Title: BATMAN Nightwalker by Marie Lu 
Genre: YA Fantasy/ Superhero
Pages: 272
Synopsis
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 Arkham, 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.
Review:
‘but looking out, all he saw was an ocean of light, the shimmering heart of Gotham City spread out before him. He didn’t know everything his future held for him, not yet, but he knew that whatever it was, it would remain here.
It looked like a place worth protecting.
it looked like home.’
THIS QUOTE THOUGH!
I can’t fangirl enough over Marie Lu’s fantastic descriptive writing. She can set a scene so well and this moment at the ending of this book really stuck with me.
I feel like I need to start this review by saying i’m not all that into Batman? Shock horror, I know. I love superhero movies but me and Batman just never have really got on until this book!
Batman – Nightwalker follows 18-year-old Bruce Wain therefore it is an origin story, it is all about Bruce Wain before he comes Batman and it is an origin story which has Bruce making mistakes like any old teenager would. The mistakes Bruce make result in him having to partake in Community Service and it’s mistakes like this which add up what I love about this book. How Marie Lu makes Bruce human.
I was anxious starting this book because I was scared that it would be like a fangirl all about how amazing Batman is or just a story elevating Bruce Wain straight into this mighty vigilante role and I was so happily surprised to find it nothing like that. Bruce Wain makes mistakes and struggles with friendships which made it so I could connect to his character more.
Another thing which I loved about this book is Marie Lu’s description, having just read Warcross I was expecting some tech detailing in there and I was right! I adored reading about the different designs WayneTech and Lucius were working on and the descriptions for how they worked. I think my favourite of course had to be the AI drones which were being invented in order to aid the police and protect the city of Gotham.
This book is everything you can expect from a Batman story, mystery filled and action packed. There’s plenty of fight scenes to keep you on your toes and twist and turns along the way but I didn’t expect the potential romantic interest which breaks up the story and adds to the mystery. Madeline is a girl put into Arkham Asylum and her character is so amazing, I found her so interesting because she had so many layers to her. Everytime Bruce visited her you wouldn’t know what type of Madeline he got that day, would she talk or would she stay silent? She was cryptic, mysterious and dangerous. I mean what else do you need?
Another element to the story which I wasn’t expecting was the depth to the secondary characters, most notably Harvey. Bruce’s best friend whose father physically abuses him. This added such an emotional element to the book because Harvey had to find a way to come to terms with what he needed to do, to get out of that situation as well as Bruce and Diane (another friend) who had to stand by whilst he made that decision.
For anyone who hasn’t read or seen anything with Batman in it before then do not worry because you would very easily understand this book and won’t get confused!
Despite being a book about Bruce Wain, I have to admit that my favourites were actually not him. I did really like his character but Marie Lu’s writing and description of his guardian Alfred Pennyworth was my ultimate favourite. Alfred is so lovely, kind and truly just wants the best for Bruce. Even when something might get Bruce hurt he knows when to step back and let Bruce try for the sake of others and that is true selflessness.
There was no character I had an issue with in this book and I actually really liked them all! I thought they all had such amazing depth to them even the ones who were secondary which really helped with the world building. It made it that extra bit intense.
Of course the setting for Nightwalker is the city of Gotham and Marie Lu describes the city perfectly for how I imagined it would be as a bleak city landscape full of criminals attacking the rich. My favourite setting in this book had to be Arkham Asylum though, again it was just so bleak, run down and home to the insane of Gotham who each seemed to want to kill Bruce.
Batman Nightwalker was a 4.5 star read for me, I loved reading it and I felt like it was so easy to get into and get through. But that’s what made it miss out on the five-star for me, I just needed it to be that little bit longer. Marie Lu is without the doubt the queen of description but the ending was a little bit rushed for me, it felt like we had built up to this moment and it was over. However this is a great read one which is entertaining and can keep you on your toes!
I can’t wait to see more in this Superhero series!
Useful Links
Goodreads | Marie Lu Website | Where to Buy Me | Penguin Random House
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