Batman: Nightwalker (DC Icons #2)

                Hello happy readers!  I'm a bit behind today I had some serious sleep issues the last few days with appointments during the day (aka my normal sleep time on nights) and am just now finding a free moment for the day.  So today I have my thoughts on another Marie Lu title and the next DC Icons story, Batman:  Nightwalker (DC Icons #2) by Marie Lu.  Just a heads up my good friend is hosting a giveaway for a signed copy of this title on her blog, Bogdana the Booknerd open for a few more days!  I previously reviewed the first DC Icons book :  Wonder Woman:  Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo though they are both in the "series" they are not connected but by the DC universe.  

Rating: 4 Stars

                Bruce Wayne before he was Batman.  Coming into his trust fund and finding some trouble.  Being one of the city’s elites is dangerous with the Nightwalkers about.  Money also can’t get you out of everything and after a run-in with the police Bruce must do community service…at Arkham Asylum.  Inside he sees and hears police interrogate an inmate of his age who seems to be baffling them all.  More so when she chooses to speak to him.  Madeleine is a mystery and he is determined to unravel it.  She is brilliant and dangerous and while he is trying to figure her out, Bruce may be giving her everything she needs on him. 

                I really liked this story.  I enjoyed that it was different sort of origins story.  It’s teenage years / coming into adult hood.  It’s not him becoming Batman but more how he handles his life and what could easily be seen turned into that life.  He has friends and normal issues to deal with on top of the more serious issues that come with being rich and powerful and having so much expected of you.  I enjoyed getting to see this side of him.  His friends in particular.  I really liked the idea of him having friends because as much as I love Alfred, and I do, a teenage boy needs more friendship than in his guardian.  Bruce is struggling with some things and it had showed and had real consequences. 

                So he is put to work in Arkham enduring attitudes as well as real menial physical labor.  Bruce is smart.  He has the money and the company to have all the newest gadgets and such but he understands how they work with a sharp mind which is something I enjoyed.  I liked the back and forth, cat and mouse, with Madeline.  You can never be sure what is going on; who has the upper hand.  Madeline is a very different and complex type of criminal and I really love Lu’s take on her as the villain.  She isn’t easy to pin down and that really created a complex character image of this girl. 

                I really got caught up in the mind game and trying to figure things out just like Bruce.  The idea of the Nightwalkers and what they were doing.    The overall pacing and suspense of the book was on par.  It was a rather quick listen really and a pretty short book.  I enjoyed this look at Bruce Wayne.

                Until next time…

~Waiting on Wednesday~ Batman: Nightwalker (DC Icons #2)

                “Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.  Basically books that are not yet out that we are dying to get our hands on.  This week’s pick is:

Batman: Nightwalker (DC Icons #2) by Marie Lu

Out:  1/2

From Goodreads:

                Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne.  A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy.

                The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list.

                One by one, the city’s elites are being executed as their mansions’ security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey.  Meanwhile, Bruce is turning eighteen and about to inherit his family’s fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Enterprises and all the tech gadgetry his heart could ever desire.  But after a run-in with the police, he’s forced to do community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city’s most brutal criminals.

                Madeleine Wallace is a brilliant killer…and Bruce’s only hope.

                In Arkam, Bruce meets Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers.  What is she hiding?  And why will she speak only to Bruce?  Madeleine is the mystery Bruce must unravel.  But is he getting her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees?  Bruce will walk the dark line between trust and betrayal as the Nightwalkers circle closer.

Why I’m Waiting:

                First it’s Marie Lu.  Second it’s Batman.  Enough said.

                What are you waiting on?  Tell me below what you think of this title and leave a link to your WoW as well so I can check it out.  Also don't forget to check out my giveaway it's open until the 7th!

The Dark Knight Rises

               

                Okay so I was super stoked to see this at the midnight showing Thursday night and I would have posted before now but I was feeling rather irritable with the AC not working yesterday and not even remembering the joy that was the midnight showing could not help.  Now here I am though with my review.

                So for those of you who live under a rock The Dark Knight Rises, is the 3^rd and final movie in the Dark Knight series.  So…if you by some great miracle haven’t seen the others yet (shakes my head in disbelief) then be wary there will be spoilers for the first 2 movies.  Now for those of you who just haven’t seen Rises yet then don’t worry I won’t give away any major spoilers.  I promise.  Ask anyone who has known me for any amount of time and tried to get a spoiler from my lips…not happening*.

                Now this movie picks up 8 years after The Dark Knight where Batman takes the blame for Dent’s final demented acts to preserve his reputation and keep the faith everyone had in him.  He became the monster the city needed him to be.  The years have not been good on Bruce either as he also lost someone he cared for.  Then a new force comes to Gotham and Batman is needed once again.

                Yep, you guess it.  Bane.  Now I won’t lie I knew there was something familiar about Bane from the posters but honestly I never looked to see who the actor was.  Then just as I was sitting to write my review I had to make sure it was Bane and not Bain, can’t have that, I found out it is Tom Hardy.  Wow had no idea but now I see the similarities once I knew it.  Anyways, Bane was awesome in his bad ass way.  He was a cool foe and let me just say that mask thing really added to the creep factor.  He was everything that a good bad guy should be to me, he was strong, dangerous, smart, and oh so psychotic.

                Now Bane wasn’t the only great performance.  Nope we have new faces of Catwoman and Blake played by Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  Now my old favorites are there too like Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Fox and Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, wonderful group.  And if I need to say it as well then well…Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne, though I think that goes without saying. 

                Now the story in this isn’t completely about Batman.  Like the others there are multiple story lines going on that meld into one larger story.  Now this movie runs at almost 3 hours and I never felt bored.  There was gripping stuff, tear jerking moments, and the amazing action we come to know and expect.  The cool gadgets of Batman continue from Fox’s special department.  Yes the story continues to unravel and you see things from the other two films tie into this one.  There are twists and turns and great shocks and action throughout the journey and I had a blast. 

                Let’s see great acting, check.  Amazing story, check.  What else?  Oh so much and I could write for a long time about this but I think I will leave it with just one more thing.  The look.  The look of everything on there was so amazing visually.  I do admit, and my movie partner in crime (one of them anyways) pointed out that this movie wasn’t as dark as the others having more daylight stuff.  This is true but it did give a new feel to Gotham.  A new way to see things.  Plus the actions, the explosions (come on what would a movie be without explosions), and chases so much fun to watch.  I think they have a home run.

                The only thing I will say about the ending of the movie was that I find it fitting.  See I managed to make it through a whole review without any real spoilers.  If you didn’t know something I put then you clearly didn’t watch the first two movies or seen the previews.  Now I suggest you go out and see this movie ASAP and then tell me what you think.  I can’t wait to see it again, and look forward to when it comes out on DVD and I can do a Dark Knight marathon.  With that I end this review with my rating of 5 Bat signals in the sky.

Rating: 5 Bat Signals

*Yes I have to amend this as two friends of mine did manage to get a spoiler out of me once.  To be fair it was a reward if they could solve a puzzle.  So yes once I did.