Renegades (Renegades #1)
By Marissa Meyer
Genre: YA Action/Adventure
Recommended Ages: 13+
The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies — humans with extraordinary abilities — who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone… except the villains they once overthrew.
Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice — and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.
The Gist:
Renegades gives us an idea of what the world would be like if X-Men ruled. It’s an exciting start to what I’m already confident will be a thrilling series. It is an intriguing look at what makes a villain. The characters are well developed and unique from each other. I found myself sympathizing a lot with each of the characters because of how well Marissa portrays their emotions and motivations. While the beginning took some concentration and perseverance to get through, by the middle I was completely engrossed in the story. Lots of action and lots of superheroes. That’s a recipe for success in my book (unashamed of that pun). And heads up, you have to hang in until the very very end. Trust me.
What I Liked:
I think my absolute favorite part about this book is that the story entirely resides in this fascinating gray area of heroes and villains. Every hero has a bits of darkness and every villain has capacity for compassion in this story. And it’s so interesting to me that both main characters view each other as villains, and I can completely see justification in both! It reminded me that every villain is the hero in his/her own story. And that has never been more true in Renegades. The whole thing is handled really well by Marissa. She somehow balances justifying Nova’s and Adrian’s views on who the villains are without making me severely hate one side. Plus, this kind of plot adds so much tension because I’m just waiting for them to turn on each other.
We get to see so many new and different types of superpowers. The Red Assassin’s ability to turn blood into rubies!?! Putting people to sleep with touch?!? Genius. I love seeing unique powers I’d never thought of before do amazing things.
The characters Marissa creates are superb. They range from vivacious and stubborn to noble and humble. None of them were over-the-top and annoying. All of them fit well into the story. I could actually see each of them as real people, not fantasy people that are either so good or so bad it seems unbelievable.
The amount of suspense Marissa is able to build throughout the story is astounding. I basically spent the whole book wondering when the other shoe was going to drop, or when someone would discover some life-altering secret. The combination of traitors, unanswered questions, and deception galore never lets your heart rest or think its out of danger.
What I Didn’t Like:
I got a bit lost in the over-flux of character introductions at the beginning. Between superhero names and regular names for every person, it was too much for me to keep track of. It soon became a jumbled mess in my head and I couldn’t remember who was who.
The first third of the book felt slower-paced. I got an immediate sense of the main characters’ motivations for their goals but it felt like it took a while to get to any kind of action to help achieve those goals.
The romantic storyline didn’t go very far in this first installment. The tension was definitely there, and I liked how it played into Nova’s motivations, and caused her to question some of them, but I think I would have been left feeling slightly more satisfied if there has been more. Maybe at least one kiss. I will say however that it seems like Marissa set it up to really blossom in book two so I can’t wait to see what happens between Nova and Adrian.
LunasLuckyRating: 4/5 Lunas
