Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas
Penguin Books, 2018. ISBN: 9780141386898.
(Ages 16+) Recommended. An action-packed and engaging novel based on
the DC comics super heroine of Catwoman. One of the four books in
the DC icons series in which popular Young Adult authors write
origin stories focusing on the teenage years of DC comics heroes.
Caring for her terminally ill sister, Selina Kyle will stop at
nothing to keep her safe. Battling dangerous enemies in the boxing
ring night after night to pay for her medical bills is just the
beginning. When she is finally cornered by the police, with nowhere
to go and the threat of her sister being thrown into a dingy foster
home that wouldn't care for her medical needs, Selina is offered a
deal she can't refuse. Her sister safe in a suitable, upper-class
foster home, Selina is brutally trained as an assassin. Two years
later, she returns to Gotham City as Holly Vanderhees, a wealthy and
mysterious socialite, by day and Catwoman by night. Joining forces
with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, the group wreak havoc across the
city and spark the attention of Batwing, who is proving himself as
the protector of Gotham while Batman is away on a vital mission.
While her expertise helps her thrive as Catwoman, as Holly, Selina
finds herself clueless when it comes to her wealthy, handsome
neighbour, Luke Fox, who she discovers may just have some hidden
depths to himself as well; for in Gotham, no one is really as they
seem. However, Selina's desperate game of cat and mouse is only
exacerbated when a dangerous threat from her past looms in the
background; threatening her ability to pull off her most important
heist yet. While the novel is action-packed, and has vibrant and
complex characters, the descriptive language of Maas can be
difficult to follow. Knowledge of the DC Universe is useful and
presumed by the author, with little explained throughout the book.
Exciting and representative of important issues such as LGBTIQ+
relationships and mental health, Maas launches the reader into the
dangerous and fascinating world of Gotham City and brings them along
a journey they won't easily forget.
Daniella Chiarolli