cathyw | Just finished: "Iron Widow" by Xiran Jay Zhao (Reply)

starting this at 7 pm was a mistake because the next time I looked up I was done with it and it was after midnight
the premise invaded my dreams, I remember dreaming something about having a superpower I could only activate in conjunction with a male counterpart
a female protagonist who is motivated by, straight up, wrath? in a YA novel? is that allowed?
a love triangle resolved by bisexual polyamory? in a YA novel? is that allowed?
this is awfully dark for a YA novel.
Wu Zetian is not nice which in retrospect I should have expected given who she's named after.
(in fairness to her there is at most one nice character in this book and it isn't her)
(even that one guy did something Unforgivable even if the person he did it to had it coming)
(also in fairness to her she has literally zero reason to be nice to almost anyone)
she is mostly very clear that she knows exactly how awful the things she's doing are (except I think there's some rationalization/self-deception/unreliable narration regarding her final decision about her family)
the ending really and truly took my expectations and defenestrated them but in retrospect I should have seen it coming after That Thing She Did.
I mean I know how this kind of story goes, she overthrows the oppressive system and then goes off to live a peaceful life?
hahahahahahaha.
Zhao's next book is not the sequel to this but it sounds like a second book will be forthcoming in the foreseeable future
which is good because we left Zetian metaphorically hanging from a metaphorical cliff.
that said I feel like I need to reread it with the expectations laying shattered on the ground, I think I'll appreciate it more.