Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

DC Icons #1

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Publication Date: August 28th, 2017

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Purchase

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 376

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Daughter of immortals.

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.

Daughter of death.

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.

Together.

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.

So Wonder Woman: Warbringer was a book that I only bought because:

1. I like the author and I want all of her books.
2. I went to a tour stop and wanted to bring all the books.

Like, since I bought it, I figured I would read it eventually. But I have never been super into DC or Marvel or superheroes in general so it definitely wasn't a priority. But I needed a book for the superhero prompt for #ReadersCrossing and I bumped it way to the top of my TBR.

And I am actually glad that I did. I quite liked this book.

Also, I just recently bought and watched the movie Wonder Woman and I was pretty impressed with it. I figured I would be because Wonder WOMAN, but like I said, never been a fan of superheroes.

Wonder Woman: Warbringer starts off on the island of Themyscira with Diana saving a mortal from the World of Man and bringing her to safety. It is against the rules and there are fairly prompt consequences. It turns out that the girl that Diana saved is a Warbringer, if she is allowed to live past seventeen, war will surely come. The oracle's suggestion is to let her die, but Diana can't do it, so she sets off on a journey to cleanse her of this curse.

So, this is one of those books that takes place partially in a fantasy-esque setting and partially in a modern day setting. I don't generally like things like that. Fantasy settings are infinitely more interesting to me than anything modern day. This was no exception. I really liked the parts on Themyscira or in Greece (not that Greece is a fantasy location) better than in NYC.

I love love love Diana. She was brought up on an island full of immortal women, only reading about modern day things and people. I loved when Diana interacted with literally anyone outside of Themyscira. She is so bold and sassy and hilarious.

I don't know exactly how I felt about Alia. I didn't dislike her, but I didn't like.. love her. I don't know, maybe it was just because I liked Diana so much and no one in this book was as cool as her. I was totally rooting for Alia and was invested in her journey and all that, but I don't know, I didn't actively like her that much.

I feel like none of the characters are super duper memorable when compared to Diana. I don't know, I just really really loved Diana. I thought Jason was mostly boring. I liked Theo. And if I was going to pick a next favorite character, it would definitely be Nim.

I think all of the mortal characters were just so meh for me because the fantastical elements of this book were so much more interesting and the immortal women were so much more interesting and memorable to me and I feel like I wanted more of that. But I definitely gravitate more towards fantasy elements than real life ones.

This book isn't heavily focused on romance. The main focus of this story is ridding the world of the Warbringer curse, but there is a little bit of romance here and there. I liked Alia's romance a lot more so than Diana's.

The plot twist at the end where you find out who the villain actually is really surprised me. I wasn't expecting that to come about and I really thought someone else was going to be the shady one.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. If you are a fan of DC, Wonder Woman, or super heroes in general, you may enjoy this book as well. If you're looking for a book low on romance and high on action, you should read this one.

Have you read this book yet? What are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows #1

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Publication Date: September 29th, 2015

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Purchase

Pages: 465

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. 

Kaz's crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

Usually I can read a book in like a day, maybe two if time flies by. This book I think took me like 4 or 5 days to read! Not a bad thing! There's just so much going on in this book, it feels like you need to take a break to let it all sink in every now and then!

Kaz Brekker is basically a criminal mastermind. He was SO good at being bad that it almost felt unrealistic to me, but it was very entertaining! He is ambushed in a dark alley and given information on a near impossible heist that would make him, and anyone who would be dumb enough to help him, disgustingly rich. He goes out and recruits the rest of his six member crew and they prepare to set off to retrieve something valuable from the Ice Court in Fjerda.

This story is told in six points of view, which would usually be a problem for me. As a general rule, I hate multiple points of view. But this one was perfect for it, what with everyone off doing their own parts of this impossible heist, so you get to see what's going on all around. I loved seeing the different points of view in this one! I loved the flashbacks in Kaz, Nina, and Matthias's points of view! I loved learning about all of them!

I liked all of the characters in this book! But I think that my favorite characters were Nina and Matthias by far! The characters are all so different and have different strengths that are all so perfect for this heist. I loved it. Since there's so many characters, I don't want to go in depth about all of them, but they're all fantastic!

There is a bit of romance in this book! Everyone in the crew pretty much pairs off in this book. Nina and Matthias are my favorite pair! I loved their relationship and I found their history to be really interesting! I loved Nina so much.

I loved getting to revisit the Grisha world and seeing all the references to characters from the other series was so fun. I liked that we got to see more of Fjerda and Ketterdam in this one! There were things happening in this book from page one so it was never boring or really slow. The ending is kind of a cliffhanger, but not a horribly mean one. But it does leave you needing the next one!

I really can't think of anything about this book that I really didn't like. I can see why this book was so hyped up, it was excellent and I am can't wait for Crooked Kingdom!

Overall, I would highly recommend this book! If you loved the Grisha trilogy and haven't read this one yet, what are you waiting for?!

Review: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

The Grisha #3

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Publication Date: June 17th, 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Purchase

Pages: 422

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Summary (from Goodreads):

The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.

Okay, I think that this was easily my favorite of the three books in this trilogy. It was so good and mostly satisfying! Also, I'm not even going to pretend there aren't spoilers in this, if you're one who is late to the Grisha party.

The beginning of this book takes place about three months after the battle at Os Alta where most of the Second Army was slaughtered by the Darkling and his shadow army! Alina is weak and the Apparat has her under lock and key, deep underground, trying to advance his little sun summoner cult. She won't let her near her friends or basically anyone but him and his weird guards. Then her friends come up with an elaborate plan to get her strength and power back and she basically puts the Apparat in his place. Which is good because he needed to be knocked down a few pegs, creep. I hate that guy. I was angry for the whole beginning of this book because of him and his creepiness. So they break out of the Apparat's clutches and go back on the hunt for the final amplifier, the firebird. 

I loooove Alina still! She handles being forced into Sainthood a lot better than I would because I'd pry whoop that Apparat's ass. I couldn't handle all those people being all grabby hands at me all the time. She definitely has the patience of a Saint, if anything. Anyway, I don't really know what to say about Alina that I haven't already said in my reviews for the other two books. She learns to hone her powers in new ways, perfecting more of the things that the Darkling had previously only been able to do. She has to make the ULTIMATE hard decision in this book and she somehow manages to do it. She is just really kick ass. She's smarter, she's braver, she's just a little bit better than she was before. I love her. Possibly she could be my new favorite YA heroine. I don't know. Top three, definitely.

The romance in this book made me both happy and sad. Sad because for most of this book Alina and Mal just basically glance longingly at each other and avoid contact and conversation. And Alina is being pushed in other directions by everyone around her. Pushed to possibly marry Nikolai and become the Queen of Ravka, even though I don't think she ever really acts like she wants it. It's just what could be best for Ravka. But throughout it all, she only ever wants Mal. It's always been Mal, it will always be Mal. I did appreciate that, while the romance was kinda just cold for a lot of this book,  Mal wasn't just absent through the whole book til he was needed. I really liked that he was present throughout the whole book. And I really love, love, love their happily ever after!

I decided in this book that I really like David. He really reminds me of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory because he's insanely smart and he doesn't seem to understand sarcasm. I really liked his relationship with Genya. They're so cute together! His little speech about how he understands metal and she's made of steel was SO CUTE! I still love Genya, too. She surprised me because she's totally got a nerdy side too! She is such a good friend to Alina, I'm glad that she didn't really get made out to be a bad guy in this series like I thought she was going to for awhile.

And as for the Darkling, I just really liked him as a character. Definitely still not as a love interest. I was sad at the ending that he got, even though it was necessary. He was never going to give up his cause and if he kept using his power, it didn't seem he ever had plans to die, so something had to be done. I don't think that he actually had bad intentions, I think that his methods of getting what he wanted were what was wrong with him. I liked that you got to see his more human side in this book. He wasn't always so perfectly put together. Alina surprised him and threw him off guard. He was actually capable of real human feelings! I love that Alina thought she needed the aid of all three amplifiers to face him, but in the end, Alina faced him and defeated him without anything to help her. I wish he could have been redeemed and gotten a happy ending, but not with Alina.

The one and only thing that I can think of that I didn't love about this book was Harshaw's death! Maybe it's the crazy cat lady in me talking, but I was SO SAD that he and Oncat didn't get to be reunited after the battle in the Fold. I loved the relationship between him and his feline friend. I also loved his semi craziness and I was sad to see him go. I definitely saw it coming though.

What else can I even say about this book? The plot sped right along. The writing was fantastic. I really don't think that my brain is caught up enough yet to even be writing this review, but if I wait, I'll definitely forget things. More than I'm sure I've already forgotten. This was just an overall really excellent series and I would highly recommend this book to basically anyone. So glad this series was pushed at me and I am only a little bit sad that I cancelled my preorder of The Rose Society to buy these instead. But definitely no regrets!

Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

The Grisha #1

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. (BYR)

Publication Date: June 5th, 2012

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Purchase

Pages: 368

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

I didn't even bother to attempt to omit anything spoilery. Just in case you're one of those people (like me) who is reading this and hasn't already jumped on this bandwagon. And this isn't even really a review. It's just my ramblings. Just in case that's not your thing, turn back now.

Okay, so I mentioned in a tag one time that my least favorite trope to read about in a book is the one where the girl finds herself to be so boring and plain and not pretty, but actually she is and everyone loves her and blah blah blah. Well, I'm bringing that up because I was just reading other people's reviews of this book on Goodreads and someone was saying something about how they felt Alina fit this trope and I disagree. So I wish to babble about why I disagree. Also, it's probably the most coherent thought I have on this whole book.

In the beginning of the book, Alina kind of strikes me as an outcast. She was an orphan of the forever ongoing war between Ravka and the neighboring countries along with her best friend, Mal. They grow up and join the military together and she seems to just be off by herself. She is a mapmaker and not even a very good one, in her own opinion. She is always wishing for the good old days when Mal actually noticed her or took interest in her. The way she is described makes me think of someone who is really sickly. She constantly has dark circles under her eyes, she's way too skinny, she can't sleep, she has no appetite, she doesn't have pretty skin, etc. Then going through the Shadow Fold, she unleashes her rare Grisha powers to save Mal from the volcra and she is consequently taken by the Darkling to Os Alta where she is trained to use her powers. She fails in her training with Baghra to use her powers at her own will, she fails in combat training with Botkin because of her sickly nature, and she fails in socializing with other Grisha because she doesn't believe she belongs there and doesn't believe in herself. People only seem to be interested in her for her rare Sun Summoner abilities. 

Then she has kind of a realization/flashback about her past and realizes that she doesn't have to hide her powers anymore. So she lets it out and her sickly-ness goes away. She can sleep and regains her appetite so she fills out and loses the dark circles, but I still don't really recall anyone describing her as pretty. Maybe I skimmed over the book too fast NEEDING to know what happens next, but I don't remember that at all. It seemed to me that it probably took a big physical toll on Alina to suppress those powers for so long. And as a result of all that, she gains more confidence and finds that she's finally found a place where she fits in.

And as for the part of the trope where the character's got all these guys in love with her, I don't believe that the Darkling loves her. I think that he loves her power and how he can use it for his own gain. And as for Mal, I think that even though, to me, he came across as a huge douchebag in the beginning of the book, he probably always loved her. They grew up together and he took her presence for granted until she was no longer there and then he probably really realized what his feelings for her were. And as for everyone else in the book, I think that they all liked her just because they wanted to be friends with the Sun Summoner.

Except Genya, I think Genya likes Alina because Alina sees her as a person and treats her like a friend. I really liked Genya.

Anyway, so yeah, I really liked Alina. I found her to be really relatable. I appreciated that she didn't act like she always knew what was going on. I enjoyed that she made mistakes and ended up making some really tough decisions. I loved how she overcame everything. I thought she grew a lot in this book. I really enjoyed reading about her.

In the beginning, I thought that Mal was kind of a douchebag, as I mentioned above. I didn't really see the appeal of him AT FIRST. He seemed to be looking at other girls when he had a perfectly wonderful girl right in front of him that he never even saw until she was gone. But I decided that I was firmly team Mal at the part where he tells her he sees her now, right before they find the white stag. Ahhhhhhh... I love how he regrets not doing anything to get her back when she was taken by the Grisha after she revealed her power and tries to do whatever he thinks he can to help her. He tracks the white stag because he knows it's for her and then when his assignment changes to tracking her, he does just that and then runs away with her and tries to find her the stag still. I love the relationship that they have. I love when they are rekindling that friendship/something more after he finds her. 

When the Darkling was introduced, I didn't really see what was so bad about him. He seemed like a genuine guy, all sad about the Shadow Fold and wanting Alina's help to destroy it and what not. And I was very happy about the kissing scenes. I DID think it was weird that he never really acted all that excited about kissing her though. I think he just wanted to make out with her sun summoning ability. Buuut then I saw his true colors and I was glad that she ran away. I really didn't find him to be all that villainous though, to be honest. I mean, yeah, he's not good. But I mean, there are definitely worse villains out there. At this point he kinda sounds like he just wants to use his Shadow Fold to force peace on all the warring countries. Things COULD be worse, but at the same time, he's probably got worse things up his sleeve. I don't know yet. We'll see.

I enjoyed the writing of this book. I enjoyed the story and the plot. I liked all the characters. I can't think of anyone in this book that I didn't like. I can think of one thing that I didn't like about this book at all...

I KNEW Alexei was gonna get snatched by a volcra in the beginning. I knew it. I knew he wasn't gonna make it through the Shadow Fold. I liked him in the brief time that he was around in the story. Poor Alexei didn't stand a chance.

I'm really excited to see what happens in the rest of this series! I would highly recommend this book if you're into fantasy. I really just think that I have a thing for books where the characters have any kind of power. So if you also have this kind of thing, read this book!