DC Icons
Young Adult Fiction
Random House Books for Young Readers
2018
Hardcover
288
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.
WrensReads Review:
As I previously said, I’m not that big of a DC fan. I am a Marvel Girl 100% through and through. In fact, until I started reading Wonder Woman Comics and watching the movie that came out on repeat (hello, women power), I kind of could care less about DC? I mean, I like Arrow and the Flash and Legends of Tomorrow is okay I guess, but none of them were as spectacular as any of the comics, shows and movies that I watched with Marvel. Wolverine, Loki, Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Kitty… well, you get the picture. I feel Marvel has a stronger character-driven company.
BUT Bardugo, Maas and Lu were writing DC Icons, so how could I not read this series? And de la Pena, but I have never read anything by him.
On top of my lack of love for DC, I feel like Batman is overrated. I know I know, most people are obsessed with him because he is an orphan and he is such a good guy and he has cool gadgets and he is super rich and chill and has a cave and talks in that raspy voice and stuff; but I guess, to me and strictly my opinion, I feel like he is some rich dude who got really bored with his heritage and decided to be a vigilante without “the call” to be one. I don’t know; I respect everyone’s opinions on him and I don’t hate him, but he isn’t close to my favorite either.
So why did I say all of that? I felt it was important for you to see where my mind is when I was reading this book.
To me, this book was very underwhelming and with that eye-roll worthy of an ending, I couldn’t bring myself to rate it any higher than a 03 star. Don’t get me wrong, it was an enjoyable read and I do actually own the book willingly, but I do not find myself actually picking it up and reading it again.
“I can’t think of a story where the billionaire and the murderer end up happily ever after.”
So there is a group of vigilantes that are pulling a Robin Hood and trying to take all the money from the rich to provide for the poor. They catch one of the members of the Night Walkers (hey look the title), and she ends up in Arkham. Madeleine (that’s the “she” from the Night Walkers… keep up) won’t talk to anyone but the boy who is there because he got in the middle of a cop investigation… oh that’s Bruce, btw. Bruce is low-key trying to stop the Nightwalkers under the law’s noses, while also finding Madeleine very… interesting.
Things I really liked about this book is the premise (superheroes are amazing), the technology (hello cool gadgets), the murder mystery (I have a thing for murder mysteries), and the name drops (Alfred is the main reason to read this book). Things I didn’t really like about this book the lack of character development (characters were kind of flat), the predictability (that ending, the romance (I cannot), the thrown in characters (his two best friends can’t even be called supporting roles), and the unrealisticness of it all (Bruce would never be put in this kind of situation). Also, I thought Batman was supposed to be dark? Isn’t he also called The Dark Knight? This felt very middle-ground to me and I was expecting it to be a little darker.
Now Bruce himself, he had some interesting things about him. He seemed drawn to the people who have a little darkness in them, which is completely expected with Batman.
Moral of the story, if you are a big batman fan you will probably enjoy this more. Personally, I’m only here for Wonder Woman and Catwoman. I literally can’t wait for Catwoman. But Batman,
“He didn’t know everything his future held for him, not yet, but he knew that whatever it was, it would remain here.
It looked like a place worth protecting.
It looked like home.”
I still have some hope for you and me.
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About what I expected. RTC.
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I’m not a huge Batman Fan BUTTTT I’m a sucker for origins and super heroes in general, and I loved Wonder Woman and I love this author so… HERE WE GOoOoOoOoOo!
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THAT COVER THO
