Batman Nightwalker by Marie Lu

So, I’ve always liked Batman, but he’s never exactly been my favorite. Marie Lu showed Bruce Wayne in a VERY different light, however, and I really liked what I saw.

The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list. The city’s elites are being taken out one by one as their mansions’ security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey. Meanwhile, Bruce is about to become eighteen and inherit his family’s fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Industries and all the tech gadgetry that he loves. But on the way home from his birthday party, he makes an impulsive choice and is sentenced to community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city’s most nefarious criminals. Madeleine Wallace is a brilliant killer . . . and Bruce’s only hope. The most intriguing inmate in Arkham is Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers. A girl who will only speak to Bruce. She is the mystery he must unravel, but is he convincing her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees? First off, I have to applaud DC for its DC Icons Initiative, where they pair superheroes with tried and tested authors. These heroes are complex and have hooking backstories already. Once put in the hands of master authors, the plot and language clicks into place. It’s magic. Second, teenage superheroes need to be a thing. Like, actually. Hullo. Not all comic book fans are middle aged men. Eighteen-year-old Bruce Wayne is a lot more interesting than forty-year-old Bruce Wayne; no shade. The characters in the story were fleshed out well; I’m sure that everyone already has some thoughts on Bruce, so it was easy enough to fill in any gaps on his character. But Madeleine was definitely one to watch as well. It’s tricky to craft a villain that genuinely fills you with fear; one that twists into a character’s deepest fears. Madeleine did it, and it was just as frightening as you’d expect. She’s ruthless, and more than a little unsettling. Honestly, I’d just say that Bruce’s friends seemed to slip in and out of the picture a lot. I’d have loved to either see them more, or maybe not discuss them as much, because they fell into an awkward middle ground. Still, Dianne and Harvey seem amazing, and it warms my heart to see Bruce with people that love and appreciate him ❤ Marie Lu manages to bring up racism, poverty and sexual harassment, into a book about a rich white boy. It’s magic. This was actually the first book I’ve read by Marie Lu, and I definitely liked. I read Warcross immediately after this (by coincidence :) and I loved it as well! Definitely check out this book, whether you’re a Batman fan, or new to the fandom.