A review by imme_van_gorp
Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas

4.0

|| 4.0 stars ||

Oh, I was very pleasantly surprised here! I honestly liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

This story is mainly about Selina. She was a poor girl who grew up with an absent father and an abusive mom, while she desperately tried to take care of her chronically ill sister. Everything Selina did was for her sister; she stole, she fought, she deceived, she joined a gang, she basically dedicated her entire life to keeping her sister safe and taken care of.
However, when the authorities found out that Selina and her sister no longer had any parental figure living with them, they were to be taken to separate foster homes. They were going to be separated, and nobody was going to keep her sister healthy. Selina could not let that happen, and this was the trigger for her to become the anarchistic Catwoman.

The book then jumps ahead a few years and follows Selina’s escapades as Catwoman while she teams up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Together they steal from the rich and attempt to terrorize the corrupt places in Gotham City. Selina has other ulterior motives for the things she does, but I’m not going to spoil it yet; just know that her motives make her such a real and loyal person, and I love her for it.
While these three woman are out being absolute bad-asses and generally just kicking arse, there is someone trying to stop them; Luke Fox (whose alter ego is Batwing). Luke tries to keep his city safe while Batman is away, and he thinks he needs to do that by stopping Catwoman. However, he slowly but surely becomes ensnared and intrigued by her. Of course, neither of them know each other’s true identities, who just so happen to not like each other all that much! Or do they…? What will happen when they find out what the face beneath the mask is? Will finding out what Catwoman’s true motives are make such a difference for Luke that he might swap allegiances to her instead, joining her in her pursuits on ‘the dark side’?

Selina was definitely a character I loved. She was admirable, talented and so cool. Her many skills were just awesome to watch and I loved seeing her succeed with all her cunning plans. The way she was able to beat everyone’s arse with her smarts, strength, and expertise simply made me so giddy.

Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance between Selina and Luke, if only because I thought they did not have that many true interactions with each other and I didn’t like that they only found out each other’s identities until very late into the book. Nonetheless, I still liked their pairing even if it didn’t go incredibly deep. They had some nice tension going on, and I do love the enemies-to-lovers trope.

Of course there was also the romance between Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and I feel a little conflicted when it comes to that. At first I was kind of obsessed; I loved the longing and pining coming off of Ivy, but I eventually started to feel bad for her. Ivy was such a gentle and sweet soul, and Harley simply did not deserve her. She did not appreciate the amazing woman she had in front of her, and it got on my nerves. I understand Harley is a troubled girl and she can’t help some of the things she does, but still. She was toxic for Ivy and she made her a worse person. I mean, whereas Harley deserves someone better for her than the Joker, Ivy deserves someone better for her than Harley... Just saying.

I did really like the friendship between Ivy and Selina, though. It was so sweet how they grew closer and found a kindred spirit within each other. I was so happy that these two had someone who looked out for them, and who saw the other fully and clearly. They were both in desperate need of some love and care, and I’m glad they found it in each other. I really loved both of these characters a lot.

All in all, I was genuinely so entertained by this book. All the action scenes were so much fun, and I can’t say I ever felt bored. The plot was truly pretty great! The storyline came together so perfectly; everything fit and it was just very well put together.