Shadow of the Batgirl breathes new life into a classic hero. I could not put this down! The graphics were fantastic and the plot line was exactly what Batgirl needed to be relevant in the modern world.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this graphic novel. In fact, as soon as I finished reading it I sent the cover picture to my comic book loving dad and told him to look out for it in the spring. I will admit that at first I was confused about what was happening, especially before Cassandra started to talk. I was worried that the entire novel was going to be that way. Once Cassandra found her voice I fell in love with the story. I loved that Barbara was a supporting character in the novel and I loved the addition of the character Jackie. This is sure to be a book that young readers are going to enjoy. Both those with and without knowledge of superheros and the world of Gotham. I hope that there will be more to come from Sarah Kuhn when it comes to Cassandra being Batgirl. <Fingers crossed>

Slightly mixed feelings on this one. It's definitely one of the better if not the best of DC's new kid-friendly standalones. I'm really glad that DC's first (only?) Asian heroine is finally in the hands of an Asian writer! I think Kuhn did a good job of introducing Cassandra's backstory (brainwashed daughter of an evil assassin trying to escape her father and become a hero) to potentially brand-new readers and while I miss getting to see Cass together with her adopted dad and brothers, that is very much not a standalone introduction. Focusing on Cass's relationship with Barbara (and with a new surrogate mother figure, Jackie, an older Japanese woman who runs a nearby restaurant) makes sense. It's a very sweet, straightforward story. My one big hesitation is the way disability is (or, more accurately, isn't) portrayed. I know Cassandra's mutism is very important to a lot of readers, and it seems glossed over/quickly fixed here. I'm also a little puzzled by the way Barbara's wheelchair is presented. Don't get me wrong, I love that Barbara in her wheelchair is every bit as active as she should be! It's just that we never see very simple, necessary elements like... elevators? Ramps? Barbara is shown at the top of staircases; she's shown at the bottom of them; she's shown at Jackie's apartment, which is above the restaurant, and in Cassandra's hideout at the library, which is accessed either by a lot of stairs or by climbing in the window. We never see a single ramp or elevator or chairlift in the entire novel. It's a weird omission that could have been so easily fixed.