The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will …
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
When her sister dies in the war efforts, Xetian decides to take her revenge on the pilot who killed her.
This story punched me in the gut with al the wrongs in the world (the author's fictional world and by extension our own) but it also wrapped me up in the warm fuzzies with how wonderful people can be. And then it punched me again.
Huh. This book is an abusive partner. Still, I'm not going to break up with it.
An unapologetic sci-fi tale that pulls no punches and will leave readers fired up and ready to overthrow the patriarchy.
i couldn't wait till i was back at dorms where my laptop is but. Aaaaaa of course it was [redacted for spoiler reasons] and i know this is possibly not for everyone's fancy, i believe no book is if we are talking about Everyone, but it was for Me. enjoyed it v much. i now realise why i feel like i have to justify my enjoyment here but that's between me and my therapist. can't wait to draw fanart. like the book was marketed as, this review is also a scream and is between me and god.
If the synopsis or the phrase "mech battles powered by polyamory to fight a misogynistic death harem" intrigues you then you should go read this book as soon as you can. I love the whole thing, from the world to the plot to the characters, this is amazing on its own and I’m really excited for more. It's well-paced, brilliantly written, and just a damn good story.
The setting is vibrant, I love the main characters and the interplay between them. The slow burn between the three main characters is subtle but unmistakable, they have different dynamics between each pairing and it just fits so well. I appreciate that Zetian never loses her laser focus on what matters: burning this misogynist system down.
Zetian has bound feet and it matters to the narrative, affecting the way she moves through the world, literally, as well as being one more way that …
If the synopsis or the phrase "mech battles powered by polyamory to fight a misogynistic death harem" intrigues you then you should go read this book as soon as you can. I love the whole thing, from the world to the plot to the characters, this is amazing on its own and I’m really excited for more. It's well-paced, brilliantly written, and just a damn good story.
The setting is vibrant, I love the main characters and the interplay between them. The slow burn between the three main characters is subtle but unmistakable, they have different dynamics between each pairing and it just fits so well. I appreciate that Zetian never loses her laser focus on what matters: burning this misogynist system down.
Zetian has bound feet and it matters to the narrative, affecting the way she moves through the world, literally, as well as being one more way that her society has oppressed her for her gender. Sometimes she walks, though according to her the last time "walk" was appropriate to describe her motion was right before her feet were broken and bound, the verb she uses is "totter". She's occasionally carried or in a wheelchair, but more often she has a cane. There's a consistent awareness of her mobility or lack of it and how that affects her daily existence. Piloting a mecha is the only time she's awake and not in pain from her feet, but it's also not positioned as a permanent solution. It's thematically appropriate, explored throughout the text in a nuanced way, and makes her one of very few protagonists I can think of who begin their story with a mobility issue but no plotline about a cure of any kind.
I loved this and I wish the sequel were available immediately.
Excellent characters in a story that pulls you right in. The world feels expansive on a grand scale, full of mystery and imagination, but its scope never looses focus on the characters central to the action. I don't usually enjoy YA, but this let the characters act in a convincing way that never felt sanitized or particularly worried about snagging a movie deal-- which is a good thing. Looking forward to more in this series, and by this author in general.
Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read the book early in return for a fair review.
