I love both Marvel and DC comics and movies. My brother got me into them on my late teens and I have been a die hard fan since then. And considering I am also a bookworm you can imagine my excitement when this book came out.
If you are expecting a cheesy and predictable superhero story the last third of the book will not disappoint, sadly the built up to all the action felt a little flat.
After reading much of Leigh Bardugo's work I find that although I love many of her books and characters, I also do not love many of them... There is none that I do not like, but there are some I am rather indifferent to. The first half of Wonder Woman sadly falls into the latter.
Here is the blurb:
Daughter of immortals.
Princess Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the 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 wanted 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 a 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 the 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 have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.
Princess Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the 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 wanted 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 a 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 the 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 have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.
The bad things:
- It had a very poor beginning. It was slow and tedious for the first half. I had to stop a few times to find motivation.
- Wonder Woman was not the main character. Both Diana and Alia were. And that could have been okay if Diana's side had been explored and explained well, but it wasn't. We are left knowing close to nothing about the Amazonas and their home.
- Alia and her friends: Alia came across a lot younger than 17 and rather dull-witted. As for her friends, Theo is possibly the worst character I've ever read from Leigh Bardugo: simple minded, boring, obnoxious... The often unimportant, childish, and silly banter between her friends wasn't as funny as she was probably trying to make it be. It was just stupid and laggard.
The good things:
- once we have the first plot twist the story does pick up. The last 160 or so pages were a pleasure to read. Fast paced, action packed, and full of your usual cheesy comic stuff.
- Diana was everything you could expect Wonder Woman to be. Loyal, courageous, beautiful, strong. Leigh Bardugo gave this wonderful and very well loved character its due respect.
- female friendships take center stage and I absolutely loved that. It is hard to find good female friendships in ya (I have recently read truthwitch for example and felt that the author completely failed there). Both the friendship between Nim and Alia, and Alia and Diana were beautifully written and portrayed. No bitching, no backstabbing... just solid female friendship. Thumbs up from me!
- the first plot twist- I did not see that coming! As predictable as most of the book was and as most of comics can be that plot twist was unexpected and although his speeches got a little cheese it did not deter from the fact that it was a very good plot twist!
All in all not a bad book, but not amazing either.
I feel the same way!
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