Love love love, "delightful to read" wouldn't be accurate, but I certainly enjoyed every dangerous turn.
After months of laughing at people describing this book as polical (bro did you even read the first one), I do actually see why this one gets called that (it's still silly).

A long awaited sequel, Zetian must contend not only with her entire knowledge of her world being turned upside down, but deal with the consequences of her actions at the end of the previous novel, handle the grief of loosing someone she loved, and deal with a reawakened Emperor that had been kept asleep for over 200 years. Oh, and she also now is a major head of state who finds herself constrained by the will of the returned Emperor. 

Writing this review hurts my heart. Not because that as a whole this book was disappointing. just the opposite in major ways. it expands the world and mythology. It opens up new areas of 'magic' if you will.  Its exploration of how socialism works in practice versus paper and how dismantling capitalize doesn't mean a complete destruction of the behaviors that make it so very flawed at best and oppressive to many others is remarkable. there is incredibly deep thinking social, economical, and cultural thinking. it's a good reflection on how actions and intentions effect history in ways we can't anticipate. There are scenes of action that are rightfully sweeping. The depiction of the complexity of personality, in particular when someone is powered by their own anger, and how not even 'negative' emotions are necessarily white or black promoting good and bad actions and thought process is something there's a lot of room for. 

What has me screaming with frustration and yanking down the review is that the relationship parts of this novel aren't just toxic. I am all for showing a journey through a toxic relationship and welcome it being one that carries problems from both parties. That type of storytelling would make the 'things to be admired' list. What I have a problem with is that while Zetian will have these reflections on how she knows she's reacting badly, or that the Emperor's actions aren't right, or extreme, or short sited she immediately shoves that down and acts completely contradictory in the next breath. this is a trait of being stuck in a destructive cycle, but the book NEVER addresses this or leads to a healing process. 

There is a moment of sudden revelation where she acts drastically and stands her ground but it comes so close to the ending that it almost feels too late at that point. The 'romantasy' genre is full of 'bad boy' romances, 'enemies to lovers'. This is someone who acts absolutely abusively and controlling from day one. There is understanding in only that they both realize they are angry people and flawed. But the types of problems are not equal. It's really concerning for me as someone who's older to see for so much of this book seeing a lead character constantly manipulated knowing that this will have younger viewers. 

the first book dealt with righteous anger and a relationship that was healing. It also managed to have a romance element that didn't take over the plot. That was even before the in depth world and fantastical elements that I adored. To see it go from there, to here, even if the reader isn't really led to 'cheer' for a relationship like this, to have so much focus and such a long book with this as what is preoccupying and entrancing our protagonist's life is really glamorizing it all the same. 

It really hurts to have a book that has so many brilliant points to have such backwards character development. Even a new revelation about a previous existing character that comes to light that could have had some really interesting consequences really gets boiled down to make a villain of and outcast the character. Which is also somehow worse to Zetian because it's unexpected compared to the actions of the Emperor who gets a pass because "it's just like him to do that, I don't expect less." 

I  remain curious about how this series will conclude. I will probably pick it up on release. But it's hard not to admit that something is so wonderful and so deeply disappointing on one hand and the other. 

what I expected: more giant fighting robots, maybe with a bit of Speaker for the Dead-esque eulogizing and responsibility 

what I got: a bizarre and entirely-too-long political manifesto with seemingly no grounding aside from “this is what I want to do,” definitely sexual assault on more than one level, characters that felt wildly different from the first book, and just a whole lot of “what’s even happening here”

I liked-but-didn’t-love Iron Widow, and enjoyed it as an action movie popcorn style read. Heavenly Tyrant falls so short of even that. It’s a hundred to two hundred pages too long, lacking in motivation, and the plot is somehow even flimsier than Iron Widow. Just very disappointing all around. 

(will probably still read the third book when it comes out tho)

The majority of this book was like if George Orwell wrote queer feminist fantasy, and the last part was  toxic romance and sex and fast-paced action. I honestly enjoyed this book, though I felt like it was missing a lot of things I loved from Iron Widow. The love interests are totally different (Shimin is simply not present (BRING SHIMIN BACK), while Yihzi is an asshole and has no chemistry with Zetian) and the feminine rage, while there, doesn't get to be quite as murderous and crazy. It was at least interesting commentary on politics and what a post-revolution government would look like, and while I'm still a bit confused by the ending, I look forward to reading the sequel. Definitely a good book, just didn't pack as much punch as the first. 

Also, note: This book is much more adult than the first, I would not classify it as YA. Maybe NA.

I’m really struggling with how to rate and review this. I think for how much I adored Iron Widow, this was kind of disappointing?? I liked it enough, but I am sitting here having just finished the book, and I have such an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. There were some parts of this I really loved, including the exploration of how we build ~what comes next~ and Zetian figuring out what uplifting women does and doesn’t look like. I absolutely hated the “romance” with Qin Zheng and all the coercion and manipulation he did to her. I do think Zhao did great job of writing the narrative in a way where we were experiencing Zetian try to convince herself she was choosing to do a multitude of things but in reality she was his prisoner and couldn’t escape. I also was under the impression that this was going to be a duology and was a bit shocked to get to the end and see a to be continued. I will certainly read the final installment, but for now I feel a bit disappointed!

This is a disappointing sequel to *Iron Widow*. I actually spent time ranting to my partner about it and how frustrated I feel.

Most of this book is just speeches and telling, not showing, what happens with Qin Zheng now that he is back as emperor of Huxia- after the events of the last book when Zetian frees him. He’s terrible. He’s a tyrant. It’s a warning about what happens when men do terrible things in the name of the "greater good." There’s some  sexual content that is coercive and felt like it could have been handled better as subject matter. 

The only truly interesting stuff in this SFF novel happens in the last 100 pages. The rest feels like poorly written leftist monologues pasted over a weak semblance of a plot that completely undermines the spirit of what the main characters worked toward in the first book. I say this as someone who is fairly liberal, but there’s a difference between portraying these beliefs meaningfully and cramming half-page Tumblr-style rants into the mouths of side characters.

Zetian spends the whole book suffering. Again. Great. We don’t get to see her do much of what she excels at—she’s literally forced to play a role for propaganda.

I’m honestly shocked this made it through an editor’s hands and got approved, especially with the run-on monologues, poor pacing, extra characters, and more.