by Samantha White
Northwest Asia Weekly
iron widow
By Xiran Jay Zhao
Penguin Junior, 2021
As the Great Wall of China rages on, boys dream of pairing up with girls, piloting Chrysalises, giant shape-shifting robots, and battling mecha aliens who threaten their people. While the boys were seen as celebrities, the girls — who often died of mental stress — were one-offs.
So, when 18-year-old Zetian named himself a concubine pilot, he wasn’t serving the military. It was to assassinate the male pilot who killed her sister. But revenge came faster than expected, and she was unscathed and labelled the Iron Widow – a rare, feared, reticent female who could sacrifice boys to power the chrysalis (despite the fact that Quite the opposite, as expected). So Zetian partnered with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in the army. But Zetian won’t give up her power easily, she’s determined to figure out why the pilot system is so misogynistic and prevent more girls from being sacrificed.
I love Zetian. In such a patriarchal society, she dared to question everything. The fact that her gender seems to be given little attention sets her free. She has nothing to lose, so she might as well speak her mind – both powerful and humorous. While Zetian may be unhinged about some of the other characters (though not all, and not really important ones), I can’t accept her no-cost attitude. Her rage and rage is the dream of any woman who has ever felt less because of her gender.
As with many young adult novels, there is an underlying love triangle. Granted, it’s not my favorite trope, but I really appreciate Zhao’s approach. Their refreshing take on love and relationships is sure to make readers think about things differently.
girl with paper and fire
by Natasha Yan
Hodder and Stoughton, 2018
Every year, eight girls are selected from the Kingdom of Ihara to serve the king as paper girls. It should be an honor, but in reality, they are the king’s concubines, which is degrading. This year, a ninth girl has been selected.
Like the other girls, Ray is from the all-human paper caste, the lowest caste in a society of demons and shemales. After hearing rumors about the Golden-Eyed Maiden, the Royal Guard appears in her remote village to bring Ray to the king – 10 years later, her mother is taken away by the guards too. When she reluctantly trains to be one of the king’s concubines, Ray ends up falling in love. On top of that, she soon finds herself caught up in a conspiracy of justice and revenge that could change everything.
“Girl” isn’t always easy to read, I admit. Ray and the other paper girls were treated badly – content warnings, scenes of sexual assault – but I also know that was and still is. So it’s important to have stories that show this and give voice to those who have not always been able to speak up throughout history. It’s great to see Ray fighting back against the system in any way, and it’s interesting to see how the other women in the story see this society.
As a longtime fan of the genre, I’ve read a lot of fantasy and adventure stories. And the extent to which fantasy elements play a role in a story is always different. In “Girls,” the magic is relatively low, so we’re left with a story focused on plot and characters, which are important in any book, no matter the genre. Ngan does a great job of giving readers a love-hate relationship with characters we’re unsure about or changing our minds about — and keeps us turning the pages to see what happens next with Lei.
Build your house around my body
Violet Coopersmith
Random House, 2021
In Vietnam, two young women are missing. Things changed in 1986 when the teenage daughter of a Vietnamese family got lost in a rubber plantation while escaping from an angry father. In 2011, a young Vietnamese-American woman disappeared without a trace from her new home in Saigon.
Although they disappear decades apart, they are all tied to past generations, ghosts and ancestors, and possessed histories and possessed lands. They will all take revenge.
Build Your House is one of those books that tells a story from multiple perspectives, with a lot of things seemingly happening independently of each other, and it’s initially hard to tell how anything is connected. After all, what does a French expatriate whose mixed-race boy attends a boarding school, a Frenchman trying to start a business, or an employee of a Saigon spirit eradication company have anything to do with the disappearance of two young women? But Cooper Smith has done a great job of weaving all their stories together. These characters are complex, multi-faceted, and often more than initially seen. As a reader, it’s always fun when we guess right and how the characters and their paths are connected and exciting — although it’s always fun to be surprised when the outcome is unexpected.
Coopersmith’s story spans more than 50 years of Vietnam’s history – including its final days as a French colony and its verge of the Vietnam War. As someone who doesn’t know much about the history of other countries (or this country, to be honest), it was great to read about life in Vietnam at different points in time, outside of the war (one of the few things I know about this country, but equally , did not really understand).
Samantha is available at info@nwasianweekly.com.
