Book 8/30.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
After the EPICNESS that was Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, I was beyond eager to read Leigh Bardugo‘s coming-of-age story about Diana, Princess of the Amazons. I started reading Wonder Woman: Warbringer for book 8 on International Women’s Day, aka my late mum’s birthday, and best believe that was verrrryyy intentional of me 🙅♀️
She will become one of the world’s greatest heroes: WONDER WOMAN. But first she is Diana, Princess of the Amazons. And her fight is just beginning. Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mere mortal. Even worse, Alia Keralis is no ordinary girl and with this single brave act, Diana may have doomed the world. Alia, who just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea, does not know she is being hunted. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer—a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery. Together, Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. If they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.
In case you had any doubt after reading that synopsis, my third Leigh Bardugo read was ALL OF THE FIVE STARS!!!!! The storyline was superb, the world building impeccable as usual, and the characters could not have felt more real if they tried. Because one thing about Ms. Bardugo, she is just sooo fucking talented at crafting storylines, worlds and characters that grab you and refuse to let go until the final page. Which works especially well in this book because this Wonder Woman story is as much about the other characters as it is about Diana Prince, and each character was well fleshed out, important and memorable. My faves were easily Diana and Alia as they were such a delight, making the dual POV narration a treat to read as both girls were hilarious AF with their banter and observations. I especially loved seeing the world through Diana’s eyes as her naïveté provided lovely and insightful social commentary on the patriarchy, gender, race, sexuality, technology etc etc.
After reading the Six of Crows duology and then this book, I am crowning Leigh Bardugo the queen of sensory writing. Her use of rich, descriptive language that appeals to the reader’s five senses is second-to-none and quite often I could not help but read, then slowly reread, and reread again, various setting descriptions to deeply savour her super descriptive writing. I reveled in the beauty and uniqueness of Themyscira with Diana and her sisters, walked the streets of New York with her and Alia, and traversed through Greece with the entire squad, all from the comfort of my home.
The ending closes this chapter but leaves us with the suggestion that there could be more Wonder Woman books in the future and provided they are written by Ms. Bardugo, I will read each and every one of them.
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
Lwile the Leo 