Fierce Females and Friendships || ARC Review: Wonder Woman—Warbringer

I’d heard wonderful things about Leigh Bardugo’s Wonder Woman novel, but I admit that I haven’t picked it up yet. I know! I really need to! Especially after reading the graphic novel version!

Title: Wonder Woman—Warbringer
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: DC Ink
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Genres: YA Fantasy

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Official Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Diana leads an idyllic life on the island of Themyscira. Cut off from the rest of the world, she’s beginning to feel a little alone. Though she has a loving mother and many “aunties,” she is an only child. In fact, the only child on the entire island

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 just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t 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.

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Quick Thoughts

• Keeping to DC Ink’s style, the art in Warbringer uses a lot of cool blue tones, along with black, white, and some red. Occasionally this made it hard to distinguish who was who, but that was usually not a problem.
• Diana’s hairstyle is always changing in this graphic novel, and they were all so pretty! I also loved the different outfits she and her friends wore (especially the ball gowns).
• At times, the reader will encounter not only Diana’s thoughts, but Alia’s as well. It took a moment to get used to it, but I liked Alia’s added pov.

Lasting Impressions

Diana’s struggle to fit in and be a good Amazon is so incredibly relatable. She’s trying to be like her

A common theme I’ve noticed within comics about Diana as a teenager (or a young girl) is her desire to prove herself to someone, whether it be her mother or the captain of the guard (as is the case in this volume). I really liked how this theme played out in Warbringer, and how it was emphasized in Alia’s desire to prove herself to her brother.

There is non-stop action in Warbringer! It is so much fun, the stakes are super high, and the battle scenes are pretty awesome. Loved that part.

I think this might have to do with it being adapted from a novel format, but the pacing and character development were a little too fast for me. (I had similar feelings in Batman: Nightwalker, which was also adapted from Marie Lu’s novel of the same name.) A whole novel’s length of growth of character, motivation, and trust (especially concerning the romance) seemed rushed and not fleshed out. I really did enjoy it, but I felt a lot was lost in the adaption.

Overall Feelings

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

As someone who didn’t read the original novel, I found this to be very enjoyable. There’s lots of action and fun characters. I believe others who haven’t read the novel will enjoy it too, but those who have likely won’t find much worth in reading it.

Have you read the novel version of Wonder Woman: Warbringer? Should I read it?