Welcome to Litsy!

As is usually the case in YA worlds, the dystopian society is the real story and authors spend so much time creating that image, the true characters fall flat. Still looking for a series that captures my imagination like Shusterman‘s Scythe books did. This one didn‘t really come close, even though the idea of a corrupt government founded on a military industrial complex that limits the rights of women seems to come right out of current events.

I enjoyed this a lot. It‘s violent and heavy-handed but the characters and story are fun. Some of my complaints definitely seem to be assuaged by the ending and I will be reading the next book.

Also, I can now be even more enthusiastic about my hopes to knit the Chrysalis shawl, designed by disyarning inspired by this book 😄

Pacific Rim meets futuristic China, giant robot like structures are run by a male and female team with high qi, problem is most females end up dying after battles due to the male draining her life force. Zetian is determined to redeem her sister when the male pilot outright kills her. She is ready to die for it but is she willing to survive? LOVED the concept. DID NOT like the writing style. Won‘t be continuing the series

This reminded me of Pacific Rim but with animals and I liked it but white all the hype I thought it would be amazing loved the turtle inclusion and the strong woman character enjoyed the read

This was…not great. It‘s fast-paced and engaging, but thin on world-building, and its unlikable characters are thoroughly underdeveloped. The ideas could have been interesting, but it all felt very heavy-handed and clumsy. My husband‘s comment was: “I guess that‘s what happens when you just drag your characters through a story.” Yep. But if you‘re looking for lots of action and violence, some diversity rep…⤵️

Starting a new book. Flipped to the back flap to check out the author bio. Found this. 😂 That‘s… a choice.

I‘ve spent too much time pondering this. Is it meant to be ironic? Whimsical? Something else I‘m not getting? Because the facial expression is not giving me ironic or whimsical or anything that would suggest “I am wearing a cow onesie,” but here we are.

A fun read. Love the mashup of several modern franchises with a little bit of history. Looking forward to the sequel.

Picked this one up because it was the March pick for #swordandlaserpodcast - I‘m not sure if audio was the best way to read this. I kept confusing who everyone was. There was also a lot of death and killing. It is a war book. Also, is it a love triangle if all 3 want to be together?

I didn‘t 1000% follow the action but loved the message. Wu Zetian is such a badass, she enlists as a concubine not to save her family but for revenge &is resigned to.. even welcomes her impending doom. She is paired with Li Shimin &he‘s got issues but they have chemistry &then a boy from her past shows up & it could have become very predictable ..but it didn‘t.
Set in futuristic alternate medieval China. The audiobook narrator was fantastic!

I really REALLY wanted to like this book and for the first 100-150 pages I did. And I know so many people love this novel. But it was somehow over compleceted yet not so detailed. The smaller twist has no indroduction and it's like 5 pages. Zetain is not so likable for me. It so black and white and I would not call this feminism. And don't know if I will read the second part.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I really loved this book! I loved the Japanese aspects, the protagonists‘ thoughts and actions. I didn‘t like the love triangle particularly but I liked the outcome of it as it fit the feminist, free-living theme. I didn‘t fully understand everything that happened during the battle scenes but got the general gist.

I haven‘t read a fantasy book that I enjoyed this much in a while. I look forward to the sequel!

Started a new book today that has been on my TBR list since last Christmas. I have high hopes!

Violent, confusing, powerful, and creative. I don't really know what to think about this book. I really liked parts of it. Other parts I really didn't like. The little bit of romance thrown in was not enough, and seemed almost disjointed. Something didn't flow correctly throughout. The ending threw everything off. Then again, nothing about this world was making sense. So it didn't really surprise me. I kind of want to know what happens next.

“What is it about gender that matters so much to the system anyway?”

…I‘m barely 30min into the audiobook and I‘m hooked.

This novel feels like a cool drink of water after abandoning Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. I kept listening to Dunn‘s novel thinking it would get better, and I only got more and more uncomfortable.

Hearing the way the authors speak to gender from different genres decades apart is soothing and incredible to witness.

I enjoyed this one for the most part but the battle scenes had me confused. The last 25% of the book really had me hooked and now I‘ll have to wait til next year for the next book.

An immensely powerful and enjoyable read. An amalgamation of Chinese history and culture, and mecha and science fiction, set in the near future, this YA novel hits on some very adult themes: misogyny, cultural norms, rape, suicide ideation, murder, revenge and the list of trigger warnings goes on. But while these themes are brutal and triggering Xiran Jay Zhao crafted the story in such a way that it drives the plot and pulls the reader along.

April?!?! I have to wait 9 months for the follow up book? Sonuva.

How to make the most out of Mumbai monsoon traffic!

Also this book was so bad, it gave me a headache!

Young Adult books feel more grownup these days. But I‘ve been repeating this since ‘Hunger Games‘ series was released as an Americanized version of the Japanese action-thriller film ‘Battle Royale‘ (バトル・ロワイアル). But I LOVE Xiran Jay Zhao‘s amalgamation of Chinese mythology, history, cultural norms to create a lush near sci-if future. Their storytelling prowess keeps the action moving rapidly while also giving nuance and depth to their characters.

Pacific Rim meets Hunger Games and Handmaid‘s Tale set in a post-apocalyptic world based on historic China. That sounds like a lot, but it blends so well together that it works.
Zetian was such a good main character. She was allowed to be unapologetically vicious when she needed to be without being forced into a softer role by those around her.

Oh. My. Gosh. Hearing how the author‘s publisher gave them a bum deal I‘m glad I invested the time and energy because this book was fantastic! Going into it I had little knowledge as to what it was about aside from the glorious cover art but I‘m so glad I took the time to read it. The characters are energetic and charismatic and the plot rings like Wendy Wu homecoming warrior meets power rangers meets a twilight zone episode. It was glorious!

After finishing iron widow (which was magnificent and I can‘t wait to review it) I can‘t wait to read the next one! #thingsincommon Those who have read it, how do I move on from that?!

Giant robots. Giant monsters. A society built on the subjugation of women. And Wu Zetian is going to burn it all to the ground.

A fun take on a historical Chinese figure, with an intriguing sci-fi setting & epic battles. But too fast paced. I didn‘t feel like there was time to breathe, and it felt like nothing (character development, relationships, world building) got the time it deserved. And the ending felt rushed & like sequel bait. 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

First book for #transrightsreadathon finished. Incredible read. 4 stars.

Honestly Sci-fi books simply aren't my go to when I sit down to read. I decided to give this one a shot based on a co-works relentless pursuit that I give it a go. I'm happy to say this was a very entertaining read and I enjoyed the world building and characters. There were at times areas I didn't think were 100% necessary for the storytelling but otherwise it was a solid and creative read.

I‘ve got lots of thoughts, but here are the main ones:
1) The writing style ain‘t all that, but the storyline is neat enough to outweigh that shortfall 2) Okay, TV-show Daenerys 3) Zetian could be fleshed out in more ways than “Hates the system. Has real gross feet. Lives for vengeance.” Overall I give this a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️ though and would recommend it to lovers of big ol‘ bots and powerful gals!

Just had the inaugural read in my very own craft/reading room, and boy was the hard renovation work worth it!

#paintbynumber

How do you take the fight out of half the population and render them willing slaves? You tell them they're meant to do nothing but serve from the minute they're born. You tell them they're weak. You tell them they're prey.

You tell them over and over, until it's the only truth they're capable of living.

Such a great book! I loved that the futuristic technology was combined with ancient Chinese medicine. The society had historical elements woven in that felt natural and plausible.

I really liked having a MC that was willing to burn the world to uncover the truth and get what she wanted.

Starting this today for #AuldLangSpine . I thought it would take me a while to get into, but the prologue has me hooked straight away! @wideeyedreader @monalyisha

Finished Iron Widow last night and loved it! Can't wait to read the sequel!

I will admit that it took me a hot minute to understand how chrysalises and qi work, but this book has an actual love triangle and feeds my feminine rage! It‘s vicious and deservedly so - Zetian will take down anyone and everyone to avenge her murdered sister and to fight all of society, which treats women as second class citizens (shocking!). It had an anger I could feel in my bones. I can‘t wait to see what she does next in the sequel.

Ugh. This book wanted to be the next Poppy War & Rin so bad. BUT GUESS WHAT. The world building is non-existent and nothing was ever explained. I had no idea what was going on 80% of the time, and at some point (around page 150) I stopped caring.

#IronWidow #fantasy #youngadult

I completed all my #bookspin and #doublebookspin reads this year! I love how completable this challenge is for me, and it really encourages me to read the books I already own. I look forward to participating again in 2023.

Thanks @TheAromaofBooks for hosting!

I'm hoping to have time to post more after the holidays, since I fell of the radar again for a bit there.

In the meantime, here's a quick pic of a stack of book gifts I just finished wrapping!

I also have a question for you all: what is on the top of your book wish list for the holiday season? (Mine is tagged above!)

Okay. Not super sure how I feel about this one. I liked the story. Kinda. Still not entirely sure with this one. The characters were okay but the average for this is seriously brought down by the fact that I hated the main character. The side characters? Actually pretty good. Overall, not a bad book, just not what I was hoping for.

Happy holidays everyone!

Zetian was too superhuman and that didn't feel really likable. I liked how strong she was but I just prefer imperfection.

I loved how sick the society was but the worldbuilding was almost non-existent. Battle scenes weren't really great and there were so many of them.

The beginning was intriguing and the last page was good.

#SeriesRead2022

“When you cherish someone for how amazing they are, you don‘t pluck them from their roots just to watch them wither in your hands. You help them bloom into the incredible thing they‘re really meant to be.”

This one blew me away. Great book. Can't wait for the next one.

I loved this book!! It reminded me of Transformers but in the best possible way 😂 the main character Zetian was unapologetically herself and set fully on revenge. Paired with a fierce prisoner, Shishin, (aka my new book boyfriend) she is determined to survive a world designed to kill her. The ending was pretty epic and I‘m looking forward to the next book!

I am so unbelievably excited about this news!

https://www.tor.com/2022/09/22/xiran-jay-zhao-iron-widow-movie/

Starting this today. I finished Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram earlier. It was a nice escape. I also started Stephen Graham-Jones' latest audio only release but wasn't feeling it. I've been reading a lot, but a lot of it has been a really long, amazing fanfic. 🤣

This was everything I have ever wanted in a sci-fi fantasy novel! The plot kept me on my toes with all of its twists and turns. The message of women‘s empowerment was so well written. And the characters! Oh man, the character development was SPOT ON and beautifully done. I wish I hadn‘t read this book so quickly because I enjoyed every second of it. I will probably reread later this year.
My Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

Iron Widow started off smart, intelligent, and exciting. It hit some strong topics about gender inequality and discussed the true differences about gender roles in a futuristic, yet ancient Chinese society.

However, while it started off strong, it didn't finish that way. The book meanders off into too many topics including polygamy, corruption, love, drug abuse, and independence. Ultimately never addressing any of the topics at all

The concept of this book was very exciting, modern sci-fi based upon historic China. I had high hopes. Queer and polyamorous relationships being represented in this story was the reason I stuck it out to the end. The plot twist gives me hope that a sequel may be more enjoyable. Unfortunately, the execution was fairly poor. Even for YA the writing was poor. The feminism was also obvious and ham-fisted.

This was intense and awesome! I loved seeing historic China reimagined in a sci-fi context with epic mechs. The characters are strong, as are their motives, and the world building is vivid. I also love that everything I wanted or predicted happened, from relationship development to two major twists toward the end. #LGBTQIA #Chinese #SciFi #Mech