Not since For Today I am a Boy (Kim Fu) have I finished a novel, and that was in 2022 (⌒_⌒;). Technically, I read three of the Heartstopper novels last year, but graphic novels are so much easier to devour than general novels and so I don’t count them towards my reading goals. If I did, I would be tripling my goals with the sheer volume of graphic novels I churn through. It’s not that I don’t think different forms of writing have different values, it’s just important to me to read novels, but that can be for another post (ᓀ ᓀ).

The book I finished was Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. I’ve had their novel for a while now—several months really—but started reading it in the last few months. It took a while to get back into reading because I’ve become so used to doing three other things whilst scrolling through a graphic novel but eventually I start smashing through the chapters as if I was ten and the book I was reading was on the waitlist and had to be returned in a week. And I refused to wait for someone else to finish the book before my turn again.

I have whole-heartedly enjoyed Iron Widow, relishing in the moments YA is normally too afraid to commit to, but will admit the epilogue underwhelmed me and I wish I hadn’t read it for now (╥﹏╥). I think Xiran Jay Zhao will do a great job in the sequel but it was something that, even though I saw it coming, I responded out loud to it with, ‘Ah, for f*ck’s sake.’ It’s not that I dislike the plot development but more that I know I’m not prepared for the complex drama it’s going to bring in the sequel. I don’t want to spoil it so I won’t go into my reasons for why I thought it was coming and why I didn’t want it to, but will do in a discussion about it later that will actually touch on the writing and plot of the novel. My pre-order for the sequel got cancelled and I haven’t been able to secure another, but I will definitely be reading it ٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´-

I will be writing an actual review for this book in the future, but for now I just wanted to enjoy that post-read feeling (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

And if you like young adult sci-fantasy and strong female leads who don’t take shit, then I recommend you take a look. Also Xiran Jay Zhao is pretty funny.