Diana was made from the clay of the ground by Hippolyta on the island of Themyscira--the island of the Amazons. Her mother is the queen of the Amazons which makes things tougher on her in that she must work harder to be the best. Tek, her mother's top general, and best friend, is always picking on her and calling her names. There's a race that Diana has entered, her first competition and she has worked with one of the other Amazons with a plan on how to win the race by mapping out a winning course.
Diana is in the lead and is guaranteed to win when she notices a crashed ship right at the boundary of the island's existence. She sees a woman floating in the water alive and knows she can save her. But it is forbidden to interfere in the affairs of man in this way and it is definitely forbidden to bring someone to the island. But Diana does it anyway and hides her in one of the caves along the beach telling her she will be back with help soon since Diana needed to be at the race's ceremony and the banquet afterward.
Soon, though, Diana's friend Maeve becomes the first to become sick and then the island begins to quake. Diana's mother is going to see the Oracle but Diana gets there first. She knows the reason for the all the trouble is the girl but she wants to save her. She has three questions to ask the Oracle and she asks her how to save Themyscira and the answer is to do nothing. The girl is sick too and will die and once she dies the island will be fine again. Her second question is how to save the girl, Alia's life. This is when she finds out that Alia is a Warbringer, a haptandra, or hand of war. She is a descendant of Helen of Troy who was the cause of the Trojan War. But Helen's descendants have caused many wars and much destruction over the years. Diana's third question is how does she save everybody and Oracle tells her that there is a river where Helen's is buried that the Warbringer can be bathed in and it will cleanse the girl stopping the war from coming.
Diana gets Alia onto a boat and uses her heartstone and tells her to think of the spring. Alia doesn't really believe in this spring and that isn't really where she wants to go and the heartstone works by taking the user with the most powerful desire to that destination. So they end up in New York City, Alia's home. Alia picks up one of her brother Jason's emergency packs from a car parked in a lot. Inside is cash, flashlights, and a phone. The phone has a tracer on it which Alia knows and hopes that Jason will track them because Diana says that it isn't wise for them to go straight to Jason. That it is wise that people think that she is dead since the ship was blown up. When Jason shows up and tries to pick the door open, Diana throws him to the ground.
Once his ego is dealt with and he realizes that Diana is there to protect Alia, Jason, who is strict on things he feels are obligations which are everything, insists that she attends a charity fundraiser before they leave for the spring which he buys into because he knows she is a Warbringer because their parents left data behind about it and how they were going to try to cure her. Their parents were scientists who worked on many things such as vaccines and genetic work. Alia insists on having her best friend Nim there who is a fashionista who finds them all outfits to wear and sent over. Nim is funny and sarcastic and the kind of best friend we all wish we could have. Nim and Theo Santos, Michael Santos son, who was a friend of Alia's parents and a member of the board of the company, argue constantly. Theo is cute, a smartass, and good with computers but also has to deal with being a disappointment to his father. Alia has had the biggest crush on him for years.
The party is interrupted by men with guns trying to kill Alia. But Diana and Jason get them out of there and to a waiting plane heading toward Greece. They've got people out to kill Alia because keeping her alive is causing the world to go to war. Also, there are gods and goddesses who are out to keep them from getting to the spring because they live off of the chaos of war. But not everyone is being completely honest with the group. Diana has her magic lasso. Does she use it to compel the truth from someone? I loved this book. Greek mythology has long been a favorite of mine and while the author has made up a myth there are still plenty of real myths and gods and goddesses in this book to make me very happy. Besides, the myth she made up is very interesting and cool and decidedly possible. Also, Wonder Woman has long been a hero of mine and this book portrays her very well. I adored the character of Nim who just sparkled with life and wit and Theo with whom she sparred that gave as good as he got. Theo was also a sweet guy with a tender heart. Alia was a good character too. She was tough but buckled under the pressure of living as a black girl in a white world and having to be careful of what she did. That's how her mother raised her that no amount of money could change the fact that she was still black. Her father, who was Greek, never understood this. Alia was also sometimes ashamed of the science geek label she wore as it didn't get her the attention of guys. Or the one guy she was interested in. But she begins to question her thinking on these ideas. This was a fabulous book that keeps you turning the pages as fast as you can to find out what happens next. I give it my highest possible rating a five out of five stars.
Quotes
Because the whole world loves to tell us what we can’t do, that we aren’t good enough. The people in your own house should be on your side. It’s the people who never learn the word impossible who make history, because they’re the ones who keep trying.
-Leigh Bardugo (Wonder Woman: Warbringer p 168)
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