Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow book 1)

 

“The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.” - taken from Goodreads.

This is a unique twist on Chinese history through a science fiction lens. Zetain is the ultimate feminist anti-hero who will continue to rebel against society’s constraints against women to the end. Soon caught between the boy she knew before joining the military and the boy she is ultimately paired with, Zetian is determined to live her own life. With that shocking reveal at the end, readers will be ready to conclude Zetian’s story with the next book. 

The story concludes with Heavenly Tyrant, out now.

Visit Xiran Jay Zhao’s website.

Never Thought I’d End Up Here by Ann Liang

 

“Leah Zhang has spent her whole life in LA - it's all she's ever known. But after accidentally wishing her cousin ill health and a very depressing marriage at her wedding, her parents stage an intervention. She's forgotten most of her Mandarin, has zero regard for etiquette, and can't hold a conversation with her own grandparents for longer than a minute. Their solution? Send her on an intensive two-week travel program across China's most beautiful cities. To them, it's the perfect opportunity for Leah to get back to her roots. To Leah, it's simply a much-needed escape.

But before Leah can even begin to enjoy the luxurious hotels, stunning scenery, and mouth-watering cuisine, she finds that also on the trip is her former classmate and least favorite person cynical, sarcastic Cyrus, who's somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome since they last saw each other.

While Leah might be tempted to shove him off the peak of the Yellow Mountain when nobody's looking, she can't get rid of him just yet. After all, she might never get another chance to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Yet the deeper they wander into China's provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love - with the boy she once thought she despised, the home she never thought she'd call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.” - taken from Goodreads.

When Leah flubs her congratulatory message in Chinese to her cousin on her wedding, her mother has had enough. Deeply embarrassed, her mother enrolled Leah in an immersive cultural experience in China to regain some respect from their family. Unfortunately, the one boy who is the cause of two of the most traumatic experiences in her life, is on the trip as well. She is determined to get back at Cyrus. But what happens when her heart has other plans?

Visit Ann Liang’s website.