Review: Black Canary by Alexandra Monir
Black Canary: Breaking Silence
by Alexandra Monir
Thanks so much to Random House for this copy!
Publisher: Random House
Publish Date: December 29, 2020
Hardcover
384 Pages
Series: DC Icons #5
Genres: Young Adult, Superheroes, Fantasy
THE HANDMAID’S TALE meets the DC universe in this breathtaking, thrilling origin story of Black Canary. Her voice is her weapon, and in a near future world where women have no rights, she won’t hesitate to use everything she has to fight back.
Dinah Lance was seven years old when she overheard the impossible: the sound of a girl singing. It was something she was never meant to hear—not in her lifetime, and not in Gotham City, taken over by the Court of Owls. The sinister organization rules Gotham as a patriarchal dictatorship, all the while spreading their influence like a virus across the globe.
Now seventeen, Dinah can’t forget that haunting sound, and she’s beginning to discover that her own voice is just as powerful. But singing is forbidden—a one-way stop to a certain death sentence. Can she balance her father’s desire to keep her safe, a blossoming romance with mysterious new student Oliver Queen, and her own desire to help other women and girls rise up and finally be heard? And will her voice be powerful enough to destroy the Court of Owls once and for all?
My Review:
"The Handmaid's Tale meets the DC universe..." SOLD! To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of The Handmaid's Tale (or the sequel... zzzz) but to revamp it into the DC world? My curiosity got the best of me. Now, I'm not tooooooo familiar with the DC world outside of what I know from movies and very little research when I would want to deep dive every once in a while (which wasn't very deep tbh) but it was fun to recognize some of the names from this universe and to learn about Black Canary (who I really had zero familiarity with).
Gotham is now ruled by the Court of Owls and they have killed all superheroes in their sleep. Women have little to no rights and marginalized communities are in hiding. Now, I read somewhere that the author brings inspiration from her Iranian background w/re to the Iranian Revolution (also called Islamic Revolution) into this story, which is very interesting. But back to Dinah, our Black Canary...
The story starts off fairly slow and ramps up towards the final quarter.. and while I found some things didn't *quite* make sense, who doesn't love women empowerment and having their voices heard? But don't forget this is also a YA novel so hello insta love... lots of looks and thoughts and well... you get the gist. And this felt familiar within that genre but with DC characters (which I am A-OK with).
I may not be quite the right audience but I wanted to dive into this world and see what Monir was bringing to the table with this origin story. I did enjoy it but I do think I may need to learn more about this world to appreciate it a bit more. Entertaining? Yes. I loved the message within and if you like your YA with a superhero? Here's your book.
★★★
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