Zetian's big sis. But he really is that uncaring. Loved seeing her take control! Looking forward to seeing how she pilots the fox
The scenes with the breaking of the feet to have perfect lotus feet and how awful that is to keep them bound and everything was hard. Also I dont understand the appeal of them having rotting flesh for feet. It does make it harder for them to run away though. This is a world that females really do only serve to be sold or have sons and while sadly realistic, its still terrible. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Oh good! I'm excited to start it Brittany! The edition I have is terrible though, so stiff and floppy for a hardback.

[Delitealex]

Maddie wrote: "I'm starting it today! How come?"

I'm joining in.

[Maddie]

Yay!

My audio just came in as well so I can follow alongside. I'm going to start with just my eyes though so I can understand how it works

[Brittany]

Awesome looking forward to your thoughts!
Chapter 15 (view spoiler)[ Ah there is our misunderstood character. Yes he committed murder of his family but I can't fault his reasoning.
Think watching Shimin and Zetain learn to work together will be fabulous with their abnormal ability to match one anothers spirit power. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Yay lots of updates :D Are you liking it? Is it complicated?

I'm glad I'm in the mood to use my brain haha Only A Monster is boring me which is kind of good haha there's mental capacity there to engage

[Maddie]

Chapter 2 (view spoiler)[WHAT!? WHY DID HER GRANDMA BREAK HER FEET!?

I like how it's mentioned her eyebrows and her fat, it's really good (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Chapter 7 (view spoiler)[WELL DANG SHE FINALLY DID IT. A main character who didn't get caught up in attraction! :o Watch it not be real though. I'd love him to become her yin :D

Also what is his qi power again? Hers is Metal, which is basically determination. What's his? (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Chapter 8. SHIT THIS IS SO INTENSE I'm officially in love with this book. Holy shit.

[Maddie]

Chapter 14 (view spoiler)[I already love how much this has changed since the start! :o I thought she was going to pair with Yang Zuang, but she killed him, and she ended up with Li Shimin the murderer! I thought he was going to be the bad guy. OH WOW MAN I'M LOVING THIS. Turns out ya sci-fi may be a favourite genre of mine now! This is beyond fast-paced, proper twists, I can't stop reading.

This narrator is also incredible. She really gets my blood boiling, her enunciation is amazing, her pronunciation of words is amazing, and dang this book is making me angry while also making me laugh and punch the air in agreement with Zetian! (hide spoiler)]

[Delitealex]

Chapt 1-8
(view spoiler)[This world is brutal for girls. Yuck the descriptions of the foot binding and taking care of her feet ew how she talks about the smell. I thought maybe something else happened to the sister but when Zetian saw those memories it definitely seemed like no mistake. I love the descriptions of chrysalis piloting. Finding out her qi is metal and being able to make her own armor was cool. Can't wait to see how the army deals with this situation. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Brittany wrote: "Yup! I am loving how it doesn't hold punches or flinch from hard realities.
Chapter 8 I was kind of hoping that Yang wasn't the actual murderer of Zetian's big sis. But he really is that uncaring...."

What is lotus feet, what's the point of them? I've only ever heard of this happening once!

[Maddie]

Haha I definitely had a more intense reaction to you both haha. I can't believe how much I'm loving this book. I can't believe I was intimidated by it.

[Maddie]

Stopping at 30% for the night, I need something else to read the rest of the weekend haha.

[Maddie]

So I read a little more haha

43%, Chapter 19 (view spoiler)[I can see both sides to this love triangle, it's all happening naturally. I love how he apologised for the way he proposed to her, and how he's trying to keep her safe.

So many good quotes in this book! (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Chapter 24 (view spoiler)[Jeezus this bitch! Wow! I love Zetian and what she says! (hide spoiler)]

[Delitealex]

Chapt 9-17
(view spoiler)[Li Shimin is very interesting and very violent. The army is really pushing for Zetian and him to team up so far its not working out. Both are treated really badly. The fight in the cafeteria was vicious. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittany]

Maddie lotus feet were a real thing in certain Chinese traditions. To take from wikipedia it was the "Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls in order to change their shape and size. Feet altered by footbinding were known as lotus feet, and the shoes made for these feet were known as lotus shoes. In late imperial China, bound feet were considered a status symbol and a mark of feminine beauty."
Here's the rest of the article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_bi...

[Maddie]

@Brittany: But what's the point??

I'm on Chapter 28 now and LOVING still! Going to read more in between youtube videos, having a relaxing Saturday evening and it's amazing. Are you both enjoying?

[Maddie]

Chapter 31 (view spoiler)[Daaang this just keeps throwing things at us! I'm pleased my brain's not exploded from keeping up yet haha, it's so intense and I'm eating up every second. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Chapter 32 (view spoiler)[I really like the relationships in this as well, I love the dynamic. How it seems Shimin and Zutien have a relationship, but obviously so do Zutien and Yizhi. But it also seems Yizhi and Shimin have a relationship. I'd literally LOVE a poly relationship here with equal feels from all sides for all parties. How good! (hide spoiler)]

[Brittany]

Maddie from what I understand it was a status symbol. Something about dainty feet being more feminine. Plus it made it so women couldn't run away... I dont get it myself

I'm loving it too and I'll probably finish it today

[Maddie]

But they're not 'dainty' feet if no one can even look at them. Insane!

I'm finishing todau

[Maddie]

I've got under 100 pages left nothing can stop me

[Delitealex]

18-31
(view spoiler)[I can't believe the army wanted to tribute them. That senior analyst was horrible. So far I think Yizhi's dad is not really a good person to ask for help from. I hope it ends up working in Zentian and Shimin's favor. Wow for her naked on camera yuck. (hide spoiler)]

I'm really enjoying this book. I don't understand why anyone would consider lotus feet dainty it just seems painful.

[Maddie]

Chapter 39 (view spoiler)[YESSS THIS RELATIONSHIP is finally happening! I'm so excited to write this review haha it'll be a massive gush review (hide spoiler)]

[Brittany]

Finished! Wow! I loved that (view spoiler)[ Not surprising that the seats were rigged to kill the female.
Speaking of females its too bad the other 2 princesses are terrible people in so many ways.
I know the relationships wont be for everyone but I appreciated how nonconforming it all was. A true triangle where all 3 parties were happy with the situation.
Sad that Shimin had to die but is now being held in a stasis where he isn't quite dead? But will he be the same after?
I was kind of wondering if it was the humans that were the invaders. Things just didn't feel like they matched up quite right otherwise.

Loved it cannot wait for the second book (hide spoiler)]

[Brittany]

Maddie wrote: "Chapter 39 [spoilers removed]"

Right?!?! I was so happy about that

[Brittany]

Delitealex wrote: "18-31
[spoilers removed]

I'm really enjoying this book. I don't understand why anyone would consider lotus feet dainty it just seems painful."

I totally agree (view spoiler)[ tributing your strongest pair is a stupid move! (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

I'm 100% giving this 5 stars, favourite book in so long. I've got 60 pages to go

[Delitealex]

Finished (view spoiler)[loved this! Shimin and Yizhi acting on their attraction finally. What kind of strategy was that to take out your best fighters with the battle not won yet. The one person she thought was honest betraying her. Zetian was in a definite rage when Shimin went down. Yizhi's dad was a user glad Yizhi got rid of him. I can't believe Zetian found the Emperor and was able to pilot the dragon. Not surprised everything was set up for the girls not to survive or all the lies. Zetian was able to make hard decisions to force change.

Wow it was the Hunduns planet the whole time. Now I'm wondering what is the deal with these so called gods and the heavenly court. What exactly do they expect from Zetian?

Can't wait for book 2 (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

So I finished

[Maddie]

All I can say is holy shit. This book BLEW ME AWAY. This is going to be a major rant non-spoiler review

So many wtf moments in this, this book solidified the ya sci-fi genre for me. I knew I'd love this once I could stop being intimidated by it, and holy shit

Let's start with the audio. I did the audio narrator alongside it and it's 100% the way to go. The narrator just adds in the right amount of emotion while not sounding cringey. Her enunciation and pronunciation is perfect, and she got me feeling the feels where I wouldn't if I was reading it just with my eyes.

Second is Wu Zetian. NOW THIS IS A STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER. There's too much to say about her. This is a revenge story CORRECTLY followed through, she actually does what she sets out to do and her determination is NEXT LEVEL. Her one-liners are incredible, her personality is fully fleshed out, I can connect to her and she makes me FEEL. I was fully on board with her decisions, I backed her all the way, and the fact that she's bigger than the typical character and it's brought up but not the main focus of the book, that's just something I really bow to. The way she views herself, and how she thinks others should view her, it's amazing. She knows herself and what she wants, but she develops with her life as well.

Third is THE RELATIONSHIPS. Now, I can't say much about this, but IT'S SO PERFECT, everything about it is perfect, I just can't. The reasoning, the selflessness, the trust they have together, and the understanding. It's a true relationship with no bitterness at all. There was never bitterness, it developed perfectly, it solidified perfectly, there was never any miscommunication.

There was nothing wrong with this book at all. It was absolutely perfect. Fast-paced, incredible twists, incredible quotes, one I can't wait to read over and over. The names were a little hard to remember, but that's only because I'm not used to hearing Asian-inspired names over audio. I cannot believe we are lucky enough to be blessed with a SERIES of these books, I need them all please and thank you

[Maddie]

Delitealex wrote: "Finished loved this! Shimin and Yizhi acting on their attraction finally. What kind of strategy was that to take out your best fighters with the battle not won yet. The one person she thought was h..."

YES I'M SO GLAD YIZHI DID THAT HOLY SHIT. I don't see how (view spoiler)[him seeing the pictures would have changed anything? It's hardly anything that concerns him. And I love how she said she didn't feel shame about her body so it was totally irrelevant (hide spoiler)]

[Jenn]

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Date changed. Restarting June 17th 2023. Happy Reading ☺

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[Maddie]

I hope everyone loves this as much as I did!

[Maddie]

If anyone wants extra comments to respond to, mine are just above haha

[Cinthia]

I'd love to join this one...

[Sibil]

Maddie wrote: "I hope everyone loves this as much as I did!"

I'll check them out as I progress with the reading. I have to say that at the beginning I wasn't really interested in this one but... now I am pretty curious (hence I am reading it) and I really hope it won't disappoint! I keep seeing the author talking about the book in reels on the web and... it sounds mighty intriguing!

[Sibil]

Cinthia wrote: "I'd love to join this one..."

You are welcome to do it! :)

[Sibil]

chapters 1-5
(view spoiler)[So far I am intrigued, and so mad. I mean, it is so disgusting to see how far these people have come, they are in the future, they have some cool tech despite the big problems they have and the near collapse of their entire world in the past and yet they are so strong in their views about women and man, so blind set into them and the things are just so enraging, urgh!
So far I like the MC, and I am a bit sad that she choose the revenge over the "romantic escape" that was offered to her. I am not complaining, it makes perfect sense, the romantic escape would have been a total disaster for sure, and she is not only raging against her sister's death but also against the system and her whole world, and her rage is so... deep, and so important too, but still I am happy to see that there is someone out there that care for her deeply and sad that this world is so twisted that there is no happy ending in this solution.
Also... in the prologue, we see Yang's cool ways with the concubines, okay, glacial is more it but... he does not seems actively cruel in his take, so there is more to it, some goodness in him or he is the true murder of her sister? I need to know!!! (hide spoiler)]

[Sibil]

Maddie wrote: "If anyone wants extra comments to respond to, mine are just above haha"

Feel free to comment again with us if you want, and comment our comments too!

[Sibil]

chapters 6-13
(view spoiler)[Okay, I was wrong about Yang. Very, very wrong. And so I don't know if I should say this or not but... I kinda like Li Shimin. I mean, he sounds like an interesting person with some hidden depths. I hope to learn more about him (And I also hope to not be wrong about him too).
And I love Zetian, she is so determined, and I love that she is not burdened by the same morals and ethics that are keeping her an object and a sacrifice. Go girl! (hide spoiler)]

[Sibil]

chapters 14-25
(view spoiler)[This book is so hard to put down!! And there are a ton of This! Just this! moments in there!
Yes, because love doesn't solve problems[...] Solving problems solves problems
or
When a woman gets pregnant, her body is suddenly everybody's business.
just to put in a couple of examples. That are so many sentences/concepts/whatever so poignant and so brilliantly said! It is astounding! And amazing!
And the characters are top-notch. I am blowed away by the whole book! (hide spoiler)]

[Alexandra]

Part 1

(view spoiler)[A lot of this way of life makes me sad, but even more so because I know some of it's true in the Chinese culture. The foot binding stuff is honestly just unthinkable. I also thought maybe Yang Guang wasn't the one who killed her sister and it was a mistake, but I guess he really was bad. I was almost duped too. I wonder why he just outright killed her though. I hope we still get that answer because I'm curious.

I also wonder about the lore of the Hunduns. Given the grief they feel whenever they kill one of them, I wonder if this conflict was started by humans and the aliens actually are not the bad guys? Also it's kind of weird that both aliens and gods exist and gods apparently bless them with technology, lol. How does that even work? (hide spoiler)]