This gets docked an entire star for the egregious crime that is telling me Selina Kyla, style extraordinaire and class act, has dual full sleeve tattoos of nothing but leopard spots like a middle age white woman's steering wheel cover.

Aside from that, this is my first book of Maas's that I've read even though I've had ACOTAR sitting on my bookshelf for about a year now. It Was Fine. Maas managed to recreate a new DC universe that, while definitely not aligned with the comicsverse, was interesting and included characterization I was definitely fond of. Harley and Ivy's relationship wasn't glossed over like a lot of comic writers seem to do, and Selina herself was twisty and clever and fun. Harley was charming and Ivy was significantly better written than I've seen in other media.

Luke Fox, unfortunately, fell a little short; his case of PTSD is tragic but ultimately served no great interest to the story. Maas had a few throwaway lines about the black community in Gotham, which was appreciated even if they definitely were shoehorned in and obviously written by a white person. It would have been glaring had Luke's blackness been glossed over or forgotten entirely.

I've heard that Maas' books were very ~sexy~ and more New Adult than Young Adult, so I was a little surprised that this had so little romance compared to what could have been. I liked that, though; we as readers were more able to focus on family and other platonic relationships that were far more important than who Selina was kissing.

Pésima caracterización de uno de los personajes mas icónico de DC y una historia que si bien es predecible, cliché y con varios momentos que te dejaron confuso, por momentos llega a ser entretenida. Sin lugar a duda lo mejor del libro es Luke Fox, que si bien esta para ocupar el lugar de Batman, cosa que no me gusto ya que la relación de Selina con Batman es icónica, y tener una cuota de inclusión racial, ya que con él se muestran algunas problemáticas del colectivo afrodescendiente aunque se podría haber explorado algo mejor esto.
La Selina Kyle que se nos presenta en el libro dista mucho de ser la verdadera Catwoman, apenas llegamos a ver su aspecto mas tradicional, durante casi todo el libro es rubia. Además que tiran por la borda toda la fortaleza del personaje del comic, que llega a donde esta gracias a su propia sangre, sudor y lágrimas, quitando toda esta fortaleza al serle entregado todo en bandeja por la Liga de las Sombras y un traje que parece el de Ironman.
No solo Catwoman sufre problemas de caracterización también el resto de personajes de DC que aparecen, como es el caso de Poison Ivy, entre otros.
Lo que mas me decepciono es el pésimo worldbuilding que hace la autora con la ciudad de Gotham. Algo que me había gustado de la autora en otros libros era la calidad del worldbuilding, aquí la acción bien podría suceder en Gotham o en mi barrio. Nada de la ciudad se explora realmente y Gotham tiene mucho que ofrecer, desde edificios art deco hasta edificios con toda clase de formas curiosas, sin embargo la autora parece que cree que al mencionar muchos personajes de la ciudad ya es suficiente.
Puntos para Maas por la documentación, se nota que al menos buscó información de personajes de DC porque aparecen personajes que para recordarlos hay que rascar el fondo del barril, lástima que no supo comprender al personaje principal.
En fin una historia en general aburrida, que no muestra la calidad de la autora y que gracias a una pésima caracterización de la protagonista dejara enojados a los fans de los cómics.

Pueden ver mas en mi blog http://cuevadeterciopelo.blogspot.com/2019/03/resena-catwoman-soulstealer-sarah-j-maas.html

"The League was bigger, more lethal, than any criminal organization in this city. A near myth. They answered to nobody and nothing, a veritable force of nature. Their goals were so much larger than financial profit. No, the League dealt in power—the sort that could alter countries, alter the world. The smart criminals were the ones who got out of their way. The smartest were those who bowed."

NGL, I had Sarah J. Maas' [b:Catwoman: Soulstealer|29749098|Catwoman Soulstealer|Sarah J. Maas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511802940l/29749098._SX50_.jpg|50105352] on my Amazon wishlist for like four years before finally purchasing it, and within a few chapters, all I could ask myself was "What took me so long?" Y'all, this book is good, and brings a whole new origin story to Catwoman. Admittedly, I am more of a Marvel fan myself, but the representations of characters such as Poison Ivy, Luke Fox, and even Harley Quinn do a lot to capture your interest while reading, making you empathize with their vulnerabilities, and see them for more than the villains and/or heroes we know them as. I legit thought this would be a one and done type of deal for reading, but after finishing this one, I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to exploring the rest of the DC Icons Series.

Seventeen-year-old Selina Kyle would do anything to protect her younger sister, Maggie, whose lungs are failing due to cystic fibrosis. In fact, it's her sisters medical bills that inspired her to join Gotham City's legendary girl gang, the Leopards. Each night she takes to Gotham's slums to steal, street fight, and earn her spots {badges of honor, if you will}. It's not the ideal situation; but as long as Selina is able to keep a roof over her and Maggie's heads, and stop Social Services from discovering that their drug-addled mother has been missing for months, she considers her sitch a win. Until everything comes crashing down, and she's offered the opportunity of a lifetime: Maggie will be adopted by a well-to-do family and given the necessary medical treatment, as long as Selina ghosts Gotham, and joins the League of Assassins abroad. For Selina, it's a no-brainer.

Fast forward a few years, and Gotham is introduced to Selina Kyle's new persona: the blonde, European-bred, wealthy Holly Vanderhees. Now armed with years of training with the League of Assassins, not to mention a super suit that essentially transforms her into Catwoman; Holly is ready to take Gotham by storm - and with Batman away on business, the city is hers. What she wasn't expecting, however, is that Batman's protege-meets-partner, Batwing, is on the scene - and closer than she expected. While some would take such a presence as a sign to vacate the premises, Holly sees it as a challenge, teaming up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn to take down Gotham's elite.

Though Holly returned to Gotham with a mission in mind, for the first time in her life, she finds herself forming connections with people who push her to let her walls down. Like the handsome Luke Fox, who happens to live in the penthouse next-door; to the sweet Poison Ivy who was used and left to deal with unwanted abilities after an experiment gone wrong; even to the broken Harley Quinn, who has allowed a lifetime of familial abuse to make her chase after the cold-hearted and incredibly violent {not to mention psychopathic} Joker. With so many managing to enter her heart, Holly starts to see that she is a good person {who does bad things sometimes}, and begins to question her past decisions.

This is not your typical Catwoman origin story. It is very different from anything that I have seen before, and that's, perhaps, what makes it so incredible. This is Catwoman with heart. Within these pages you see Selina/Holly/Catwoman grow exponentially from street rat to, for lack of better comparison, Robin Hood. She has a conscience; she does not really want to hurt anyone; and she's someone that you can't help but to root for. That said, her light is almost stolen by Poison Ivy who is just a fire character. While I've always loved Catwoman, Poison Ivy has never been on my radar, but she was incredible within this book, and I seriously need an origin story about her like yesterday. Bottom Line: Whether you're a superhero/Marvel/DC fan or not, this one will put you in your feels.

I was skeptical at first about this book. For one reason, I’m not a fan of Sarah J Maas’ writing. For another, I like Catwoman as a supporting character; I never did think that she could be the star of a YA book. But I will say that this book exceeded expectations. Unlike the last two books in the DC Icons series, this one entirely uses preexisting DC characters and has plenty of fun with it! Using Harley and Poison Ivy and having an early version of the Gotham Sirens was a great addition to have here! I can easily say this is my favorite so far! Only Superman is left!

You know what... this was suprisingly entertaining.

Even though Maas is one of my favourite authors, I was skeptical about this book. I mean an author who normally writes about fantasy worlds, faes, grand swords fights etc. goes DC and writes about a "normal" city with superheros. Thats a shift. But an entertaining one.

I don't know shit about the DC comics and heros/villians. I heard the names but I never read the comics or watched the movies (except suicide squad and that one .. Crap..). So I went into this open minded. I did think though that Catwomen was a "good" person not a morally grey/villiany. And I enjoyed this thourally. Definitly will buy the others, since the others of the others are also popular and great.

The writing is different from other Maas books. Its way less raunchy and obviously less fae, mystical etc. But its refreshing. You do see her style with the badass girl who has a good backstory why she fights and how. Selina was such an interesting character to follow, and with the second POV of Luke the swap between "good/bad/grey area" was written perfectly.

I would have loved to read a longer or a second book just about Selina, but I don't think that will happen. But like I said I will read the others, because now I'm interested. I would also recommend this prob. to non Maas fans, because it is so different from the others that its refreshing

I really enjoyed this novel! It was extremely fast paced and action packed. Selina Kyle is an amazing character and I really enjoyed her back story and reasons for being who she is. I also loved Poison Ivy and Harley Quinns characters.
Definitely would recommend to any DC fans out there.

While this is not the typical Massverse book, this is a hit none the less. I loved this retelling of a well known character.