After reading Wonder Woman, I had very high expectations from this next book in the ‘DC Icons’ series. Even though it is narrated nicely and is action packed, it paled when compared to Wonder Woman.
However, it is a good one when considered otherwise. It tries to capture the life and emotions of Bruce Wayne as he grows up, struggling with an absent pair of parents and a world that only looks at his money. Equal parts of drama season up the action-packed tale of this superhero. His anxiousness at being alone, his despair as he falls for the wrong person, and his determination as he tries to defend his city and his friends have been expressed nicely. Madeliene has a dark and dangerous exterior but one finds cracks in her facade as the story progresses and hoping to see a simple teenager with a caring heart.
I have not read other works by Marie Lu to compare the writing, but I have heard they are much better. The book starts off slow but picks up in the latter half. Technology is at the heart of this book, like any other story about Batman. The antagonist is as tech savvy as Batman and this push-and-pull between them is enjoyable. There were some great moments when I would predict a twist which turned out correct. I also enjoyed the easy and trusting relationship Bruce shares with Alfred, Diane, Harvey.
The best part about my experience with this book was that I listened to the audiobook. My husband, who is not a reader, enjoyed listening to Will Damron, who articulated the whole thing very nicely. This gave me few precious hours of shared interest in books with my husband during our long drives.
The one thing that ruined the whole thing for me is the presence of some major loopholes in the plot. Some things just seemed to happen for the story to progress. People seemed to forget witnessing the hero doing the deed. And other things which I would not write lest I give away spoilers.
Recommendations:
If you are a fan of superhero literature, you can pick this up. I found this to be an okay read but one I could not miss since I want to read the complete DC Icons series.
Book: Batman Nightwalker Author: Marie Lu Publisher: Penguin Random House Publication: January 2018 No. of pages: 288 My rating: 3/5
The Reading Owl 