Catwoman: Soulstealer (DC Icons, #3)

by Sarah J. Maas

Sizzling with action and suspense, #1 New York Times bestselling author SARAH J. MAAS delivers with this DC Icons coming-of-age Selina Kyle who will steal readers' hearts in the YA blockbuster: CATWOMAN!

DC ICONS IS NOW A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES!

"A Catwoman story with Maas' signature touch. . . . Devilish." --Entertainment Weekly

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, the city looks ripe for the taking.

Meanwhile, Luke Fox wants to prove that as Batwing he has what it takes to help people. He targets a new thief on the prowl who has teamed up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Together, they are wreaking havoc. This Catwoman is clever—she may be Batwing's undoing.

In this third DC Icons book, Selina is playing a desperate game of cat and mouse, forming unexpected friendships and entangling herself with Batwing by night and her devilishly handsome neighbor Luke Fox by day. But with a dangerous threat from the past on her tail, will she be able to pull off the heist that's closest to her heart?
 
"Maas has a gift for crafting fierce female protagonists. . . . An epic shoutout to all the bad girls who know how to have fun."
—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
 
"A Catwoman story unlike anything you've seen before." --Nerdist

Don't miss the rest of the DC Icons series! Powerful reads in any order you choose:
Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu
Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt de la Peña

• ISBN10: 0399549692
• ISBN13: 9780399549694
• Publish Date: 7 August 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Random House Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780399549694

Reviews

[bumblingbookworm]

DNFed at 56 pages. I picked this up purely because I’m trash for Maas, but I’m super bored. I love watching superhero movies but I don’t think reading from the DC universe
is for me. Also this Selina is basically a Calaena knockoff... I might give this another shot one day, but for now I’m putting it down.

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog!

Okay, ahem. What is there to say?
Maybe Maas should stick with her other worlds and characters.
First of all, there isn't much going on for about 3/4 of the book. I was desperately searching for a story but I couldn't find one until I got to the final chapters. There everything is super-rushed as she had to squeeze half a book's worth of plot into a couple of pages.
However, the main problem Catwoman presents is the character development or lack thereof.
At first, I liked Selena and I thought that this whole thing might work. Well, it didn't. What do we know about her? She's a good fighter. She looks good. She's so very white. Not much depth to be found there.
Of course, this is a good match for her potential love interest. Batman is out of town, so she's tumbling with Batwing. In terms of his characters, there's also not much going on and the characters remain pale right 'till the end.
I was super annoyed by this unnecessary yet extremely predictable love story angle. You knew it was coming the moment Batwing first entered a room but I had still hoped Maas wouldn't go there. Too bad.
Pretty much the only thing I liked was the relationship between Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. So much potential in their respective stories! I wish we had gotten so see more of those two.
However, I should warn you that comic fans might be irritated here. The characters are used as more of an inspiration than actually being what you know from the comics. Almost all of the characterization is rather freestyle and has nothing to do with previously established info about for example Catwoman.

[writehollydavis]

4.5/5. I'm loving the DC Icons series so far! I must admit, I don't know much about Catwoman and her backstory, so everything I read was new to me. I loved how Batwing was the new superhero while Batman was away because it allowed for a fresh and new storyline. I also loved the additions of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, along with learning their backstories, too. I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline and there was plenty of laugh out loud and nail-biting moments.

[leahrosereads]

What a great freaking book! Before this year, I hadn't tried reading anything by Sarah J. Maas. She has such a large following, and I've been burned by over hyped books in the past, so I pretty much avoided her work. However, I wanted to read some popular series this year, and I gave her a try.

The ACOTAR series was a fast read, and I liked it just fine.

This was stellar though! SJM really wrote a fantastic Catwoman book. But more than that, she told the story in a dual POV, and it made me crave more. More of the friendships formed here, as well as the potential tragic love story as well.

While I preferred the Batman story a bit more (again, my Batman bias is showing), I could see this (and want this) as a TV series. I want to see more of this Selena and Poison Ivy and Harley, and I want more Batwing!!

I know, I know, DC doesn't do live action well, and I don't want this in live action either. I want this in the animated universe and think it would work so well to that visual. Especially all of the details around all the tech! I want this!

I may even need this.

"Robbery, mayhem, notoriety...What else could a girl want?" (Selina Kyle/Catwoman)

I was extremely excited to read Catwoman: Soulstealer for two reasons:
1) Catwoman is one of my favourite antiheroes.
2) This is my first Sarah J. Maas book.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the DC Icons series, having knowledge from comics and other forms of media is disadvantageous. I would have enjoyed Catwoman: Soulstealer more if I didn't know and love Catwoman.

After reading Wonder Woman: Warbringer and Batman: Nightwalker, I expected Catwoman's origins in Catwoman: Soulstealer to differ from her traditional origins. Catwoman has always been extremely independent, but in Catwoman: Soulstealer, she lacks agency and she's recruited by the League of Assassins, which made me mad enough to go on a full on rant. This is where I should thank all my friends who listened to me go on about Catwoman.

Selina's characterisation as Catwoman was better than I thought it would be. Catwoman is a fighter and a survivor who's mysterious, alluring and graceful. She's a thief and a murderer, but she's compassionate and loyal. Selina wants to do the right things, but she believes that the end justifies the means. Unfortunately, in Catwoman: Soulstealer, Selina is a little too perfect and she's unbelievably good at everything. I can't believe I'm saying this about Catwoman, but she was so boring, bland and distant.

If you expected Batman to play a huge role in Catwoman: Soulstealer, prepare to be disappointed. Batman's replacement in Catwoman: Soulstealer is Batwing/Luke Fox. Luke is a static character. He has no personality and no character growth. He's also such a disappointing superhero and couldn't catch any villains or bring them to justice. I expected more from Batwing! Luke has PTSD, and while I don't know much about PTSD, I couldn't believe that an ex-marine could be triggered by explosions and explosive sounds, but has no problem fighting crime at night. His PTSD is also used as a plot device to further his romance with Catwoman. It's also how Selina figures out that Luke is Batwing.

The romance between Selina and Luke is so forced. Selina and Luke have no chemistry. I couldn't get behind their romance. Maybe it's because I'm a Batman-Catwoman shipper. Selina and Luke are bland and perfect and are written so similarly. Selina and Luke also have so many character inconsistencies.

I'm pro-diversity and believe that books should include diverse characters. However, diverse characters should not be tokenised or included just so that a book can be called diverse. The diversity in Catwoman: Soulstealer is based on the comics. Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are bisexual and Luke is black. There is, however, no mention of Catwoman's bisexuality. The diversity in Catwoman: Soulstealer feels so forced. Catwoman: Soulstealer tries too hard to be diverse and topical. Topics involving corrupt officials and police brutality needs to be discussed, debated and written about, but in Catwoman: Soulstealer, it was written about inconsistently, almost like it was an afterthought.

I enjoyed reading about the 'friendship' between Catwoman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. I also like Harley Quinn's and Poison Ivy's relationship, although I do have some issues with it. However, Poison Ivy was a little too compassionate in Catwoman: Soulstealer. Poison Ivy is supposed to prefers plants over people and she wouldn't hesitate to manipulate and murder. I also miss the traditional Harley Quinn costume.

I'm a sucker for books about sibling dynamics and the 'big sister instinct' and 'little sister instinct' trope because I'm a younger sibling and I have an extremely close relationship with my sister. The only time I could relate to Selina, was when she interacted with her little sister, Maggie. It's why I found it odd that Selina only mentions her sister in passing, especially because her sister is her whole life. However, when I realised that Selina did everything with her sister in mind, she redeemed herself.

I was excited to read my first Sarah J. Maas novel, and I'm disappointed. The characters bled into each other and the plot and conflict felt so forced. However, while I found some aspects of Catwoman: Soulstealer problematic, Sarah J. Maas tells interesting stories.

"Cat-woman was a good way to describe her. The ears on the dark helmet, the oversized lenses, the claws that she'd retracted after that spectacular jump...Even her steps toward him oozed feline grace." (Luke Fox/Batwing)

[girlinthepages]

I'll be the first to admit I'm a bit over the superhero trend that's pretty much taken over all forms of media right now, especially books and movies. I'm just really not a huge fan and what I know about the comic book worlds are bits and pieces I've picked up from Max or the small handful of superhero movies I've seen. However, when it was announced that Sarah J Maas would be writing the Catwoman novel as a part of the DC Icons series, I was intrigued. I adore Maas (yes, unapologetic-ally, thank you very much) and Catwoman is a figure that's always intrigued me, being morally grey and not quite falling nicely into the hero or villain categories. I decided it was worth a pre-order and found myself enthralled with Maas' version of Gotham City.

The novel starts out with Selina Kyle pre-Catwoman, fleshing out her backstory as an older sister desperately trying to care for her sister who is terminally ill with Cystic Fibrosis. Selina is desperate and vulnerable but resilient and determined, and this exposed, softer side of Selina is not one that I believe is featured that often in comic book canon. The second part of the book (which is a majority of the story) takes place a few years later after Selina brokers a deal to save her sister and herself from being taken into custody by child protection services, and is more representative of the Catwoman most people probably know (though with Maas' own unique spin of course).

While I can't mention to many specifics without spoilers, I have to admit I adored a lot of things Maas added into Selina's story, and how she wove other elements of the Batman/Gotham City universe into Selina's story. It was pretty flawlessly done and integrated in a way that made sense. Maas also played on the Gotham City Sirens story line (a real alliance from the comics) and featured iconic villains Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn who stole the show in their own ways (I need spinoff novels for them ASAP). There was also a lot of diverse representation compared to Maas previous works, and it didn't feel forced or inauthentic (there's a really genuine and invested bisexual relationship featured in the novel, as well as non-white love interest for the protagonist). Selina also felt toned down from Maas other protagonists- while she definitely had some swagger and sass, she felt more like a teenager than Aelin or Feyre, and more cognizant the consequences of her actions than Maas' other fantasy characters. It was also a treat to see Maas write in a semi-contemporary world, where characters had things like cell phones and cars, and urban fantasy/sci fi seems like it is a natural fit for her writing style!

What prevented this novel from being 5 stars for me, however, was the romance. Of course I anticipated the book having a romance because it's pretty standard in YA (and Maas novels), however I just wasn't invested in it at ALL. This is because a) Selina had so much other important stuff going on that it seemed frivolous for her to have time for a romance, and b) the romantic interest, Luke Fox (aka Batwing) was pretty underwhelming. Literally he spends most of the novel being outmaneuvered by the Gotham City Sirens and Bruce Wayne (who is conveniently out of town because let's be real, Catwoman would have never gotten away with her shenanigans had he been around) has to call/text him several times throughout the book to be like "Everything under control?" because Gotham City is so obviously going to pieces under his protection. He's a nice guy (and diverse) but just didn't seem like he would really be the type to keep up with Catwoman OR Selina. Also, the romance by no means overwhelms the book, but if it had been missing it also would not have mattered one bit or taken anything away from the novel (at least for me).

I was a little concerned that Maas would be able to squeeze in character development, world building, and major plot points in a stand alone novel since she's notorious for writing (long) series, however I shouldn't have worried because the pacing was great and the overall plot was phenomenal, with a pretty intense climax that brought in one of the most notorious comic book characters: the Joker himself. Maas outdid herself with her Joker scenes and his appearance (though rather brief) was really chilling and worthy of its own spinoff (spinoffs for everyone!!) Honestly if it were up to me, I'd give Maas exclusive rights to the YA writing of Gotham City.

Overall: If Catwoman wasn't already one of my favorite DC characters before, she certainly is now. Reading Maas' writing in a urban fantasy setting was SUCH a treat, and it's reaffirmed why I love her as an author!This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages