If you’re a long-time reader, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of Marissa Meyer’s books. Perhaps that’s an understatement. I loved The Lunar Chronicles and Heartless, so of course I had to get my hands on a copy of her latest book, Renegades, which released in November. I’ve been meaning to write this review for a while now, but I’m finally getting around to it.
And now I’m excited to share my review with you guys!
About the Book
Secret Identities. Extraordinary Powers. She wants vengeance. He wants justice.
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.
Goodreads | 552 pages (yay!)| Where I got it: Bought it to add to my ever-growing Marissa Meyer collection!
Book Review
I will do my best to avoid spoilers, but there may be some mild ones – no major plot points.
I had mixed feelings on this book!
The first time I read through it, I had a difficult time slogging through, which was a huge shock to me as I usually cruise through Marissa Meyer books (Heartless brought me out of a reading slump last year). But I just couldn’t connect with the characters. I felt like I was reading the second book in a series, where everybody has already been introduced to the characters.
The gist of the plot, without spoilers, is that superheroes (or “prodigies”) used to be feared, until the Anarchists rose to power. But then the Renegades defeated the Anarchists and built a system of rules so the superheroes were held accountable. Nova is one of the Anarchists, and at the beginning of the book, she’s been living with them for quite a few years. I think this is why I felt a disconnect from the Anarchists – because the readers don’t have this backstory.
However, later on in the book, Nova is introduced to the Renegades, and I began to get a lot more interested at this point. Again, this is because I finally felt like I was getting to know some characters. I really liked Adrian; I thought he was quite sympathetic and sweet. He also has an awesomely creative superpower: his drawings can come to life.
I think Marissa Meyer is making an effort to include more diverse characters in her books, which is fantastic, and definitely adds to the rating for me. I believe Nova is biracial, and Adrian is described as having dark skin. He also has two dads who are the lead superheroes of the Renegades, and who are a super endearing couple. (As a side note: Adrian also wears glasses, which is not particularly diverse, but something I don’t see very often in superhero books! I’m wondering how that would work in a fight scene. 😛 ) There are a wide variety of races represented in the Renegades, which is awesome and also makes a lot of sense, given that they come from all over the world. It just wouldn’t be realistic to have everyone be white (but that’s definitely the case in a lot of media).
Speaking of which, there are also a LOT of fight scenes in this book, which I think is because of the genre: they’re superheroes! Unfortunately, fight scenes are my least favorite thing to read. Despite all the action, I find them quite boring, no matter what book they’re in. But that isn’t Marissa Meyer’s fault – you can’t really have a superhero book without some fight scenes. There’s a several-chapter-long fight scene during the beginning of the book, which probably contributed to my initial reaction.
I began to like the book a lot more as I crossed the 250-page mark or thereabouts. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have persevered if not for the fact that it’s a Marissa Meyer book, and that I hate to leave books unfinished. But I really didn’t want to give up on this one. At the 250 mark, it felt like the plot really kicked into action and I began to feel invested in the story and the characters. I really like the Renegade characters that are introduced. The plot was well-done and held my interest once I got into it, and the end wrapped things up nicely while still leaving some things to be solved in the next book. For me, it was just a matter of getting past the first section. (For what it’s worth, I enjoyed it much more the second time through!)
One huge plus for Renegades is the super creative powers that the author invented. For instance, Adrian’s drawings. Nova’s superpower is that she never sleeps, but she can make other people fall asleep. That’s a power I wish I had as a college student. Marissa Meyer’s strength is characters, I think, and this book has a whole group of them to grow attached to. She can also write a wide variety of genres: sci-fi, fantasy, superhero, and graphic novels.
This review may sound quite critical, but on the whole I really did enjoy Renegades. The pros strongly outweigh the cons. I would definitely recommend it for any fans of Meyer’s. Although Renegades isn’t my favorite of her books, it was still an enjoyable read, and I will definitely pick up the sequel.
Rating: 4/5 stars
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I know there are some Lunartics out there! Have you read Renegades or Heartless? If so, what did you think?
It’s been a while since I read Renegades, but from what I can remember about my thoughts on it, I agree with pretty much all of what you said! I think I found the fight scene at the start interesting though, probably because I love reading fight scenes. I definitely agree about the diversity, I also got the impression Nova was biracial. One of my favourite parts of the whole book was the awesome superpowers, too! Beautiful picture, by the way! 😀
Thank you for your comment, filliefanatic! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed Renegades. I think the fight scenes were quite well-written, which is definitely hard to do. And I was happy to see the diversity in the book, although Marissa Meyer has always been good about that sort of thing…I loved how the Lunar Chronicles featured all different kinds of strong female characters. Probably one of the reasons why I like her writing so much! 🙂
I read renegades in November and I LOVED IT! I kindo miss the Lunar Chronicles style, but it’s still a great instalment! I can’t wait for book two
Yay, I’m glad you liked Renegades! I, too, can’t wait for the second book…it’s always painful waiting for the sequel. Thank you for commenting! 🙂 I miss the Lunar Chronicles, too.