Batman: Nightwalker

Audiobook for a long road trip. Matt and I have very different interests in books, but after last year's read of [b:The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture 27276413 The Caped Crusade Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture Glen Weldon https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1458692562l/27276413.SY75.jpg 47328268] (and the subsequent Batman-movie viewings), I still find myself entertained by this universe even though I generally have no use for superhero movies. I also enjoyed Lu's [b:Warcross 41014903 Warcross (Warcross, #1) Marie Lu https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533058119l/41014903.SY75.jpg 49634052], so hey, why not.Here, Bruce Wayne is a bit of a troublemaker, he's just come into his trust fund, but he's still a naive 18-year-old boy (and Matt confirms that yep, this is exactly what 18-year-old boys are like). He falls in love with this girl who is an inmate at Arkham Asylum while he's doing community service, even though the cops and the warden are like, watch out for this chick, she's really manipulative and can kind of read thoughts and body language and will take you for a ride, and so what does Bruce do? Lets her. She's misunderstood! She wouldn't manipulate me! She couldn't possibly be in this prison for a good reason!At this point, I'm basically cringing as we're listening, and Matt paused the book. “You know, this annoyance you're feeling right now? That's exactly how I felt the entire time you were watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. There's a smart decision, but every single time the character chooses the worst possible one and you just cringe at all the bad decisions.”All that to say, this is entertaining and kept us occupied for a good 10 hours, but a) this is really pre-Batman, I don't remember him ever growling “I'm Batman” a la Christian Bale, and b) and Bruce is a lovesick teenager most of the time even when he's denying it.

Bruce baru menginjak usia kedelapan belas dan mewarisi harta keluarga, beserta akses ke dalam Tech Industries dan berbagai perangkat canggih kegemarannya. Namun dalam perjalanan pulang dari pesta ulang tahunnya, Bruce melakukan sesuatu yang membuatnya dihukum menjalani pelayanan masyarakat di Arkham Asylum, penjara terkenal tempat para kriminalis paling keji ditahan. Salah satu tahanan di Arkham adalah Madeleine Wallace, gadis pembunuh yang memiliki hubungan dengan komplotan Nightwalker. Madeleine yang misterius hanya mau berbicara pada Bruce. Namun apakah Bruce berhasil meyakinkan Madeleine untuk membeberkan rahasianya, atau malah dia yang memberi gadis itu informasi yang dapat membawa Kota Gotham ke dalam kehancuran?
Penilaianku bias Karena aku adalah #teamsuksesmarielu. Tapi ada sih yang jadi pertanyaan selesai membaca buku ini. Di resensinya ada “di balik topeng batman” padahal di buku gk ada sekalipun yng menghubungkan Bruce dengan karakter Batman, baik topeng, kostum, batcave, dll.

I enjoyed this quite a lot. Not surprising since I love most superhero stories in general. And I love origin stories.

So I didn't actually realize, back when I reviewed Wonder Woman: Warbringer, that it was the start of a series of origin novels. The second is this one, about Batman, and the next is Catwoman: Soulstealer. (I can't wait for that one, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, and Catwoman have been my three favorite superheroes for ages, even if Catwoman isn't exactly a hero!) After Catwoman's book, we get Superman's book, and that's all that's been announced, so I don't know if there will be any more. Though I hope there will be, because these first two have been excellent!

The name Batman is never actually mentioned in this book; he is Bruce Wayne the entire way through. He does get a suit, towards the end, and starts his career as Batman without really realizing he's doing so. We get a few nods to the Batman mythos - he stops to watch a swarm of bats heading out to hunt, and he mentions the broken grandfather clock that he hasn't fixed yet. But this is a Bruce around his high school graduation, just starting to learn about the kinds of tech that Wayne Tech produces. We do meet a few familiar faces beyond Alfred.

I had a few moments where I wanted to shake both Bruce and the adults around him because NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD DO THAT and if it needed to happen for plot's sake make it more believable! But it was overall pretty good.

There's no need to read this in order, from what I can tell - events in Wonder Woman have no effect on Gotham. Though the Catwoman book is also set in Gotham, so it will be interesting to see if they intertwine at all.

If you like DC Comics, these are definitely worth reading - if you don't, skip them.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

Everytime I finish a book, I just wanna announce to all of Goodreads THAT I'M BACK BITCHES
But obviously that's a lie. I just have to admit to myself that I am not back yet, as much as I want to be. I still have two seasons left of Keeping of With The Kardashians to binge watch before I return to reading full time.

But anyways, I finished a book! And I have some feelings about it. I will definitely be writing a review in between Kardashian episodes, so keep am eye out for that.

Prereview:
This cover



This might just be my favorite cover of all time? I'm obssessed.

I am so here for all these superhero novels.

A little mad that I have to move it from my 2017 releases shelf to my 2018 but I think I can get over it

2.5 Stars

“I can't think of a story where the billionaire and the murderer end up happily ever after”

I didn't like this book as much as [b: Wonder Woman: Warbringer|29749085|Wonder Woman Warbringer (DC Icons, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478886078s/29749085.jpg|50105334]. I wasn't a big fan of the ending. I wish that we had a better explanation of how Cameron was still alive, Madeleine's true backstory, and just a clear explanation of the whole Nightwalkers thing. I also wish that this had ended differently, with Bruce and Madeleine having some kind of goodbye without Madeleine having to “die”. Otherwise, this was a fun, short read.

Batman has always been my favorite superhero. He might be sharing the word “favorite” with a few others now that I'm older, but I can't deny how much I still root for him in anything he is in.

This book is interesting because we get a look at Bruce Wayne at 18, before he is Batman. Seeing his character in this different light was fun and enjoyable, although if you don't like or know Batman, I'm not sure you will get as much enjoyment. One of the fun parts about this book was guessing who prisoners in Arkham might be (Scar! Was that the joker? Is that laughing coming from the Riddler??) and also Bruce's friends (Oh, poor Harvey). Since I kinda know about Batman, I feel like I'm biased with the “fun” factor.

I think this was written very well. The pace is a bit fast, but it was never overwhelming. I don't understand why Bruce's dreams were given so much time. Dreams are interesting to know and might give insight, but don't hit us over the head with it! The book isn't long enough for pages dedicated to a dream. Also, I liked the community service at Arkham, but I really had to suspend belief that they'd send a high school senior to mop floors at one of the most dangerous prisons. Also, Bruce Wayne mooning over a girl... like I get he is a teen/new adult, so he hasn't had a ton of experience to make him super suave, but UGH! And and Batman doesn't trust anyone (except 3 people), so UGH!

.... ok, I'm cool, I'm cool. I just have to change my view of Batman to make this book work for me.

The thing is, this isn't an amazing exciting “OMG” kind of book. It is entertaining, I enjoyed reading it, but I feel like it is missing a spark. I feel like I was most excited when Alfred was around and the very end scene of Bruce. I'll still be recommending this book to people here and there, but forgive me if I forget about some of it in the future.
So, 3.5 stars really with the .5 boost from Batman always remaining cool in my heart.

4.5
the Dianne, Harvey, Alfred and Gordon (Jim) scenes are golden :”)
Tbh you can't have Batman without some sort of romance-y thing that might not turn out great for him in the end.