Skip to main content

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo (Review #118)

"Daughter of Immortals

Princess Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law - risking exile - to save a mortal. Diana will soon learn that she has rescued no ordinary girl, and that with this single brave act, she may have doomed the world.

Daughter of Death

Alia Keralis just wants a chance to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn't know she is being hunted by people who think her very existence could spark world war. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer - a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery. 

Together

Two girls will face an army of enemies - mortal and divine - determined to either destroy or possess Warbringer. Tested beyond the bounds of their abilities, Diana and Alia must find a way to unleash hidden strengths and forge an unlikely alliance. Because if they are to have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war."

Review:
In the spirit of combining two of my loves (books and DC Comics) I've delved into the DC Icons Series! This book exceeded every expectation I had. It was action packed, and had the format of a quest. It had hints of romance and was excellent as a YA Novel as a whole. This book was also filled with a lot of emotion. The dialogue really knitted the characters together and really made you root for this team on their quest.

Diana was the badass and strong girl we know her to be, but we also got to see a vulnerability to her. We see how others treat her as a second class Amazon because she did not earn her place on the island like the others. Though there is a certain respect given to her for being the princess, she is still teased. Each Amazon had a previous life as a warrior and Diana yearns for the chance to prove herself as a true warrior herself. She has a heart of gold too, and we continually see that throughout the book. We also get to see Diana shoved into the modern world and it definitely inspired a few good laughs out of me. 

‘‘Sister in battle, I am shield and blade to you. As I breathe, your enemies will know no sanctuary. While I live, your cause is mine.’’

Alia is a whole new character, and a bad ass in her own right. She is a fucking Warbringer. Her very presence incites war and chaos. It causes many issues within the group, and most of all issues for Alia herself. The entire story's quest revolves around halting the oncoming war brought on by the Warbringer. Alia struggles with what that means for her and who she is. 

“I am done being careful. I am done being quiet. Let them see me angry. Let them hear me wail at the top of my lungs.” 

One of my favorite parts was the TWIST ending. It completely threw me for a loop, I was reeling. I can't even stress how much of an emotional roller coaster the ending was. And when I say twist ending, I mean there were MANY twists! If you thought you knew how it was going to end, you've got another thing coming. I HIGHLY recommend picking this book up, to really anyone; you don't have to be a fan of DC to appreciate how awesome it is, but fans alike will revel in this masterpiece. 

Above all else, this is a straight up girl power story. Between Diana and Alia, and also between Alia and Nim. It's page after page of feminist resplendence. Girls sticking up for each other is a big theme here. It was also really nice to see an almost entirely Non-white characters. Aside from white Diana, Alia and her brother Jason are African-American and Greek (they identify as black), Nim is Indian (she's also gay, so yay to LGBTQ representation!), and Theo is Brazilian. Each character is individual and memorable and, unlike most superhero stories where the character's entire existence revolves around the hero, I really gave a shit about Alia, Jason, Nim and Theo. 

Overall, this was a fantastic book. If you thought you loved Wonder Woman BEFORE. HA. 

Read this book. Just do it. You will NOT regret it.

"Warbringer is straight-up dazzling, every sentence waking  up your senses with a 'Yeah, that's right, this is BRAND-NEW, SUCKAS!' punch." - Libba Bray (New York Times bestselling author of The Diviners)

AND CHECK OUT MY DC COMICS BLOG YOU'RE A SUPERHERO!!!




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian (Review #29)

"Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister. Kate is tired of the rumors, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person - her ex-best friend - and she's ready to make her pay. Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him. Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they've each had a taste." Review: This book was FAN-TAS-TIC!! I am not for the petty popular girl books, and this is definitely not one of those books. The revenge you wish you got on the person who double-crossed you is finally let loose In one of the best and most inventive ways, and the ending left me jaw-dropped. This is a book everyone should have on their shelf.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (Review #20)

"Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can. She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed. There is. She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong." Review: This is a book you simply have to read. It's probably a part of my top ten favorite books list. Mara is this girl who just lost her friends and boyfriend in a terrible, but also peculiar, accident and now people who tick her off - and who she's attracted to (cough-cough-Noah-cough-cough) - are in her powerful line of fire... It's a tantalizing tale that will have you (for a lack of a better cliche) gripping the edge of your seat!!

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake (Review #141)

"Old Gods never die.. or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health. Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra - an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god. These days, Cassandra doesn't involve herself in the business of gods - in fact, she doesn't even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning. Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with others of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these antigods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caric...