Wonder Woman: Warbringer Review

So it’s been a while since I’ve done a book review. It does not mean I have not been reading, which I have. I’ve just been really swamped with work and other matters to have had the time to put any thoughts to words. But this book review has been on my mind since I finished it almost a month ago. So I’m finally going to attempt at consolidating my opinions on it into a post.

Leigh Bardugo’s upcoming book was given to me as an ARC at BookCon last June. I didn’t start reading it right away, but it had been sitting on my shelf and luring me in during the entire time I was finishing Cassandra Clare’s Lady Midnight, a fantastic book and series by the way. Out of all my ARCs, it was at the top of my list to read because I really enjoyed the panel I attended at BookCon with Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Sarah J. Maas, and Matt De La Peña speaking about their upcoming DC Icons project together. Now, I am coming into this book and project with probably as blank of a mind as possible. I have not yet read any of Bardugo’s works, though I have two of her books sitting on my TBR pile. I also know very little about the DC universe besides the cartoons I watched as a child and Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. So Bardugo’s writing and Wonder Woman as a character are being introduced to me with very few prior expectations. That being said, here is my opinion of the book and I will attempt to restrain from spoilers as much as possible.

Upon the first few chapters, Bardugo definitely spends time setting up the details for the exposition that would lead to the conflict. I was certainly impressed by how much research she clearly put into this novel, even as the story goes on. I admit it was a bit of a slow start though with not much intrigue in the beginning. It probably wasn’t until a third into the novel that I started to really feel the characters and their purpose. As much as the premise of Wonder Woman is based on Greek mythology, Bardugo creatively incorporates characters of other races into the novel, both in and out of Themyscira, and I really admire her for doing it so tactfully. Throughout the rest of the novel, I found the characters all very distinctive with their own charm. They are all very believable as really people with their own experiences of life that shape them into who they are and propel them in certain directions in the plot. Without spoiling anything, I must say that Bardugo’s incorporations of plot twists is done excellently. For the YA genre, I feel as though plot twists have become a necessity, but many authors fall into the trap of the typical plot twists that make a good novel into an uninteresting one or try too hard to make unique plot twists that the foundation they paved for the novel has lost its appeal. With Warbringer, there were definitely some plot twists that were predictable, but used only for necessity and others were only slightly unique enough to make it refreshing. Bardugo’s plot twists were more clever than amazing, which makes them impressive and able to carry through. Overall, I really enjoyed the novel and am glad I read it. I look forward to the rest of the DC Icons novels.