What a follow up to Iron Widow! It definitely had a different vibe- it's wasn't full time female rage and mecha- smash-things, but there still were elements of that vibe in this book. It was interesting to see how Huaxia changed after the old regime was overthrown, and I felt like sometimes it was almost like a foreshadowing of what could happen if capitalism was overthrown semi-violently. I really liked to see what Zetian did to try to uplift women. Qin Zheng grew on me, to the point where I was pretty much rooting for him and Zetian to make it work...

but I should have expected her to not fully bow down to him, so that crazy ending shouldn't have been a surprise! But man, I had whiplash with Yizhi and his various betrayals, and like Zetian, I lost my trust in him. But wow, what an ending! I had pretty much guessed that the gods were just more advanced beings/society but not really gods, but it was interesting to see how that interaction panned out! Also, does this mean there will be more books? I thought it was a planned duology, but now I'm not sure!

Overall, I continued to enjoy Zhao's writing style and world building, and I liked the revolution vibes. Definitely a worthy follow up after the excellence that is Iron Widow!