5 Reasons Why Wonder Woman: Warbringer Is Better Than DC’s Wonder Woman
It’s been a while, my friends, sorry I haven’t been that
consistent with blogging, but school has been super crazy and life has been
very busy and all my time spent in the community has been dedicated to my
YouTube channel so I kinda forgot about my blog there in between!
But fear not, because I am back and ready to share with you
my thoughts about Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo!
I am into superheroes, after having watched (and having
loved!) all the DC and Marvel superhero movies. But I’m not that invested in
their stories that I read the original comics – partially because they are hard
to track down and read and partially because I’m not that much of a comic book
reader.
However, I didn’t know much (read: anything) about Wonder
Woman before watching the movie and reading the book. I knew she had super
powers, I knew she was a superhero, I knew she was a woman. That’s it.
I was however excited when I heard DC was releasing their
adaptation of Wonder Woman because a) SUPER HEROES! b) girl power and c) a girl
superhero in a movie created by a huge franchise focused on girl power. So
yeah, I was excited. I was also excited when I heard the lovely Leigh Bardugo
would be releasing her adaptation of the story of Diana Prince, especially
after having read and loved her Six Of Crows duology (read more: Six Of Crowsand Crooked Kingdom no spoiler mini reviews) and Grisha trilogy!
I watched and movie in the cinemas when it came out, because
it was released before the book, and I found I enjoyed it. The acting was very
well done (YES CHRIS PINE!) and I think it stayed true to the message of ‘girls
run the world’ because Diana remains in the main focus the ENTIRE time, which I
thought was important. However, similar with most DC productions, the fighting
sequences weren’t the best due to being ridiculously long and the ending was a
mish-mash. It’s story line also seemed to be dangerously similar to some of the
Marvel storylines *cough* Captain America *cough*.
I still ended up enjoying the movie.
And then I read the book.
About the book.
Book: Wonder Woman: Warbringer
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Pages: 383
Publication date: August 2017
Pages: 383
Publication date: August 2017
Synopsis: 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 mere mortal. Even worse, Alia Keralis is no ordinary girl and with this single brave act, Diana may have doomed the world.
Alia just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted. 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, Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. If they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war. (source)
Alia just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted. 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, Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. If they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war. (source)
Genre: Mythology
Recommended for: Anyone 14+
1. The characters are much more developed
Thank you to Penguin teen Australia for sending me a review copy, however all thoughts and opinions are my own and this is an honest review.
5 reasons why the book is better!
I thought the development in the characters was MUCH better
done than in the movies, but I do understand it isn’t always possible in movies
due to time constraints. However, Diana didn’t have a character arc in the
movie like she did in the book. In the book, Bardugo fully explored Diana’s
character, and went deeper than just being the princess of the Amazons. She was
insecure and socially awkward at times, but still brave and loyal.
There were parts of her which were very child-like yet at
the same time wise. She had explicit knowledge of everything to in the world of
man, yet she had experienced none of it, and Bardugo was able to really pull
apart this element and use it as the foundation on which she based Diana’s
character throughout the book.
I always applaud Bardugo’s diversity in her novels and
Warbringer isn’t an exception. There are people of colour and underrepresented
body types and Bardugo manages to weave the discussion of race and weight
affecting people’s attitudes towards the marginalised into the novel really
cleverly, yet at the same time, clearly.
I know this must seem like a small aspect to some people,
but representation matters, and I like how Bardugo’s book ISN’T based upon
these characters marginalisation’s, yet at the same time, she chooses to
include it as part of her discussion.
In the movie, as far as I can recall, there are no people of
colour and no discussion of underrepresented body types, which is quite
disappointing, yet at the same time, not unexpected.
3. The book has the best coming of age element
I feel the way Bardugo explores Diana’s backstory is truly
well done. It allows readers to get to know Diana Prince and that even though
she is the princess of the Amazons, even though she is beautiful and brave and
strong, she has insecurities and that she also has to fight for her place to
belong and find out who she truly is.
The coming of age element is so so appealing to the YA
audience as many readers are teenagers themselves who are trying to figure out
where they fit, and seeing their thoughts reflected on the page, and especially
by someone as badass as Wonder Woman, can make them feel comforted, knowing
they aren’t the only ones!
4. A better developed plot
I always feel like DC movies don’t really have a plot, they
are basically just comprised of action sequences *cough* Batman VS Superman
*cough* BUUUUTTT I guess the movie didn’t do the worst job of including a
story.
But Bardugo did a better job.
The plot is quite fast paced and unexpected and keeps the
readers on their toes. There is much more intrigue and high stakes than in the
movie, although the movie had a different way of keeping the readers on the
edge of their seat.
Without giving too much away, I feel the plot in Warbringer
is much more interesting though!
5. Strong female friendships
One thing that saddened me in the movie was the lack of
female friendship. I am a STRONG believer in the fact that girls should support
one another and girl-on-girl hate is a big no-no, and I feel like girl power,
partially comes from having good, strong friendships.
However, Warbringer had some very positive female
friendships and the girls throughout the book supported and uplifted one
another. There was no jealousy and catty-ness between the three girls, even in
situations where other authors may decide to show some animosity (eg Diana
being the ‘new girl’ in the friendship between Alia and Nim) which was so refreshing and the best part of the
book.
As you can tell, I REALLY enjoyed this book. I know this
post has been me (partially) complaining about the movie BUT it isn’t to say I
didn’t enjoy that either. I know movies cannot always get the same depth books
can and I think the Wonder Woman movie is great for other reasons, such as good
use of costume and sets and like I said before, acting, but if I had to choose,
I’d choose the book!
OVERALL RATING:
★★★★
Chat with me! Have
you read Wonder Woman Warbringer? Do you plan to? And have you seen the movie?
What did you think of it?
20 happy thoughts
I really want to pick this up now!I'm more of a Marvel persom than I am a DC so I was hesistant but after reading your review, I feel like I HAVE to read it.
ReplyDeleteIt's great!
DeleteI have yet to see the Wonder Woman movie, but I'll probably get around to it eventually. I'm so glad you loved Wonder Woman: Warbringer, I love it so, so much. It was so empowering and though I knew very little about Wonder Woman going into it, Leigh's version made it really accessible.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, thanks for sharing!
~Brittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles
Glad you enjoyed it Brittany!
DeleteI definitely have to read the book now! I really LOVED the movie!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
DeleteI'm not a comic book reader or into superheroes either really but I'm so excited to read this one because girl power. I haven't seen the movie yet, we usually wait until you can buy them on Blu Ray and watch them at home. I love the strong, positive female friendships. All too often YA seems to show teen friendships as toxic or dependant. Great review Anisha, so glad you enjoyed it <3
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reading and commenting Kelly! <3
DeleteI haven't seen the movie at all because I'm not such a fan of DC haha, but OMG I LOVED THIS BOOK SO SO MUCH AND LEIGH BARDUGO IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. 😍 What totally got me was all the powerful female friendships that didn't just fall apart when they saw a boy or got catty or jealous of each other. Like this is the kind of thing I want to read about???? Girls are AMAZING and we deserve much better stories than we often get in media. 😜
ReplyDelete(Also I keep seeing that the DC movie of Wonder Woman didn't have any people of colour in it and I'm SO confused?? Wonder Woman the actor herself is from Israel so technically POC isn't she?!? I haven't seen it though, so like it's on the to do list eventually haha.)
Hmm I may have to look into that Cait, thank you for letting me know! And so glad you enjoyed it too xx
DeleteI love this post! I loved the movie and have been dying to read the book! Books are always better and I look forward to the diversity and strong female friendships you mentioned, plus it's always fun to read a new spin on something. I have two copies sitting on my shelf waiting for me. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy them whenever you great around to them Sara!
DeleteI haven't seen the movie or read the book yet, but both are VERY HIGH on my to-do list :) I love your comparison of the book and movie, and am eager to devour both even though I'll probably enjoy the book just a tad better as well :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Lindsey, glad you enjoyed! <3
DeleteI'm currently reading Wonder Woman: Warbringer and it is SO GOOD, I have a hard time putting it down when life calls. I'm approx. halfway through, but I do agree with everything you said already in comparison to the movie. I mean, sure the movie was good - especially for someone like me, who hasn't really watched many superhero movies before, less so for my friend who's watched every DC and Marvel superhero movie, - but it lacked certain things the book has. The diversity is INCREDIBLE in the book and the characters are so fleshed out and complex, I LOVE THEM ALL, BASICALLY. Also, the plot is super-exciting and the fight scenes are very well-done, in my opinion. AND THE FEMALE FRIENDSHIP YES YES YES. Love Nim, Alia and Diana together. Anyhow, wonderful post! :)
ReplyDeleteVeronika @ The Regal Critiques
AHA glad you enjoyed and thank you for this incredibly detailed comment!
DeleteI wasn't going to read it before (I thought it would just be the movie in book format) but now I HAVE to find it. Especially since Leigh Bardugo wrote it and I am obsessed with Six of Crows.
ReplyDeleteYES! And it is nothing like the movie, it's a different story!
DeleteI have yet to read or see Wonder Woman, however, I really do want to read it especially since Leigh Bardugo wrote it! I was at the bookstore the other day and didn't know if I should buy it. I ended up not buying it because my TBR at home was taunting me ahah but maybe I'll pick it up for my birthday
ReplyDeleteI think you should buy it, even if it is just to add to your collection because I know you love her stuff!
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