Leigh Bardugo |

Title: Wonder Woman: Warbringer
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: DC Icons, book 1
Genre: Fantasy, [Young-Adult]
Heat Rating: Cool
Page Count & Format: 369 pages, Paperback
Published: August 31st, 2017 by Penguin Books Ltd
Source: Purchased
My Rating:

Blurb (from Goodreads):

She will become a legend but first, she is Diana, Princess of the Amazons. And her fight is just beginning…

Diana is desperate to prove herself to her warrior sisters. But when the opportunity comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law to save a mere mortal, Alia Keralis. With this single heroic act, Diana may have just doomed the world.

Alia is a Warbringer – a descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery. Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies, mortal and divine, determined to destroy or possess the Warbringer.

To save the world, they must stand side by side against the tide of war.

Soooo, this is the first book I have read by this author. I know, I know… I am one of that 1 % of the bookish population who hasn’t picked up the Six of Crows duology yet but fear not mortals!! I intend to do that very soon. Veeeeery, very soon. Anyway, after reading this book, my expectations are a lot higher for that duology and of course, there’s still the hype.

I had read quite a lot of mixed reviews about this book due to which I kinda delayed reading this book. I was afraid and I soooo grateful to be proved wrong. I was relieved when I found myself enjoying the book.

Diana is the princess of the Amazons but no one considers her to be a true Amazon due to her being born on the island, because of her mother’s want for a child. Desperate to prove herself, Diana takes part in a competition but when she sees a shipwreck, she can’t help herself and saves the only victim alive, Alia who she learns from the Oracle is actually a Warbringer, aka, wherever she goes war will follow. But the Oracle gave her a time and destiny, but if she can’t complete the mission in time, the world would be essentially doomed due to her.

Predictable Plot but Amazing Execution!

I found the plot of Wonder Woman: Warbringer to be a bit predictable. Not totally though. Of course, there was a certain element of surprise that kept me wanting to turn the pages over and over again but overall, as a whole book I kind of understood how this would eventually end, so there was not a big wow factor but nonetheless, the execution of this book was absolutely wonderful! I loved it soooo freaking much.

“We can’t help the way we’re born. We can’t help what we are, only what life we choose to make for ourselves.”

Alia belongs to the Keralis family whose bloodline goes back to Helen of Troy and there was only one way to break the Warbringer lineage was to complete a quest before the time ran out. I was totally hooked from the first page.

Diverse Characters!

We have our two main protagonists Diana and Alia and I absolutely loved them! Diana is fierce yet she yearns to be a true Amazon, she wants to earn a place among her people and not just be recognised as the Queen’s daughter. She was strong and brave but I appreciated her vulnerable side too.

“Sisters in battle, I am shield and blade to you. As I breathe, your enemies will know no sanctuary. While I live, your cause is mine.”

Alia was another amazing character. At first, I thought I wouldn’t like her but I found that she was kind of hilarious at times. She was the Warbringer, it took her a loooot of time to grasp the reality of the situation and it felt more realistic due to that. Usually, I have seen that when something happens like this the character is shocked and is okay in the next chapter and ready to take the burden and this was so not the case but I loved how equally brave she was. I also loved how her brother Jason was protective of her but sometimes too overly protective though but they were two diverse characters who I enjoyed very much.

“It’s the people who never learn the word impossible who make history, because they’re the ones who keep trying.”

Nim, who belongs to the LGBTQ community, plus is an Indian (probably a Bong like me!) was the heart of the story! She was creative and totally hilarious at times. I enjoyed the continuous banter between him and Theo, who started off as an irritating character but won my heart in the end. There were do-or-die situations but sometimes their banter made it so funny but equally engaging!

The Action!

I am a huuuge fan of action and I really loved how all the action sequence were executed in this book. I hoped there were more but the one we had were pretty amazing! Diana was mostly the centre of attraction whenever a fight took place and damn she was EPIC!

Kinda Weird Plot Twist!

Okay, this was one of the factors that were kind of not exactly a letdown but weird. I mean, when the Big Bad Guy is revealed, I didn’t feel a chill through my spine (okay I’m exaggerating now…) but I felt that the build-up wasn’t enough. It was going one way, then BAM! Plot twist out of nowhere. Instead of feeling shocked I was just sitting thinking what the heck just happened. You have to read the book to understand what I actually mean.

Anyway, how things were executed after the big reveal was pretty intriguing. It was full of suspense and nail-biting moments and Diana was the one who had to face the toughest choice and I loved the decision she finally took. I loved her loyalty.

Overall,

Wonder Woman: Warbringer despite having a predictable plotline turned out to be an incredibly enjoyable read! The pace was a little slow in the beginning but it caught up soon enough, so it wasn’t that big of a problem. I enjoyed the execution and the writing style and I’m definitely looking forward to picking up more books by this author.

Recommend it?

Yes!

So guys, what did you think about this book? Did Wonder Woman: Warbringer reach your expectations or did it fall flat for you? What did you love the most about this book?