Early Reader Review: Whistle by E. Lockhart

Source: From DC Comics in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Whistle by E. Lockhart, Illustrated by Manuel Preitano  

Publisher: DC Comics
Publication Date:  September 7, 2021

 

Format: Ebook


Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

From New York Times bestselling author E. Lockhart (Genuine Fraud, We Were Liars) and artist Manuel Preitano (The Oracle Code) comes a new Gotham City superhero in this exciting YA graphic novel.

Sixteen-year-old Willow Zimmerman has something to say. When she's not on the streets advocating for her community, she's volunteering at the local pet shelter. She seeks to help all those in need, even the stray dog she's named Lebowitz that follows her around. But as much as she does for the world around her, she struggles closer to home--taking care of her mother, recently diagnosed with cancer. Her job as an adjunct professor of Jewish studies does not provide adequate health insurance--and Willow can see that time is running out.

When in desperation she reconnects with her estranged "uncle" Edward, he opens the door to an easier life. Through simple jobs, such as hosting his private poker nights with Gotham City's elites, she is able to keep her family afloat--and afford critical medical treatments for her mother.

Willow's family life quickly improves through the income provided by these jobs, but it comes at the cost of distancing herself from the people she truly cares about. Her time is now spent on new connections, such as biologist and teacher Pammie Isley. And when Willow and Lebowitz collide with the monstrous Killer Croc outside the local synagogue, they are both injured, only to wake up being able to understand each other. And there are other developments, too...strange ways in which they've become stronger together. Willow's activism kicks into high gear--with these powers, she can really save the world!

But when Willow discovers that Edward and his friends are actually some of Gotham's most corrupt criminals, she must make a choice: remain loyal to the man who kept her family together, or use her new powers to be a voice for her community. 

Review: 

Graphic novel set in Gotham about a girl and a dog... sign me up. I was very interested when this novel came into my inbox. The story follows Willow, a 16 year old Jewish girl who is trying to look out for her community, mother, and self all while trying to be a teenage girl... and Gotham is not an easy place to do that. It is teeming with baddies in addition to the normal bad community things like violence and lack of money for education. 

I was really interested in this new view of Gotham. We see a lot of the classic Batman characters throughout from another lense. Enigma aka Riddler, Poison Ivy, the Killer Croc are all characters in this graphic novel and have importants parts to play in it and in building up Willow.

The plot is about Willow as she tries to be an activist for her community but then gets a job that can pay the bills and her outlook changes, she struggles with herself and how she is changing and how she needs to do better.  It took a long time for this book to get into her super power, so the build was nice but then I felt like the climax and overall arc was not that great. The reveal was not big, the action scenes were not big, they were just kind of there. 

What I liked about the book was the showing of a Jewish character, a strong and capable young women and the fact that it covered a lot of internal turmoil of the character, but for a Gotham focused graphic novel it seemed a bit un-eventful in some ways. I would be interested to see how this character evolves in this landscape and read more about her.