laurelthebooks's Reviews (662)

Masterful, sorrowful, and somehow full of something that felt vaguely like an attempt at exhausted and hollow outrage - perhaps?

This was a read I am glad I took slow as there was quite a bit to parse through, and in fact, I'm fairly convinced that I could read this a dozen times and come away feeling slightly different each time.

Can you live a lie? or just live with one?

I feel like that sums up one of the main driving points of this novel - which was a powerful and entrancing read. The Vanishing Half was a bit of a surprise read for me; once I started it I couldn't put it down.

And just for fun, two of my favorite lines:

"Likely does not mean certain. Improbable does not mean impossible."

"There are many ways to be alienated from someone, few to actually belong."

Was able to immerse myself in this much more so than A Wizard of Earthsea!

I liked the short stories enough that I then hunted down the magazine and made sure I would get future issues. There are some phenomenal science fiction and fantasy stories in here, and I enjoyed the occasional poem as well.

Wow. This book would have shocked and delighted mini-me to a ridiculous degree. I started this book last night and then it absorbed me and I finished it, but the late night was worth it.

Reading it now as an adult still brought me joy, although a much younger me may have lauded the book as perfect. The amount of rage and absolute no-holds barred teenager risk taking here is stunning. Not to mention that (and mild spoilers here although I feel like it has been mentioned so much it almost doesn't count) there isn't a fight over the girl! They just up and make a threesome and it crafts a delicious character progression arc.

There are some absolute gems in terms of lines as well as Zetian is a blunt and observant narrator. She pulls no punches in her mind or with her words. The commentary throughout is golden. I also deeply appreciated the author's note right at the start of the book.

I did stumble a bit in picturing the world-building as I went along and some of the characters came across as 2-dimensional, but those are almost side notes and they didn't impact my reading. They were a bit obvious after I wrapped up the book and tried to picture some of things that occurred, but it was only upon reflection after finishing and trying to bring myself down from the serotonin high that I could point out the things that didn't quite work for me.

One of the lines that made me grin:
"What I have learned through this madness is that you can absolutely solve your problems by throwing money at them. If you can't, you probably don't have enough money for that particular problem."

If you are a YA fan, a mecha fan, if you like revenge, and if you are always on the side of a deeply ambitious character I cannot recommend Iron Widow enough. Yes, it definitely reads as YA, but I am ecstatic to have read it. It does put me in the mood to go watch Death Note again though...