Welcome to Litsy!

Didn‘t want this one as much as book one. I think it focused more on the relationship between the two main characters which isn‘t a bad thing but it kind of distracted from what I liked about the series in the first place. Not a bad one just not quite as good as book one

The messy aftermath of destroying a government. I loved this, but I can understand why many people didn't.

It's very different from Iron Widow, the tone is different, there's a lot of political discussions, and several important characters are side lined.

It made sense to me. This was a young, uneducated girl, full of rage and hope, trying to survive a catastrophe she caused.

⬇️

I don't think this counts as YA. It's a bit misleading though I guess you can't change it mid-series?

My ebook hold just came in! Urgh. I have work the next few days.

Heavenly Tyrant picks up pretty close to where Iron Widow left off, although it took me a few pages to figure that out because from the get-go this book is a hot mess.

Iron Widow was a brilliant story of feminine rage with unforgiving sharp teeth. The novel is grounded in the Zetian/Yizhi/Shimin relationship. Not only is that triad torn apart in Heavenly Tyrant, we are introduced to a new love/hate interest for Zetian, which I had 0 interest in.

This author is highly entertaining. I will read anything she's willing to put out into the world. Her author photos alone are epic.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This was even better than the first book! It really got into the political complexities of Zetian‘s world (which mirror our own). I appreciated that she learned that, as she puts it, “drastic actions have drastic consequences.” In so many ways! I could hardly put it down as I got close to the ending. Can‘t wait for the next book!

New #bookstack 📚

Who has read these?

‘Iron Widow‘ churns with feminist rage. ‘Heavenly Tyrant‘ surges with laborist rage, as Wu Zetian continues her rampage through Huaxia‘s misogynistic, wealthy class. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

5/5

An incredible second book in this series with so many twists that I did not see coming. I really enjoyed both the sci-fi and political elements of the book as Wu Zetian has to manage the politics of reviving Qin Zheng and overthrowing the old regime.

I was once again fooled by what I thought was a duology actually being a trilogy, but I'm very excited to see where the story goes next.

Finally!!! I started this audiobook on Spotify because my library system in the South is not that eclectic in terms of the variety of genres or BIPOC authors. Unfortunately, I ran out of time credits and have to wait to finish it next month! #ihatespotify

e-book: Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao
audiobook: The Last Gifts of the Universe by Riley August

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Book 2 Zetian is out of her element as a leader when all of her goals for the revolution/women‘s rights were previously centered on her own desires. good dialogue here about choice while broadening her scope to class rights etc.

The ending is so crazy. I think there may have been too much, we were doing alot with the “romance”, deception, politics, battles, mind realms… it was engaging but when I got to “the gods” …it seemed to go a bit far.

I am SO conflicted over how I feel about this book. Maybe partly due to be so excited for this sequel after the incredible first one. I miss enraged Zetian.
I liked how it was handled that this 18 year old peasant girl does not understand how to run a government. Let alone in tandem emperor style with someone who knows practically everything. Now if only that guy wasn‘t a power hungry misogynist jerk

Zeitan is back with a vengeance in the sequel to Iron Widow! She awakened an ancient emperor and now she'll have to face the consequences. Things really picked up at the end when they confront the gods. The first 2/3 of the book did feel like a lot of set up, but it was also necessary set up. Overall, I'm still all-in on this fascinating sci-fi series.

Heavenly Tryant took the lead in September, narrowly edging out I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com

@CSeydel #2024bookbracket

They posted this with the caption: “Sorry our sequels are so late, we‘re too busy partying”

😩Get back to dry land! 📚💻⌨️📖

I see that my preorder for the tagged book was delayed. I was looking to see what people were saying about this online and they were saying that this book might not be released until 2025 and that the December release date is just a placeholder for the real release date. I didn‘t know that this was a sequel. I haven‘t read the first book so I don‘t know if I‘m going to like it or not but I have plenty of books to read so I can wait for this book.

August can‘t come soon enough!!! This is a GORGEOUS cover.
With political unrest and perilous forces aiming to undermine Zetian at every turn, can she enact positive changes as a fair and just ruler? Or will she be forced to rely on fear and violence and succumb to her darker instincts in her quest for vengeance?