BOOK REPORT for Black Canary: Breaking Silence (DC Icons #5) by Alexandra Monir

Cover Story: Montell Jordan
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Talky Talk: Dystopian Origin
Bonus Factors: Gotham City, Black Canary
Anti-Bonus Factor: Patriarchy
Relationship Status: Partners in Crime(fighting)

Cover Story: Montell Jordan
Although this isn't the greatest cover I've ever seen, I am SO pumped the publishers are moving away from the previous covers of these DC Icons books. They were … fine … but didn't do much for me. This cover, on the other hand, is a fabulous mix of comic art and color, and the woman on it looks like a total badass—appropriate for a prose novel about a superhero. (I love Jen Bartel's art, so they did themselves a favor on that front, too.)

The Deal
The Gotham City of yesteryear—one protected by superheroes like Batman and his protégés—is no more. The villainous Court of Owls have taken over and rule with an iron fist. There's no more superheroes, and citizen's rights—particularly those of the female members of society—have been stripped. Women can't even sing any longer, thanks to a chemical toxin Mayor Chester Cobblepot (nephew of Oswald, a.k.a Penguin) released on the city. Few people remember what it was like before, and even fewer are willing to speak out against the Owls and their vicious Talon enforcers.

Dinah Laurel Lance is one of the few who know, thanks to her parents making sure to tell her about the Gotham City of old. And although Dinah's father is a member of the Gotham City Police Department, Dinah needs to keep a low profile, as much as it pains her to do so. But then Oliver Queen moves to town, and Dinah's need to see change happen in Gotham only gets worse.

BFF Charm: Yay
Dinah's a strong-willed, passionate young woman—a bad combination for someone who lives in an autocracy. She tries to respect the fact that keeping a low profile is vital for the safety of her loved ones (and herself), but it's a constant struggle to remain civil when she knows the truth of her situation, and the freedoms she's lost. I recognize and appreciate her struggle, and would love to be her much less rebellious, rule-follower friend.

Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Oliver Queen is a wealthy playboy who Dinah can't quite figure out, especially when he's nice to her but hangs out with the kids of the Court of Owls—people who are decidedly not nice. But the chemistry between the two is real … or so Dinah hopes?

Talky Talk: Dystopian Origin
All of the DC Icons books are alternate origin stories for famous (or infamous) DC comic heroes. Black Canary: Breaking SIlence is the first I've read for a superhero I'm not very familiar with. It's also the first, I think, to play with the setting; although Dinah does canonically grow up in Gotham City, it's not a Gotham run by the Court of Owls, nor is it a Gotham in which females have lost nearly all rights. Monir was super smart to reset Dinah's story in this way and frame her struggle as one of rebellion against a Handmaid's Tale-like oppressor; it's a timely change that goes well with current societal issues and a story that incites a lot of fist-pumping moments. The theme of women using their voices as a way to fight the patriarchy is superb—and a nice tie-in to a superhero whose power is literally her voice.

That said, the resolution was a bit rushed, and the fact that Oliver was brought into the story somewhat lessens the girl power message. (He's there for a plot reason, of course, and it makes sense to include him from a love interest perspective given their comic history, but I can't help but feel like someone else could have served the same purpose.)

Bonus Factor: Gotham City
Gotham City is one comic city I'd never want to visit, "normal" or no. Pretty much ever incarnation of it is gritty and dark and dirty and dangerous. And yet, I find it fascinating, and its history/reputation certainly lends itself well to stories like this. (Could I imagine an autocratic society ruling in Metropolis or Themyscira? No way.)

Bonus Factor: Black Canary
It makes me happy to see that DC's branching out from the Justice League for the DC Icons series. (Although I think it's time to move away from the white, cisgender characters, too …)

Anti-Bonus Factor: Patriarchy
Ugh, men.

Relationship Status: Partners in Crime(fighting)
I might not have superpowers, Book, but I'm willing to put in time and effort in training, even if I'm ultimately relegated to a sidekick. I want to fight the good fight with you!

I was very scared about reading this one as I haven't really cared for the others in this series. But this one OMG!!! I fell hard for it!! I could not put it down and I need more! I should have known that this was going to be good because I die hard loved The Final Six!! If you are a lover of Black Canary and the DC universe well then check out this one because Monir made this one come alive and it sucked me in!

The DC icons series of YA novels launched in 2017, and aims to tell stories about the iconic comic book heroes as teenagers and young adults. On paper, this move was simply to draw more fans into the DC fold, but also because there are simply some sorts of stories that can only be told when our protagonists are only just starting out on their journeys.

This series has featured some of the biggest names in YA fiction thus far, including Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, and has told the stories of iconic DC figures like Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, and Catwoman. The latest installment focuses on Dinah Lance, the hero known as Black Canary – and, incidentally, is also the first novel ever based on the iconic character.

But Black Canary: Breaking Silence may not be the origin story you expected – in all the best ways. Author Alexandra Monir reimagines Gotham City as a repressive dystopian nightmare and casts Dinah as the feminist heroine we’ve all been waiting for – and that she deserves to be seen as.

Full review: https://culturess.com/2020/12/29/black-canary-breaking-silence-review/

Rating: 7.0 / 10

Thanks to the publisher and author for an advance reading copy of Black Canary: Breaking Silence for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.

Monir’s origin story for the most powerful voice in the DC Universe is, at times, thrilling and exhilarating, while also being truly heartfelt and extremely personal. The fact that the author took direct inspiration from her Iranian roots during the 1979 revolution brings an extra element to the story that gives it new wings to soar on.

While I am was not familiar with the DC Icons series up to this point, I did see big names attached to it when I was originally contacted with this opportunity. Names like Bardugo, Maas, and Lu tend to intrigue even the most casual of readers so I had to see what the series was all about. I’m also not the most well-rounded individual when it comes to the DC Universe, not having grown up reading the comics and only really being interested in the Batman films over the years. Having picked up and read Black Canary: Breaking Silence, it shows that I have a ton more to learn about the universe as a whole (especially about Lance, Queen, and the Court of Owls).

I will say this: YA is still a hit or miss genre for me. I can definitely get behind characters, enjoy solid world-building, and tear through pages of intense action, but romance bogs down my pace immensely. The love interest bits of YA novels tend to just, well, bore me to tears and it was no different here. Lance and Queen’s glances started early on and continued well into the end, and while I get that it works for a majority of audiences, it just isn’t my thing. Having said that, the story was definitely built around their relationship, alongside Dinah’s friendships and family, so I could look past the teenage drama to enjoy a solid story.

While I am probably not the intended audience for this novel or the rest of the series, I thought Monir did a wonderful job bringing Lance to life, and I really enjoyed learning her backstory. I also really need to get the lowdown on the Court of Owls because those Talons are not to be messed with.


Q&A with the Author

1. Tell me a little bit about yourself (i.e. growing up, schooling, etc)

I grew up in Marin County, the suburbs outside of San Francisco, and fell in love with books from the second I discovered them: basically, before age 2! English and Creative Writing were always my favorite subjects, along with Drama, and my childhood was filled with books, writing my own stories for friends and family, and performing in school plays and community theater. Basically, I was all about literature and the arts!

2. What sort of career were you pursuing prior to writing?

I was equally fixated on writing and performing in elementary and middle school, but in my freshman year of high school, I wrote my first song- and from there, I spent the rest of my teens completely focused on becoming a recording artist. I wrote and recorded many songs and got to spend my 17th and 18th summers opening up for pop stars like O-Town, which was surreal. But as much as I love music, there was a lot I didn’t love about the recording industry, so when I sold my first book at 23, I was very happy and relieved to find a place where I felt much more at home, which was publishing.

a. Do you still have a full-time job outside of being an author?

I am a full-time author! But I still write and record music on the side and love incorporating music into my books.

3. When did you start writing? When did you start writing seriously?

I started scribbling stories in notebooks at age 6 and then typing them up and sending them to friends and family at around 8. Years later, when I was immersed in the recording industry at 16, I came up with a TV series idea about a young singer trying to make it, and from there I wrote a proposal and started pitching it around LA a year or so later. While that project never sold, it led to me getting my first literary agent and some other really integral industry relationships.

4. How do you combat writer’s block, or do you simply not acknowledge it?

I don’t get writer’s block so much as I just get stumped on what should happen next in a story or scene, at which point it always helps to take a break and consume other media unrelated to what I’m working on, something that just gets me feeling inspired and excited to create again. I remember when I was feeling stuck with THE LIFE BELOW, a sci-fi sequel I published in 2020, watching the Battle of Winterfell episode from Game of Thrones totally revitalized me! The two were wildly different genres, but seeing something that impressive onscreen had me itching to get back to my computer.

5. Who are some of your writing influences?

I read a lot of the classics growing up and when I was starting out as a writer, and two that made a big impact on me were Daphne du Maurier and Edith Wharton. Nowadays, I’m very inspired by the YA fantasy geniuses Sarah J. Maas and Dhonielle Clayton.

6. Did you read growing up? If so, what genres really struck you?

Oh, yes! I read pretty much everything I could get my hands on, and was particularly fond of two totally different genres: historical fiction and contemporary teen fiction, like the Sweet Valley books. It’s the Gemini in me!

7. Tell me about your writing process. Has it changed over the years?

I think the biggest change is that I now actually have a specific process, rather than just sitting down and letting myself write freely. As my books have grown more complex, I’ve found outlining to be really crucial. The last book I wrote without a game plan was THE GIRL IN THE PICTURE (published in 2016), which I am really proud of, but that was also when I realized how stressful it was to face a blank page every day while drafting. I wrote a very detailed outline for THE FINAL SIX, my 2018 book that followed, and that’s been my process ever since- though I still start out free-writing the first couple of chapters before outlining, to get myself into the story and make sure this is an idea I definitely want to spend a year or longer with!

8. Can you tell the audience a little bit about Black Canary: Breaking Silence?

BREAKING SILENCE is my original take on the DC superhero Black Canary, and it’s set in a near-future Gotham City where a patriarchal dictatorship known as the Court of Owls rules over them all. Under the Court, women have been stripped of their power and their rights–including the power to sing, which is something 17-year-old Dinah Lance wants to do more than anything in the world. So when she discovers a secret power within her own voice, it sets her world ablaze- and leads to a whole new alter ego. The book is filled with action/adventure, twists and turns, original music, and a dash of romance with Oliver Queen- who comic book fans know as the Green Arrow!

9. What was it like writing your grandmother into the story?

It was incredibly meaningful for me, and made this book feel like my most personal novel to date. My grandmother was tragically taken from us too soon, so I never got to meet her, but I’ve always felt connected to her, and I know she was with me in spirit while I was writing this.

10. Tell me about how the story was directly inspired by your roots amidst the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

I was born long after the Revolution, once my parents had escaped to the U.S., but it still had a formidable impact on my life. My parents did an amazing job of instilling my brother and me with our culture and history, and they were very honest with us about the trauma of the Revolution and their escape, so it was always there in the background of my life. When it was first suggested to me that I would be a good fit to write a Black Canary story, I immediately imagined a world where women and girls are forbidden to sing, and how Dinah Lance could be a beacon of hope in an oppressive patriarchy. The reason I thought of that is because of what happened after the Iranian Revolution, when women could be jailed for singing publicly. It’s a cruelty that exists to this day there, and something I wanted to wrestle with on the page.

11. How did your time as a former teen pop singer/songwriter help you bring Dinah Lance to life?

I think my former teen pop singer life was crucial to me writing Dinah’s story. It allowed me to write three original songs into the book, but also to tap into those feelings I experienced when I was her age and when life felt so intense that words alone weren’t enough to express myself with, I had to put it into song.

12. What are you working on now?

It’s been a year of getting to write my dream characters- first with Black Canary, and then I recently signed with Disney to write a historical fantasy YA about Princess Jasmine!! It comes out in Fall 2022, so I’m about to dive into work on that manuscript!

13. Do you have any book recommendations for the audience? Maybe something you have read recently?

My favorites of 2020 were SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid in adult fiction, and LOBIZONA by Romina Russell in YA. Both are absolutely amazing!

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.

Just from this description, I had high hopes for this book, and it didn’t disappoint! I am very familiar with the DC universe, but I haven’t read any other origin stories, which I will be remedying immediately now that I’ve read and loved this one.

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look
and do nothing.

That quote seems so appropriate, both for the Black Canary and for things that are going on right now. This book filled me with rage at the silencing of women and girls, but also inspired me and gave me hope that people – women and girls – have the power to change the world. There are so many things I love about this book, but especially the empowerment of girls. And I loved that Oliver asked permission before kissing Dinah!

I love superheroes and smashing the patriarchy, so this was a perfect book for me – loved it!

Black Canary is the 5th book in the DC Icons series… These novels take a look at major DC characters from a teen POV. I’ve read Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu (Mini Review) and Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo (Mini Review) and found a lot to like about them.

Black Canary follows Dinah Lance as she tries to wade through high school, train in the martial arts, and keep the Court of Owls at bay. In this version of Gotham a lot has changed drastically since the death of Batman and James Gordan. The Court of Owls was once a conservative secret society that pulled all the strings in city politics from the cover of night, but for the past decade they have ruled over Gotham out in the open. And they have created a new society that has taken away all rights for women including advanced schooling and access to certain jobs. To top it off, one of their members has created a way to take all women’s singing voices away and thus Black Canary’s power.

The book starts off with a short introduction to Dinah character and the new city of Gotham. We learn that she has always struggled with following the rules and is now forced to find that balance between what she can do to resist the power of the Owls and what will certainly get her in trouble. And in walks Oliver Queen, a young man who has just lost his parents and has moved to Gotham to live with his wealthy Owl-favoring uncle. An attraction is felt and a conflict created… Dinah has long been at the bottom of the social ladder and is now gaining attention from someone who sits at the cool lunch table. This relationship and Black Canary’s fight for her voice and equal rights creates the tension that moves the novel forward.

Pros: The reimagined city of Gotham ruled by the Court of Owls. I read a book a couple years ago just focused on The Court of Owls by Greg Cox and I loved it. And Monir sets up these old rich guys as truly ruthless… Once the superheros were defeated, a group of super-enforcers called Talons became the ones who roamed the city looking for code-breakers. Is there enough of a resistance to take them on?

Cons (for me): I want to preface this by saying that I may not be the audience for this book… and others may like the things that struck me as ok… The romance. I would have liked to get to know Dinah a little better befor the introduction of Oliver. Sure, he’s an interesting character, but there he is on the first page of chapter 2 looking all hot and new-kidish. It was a little too much, too soon for me.

Black Canary is a book that has been blurbed as The Handmaid’s Tale in a superhero world. An audience of YA and older reads will certainly be intrigued by this story of defiance. I do want to point out that while I like Batman, I’m not the best Gotham scholar and didn’t really know a lot about Black Canary’s character beforehand. This was not a problem at all. Monir lays it all out well and provides action and feelings in a very good origin story.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, DC Comics, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

Before we begin, let's just gaze at that awesome cover some more.
Rounding up from 2.5 stars. I really wanted to like this more than I did. I love the time and setting, and I'm a sucker for the Court of Owls after reading Gail Simone's work. The characters were well written, but the plot as a whole just didn't grab me. I did add the Wonder Woman DC Icons to my Want to Read list, though.
Thank you for the ARC!

I was given a free review copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book so much. Dinah was such a great character. You root for her the whole time. The action was great and the bit of romance was perfect. I highly recommend.

I was so happy to get a review copy of this book! As I love pretty much all things superhero, this is 100% up my alley. Plus, it's being marketed as: "The Handmaid's Tale meets the DC Universe." How could I not want to read that?

The world building in this book is phenomenal. Fans of the DC Universe will appreciate the little nods to familiar characters, like Oliver Queen and Barbara Gordon. Readers who aren't necessarily avid readers will still be able to keep up with the story and everything that's going on. We're introduced to this dark society, very similar to The Handmaid's Tale. The spark of resistance starts slowly and builds throughout the book and I felt like the pacing was spot on.

Also, we get Oliver Queen asking for consent before kissing Dinah! We love to see it. The characters themselves are well-rounded, too, adding to the fantastic world-building. Also, getting to see Dinah's growth into her powers flows well with the rest of the story.  Honestly, all of the aspects of this book worked really well together.

If I had to pick just one aspect of improvement for this book, it would be the pace of the romance between Oliver and Dinah. While it was inevitable, it honestly felt like it happened too quickly. Since I'm not necessarily a fan of instant love, I wish it was more drawn out. Other than that, this book is engaging, entertaining, and a great addition to the DC Icons line of books.

I've read several of the DC Icons origin books, including Wonder Woman, and Batman, each of them has an approach that is completely different from each other. Random House found a wide array of successful YA authors, and gave them free-reign to write their books anyway they chose. Black Canary - Breaking Silence, is the newest offering from this series. Full of details from the Batman universe, this is an exciting story of fighting oppression and a girl finding her own power.

What I Liked:

World-Building:

Although I am not a huge fan of Batman, of course I know the basics. Gotham City (loosely based on New Your City), has been in a constant struggle between good and evil. The good guys are superheroes such as Batman, Batgirl, and the Birds of Prey. The bad guys are villains like The Joker, and The Penguin. In this book, Batman is dead, and the Penguin, and his Court of Owls, has taken over the city.

For the past twenty years, women have been controlled, symbolized by taking away their ability to sing. But it doesn't stop there. Some women are regulated to "approved" professions such as midwives or teachers. But most are meant to be housewives. These traditional roles are enforced by the Owls, who send girls and women to Arkham Asylum for wearing the wrong clothes, or doing anything that is out of line. It is very much like The Handmaid's Tale.

Characters:

Dinah mother is dead. She lives with her father, a policeman, and is quietly seething from all the restrictions on girls. Even in her high school, boys get more opportunities. For instance, while boys learn science, girls must take home economics classes. While she knows this is how things are, she wishes for change. I loved all the quiet ways Dinah rebels. She trains in martial arts, and has a hidden closet of pictures from when women were free. But her most prized possessions are the recordings of female singers. When she realizes she can sing, she almost can't believe it. Even more exciting for her, she finds that the women she looks up to, including Barbara Gordon, are actually superheroes.

Could she be able to use her voice to rebel against the Owls?

Barbara Gordon, previously known as Batgirl, is a such a wonderful character. Currently in a wheelchair, she doesn't seem bitter. Instead she changes her focus to use her knowledge of technology and science to work behind the scenes to aid the rebellion. Her strength shows Dinah how dedication and hard work are important character traits. She is the mother, Dinah yearns for,

Story:

The story realistically shows how life might be like if women lose their power. The author, Alexandra Monir, is an Iranian-American write. I can't help but think her inspiration was the restrictive structure of Iranian society. This brings a credibility to the story that a novel based on comic book characters rarely has.

I loved the many hidden superhero reveals over the course of the book. The story mainly concerns the characters that make up the Birds of Prey, which I no nothing about. But there are sufficient explanations to make sure the reader understands who each character is.

It was fun to read how Dinah comes to understand her power, and see how she interacts with the other superheroes. As she works to free her best friend, Mandy, Dinah must get into (and out of) Arkham Asylum. The action was exciting and made this book a page-turner.

It takes a lot to bring your voice into the limelight, especially when there are so many other voices clamouring for attention, but Alexandra Monir brings the voice of the Black Canary to the forefront of the DC Icons collection with Breaking Silence. Part scathing examination of how easy it is to fall into a dystopian world, part finding and fighting for your own voice, Breaking Silence is a great read to get you into the mood to break down the patriarchy.

Dinah Lance just wants to sing. But in a world where the voices of women everywhere have been silenced by the patriarchal Court of Owls, the one thing Dinah doesn’t feel she has is any say in what happens in her life. When a local resistance group strikes at the Court of Owls at the Patriarch's Ball, Dinah finds she may have more power than she thought. And she intends to use it to right the wrongs that have been done to her and the women in her city.

Breaking Silence is one of those books that when I finished reading, I wanted to buy up pallets of the book and donate them to youth organisations around the world. It may not be perfect (because no book is actually perfect), but it has a strong message and I can guarantee it’ll light the fire for youth out there who want to fight for a better world.

It is easy to determine from reading Breaking Silence that Monir really wanted to write a Black Canary story and she wanted to do the character justice. Dinah Lance is portrayed as a strong teen with a power she is just coming into, but she is also shown to be very human. She has a growing attraction to the new boy in school, she misses her mother who passed away, and she wants to break free from the ridiculously restrictions put on women. The story is written from a very internal POV and we spend a lot of time in Dinah’s head, getting to know her. This felt like the right way to approach the story and bring another level to the sense of isolation of women in this dystopian world.

And while this story is rightfully Dinah’s, most of the other characters suffer from very little build up. That’s not to say they fall totally flat, but I wished for a little more depth. One of the better developed characters was Oliver Queen aka the Green Arrow. At first, I was worried that the inclusion of Oliver as the Green Arrow and the romantic interest for Dinah would take away from the point of the story. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Oliver didn’t detract from Dinah’s story at all. The romance and respect between these two was very sweet and it was nice to see an ultimately positive and realistic relationship blossom over the course of the story.

Is Breaking Silence a wildly original origin story that smashes the tropes seen often in YA? No, but that hardly makes it a disappointing read. The thing about superhero/vigilante stories is the inherent suspension of belief that comes with them. They are outlandish, exaggerated, rely heavily on tropes, and typically are escapism that also house a world of examination of social issues. In that respect, Breaking Silence is no different than the superhero stories that came before it and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. You can’t put the superhero antics of male characters on a pedestal and then tear apart the same antics when it’s a woman in the mask.

Breaking Silence brings together some well-known tropes and gives us an engaging story to read. Monir has taken Black Canary and given her a modern origin story and purpose. If you are looking for a good read that has the depth and heart that makes superhero stories so enduring, pick up a copy of Black Canary: Breaking Silence.

Black Canary: Breaking Silence is the fifth installment in DC’s DC Icons series, and is published by Random House Children’s, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Black Canary: Breaking Silence is written by Alexandra Monir (Timeless, Timekeeper), and takes place in a futuristic Gotham ruled by the merciless Court of Owls.

The Court of Owls rose to power after they killed all of the superheroes in Gotham, and they maintain their rule with the help of super-soldiers called Talons. The Court rules with absolute certainty, heavily oppressing the women under their regime and controlling everything from schooling to clothing to jobs. But the regulation that crushes Dinah’s spirit the most is that women are no longer capable of singing. Dinah wants to take down the Court of Owls and let her own voice, along with the voices of all the other silenced women, be heard.

The premise of Black Canary: Breaking Silence is so intriguing: a futuristic Gotham with no heroes, not even a Batman, run by the Court of Owls? A very dystopian Gotham. Sadly, the book doesn’t live up to how great the description sounds. Black Canary: Breaking Silence feels like a generic Young Adult (YA) dystopian novel, just with familiar characters from the DC universe.

One of the first things that really takes the reader out of the story is the awkward and stilted dialogue. While Dinah and friends are teenagers, Dinah herself 17, their dialogue feels comically immature. It never feels authentic and age-appropriate. The dialogue comes off sounding like Monir was trying their best to sound like a teenager, but their only reference to being a teenager is watching some mid-2000s teen movies.



Another glaring issue with Black Canary: Breaking Silence is how heavy-handed Monir’s reminders of women’s oppression. Monir makes some good connections to the real world, with how harmful organizations and oppressive regimes take and keep power, referencing how much propaganda and fear tactics are used by the Court to keep order. But this becomes less effective and more frustrating when Dinah is constantly bringing up the same ideas on every page. Dinah repeatedly laments her inability to dress the way she wants, to sing, to play sports. But Monir does this through Dinah’s internal monologue, relying on telling the reader instead of showing them.

Unfortunately, Monir does the same thing with Dinah’s interest in, and love of, music. Rather than incorporating this into Dinah’s character naturally, Monir has Dinah almost constantly remind the reader of how much she loves music and how much music means to her in a way that often took me out of the story.

Because Black Canary: Breaking Silence is, at its core, a superhero novel, the fight scenes are a big deal. But Monir’s fight scenes fall flat because Dinah is just too powerful. The Talons are the enforcers for the Court of Owls. They’re basically super soldiers and assassins who were capable of slaughtering full-grown, fully trained superheroes. Yet Monir wants the reader to believe that Dinah Drake, a 17-year-old girl who yes, has had some fighting training but not to the level of someone that’s been a superhero for years, can take down Talons. Even with her superhero abilities, Dinah barely struggles to take down multiple Talons. Were she a full-grown adult with years of superhero combat experience under her belt, this would seem a little more realistic. Black Canary is a very powerful hero. But for a teenager with minimal training? I could only suspend their disbelief so far. Because Dinah is just so powerful, the fight scenes in Black Canary: Breaking Silence are short and anticlimactic.

Monir’s over-reliance on so many of the trite elements found in many YA dystopian novels drags down her storytelling. It leaves the book feeling like something the reader has read a thousand times before. The resistance is even just called “the resistance,” in a very unimaginative fashion. Had Monir put her own twist on the dystopian elements, Dinah’s Chosen One role, or her aptitude for fighting back, this book could’ve been something very exciting and fun. But rather, Black Canary: Breaking Silence feels like any other YA dystopian novel. There was even a bit of an immediate love at first sight connection between Dinah and Oliver, but at least there wasn’t a love triangle.

With the increased popularity of Black Canary as a character after the massive success of the Birds of Prey movie, it’s unfortunate that her debut DC Icons book is so disappointing.

Fantastic superhero story! I really enjoyed the twist, the new and old characters, and the authors own personal touch to this epic tale.

Black Canary: Breaking Silence by Alexandra Monir is an origin story of Dinah Lance, part of their DC Icon line up.
Set in a dystopic world where the Court of Owls took over Gotham, killed all the capes, and have pushed women back into the shadows and taken away their voices Dinah dreams of music. Not just any music, but music sung by women. Cobblepot, through means of comic book hand wavy science, created a concoction that managed to take away women’s ability to sing. They can talk, but it’s not like they are listened to, but can no longer sing after many resistance members used song to try and stand up to the Court of Owls back in the early days of them taking over.
When Dinah was younger she swears she heard a woman sing but is told it is a figment of her imagination but it’s something she holds onto, clings to, as she tries to navigate this world that wants to silence her.
***
I have all the current DC Icons novels sitting on my shelves but I haven’t read them yet. This is the first that I desperately, really felt the need to read. I loved it, I was sucked in. I started it right before I was supposed to be going out to supper with friends and it was all I could think about while I was out and had to complete after I got home.
Dinah was a great character, her frustration at not having a voice, at all her choices being limited (no PE for girls at school or any other extra curriculars, only home ec being allowed), loving her best guy friend but also being upset with him for not getting what her world was like as a woman, loving her father but being frustrated at him keeping secrets from her, discovering who she was and what she was capable of. Didn’t care much for the romance, but I rarely do.
The ending was kind of lacking in that way I typically find comic book type stories in handling big world problems (this was something that had been going on for over 20 years but apparently it gets cleaned up in 4 months?) but overall I found the book really enjoyable. I described it to my better half as comic book hand wavy science and violence.
***
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is tough, because the story was compelling, despite the familiarity of Gotham and its rehashed crime scene. However, the actual setting was not explained well enough for this book to feel as though it can stand on its own. If this were a numbered, sequential series I would understand that to be expected. This is marketed as the Black Canary story within a specific universe, which implies that it can be read separately or concurrently. Most of the exposition comes from a teacher early on, one who is pro all the things Dinah is against. We're spoonfed why she is opposed to this despite the very prominent brainwashing and shows of control by the governmental figure. In the same turn we're told Dinah inherently knows better because of her parents, despite her father's role. It just ends up like a lot is being told rather than shown, which drags the reading down a bit. The story worked best when it geared towards movement and moments of friendship, but was held back by its other clunky parts.

This was a fun adventure/mystery and a look into a possible world if Black Canary and Green Arrow were high schoolers. I would definitely hand this one to a teen who is looking for a superhero book whether they were DC pros or just beginning. I think it can be enjoyed either way.

Also, as I love Barbara Gordon and Oracle, that was fun for me. If anyone enjoyed the graphic novel Shadows of Batgirl or the Birds of Prey movie, this will be especially up their alley.

I loved this book and seeing Gotham that way. I enjoyed Dinah and her friends and even Ollie. I loved that she was able to tap into her power and over turn the way that it had been going for the last couple years. I could picture all of the cw people -- which might be a good thing. I enjoyed this world. It makes me want to read the other books by the different authors before this one.

Being on top only means you can fall. But you need to remember to get back up again.

Dinah's secret wish is to sing, but women rights have been limited but the new regime the Court of Owls. The major stole their singing voices, breaking their will to fight back. Superheros are from the past. But Dinah's determined to keep the small parts of music she can find, an illegal act, punishable by death.

But when she's pushed to her limit and can't stay silent toward the injustice againt women any longer. She just might find a voice louder than the Court of Owls victim's screams.