Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

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.

Dinah Lance was seven years old when she overheard the impossible: the sound of a girl singing. It was something she was never meant to hear—not in her lifetime, and not in Gotham City, taken over by the Court of Owls. The sinister organization rules Gotham as a patriarchal dictatorship, all the while spreading their influence like a virus across the globe.

Now seventeen, Dinah can’t forget that haunting sound, and she’s beginning to discover that her own voice is just as powerful. But singing is forbidden—a one-way stop to a certain death sentence. Can she balance her father’s desire to keep her safe, a blossoming romance with mysterious new student Oliver Queen, and her own desire to help other women and girls rise up and finally be heard? And will her voice be powerful enough to destroy the Court of Owls once and for all?

Review: 

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.

Rating: 

Release Date: December 29th, 2020

Author:  Alexandra Monir

Publisher:  Random House Books for Young Readers

Genre:  YA Fantasy

Page Length:  384 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  This is a fun addition to the DC Icons series, with a high energy main character, and a setting that will make fans of Batman cheer.