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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Surprisingly solid telling of Diana, the only princess of Themyscira, lost island of the Amazons, and her first teenage visit to the outside world. The book focuses on relationships and character, and also manages to craft dramatic, cinema-worthy action scenes and an overall plot that mostly makes sense. Gender roles, tolerance of differences, and racism all appear as themes in clever ways—mostly with a light touch. There were even a few unexpected twists in a book that seems written to a formula. Great job, highly recommended for fans of comic books or YA.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Started and finished date - 12.05.25 to 15.05.25.
My rating - Three Stars.
I enjoyed is book and I can't wait read one of Leigh Bardugo other books also I think people who like
the Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller or Circe by Madeline Miller. The writing was fine and it was easy follow also the ending was okay. Both world building and the atmosphere was pretty good but I would have it flash out bit more. The paced of plot was well structured and this book was steady paced. I mixed feeling about the characters
My rating - Three Stars.
I enjoyed is book and I can't wait read one of Leigh Bardugo other books also I think people who like
the Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller or Circe by Madeline Miller. The writing was fine and it was easy follow also the ending was okay. Both world building and the atmosphere was pretty good but I would have it flash out bit more. The paced of plot was well structured and this book was steady paced. I mixed feeling about the characters
Diana comes from this island called Themyscira where man cannot reach it. She is from the Island of Warrior, where all women were raised to be warriors. But as the Queen's daughter, she hasn't got an opportunity to prove herself that she is a true warrior and so one day she participates in a race to prove her worth. However, that day on the race she saw a shipwreck by the island and Diana goes and save a girl named Alia. But it ended up creating an absolute chaos. At the same time, the island forbids the warriors from contacting with the mortals and so Diana will be exile if anyone knows about this.
It turns out that Alia is a Warbringer, she is a descendant of Helen of Troy and she is fate to bring a huge war and people are hunting her down to prevent the apocalypse from happening.
So to fix the problem, Diana decided to bring Alia back to the mortal world and on a quest to save Alia, her own family and the peace of the world. Throughout the book, both girls are on a journey to find the spring in Greece and trying to change the fate of the world.
-----------------------------------------------
The plot was really interesting, also I like that there were a lot of Greek mythology blended in and many other things that I had never been exposed to. Leigh Bardugo's writing was amazing. I can easily picture everything that is going through in the book. It is like I'm watching a movie. There were also a lot of action in this book, which I really enjoyed. The characters have a lot of depth in them too, there are so many layers and you learn more things as you go on. There is definitely a twist and surprises that keep me reading.
Oh yeah! The diversity in this book is just so amazing! The characters are all non-white, we have black main character, we have an Indian character, a lesbian character, a Brazilian character etc. It was incredible! I was so happy about this! However, I was expecting a lesbian romance here, but I was quite okay that the romance wasn't the center of the story. It really focused on how strong the bond between the female friendship.
I really like Diana's character a lot. She is a very strong and empowering female character which I totally appreciate. Not only that, she is also a physically strong female and she overcomes a lot in the book. She also faced a lot of prejudice from where she comes from. But then, she takes the opportunity to prove herself in this quest. Though she was a very strong and brave character, you are still able to see her character grow into something more. Also, she is a kind soul. She makes her decision based on what is best for everyone. She knows others will suffer but she is trying her best to reduce the suffering and a solution that is best for everyone. I think what I like the most is her understanding towards humanity despite her upbringing. She has the ability to understands others and help them which I really like about it.
Alia was awesome too. She is also going through a lot of her own personal struggles. But there is more to her story, you get to learn about her situation, her family and it was crazy. Her brother, Jason, sheltered her in a very controlling way but she doesn't back away from a challenge. She also has the ability to understand others and self-sacrificing to do the right thing which makes her a very strong character too.
Others characters are really fun too. Theo and Nim are both awesome characters, they added so much fun to this book. Their personality is great too and they really shine. Besides that, the mortal world is not what Diana is expecting. She did learn some on her island but never to experience it. And so it leads to some pretty funny moments. I like how the author brings a lot of humor into the book. There were a couple of times I laughed so hard, it was really a fun read. But I do wish there is a closure for the main villain here but it doesn't really bother me.
This is really a great read. So much girl power and positivity on girl relationship and it is so so so good. I really loved it!
It turns out that Alia is a Warbringer, she is a descendant of Helen of Troy and she is fate to bring a huge war and people are hunting her down to prevent the apocalypse from happening.
So to fix the problem, Diana decided to bring Alia back to the mortal world and on a quest to save Alia, her own family and the peace of the world. Throughout the book, both girls are on a journey to find the spring in Greece and trying to change the fate of the world.
-----------------------------------------------
The plot was really interesting, also I like that there were a lot of Greek mythology blended in and many other things that I had never been exposed to. Leigh Bardugo's writing was amazing. I can easily picture everything that is going through in the book. It is like I'm watching a movie. There were also a lot of action in this book, which I really enjoyed. The characters have a lot of depth in them too, there are so many layers and you learn more things as you go on. There is definitely a twist and surprises that keep me reading.
Oh yeah! The diversity in this book is just so amazing! The characters are all non-white, we have black main character, we have an Indian character, a lesbian character, a Brazilian character etc. It was incredible! I was so happy about this! However, I was expecting a lesbian romance here, but I was quite okay that the romance wasn't the center of the story. It really focused on how strong the bond between the female friendship.
I really like Diana's character a lot. She is a very strong and empowering female character which I totally appreciate. Not only that, she is also a physically strong female and she overcomes a lot in the book. She also faced a lot of prejudice from where she comes from. But then, she takes the opportunity to prove herself in this quest. Though she was a very strong and brave character, you are still able to see her character grow into something more. Also, she is a kind soul. She makes her decision based on what is best for everyone. She knows others will suffer but she is trying her best to reduce the suffering and a solution that is best for everyone. I think what I like the most is her understanding towards humanity despite her upbringing. She has the ability to understands others and help them which I really like about it.
Alia was awesome too. She is also going through a lot of her own personal struggles. But there is more to her story, you get to learn about her situation, her family and it was crazy. Her brother, Jason, sheltered her in a very controlling way but she doesn't back away from a challenge. She also has the ability to understand others and self-sacrificing to do the right thing which makes her a very strong character too.
Others characters are really fun too. Theo and Nim are both awesome characters, they added so much fun to this book. Their personality is great too and they really shine. Besides that, the mortal world is not what Diana is expecting. She did learn some on her island but never to experience it. And so it leads to some pretty funny moments. I like how the author brings a lot of humor into the book. There were a couple of times I laughed so hard, it was really a fun read. But I do wish there is a closure for the main villain here but it doesn't really bother me.
This is really a great read. So much girl power and positivity on girl relationship and it is so so so good. I really loved it!
Not my fav. I think Leigh Bardugo is just not my writing type. Sorry. Love wonder woman just not enough action. Catwoman and sarah j. Mass book way better.
DNF at 40%!
This book isn't horrible. Just more contemporary than I expected.
I truly enjoy period pieces, especially when they involve super heroes. Like the Wonder Woman (2017) film set during WWI. Or the Captain America: The First Avenger film set during the WWII era.
While I appreciate diverse representation, there wasn't anything else that made Alia striking. Not to mention, her parents are dead. She also accepts who she may be a little too quickly.
It's not even Chapter 10.
Alia: "If we don't make it in the spring in time---."
Diana: "We will."
Alia: "But if we don't, I'm going to need you to kill me."
What teenage girl is that self-sacrificing? If I were in Alia's position, I would feel more scared and alone. While I understand that this is a fantasy, that doesn't mean the world shouldn't follow a basic set of rules or social norms. Not to mention, the dialogue is SO cheesy. But I can see why it appeals to the younger audience.
ANYWAY, I started this during summer for a read-a-thon and never finished. I picked it back up but felt that it dragged. I looked up some 3 star reviews and it seems that the consensus among those who feel most neutral about the book is that Diana is more or less acting as a glorified body guard for Alia, the book seems to be more about Alia and less about the Amazons, and that they felt Diana was written a bit one-dimensional and "Mary Sue". Therefore, I won't be continuing this one for the time being.
I can see how there are a lot of strengths to the novel (such as the clearly budding female friendship between Diana and Alia). I can tell that the author made the effort to be socially conscious, but I had a different set of expectations going in that were not met. I would have preferred a more action-driven story and less a character-driven one. Nonetheless, this book will mean a lot to it's intended target audience and I think it's wonderful that this book exists for the right readers.
Quotes:
- Her sisters were battle-proven warriors, steel forged from suffering and honed to greatness as they passed from life to immortality.
- Human life was a tide of misery, one that never reached the island’s shores.
- “It’s not just to ask someone to live half a life,” Diana said. “You can’t live in fear. You make things happen or they happen to you.”
This book isn't horrible. Just more contemporary than I expected.
I truly enjoy period pieces, especially when they involve super heroes. Like the Wonder Woman (2017) film set during WWI. Or the Captain America: The First Avenger film set during the WWII era.
While I appreciate diverse representation, there wasn't anything else that made Alia striking. Not to mention, her parents are dead. She also accepts who she may be a little too quickly.
It's not even Chapter 10.
Alia: "If we don't make it in the spring in time---."
Diana: "We will."
Alia: "But if we don't, I'm going to need you to kill me."
What teenage girl is that self-sacrificing? If I were in Alia's position, I would feel more scared and alone. While I understand that this is a fantasy, that doesn't mean the world shouldn't follow a basic set of rules or social norms. Not to mention, the dialogue is SO cheesy. But I can see why it appeals to the younger audience.
ANYWAY, I started this during summer for a read-a-thon and never finished. I picked it back up but felt that it dragged. I looked up some 3 star reviews and it seems that the consensus among those who feel most neutral about the book is that Diana is more or less acting as a glorified body guard for Alia, the book seems to be more about Alia and less about the Amazons, and that they felt Diana was written a bit one-dimensional and "Mary Sue". Therefore, I won't be continuing this one for the time being.
I can see how there are a lot of strengths to the novel (such as the clearly budding female friendship between Diana and Alia). I can tell that the author made the effort to be socially conscious, but I had a different set of expectations going in that were not met. I would have preferred a more action-driven story and less a character-driven one. Nonetheless, this book will mean a lot to it's intended target audience and I think it's wonderful that this book exists for the right readers.
Quotes:
- Her sisters were battle-proven warriors, steel forged from suffering and honed to greatness as they passed from life to immortality.
- Human life was a tide of misery, one that never reached the island’s shores.
- “It’s not just to ask someone to live half a life,” Diana said. “You can’t live in fear. You make things happen or they happen to you.”
I really liked this book! I have recently been in love with Wonder Woman’s character especially after the DCEU’s rendition of Wonder Woman, staring Gal Gadot herself. After watching that movie I have like committed myself to Wonder Woman stuff and let me mention again I really liked the movie. So I went into this book with great expectations and boy, did it meet & surpass them. I never really expected it to disappoint, how could Leigh Bardugo writing Wonder Woman a DC character whom I already love, go wrong?
The premise of this entire series is interesting, the people at DC are pushing into the YA sphere with the use of popular YA authors to write about DC characters - this is something Marvel (the other big comic book giant) did not do. Honestly this was a great and bright move, allowing even more people to come to love and understand these characters.
This book is set in present day world whereby we get to see Diana as a fish out of water yet again. This does mean that it is apart from anything that is in the media right now (like the DCEU) and a whole new world on it’s own. This book has a lot of representation (surprisingly this does make or break books for people, but yes there is a large diverse cast of characters in this novel).
The writing in this book is great, I mean coming from Leigh Bardugo I was pretty surprised because I did not leave the Grisha Trilogy thinking I would read her other work, but now I am actually interested to read her Six of Crows Duology.
Leigh Bardugo was so good at writing dialogue, it felt like the characters really came to life and distinguished themselves - the banter between them was great.
The mythos and plot behind Warbringer was really interesting because this felt like a original kind of plot to me - I haven’t seen something like this before and it was definitely refreshing to read.
I am interested to read the rest of the books in the DC Icons universe, Batman, Catwoman and Superman, written by Marie Lu, Sarah J. Maas and Matt de la Pena.
Recommendations
Read it!
Overall Rating: 91%
SPOILERY DISCUSSION
Oh so this takes place in the 21st century? So this is not in line with DCEU, interesting.
This was my earlier thought: if Jason is Alia's brother, was he also a Warbringer? But this turned out to be wrong because Jason inherited the strength of the kings of Greece and Rome.
This feels like another play on her origin story, which is a pretty refreshing take because I have not seen 1 so in the 21st century. This brought about interesting and relatable jokes.
When Diana complained about air travel and men being proud of their innovation of a flying metal chamber, I'm like, hey you got an invisible jet HAHA. (maybe in the near future who knows.
Really?? Jason you had to betray everyone?? He wanted to keep and protect Alia just because he wanted her to wage war and wanted to turn up on top of everyone else.
That moment when Jason drained Diana of her blood? Like he just killled her right there and then after that his minions killed off Theo and Nim. I was in despair like no he could not have killed them. Then Diana pled to the goddess (Athena I believe?) and then she was offered the chance to return to Themyscira or save them. Then she wholeheartedly chose her new friends and did it for the greater good and this just really tied in the theme of having hope.
I really liked that scene when the company used the Lasso of Truth(Hestia) to play this game which was essentially just to speak the truth, it was great.
That’s all I have to say. Feel free to approach me and talk to me!
The premise of this entire series is interesting, the people at DC are pushing into the YA sphere with the use of popular YA authors to write about DC characters - this is something Marvel (the other big comic book giant) did not do. Honestly this was a great and bright move, allowing even more people to come to love and understand these characters.
This book is set in present day world whereby we get to see Diana as a fish out of water yet again. This does mean that it is apart from anything that is in the media right now (like the DCEU) and a whole new world on it’s own. This book has a lot of representation (surprisingly this does make or break books for people, but yes there is a large diverse cast of characters in this novel).
The writing in this book is great, I mean coming from Leigh Bardugo I was pretty surprised because I did not leave the Grisha Trilogy thinking I would read her other work, but now I am actually interested to read her Six of Crows Duology.
Leigh Bardugo was so good at writing dialogue, it felt like the characters really came to life and distinguished themselves - the banter between them was great.
The mythos and plot behind Warbringer was really interesting because this felt like a original kind of plot to me - I haven’t seen something like this before and it was definitely refreshing to read.
I am interested to read the rest of the books in the DC Icons universe, Batman, Catwoman and Superman, written by Marie Lu, Sarah J. Maas and Matt de la Pena.
Recommendations
Read it!
Overall Rating: 91%
SPOILERY DISCUSSION
Spoiler
This mostly has my thoughts when I was reading the aforementioned book.Oh so this takes place in the 21st century? So this is not in line with DCEU, interesting.
This was my earlier thought: if Jason is Alia's brother, was he also a Warbringer? But this turned out to be wrong because Jason inherited the strength of the kings of Greece and Rome.
This feels like another play on her origin story, which is a pretty refreshing take because I have not seen 1 so in the 21st century. This brought about interesting and relatable jokes.
When Diana complained about air travel and men being proud of their innovation of a flying metal chamber, I'm like, hey you got an invisible jet HAHA. (maybe in the near future who knows.
Really?? Jason you had to betray everyone?? He wanted to keep and protect Alia just because he wanted her to wage war and wanted to turn up on top of everyone else.
That moment when Jason drained Diana of her blood? Like he just killled her right there and then after that his minions killed off Theo and Nim. I was in despair like no he could not have killed them. Then Diana pled to the goddess (Athena I believe?) and then she was offered the chance to return to Themyscira or save them. Then she wholeheartedly chose her new friends and did it for the greater good and this just really tied in the theme of having hope.
I really liked that scene when the company used the Lasso of Truth(Hestia) to play this game which was essentially just to speak the truth, it was great.
That’s all I have to say. Feel free to approach me and talk to me!
YES! THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLE! Whoever you are reading this review right now, I most definitely recommend that you go and read it. It was so awesome and epic, I'm not sure if I can even find words! I'm going to try to make this review coherent but I'm still fangirling and obsessing over how wonderful it was, so thank-you for your patience.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this up. I am completely obsessed with Marvel, but I don't think that Marvel and DC are mutually exclusive, so I decided to give this a go and boy am I glad that I did. The story is exceptionally written, it's action-packed, easy to follow and full of unexpected twists which I never saw coming. I was never bored reading this, and didn't ever want to put it down.
The characters were awesome, diverse and all had very strong personalities. Diana was predictably brilliant. Strong, smart, bold, unintentionally amusing and a perfect portrayal of Wonder Woman. Alia was not at all the character I expected, but she was so awesome, relatable and realistic, yet she had a thirst to prove herself and showed lots of spunk and courage. Her friendship with Diana which grew across the book was brilliant. All the other characters were also fantastic, and I loved how their unique personalities were explored across the novel, but I don't want to give too much away!
The world building was awesome! (I think I've used that word far too much in this review, but it so perfectly encapsulates my feelings about this book that I'm going to keep using it.) The world which Bardugo creates is so full of detail and described so fantastically that I was immediately sucked in, despite having no prior knowledge of any context. The settings were so beautiful at the start of the book and the scenery perfectly matched what was happening in the story. All the way throughout I could really picture the surroundings, and that made the story just that extra bit better!
In case you missed it, I would highly recommend this book. It was awesome! Also, you don't need any prior context about Wonder Woman in order to pick it up. I was worried that knowing next-to-nothing about the DC universe may detract from the experience, but I don't think it made a difference. This is a great action-packed YA book and I loved it so much!
I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this up. I am completely obsessed with Marvel, but I don't think that Marvel and DC are mutually exclusive, so I decided to give this a go and boy am I glad that I did. The story is exceptionally written, it's action-packed, easy to follow and full of unexpected twists which I never saw coming. I was never bored reading this, and didn't ever want to put it down.
The characters were awesome, diverse and all had very strong personalities. Diana was predictably brilliant. Strong, smart, bold, unintentionally amusing and a perfect portrayal of Wonder Woman. Alia was not at all the character I expected, but she was so awesome, relatable and realistic, yet she had a thirst to prove herself and showed lots of spunk and courage. Her friendship with Diana which grew across the book was brilliant. All the other characters were also fantastic, and I loved how their unique personalities were explored across the novel, but I don't want to give too much away!
The world building was awesome! (I think I've used that word far too much in this review, but it so perfectly encapsulates my feelings about this book that I'm going to keep using it.) The world which Bardugo creates is so full of detail and described so fantastically that I was immediately sucked in, despite having no prior knowledge of any context. The settings were so beautiful at the start of the book and the scenery perfectly matched what was happening in the story. All the way throughout I could really picture the surroundings, and that made the story just that extra bit better!
In case you missed it, I would highly recommend this book. It was awesome! Also, you don't need any prior context about Wonder Woman in order to pick it up. I was worried that knowing next-to-nothing about the DC universe may detract from the experience, but I don't think it made a difference. This is a great action-packed YA book and I loved it so much!
There were a couple things I had issues with when I was reading the book, but I kind of forgot what they were. 😂 I do know at the beginning I was annoyed that there would be a lot of action and then it’d get really dull for a bit. But the book got better and I really enjoyed it! It was a very quick, fast-paced, action-filled read!
4/5 stars.
4/5 stars.