Catwoman: Soulstealer

Sarah J. Maas

2018

So far I’ve read three of the DC Icons book series: Batman-Nightcrawler; Wonder Woman-Warbringer; and now this. So far, I’ve really enjoyed all three. I still have one to go with Superman-Dawnbreaker, which I already own. But like so many books on my bookshelf, I just haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.

But we’re here to talk about Catwoman… I’ve been a big fan of DC’s heroes and villains pretty much my entire life. But I really had no idea what to expect going into this book. Based on my experience with the Batman and Wonder Woman novels, I figured that we would pick up somewhere during Selina Kyle’s teenage years and learn who she was before taking on the mantle of Catwoman. Little did I know that she would actively become Catwoman fairly early on.

I guess I can also admit that I expected the presence of Batman at some point. In the comics, the Bat and the Cat find their stories so entwined so much of the time, depending on who’s writing them at the moment. In fact, in certain versions of DC’s continuity, Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are married. But Batman doesn’t actually show up here.

Instead, we are treated to a character that most people will be less familiar with: Luke Fox, aka Batwing. If you’re familiar with the Bat-family at all, you’ll recognize his last name, since he’s the son of Wayne Enterprises CEO, Lucius Fox. Sarah J. Maas does a fantastic job giving us perspectives from both Selina and Luke, treating them as opposite sides of the same coin.

I was also surprised by the heavy inclusion of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. These two classic Bat villains played a huge role in Selina’s master plan for Gotham City. Oh, and I failed to mention there’s a big connection to the League of Assassins and the daughters of Ra’s Al Ghul. So much to explore in this little corner of the DC Universe.

Anyway, I loved the build up of tension as Selina put her plans into motion and loved the build up of romantic tension between Selina and Luke as they played their game of cat and (flying) mouse. I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say that by the time you get to the end and everything in Gotham comes to a boil, it becomes clear that even the smallest details peppered in throughout the book played a part in what Selina was trying to accomplish.

This won’t be the kind of book that most people will want to read unless you just happen to be into superhero young adult novels. But if you’re willing to give it a chance, it might surprise you. I found it to be well written and thoroughly entertaining.