Spoiler Warning
Please note that this post contains spoilers for the first book in this series, HARLEY QUINN: RECKONING.
Where Rachael Allen’s HARLEY QUINN: RECKONING (RECKONING from here on out) deals with Harleen’s gap year of science and super-villain study, Allen’s HARLEY QUINN: RECKONING — the second of three in the DC Icons young adult Harley Quinn series of novels — sees Harleen attempting to settle into life as a freshman at Gotham University or, as colloquially referred to, Gotham U.
With her mother dying when Harleen was young, her father murdered due to some poor withdrawals from mobster loan sharks, Harleen is officially an orphan. Her ex has took the fall for The Reckoning’s antics, and due to Harleen wanting to focus on studies instead of blowing shit up, the other two members have turned their backs to her.
While Harleen has a free-ride scholarship thanks to the paper scrutinizing the Joker and elevated levels of trauma-induced modifications to the Super-Villain gene, she still has to worry about financial matters like non-food hall sustenance and sorority dues while still juggling classes and labs.
Those with any prior knowledge of Batman lore, especially regarding one Dr. Crane and Talia ah Ghul. Talia is delightfully integrated, especially given how Harley comes to see her as a mentor. Those who aware of these characters will quickly recognize where the novel is going, but watching Harleen piece matters together and pick her bat up again is just as thrilling as if you have no knowledge of Gotham villains.
Again, if you’re even vaguely familiar with Batman’s motley number of popular villains, you’ll quickly suss out that RAVENOUS centers around Scarecrow, and part of the plot includes ‘chipping’ victims to make them more pliant.
If you are a fan of Harleen’s gymnastic skills — especially the beam and bars — Allen doubles down on Harleen’s agility and how she utilizes them in the wild.
For those looking for some Harlivy, well, the seed of their romance is planted here — sorry, not sorry — as Harleen and Pamela Isley become fast-friends and they divulge some of their deepest secrets.
While, yes, yet again the Joker makes an appearance, he’s mostly backgrounded apart from one moment, but Allen dodges the bulk of his canonical abuse and coercion.
The following could potentially be construed as a slight spoiler for RAVENOUS, so only expand it if you have fear no spoilers.
RECKONING does tackle the metamorphosis of Harleen from Harley via the same Joker chemical bath, however it does differ in that Harleen takes the plunge outside of the realm of the Joker and falls of her own volition. (Also see: HARLEY QUINN: THE ANIMATED SERIES – ‘Being Harley Quinn’.)
As usual, Allen’s prose is crisp and clean and propulsive, peppered with her wide scientific knowledge. While there were a handful of visual design elements in RECKONING, RAVENOUS features even more forms, clipboards, diagrams and handwritten elements which may sound dry but vividly heighten the work. RAVENOUS also temporally jumps around a bit more, and chapters are centered more along the lines of Harleen/Harley traversing Gotham U, Arkham Asylum and Arkham Acres; Gotham in general, clarifying matters.
If you have any interest in Harley Quinn you should read RECKONING, however! RAVENOUS does an exceptional job of succinctly weaving in the events of RECKONING so — if you just want to jump into the DC Icons and see how they handle Harleen’s future as Harley — you can do so with ease.
Like with RECKONING, while this is technically a young adult book, it is an electrifying read, one that I burned through in a day and a half. I’m a tad hesitant to see where REDEMPTION — the third and final novel in Allen’s Harley Quinn trilogy — goes, but I do feel confident that with Rachael Allen? I’m in good hands.
“I choose me.”