Review: Catwoman: SoulStealer by Sarah J Maas

Synopsis:
When the Bat’s away, the Cat will play. It’s time to see how many lives this cat really has. . . .

Two years after escaping Gotham City’s slums, Selina Kyle returns as the mysterious and wealthy Holly Vanderhees. She quickly discovers that with Batman off on a vital mission, Batwing is left to hold back the tide of notorious criminals. Gotham City is ripe for the taking.

Meanwhile, Luke Fox wants to prove he has what it takes to help people in his role as Batwing. He targets a new thief on the prowl who seems cleverer than most. She has teamed up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and together they are wreaking havoc. This Catwoman may be Batwing’s undoing.

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I have little to zero background knowledge on Catwoman (and most DC characters), I am not the biggest DC fan, I’d never read any of the comics and went into this blind. I don’t think you need tons of DC knowledge to go into this, I still really enjoyed it and it made me way more interested in the DC universe. Of course, there were probably references I missed but I don’t think it took away from the enjoyment of reading this.
Plot:
I found the story well-paced and engaging from the start, I was instantly intrigued and invested in the story. As with all of SJM’s books, it was such a breeze to get through, I love SJM’s writing style and I always devour her books.

The first half was a slow build up to a better second half – which I don’t think is a bad thing, as someone who has little knowledge on Selina, I appreciate getting to know the character and having some background information that justifies/explains her future actions and motives. By the second half, I was flying through – I just had to know where the story went. As per usual, SJM includes plot twists that fly out of nowhere.

I definitely didn’t think this book would affect me emotionally but it did. Once again SJM manages to make me an emotional mess.

Overall, it was just a really fun read.

Characters:
Selina Kyle/Catwoman: I really liked Selina! I thought she was a great main character, she was badass and awesome – just how I expected. I love a morally grey character and I found Selina to be a fun and cool character.
I loved her friendship with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn and I didn’t hate her relationship with Luke either.

Luke Fox/ Batwing: I honestly I had no idea who this was, I had to google Luke Fox and Batwing to get some background knowledge. I had never even heard of this character before. He was an okay addition, he was somewhat interesting, though his chapters weren’t my favourite.

Side characters:
Poison Ivy + Harley Quinn: I thought the addition of these two was really cool! It added a nice touch of friendship to the story and a Female/Female relationship, I’m glad SJM kept the characters LGBT, like the comics.
I could seriously read a whole series with Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn teaming up! It’d be so cool.

Rating: 4 Stars

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