I want to preface this entire review with *if you haven’t read Six of Crows yet, then you need to get right on that now.* The sequel was also really good, but I like the first one more, contrary to a lot of people’s opinions.
Queue Wonder Woman: Warbringer. Wow, girl. You did it again. Leigh Bardugo has swept me off my feet. I haven’t come down yet. I’m reading a new book, but all I can think about is Warbringer. I want to cry because it’s over. I want to scream and shout. I guess I’m just going to have to start the Grisha Verse Trilogy now.
I was worried about this one. Worried and fearful that she wouldn’t be able to pull it off. I mean, how much leeway does one have with a pop culture icon? We’re talking about Wonder Woman here, not just some made up character we’ve let percolate in the nether regions of our imagination. But there are no worries with this one. Get past the initial introduction of the character and landscape and away you will go. What Bardugo might have lacked in Wonder Woman she made up whole heartedly with her other characters. And yet still, somehow, put her own twist on a character that we’ve come to know and love.
But seriously, this one is amazing (and sorry if I use this word too much. I seriously can’t find another one…. marvelous…. stupendous… mind blowing…. out of this world….). A fantastical adventure. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, especially since the movie came out recently. Would this be a continuation, a prequel, or something else entirely? I’m still not sure where it fits in since I’m not too much of a religious comic book fan, and I really don’t care. What I did care about was the superb writing of Burdago and the thought out meticulous character development. Welp, I wasn’t disappointed.
I won’t debate on whether this plot is original or not. We are dealing with an already existing storyline. But, the quest was compelling and fantastical, the current day New York believable and enjoyable, and the beautiful descriptions of Themyscira absorbing. I’m also a major nitpicker when it comes to actions scenes. Most writers lose the reader, getting lost in the shuffle by jumping and hopping around too much. Bardugo kept me engrossed the entire time. I was given a 360 view without losing a single moment.
Back to the characters and I think the main reason I felt broken hearted when it was all over. To say goodbye to Nim and Theo, well it was a sad day. Though just supporting characters, they went above and beyond to make this story as crisp, real, and humorous as it was. As my writing teacher always said, let every character think they are the protagonist, and boy did these two try to steal the show every second. The characters were witty, humorous, and definitely compelling for the current day and age. I want a story with just those two, or come on, at least give me a sequel. Yet even with those two strong-minded souls, Bardugo never lost the original care and essence of the two main characters, Diana and Alia.
The twist was a pleasant surprise. (I never give spoilers, so you are free to move about the rest of this review). I knew that something wasn’t entirely right, I think most readers will, but I never guessed what was going to happen, something that I’ll admit I’m horribly accused of always doing. There could be two reasons; one, the twist was nicely disguised without too much foreshadowing, or two, I was loving the story so much that I didn’t have the mental room or desire to attempt a guess. The story was really just that good.
And with the call for diverse characters stronger every day, I want to make note of Bardugo’s attempt to add dark-skinned characters to her book. I won’t attempt to say whether she did a good job or not, especially because I’m not dark skinned and wouldn’t know what a life living dark skinned might be like, I was happy to read something new. Her addition lent to the storyline and was not a publicity stunt. Her writing, as always, let me picture each character in their own unique glory.
Hands down my favorite book so far this year and I would say that it would be staying this way if I didn’t have three more of her books to read.
So again, read this book. If you are not a superhero, Wonder Woman fan, I would still say that this is a great fantasy read. If you didn’t guess already, my first 5 star rating on Goodreads this year.
Happy Reading Everyone!