Book Review: Renegades by Marissa Meyer
Title: Renegades
Author: Marissa Meyer
Rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis:
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.
Review:
Marissa Meyer has such a knack for story telling. I swear, she can do it all. Amazing characters, great suspense, chemistry, a thrilling plot.. the list goes on! Renegades, just like her other books, does not stray far from the world of action and villains. What I liked most about the book was the empathetic perspective of our narrator. We jump back and forth from a 3rd point of view following Adrian (a renegade) and Nova (a villain), and we get a taste of both sides of the equation, which gives the audience the chance to understand where both sides are coming from (in terms of action and justice), which was done so well! I love the concept of morality, especially when we really dive into those morally grey characters with twisted pasts and layers about them.
I think the most charming aspect of the book was the friendship/chemistry between the characters - romantic or not! There is SO much diversity within both the hero and villain realm. I was expecting an epic superhero saga with kick-butt characters and cool powers, but Meyer manages to subvert my expectations by also weaving through so many important contemporary elements - friendship, loss, love, the essence of a family and a home, just to name a few. All the characters are so loveable and unique. The team we closely follow have some of the most charming characters. Their stories make them all memorable in different ways and it gives them so much depth, you can't help but root for all of them!
We also get this sort of back and forth narrative where only the readers are aware of both the MC's secret identities, which was new to me - but also VERY fun and entertaining! The banter and awkward interactions between Nova and the Renegades team were undeniably adorable! Friendship or not, their special bond - and Nova's inner hate-love conflict - were so fun to read about. But overall, I think the book is just that: pure fun and charm. It's nothing too solid, but it's there, in preparation for what is probably going to be a much more complex and morally challenging sequel (which I'm SO ready for, because WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?!!!).
Nonetheless, I loved every moment of it! Meyer never fails to create such amazing stories (with even more amazing characters, which was quite obviously my favorite part of the book <3 ). I cannot wait to read more about them in her next books (it's a trilogy, and I am SO stoked to know what's going to happen next!). I highly recommend picking this series up (if you haven't already thought about doing so)! :)
If you’re interested in buying Renegades, you can click here to shop the book at Book Depository. I receive a small commission if you use the link! 🙂