When I bought Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, I wasn’t aware that it was smaller in size. I thought it was going to be a full-length novel. I must mention the thing that drew me to the book wasn’t so much the character as it was the writer. Louise Simonson is someone who I knew from back in the day reading X-Factor comics and other material. When I saw she had written this book, I had to give it a whirl.
The first thing that you understand is that it’s a quick read which means it’s mostly for young people in terms of the age group that it is targeting. It only has 168 pages which means it’s going to be a quick read for most people. I started the book when I was sick and had time to plow through it. Between sleeping and reading (I read other stuff at the same time), it didn’t take me long to finish.
There is a vague recollection that I saw this as a movie. This is a novelization of the movie of the same name. After I checked my Amazon Prime account, I confirmed I did see this on Amazon Video but it was some time ago.
The book suffers from what many books suffer from which is adverb overuse and the utilization of the passive voice though this one wasn’t as egregious as my previous review of The God Project (which was horrid), but that was for many other reasons. The chapters in this are very short being about four to five pages.
The book starts off with a mysterious new Batwoman who is aggressive and a tad reckless. Batman isn’t having that and seeks to find out who she is. But every time he thinks he’s discovered who she is, it turns out that she isn’t. Or is she? The book is meant to keep you guessing. In the end, there is a small twist which was nice.
However, it flows well and the plot, though simple, is solid. I would say that the biggest negative about the book is it wasn’t in-depth enough. I’m sure Mrs. Simonson wasn’t able to explore characterization and motivation too deeply because of the audience the book is written for and more than likely time restraints. I would have liked to have read a little more and been connected and more invested in the characters. But the main audience isn’t into all that.
Even so, I enjoyed the read which is why I completed it in like two or three days. It was fun, quick, and is a welcome departure from the train wreck of the last book that I read. If you’re looking for something enjoyable and clean, go ahead and pick this up or pick it up for your children or grandchildren. I’m giving this a solid B.
