I am a HUUUUUUGGGGEEEEE comic book/superhero/graphic novel nerd. I love superhero stuff so much so when I found out that young adult authors were working with DC to write stories about our much-loved superheroes, I couldn’t wait to see what they came up with. First up was Leigh Bardugo and her story of Diana Prince…

Princess 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 mortal. Diana will soon learn that she has rescued no ordinary girl, and that with this single brave act, she may have doomed the world.

Alia Keralis just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted by people who think her very existence could spark a world war. 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.

Two girls will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. Tested beyond the bounds of their abilities, Diana and Alia must find a way to unleash hidden strengths and forge an unlikely alliance. Because if they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.

There was so much hype surrounding this book, it was crazy. I mean, how could there not be? The film of Wonder Woman was a massive success a broke the box office, setting new records and is the fifth highest grossing superhero film of all time. Who better to take the reins of such a massive, inspirational woman than Leigh Bardugo?

“When had she stopped being a child? The first time a guy whistled at her out of a car window when she was walking to school? The moment she started wondering how she looked when she ran, what jiggled or bounced, instead of the pace she was setting? The first time she’d kept from raising her hand because she didn’t want to seem too smart or too eager? No one had sung? No one had told her how much she would lose until the time for grieving was long over.”

― Leigh Bardugo, Wonder Woman: Warbringer

For me, the story started off slowly. Maybe for the first 5 chapters (?), I was willing the book to go faster, to have a faster pace, and it did – in the end – but it took a good 50 pages to get there. Even though it was slow, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t like the content of those 50 pages, it was Bardugo world-building, introducing us to the Amazons of Themyscira and building up the rapport between Alia and Diana and the writing and the description was brilliant. It just had a slow pace. BUT THE PACING DID GET BETTER! As soon as Diana and Alia left Themyscira, things definitely got action-packed and there was action left, right and centre which I was all here for.

Also, a bit of a side note, but did anyone else think that the font of the paperback was mega small? It genuinely looked like I was reading a Dickensian novel because of how small it was. Because of the size of the font, I ended up reading my hardcover copy BECAUSE I COULD ACTUALLY SEE THE WORDS.

Anyway, back onto the actual review. This is the first superhero book adaptation that I have ever read and I have to say, I’m very pleased. Even though it’s (obviously) about a superhero, I didn’t feel like I was reading a superhero book (in a good way). it felt like a fantasy/action novel and I LOVED how Bardugo could do that. And this isn’t me saying that I’m glad it didn’t read like a superhero book because I hate superheroes, because that isn’t the case. As I said in the beginning, I AM A MASSSSSIIIIVVVVEEEE FAN of comic books/graphic novels about superheroes, but for people who aren’t, Wonder Woman is a brilliant book for them to read because they can read about a strong, feminist icon (who happens to be a superhero) without having it feel like they’re having the whole super-human strength, oH LOOk At mE, i’M A SuPErheRO storyline shoved down their throat.

“I am done being careful. I am done being quiet. Let them see me angry. Let them hear me wail at the top of my lungs.”

― Leigh Bardugo, Wonder Woman: Warbringer

Another brilliant thing about this book and about Leigh Bardugo’s writing is that this book features very strong female friendships which I loved. I love it when YA authors (or any author for that matter) includes positive f/f friendships in their books because there isn’t actually that many books that do and it’s always the bitchy/backstabby f/f friendships. With Wonder Woman, we got the solid friendship between Alia and Diana, Alia and Nim and then the friendship between the three girls as a group. They were just these three amazing girls who looked out for each other no matter what, went to war for each other and it was just amazing to read.

Speaking of characters, there was so much diversity in this book, it was fantastic. I cannot speak for the representation of the characters, but to have that much diversity within a YA novel was brilliant to read. Nim was black and bisexual, Alia and Jason were black, and Diana? Well, she’s an Amazon, so I kind of imagine her to have a Mediterranean complexion but I’m not 100% sure. Also, the book didn’t pick up on this but Diana is bisexual within the comics so… I wish I would have seen that in the book…

Overall, this is a gripping and superb book and even though it had a slow beginning, the rest of the novel definitely made up for it. I can’t wait to rad the rest of the books in the DC Icons series, and I just hope that they are as good as Wonder Woman!