RELEASE DATE: January 04th, 2018
AUTHOR: Marie Lu
GENRE: Young-Adult, Superhero Fiction, fantasy.
PUBLISHER: Penguin
SUMMARY:
Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy.
The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list.
One by one, the city’s elites are being executed as their mansions’ security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey. Meanwhile, Bruce is turning eighteen and about to inherit his family’s fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Enterprises and all the tech gadgetry his heart could ever desire. But after a run-in with the police, he’s forced to do community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city’s most brutal criminals.
Madeleine Wallace is a brilliant killer . . . and Bruce’s only hope.
In Arkham, Bruce meets Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers. What is she hiding? And why will she speak only to Bruce? Madeleine is the mystery Bruce must unravel. But is he getting her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees? Bruce will walk the dark line between trust and betrayal as the Nightwalkers circle closer.
“The darkness was his ally, not his enemy.”
I’m honestly not a fan of Batman, but I still want to give this a shot because it was written by Marie Lu. After hearing a lot of mixed reviews about it, I was actually prepared to get disappointed, but surprisingly I found myself enjoying it a lot and I want to ask why the hell this book was so short. I enjoyed reading the younger version of Bruce Wayne who’s a naive, curious, and reckless teenager. I can understand why some people got disappointed with it, the Bruce Wayne in this book is a lot different than the dark knight we know. If you’re expecting lots of Vigilante action and fighting crime at nights then you might be disappointed. I liked all the characters and also the great world building. I loved Marie Lu’s writing, It’s definitely the best part of this book.
The story follows young Bruce Wayne who’s about to graduate high school and soon turning eighteen which means finally inheriting his family fortune, Wayne Enterprises. Being the only young rich millionaire in their city, he’s always on the spotlight. He lived a privileged life, but his parents death still haunts him. When he tries to catch a criminal on the run, he ends up in an accident which lands him in trouble for disobeying the law. He was forced to do community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city’s most brutal criminals. And there he meets the young Madeleine Wallace. She’s a brutal killer who seems to have ties to the infamous Nightwalkers who’re terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their target list. She refuses to talk to any investigator except for Bruce. Something about Madeline intrigues him and Bruce wants to unveil her secrets but he’s afraid that she’s playing with him to get the information she needs.
I really liked Bruce Wayne! He’s a reckless teenage boy with a good heart and fun personality. We all know Bruce Wayne is a dark and broody character, and I couldn’t imagine him as someone naive and fun, but Marie did a great job in portraying his younger version who’s not aware of the crime World in Gotham City. Madeleine was an interesting character. She’s smart, cunning, and very mysterious. I enjoyed every interaction between her and Bruce. She’s harboring many secrets and It was hard to guess whether she’s deceiving him or helping him. I really liked the sweet forbidden romance between Madeline and Bruce even though it was cliched. As for the secondary characters, I loved Alfred, Bruce’s loyal butler, best friend, teacher, and father figure. This book isn’t complete without him. I enjoyed the bond between him and Bruce, It was so heartwarming. I also liked Bruce’s best friends Dianna and Harvey Dent. Their characters weren’t fleshed out well, but I adored the friendship between them.
The plot was engaging and interesting. Even though the story seemed a bit unrealistic, I had fun reading it. It was a quick fun read and I finished it in two sittings. Some parts were easy to predict, but still it was an enjoyable read. The ending was heartbreaking, but the twist at the end I saw that coming. There is some action in this book, but don’t expect a lot of fighting. The whole book was told in Bruce’s POV. Honestly, I usually don’t read books with male pov’s much, but I enjoyed reading this book from Bruce’s perspective because he was pretty likable and fun. The writing was fantastic. I love Marie Lu’s compelling writing style. I flew through the pages without any struggle. The world building was superb. Marie perfectly depicted Dark Gotham City and It was pretty easy to picture everything so clearly.
Overall, I enjoyed this book! It was a fun read filled with action, mystery, and a dash of romance. I wish it was a bit longer. Anyways, now I can’t wait to dig into the next book which is Catwoman: Soulstealer written by my favorite Sarah J. Maas.
Recommend it?
I recommend this book to all the readers who likes YA fantasy and superhero fiction novels. If you’re planning to read this book, then I strongly suggest you to go in with low expectations.
MY RATING:[4/5 Stars]
Wonderful review Raven! I’m so glad you enjoyed this one,
I’ll have to pull this one off my shelves and give it a read!
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Thank you, Kayla! I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! 🙂
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Oh wow! A fun and reckless Bruce? LOL Excellent review Raven!
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Thank you, Sophie! IKR? 😁 He’s a typical YA teenager and I didn’t expect to like him.
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I’m so glad you liked it! I’m a fan of Batman and liked it, but I know so many people felt let down. But come on, he is a teen just getting into being a vigilante! ^_^
Great review~
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Thank you! 🙂 I’m glad you liked it too! IKR? He’s just a teen not a trained assassin. It’s going to be quite unrealistic to see a single teen taking down ruthless bad guys who’re much stronger than him.
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YES!!! And he is going to make mistakes and not be as jaded… he hasn’t seen the whole underworld yet. Give it time haha.
I’m excited for Catwoman too and another author is doing a Superman one which should be fun ^_^
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I’m a superman fan so i’m pretty excited about it.
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This sounds like one of those books that is perfect for summer: fun and entertaining! Great review!
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It was quick read and definitely makes a perfect summer read. I hope you enjoy it if you decide to give it a shot! Thank you! 🙂
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Great review, I’m excited to read this series, I just bought book two, so I have it and the first, so I’m hoping that because Sarah J. Maas’s book just came out it will be an incentive to pick them up.
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Thank you! 🙂 I hope you enjoy all of the books in this series. I can’t wait to read Sarah’s book. Let’s hope we both love it! 🙂
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I’ve never seen any of the Batman movies or comics so I feel like I would enjoy this since I don’t have any prior expectations! I love everything Marie Lu writes so I’m gonna have to give it a shot 😀
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I think you’ll definitely love this book! It was a fun read and Marie Lu’s writing made this book even more enjoyable. I hope you enjoy it when you finally get to it. 🙂
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Lovely review, Raven! I’m really happy you ended up being surprised by this one and in a good way – it’s true that you might expect a bit more action from a book like this and I was surprised by that, too, but in the end I really had a fun time reading it. I really like Marie Lu’s writing and Bruce was such a great character 🙂
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Thank you, Marie! I’m glad you enjoyed this book as much as I did! Yeah, Bruce was really a great character. He was pretty fun and I really didn’t expect to like him so much. I’m a fan of Marie Lu’s writing and this book was another gem.
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Awesome review Raven! I’ve had this book on my tbr for ages and I still haven’t gotten around to it! And I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed it! It sounds like such an entertaining book!
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Thank you, Ashley! 🙂 It really was an entertaining book! I hope you get to pick it up very soon. Happy reading! 🙂
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Yay!! I really loved this one as well. I have never been one for superheroes, but these books have turned me around. I hope that you continue to enjoy the rest of the books in the series. 🙂
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I’m so glad you loved it too! I’m very picky when it comes to superhero books and this one was really good. I can’t wait to read Catwoman! 🙂
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I apparently need to pull my life together and get to this series – it sounds so good!!! Great review!!
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It’s really a good series! I hope you enjoy it when you finally get to it. Thank you! 🙂
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Terrific review Raven! I’m really looking forward to reading this.☺️
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Thank you, Kim! I hope you enjoy it! 😊
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See. I am the hugest fan of Batman, but only for the “Dark Knight” trilogy movies….like #1 is Batman Begins. So this book sounds so intriguing but I wasn’t sure it would work because in my books I want more romance, whereas movies I don’t need it as much. I’m still on the fence, but I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
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I’m also one of those readers who loves more romance in their books but I still found myself enjoying this read. It was pretty entertaining and I hope you give it a shot.
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I have a feeling it’s going to be one of those that I will read when my library gets it on Overdrive or physically in the library. I hope I enjoy it as much as you!
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Not enough authors explore the young Bruce Wayne. Love that Marie Lu gave us this insight. I agree with you, not a big fan of Batman. Thanks for the great review. ❤️
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Thank you! It was a fun book to read and I really wish it was a series. 😊
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