“Wonder Woman: Warbringer”
DC Icons #1
by Leigh Bardugo
Nikki’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Non-Spoiler Book Summary
The DC Icons series is a Young Adult series revolving around iconic DC universe characters such as Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, and Catwoman. These books are standalone, you do not need to read them in any particular order nor do you need to read them all if you just wanted to read one or two. All books are origin stories, so again you shouldn’t be lost if you don’t read the comics or watch the DC films.
“Wonder Woman: Warbringer” is an original story about Diana, aka Wonder Woman and her first experiences with the World of Man. While living with the rest of the Amazons on Themyscira, Diana feels like an outcast since she was made by her mother, Hippolyta, instead of earning her place on Themyscira like all the other Amazons. Diana struggles with self-confidence and questions her place as an Amazon, she wants a way to prove that she belongs and is an Amazon.
A plane crashes on the boundary of Themyscira and Diana chooses to save a mortal even though it is against the rules (sounds like an oddly familiar plot point). The mortal she saves is Alia, the Warbringer. The Warbringers are decendants of Helen, the daughter of Nemesis. The Warbringers bring destruction and have been the catalyst for every conflict and war in the world.
Diana has a choice. She can simply do nothing and Alia will die from being on Themyscira or Diana can get Alia back to the World of Man and try to purge the line of Warbringers. But if Diana fails in this mission, she will doom not just the World of Man but also Themyscira and all the Amazons she calls family and friends. Diana being who she is, cannot standby and watch a mortal die, so she chooses a quest. A quest to get Alia to the spring at Therapne before the end of the first day of Hekatombaion in order to stop the line of Warbringers permanently.
My Overall Thoughts… MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
I gave “Wonder Woman: Warbringer” by Leigh Bardugo a 3.5 out of 5 stars. Overall the book was enjoyable and I love Leigh Bardugo. She is a wonderful, amazing author, her Grisha Verse series is phenomenal and one of my favorites! That being said, this book only got a 3.5 rating because… I hate Wonder Woman. Blasphemy I know!!!
Why do I hate Wonder Woman? Because for me, she is too perfect, I typically like my superheroes to be flawed. Let’s take Rogue, for example, Rogue is a badass! The ability to absorb anyone else’s powers is amazing and super helpful in any fight! But her power is also her curse. The tragedy is that she cannot freely touch those she loves without harming them, absorbing their powers/life force. This dynamic defines Rogue as a character. She continues to portray a “tough girl” mentality, that she is indeed “untouchable” while struggling with wanting to be physically and emotionally close to others. Another example would be my favorite super-heroine and villain, Jean Grey aka Phoenix. Jean has awesome, amazing, infinite power limited pretty much only by her imagination. She is the alpha and omega, she is the beginning, and the end; she can create life and destroy it. And this is her battle, she struggles with her emotions, the want and need to consume, the heartache and pain that drives her to destroy, and then the love and kindness she feels towards others making her want to protect all life. I love characters who battle, battle internally the way I do every day of my life. And well, I feel like Wonder Woman has no internal battle.
I do appreciate that she struggles with acceptance, she lacks confidence in herself because she is a “Daughter of Earth,” not quite an Amazon. But I find her to be a petulant child mostly. Like Nemo in “Finding Nemo.” The whole “I’m my own person. My parents are holding me back! I’m going to rebel and show them I can do it!!!” And then they do something totally moronic! Ugh, very annoying. And no, I am not saying that Hippolyta wasn’t coddling Diana but seriously, she choose a mission that could potentially kill everyone she knows and loves if she failed. Not too bright for a first mission…
Anyways, Diana is a boring super-heroine and I was really hoping that Leigh Bardugo would work her magic and I would end up loving Wonder Woman but no. I still hate Wonder Woman. The overall plot was interesting and entertaining but when you don’t like the main character, it is hard to enjoy the book.
Perhaps Wonder Woman isn’t all that bad of a super-heroine and I am just biased because I’ve always loved the Marvel Universe more! 🙂
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