Diana and the Island of No Return

Twelve-year-old Diana has always wanted to be a warrior. She has spent her childhood growing up on the magical island of Themyscira among Amazons—powerful, female warriors—where men are forbidden. Now that she’s twelve, Diana is convinced it’s time for her to start training to be a warrior, but her mother, the Queen of the Amazons, refuses to let her. Diana is a natural with weapons and footwork and she sees no danger in training.  

But Diana knows her mother is hiding something, which frustrates her to no end. So, when the annual Chará festival comes to Themyscira, bringing boatloads of fearsome women from around the world, Diana watches them train and socialize with envy. Diana’s best friend, Sakina, helps distract her. When Diana goes looking for Sakina’s missing pet, she hears someone in need. Venturing all the way down to the waterfront, Diana sees something she’s never seen before—a boy, named Augustus, bruised, battered, and starving.  

Diana is a fierce, intelligent, and curious protagonist. When she finds Augustus, she approaches the situation rationally and, though she doesn’t trust him, she wisely gives him the benefit of the doubt.  Diana promises to return with food and to hear his story. Back at the palace, she discovers all the festival-goers in magic-induced comas. Panicked, she returns to the boats and finds Sakina interrogating Augustus. Together, the girls use Diana’s Lasso of Truth to compel the boy to tell them about what happened to their families. Augustus explains that a demon has hypnotized everyone on his island and blackmailed potion-expert Augustus to fetch Princess Diana for the demon. Without any other options, the girls take pity on Augustus and swear to save his family, and their own, regardless of the danger. They courageously leave Themyscira on a flying chariot to confront a demon all by themselves.  

The novel features fantastic and inspiring young heroes who drive the story and develop beautifully as characters. However, the demon is a flat and generic villain who lacks a backstory. The novel gives very little description of the demon, which makes him seem weak and diminishes Diana’s triumph. The rest of the story is well-constructed, using simple language and an easy plot that will keep the average reader entertained. The settings of Themyscira and Sáz (Augustus’s home island) are magically and wonderfully described. In addition, the Amazons serve as a great example of women empowering each other, and the community in Sáz is kind and tight-knit. Regardless of the book’s flaws, it’s a sweet and creative read.  

Readers will love the strong warriors, independent young protagonists, and intricate mythology and magic of Diana and the Island of No Return. Diana and her friends encounter all kinds of challenges and traps, from pits of spiders to flying chariots to hypnotized prisoners, which makes for inspiring entertainment. Diana is a sweet and spirited character who grows when challenged, leads by example and stands by her own moral principles. Overall, Diana and the Island of No Return is a beautiful story with moments of magical wonder, unwavering self-confidence, and lovely, budding friendship.  

Sexual Content  

• None 

Violence  

• While all the guests of Themyscira, Diana’s home island, party at the palace, Diana wanders down to the waterfront, where she discovers a boy—which is strange since boys are forbidden on Themyscira. He is visibly bruised and injured. It takes some time to get the answers, but he eventually confesses that a demon had blackmailed him to kidnap Diana. “‘I’m sorry,’ the boy said. His eyes brimmed with tears. ‘I tried to refuse. First I pretended I’d done it and made a fake potion; but when he tested it out and saw that it didn’t work, he beat me.’ The boy waved at his bruises. ‘When he threatened to kill my father then and there, I buckled.’”  
• As Diana, Sakina, and Augustus confront the demon, their plan to capture the demon fails, and Diana attacks him unsuccessfully. “Diana glanced about for something—anything—to throw at [the demon] and noticed a boulder, loosened from the fence. Gripping it, she heaved it up and hurled it at the demon. The rock flew through the air, whizzing toward him—and passed straight through the demon’s torso and out the other side, landing with a sharp crack on the street beyond the bonfire.”  
• When Diana’s attack on the demon fails, the demon reacts, and “one arm clamped around Diana’s neck and she was lifted into the air by her throat. Diana coughed and wheezed, her breathing growing strained. The hold pressed tighter against her windpipe. Stars began to dance in and out of Diana’s vision. She scrambled against the grip, her nails scratching into flesh.” She breaks free and makes it out largely unscathed. 
• After regrouping and coming up with another plan, Diana and her friends confront the demon. While Diana distracts him, he is violent. “In a split second, the demon darted forward. He grabbed Diana’s wrist. Sparks of pain shot up Diana’s arm.” Diana gets free, and they get rid of the demon, so no further harm is done. The whole confrontation scene is only about five pages. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• During Themyscira’s annual festival, Diana returns to the palace to find all the partygoers asleep. “The first thing Diana noticed once she stepped inside the guest hall was the scent filling the room: bittersweet, like the rind of an orange. She clasped a hand to her nose; her eyes watered.” Diana discovers that everyone had been drugged. Diana and her friends find the antidote and eventually wake everyone. 

Language  

• None 

Supernatural  

• While not a superhero yet, Diana has special abilities and grows up surrounded by magical happenings on a magically hidden island. This book has many references to magic on almost every page. An example of Diana’s abilities appears when she breaks free of the handcuffs the demon put on her. “The reality of what she’d done settled in on her. It should have been impossible to break out of those cuffs. And yet—she’d done it.” 
• Diana also carries a family heirloom called the Lasso of Truth. She uses it multiple times against suspicious people. Diana says, “[The Lasso of Truth] shines a light on the truth. And you can’t break free of it. May as well stop trying.” Once ensnared by the Lasso, whoever Diana captures is compelled to tell the truth to any question posed to them.  
• Diana’s friend, Sakina, also possesses special abilities that she frequently utilizes. Diana describes Sakina as “a Scholar, but [Sakina] also had a special ability to speak with animals.” Sakina has multiple pets that she converses with daily, and she often uses their help to set traps for the demon.  
• Diana meets a new friend, Augustus, who comes from an island that makes magical, flying chariots. When Diana first meets him, he explains, “I brought a chariot with me. Uh, snuck it in the hull so no one would discover it. Thought I’d visit my family while I was here.” Diana asks, “It can fly all on its own?” Augustus responds, “with a certain potion, yes.” Augustus often uses magical potions to solve their problems, like protecting Diana and Sakina with force fields and defeating the demon. 
• The demon also has several magical abilities that he uses for nefarious purposes. He hypnotizes Augustus’s loved ones to make Augustus do the demon’s bidding. “It’s hard to see them like that,” Augustus says, “They’re good people. There’s a ninety-nine-point nine percent probability that not one of those people hunting for us would hurt so much as a fly. But now they have clubs. And their eyes. . . It’s scary to see them so blank. Like the lights are off and no one is home.” 

Spiritual Content  

• Diana is the child of an Amazonian warrior. Therefore, she often references the Greek gods and Greek mythology. An example of this happens when she describes the palace of Themyscira, which has “columns with marble statues of the goddesses Athena, Artemis, and Hera [gazing] down on the Amazon warriors [who are training].” They do not interact with any gods in this novel.  

by Kate Schuyler