Renegades

Marissa Meyer has done it again! I received this ARC as a wishlist book on Netgalley and read the ebook version. It took me a little longer than her previous Lunar Chronicles Series to become emotionally invested with the characters but by the end I was sold. The ending left me feeling like I just watched Shutter Island. I highly suggest if you enjoyed her Lunar series or Heartless then you will love her newest novel Renegades. The first 2 questions I had when I finished this book was 1. is it a series? and 2. when will the next book come out. Read it and feel the emotional rollercoaster I am now on.

A new series, Renegades is going to have a large following. Marissa Meyer wrote the Lunar Chronicles, which I thoroughly enjoyed. She also wrote Heartless, which I didn’t care for because I’m too unfamiliar with Alice in Wonderland. This novel may be my favorite!

Similar to Steelheart, some people have powers that help or harm others. These people born with special abilities are called prodigies. For a time, these people were hunted, restrained, and even killed due to the fear people had of them. Then, Ace Anarchy “changed everything. He united the powerful prodigies he could find and together they rebelled” (5). They didn’t care about preserving the world; they just wanted freedom for their people. Due to their treatment, some prodigies were cruel, leaving the world in chaos with gangs preying on the weak. Then, a group of prodigies, dressed like superheroes, took down the gangs and Ace, establishing order. They were the Renegades.

Nova wants revenge for what the Renegades did to her family--they didn’t save them like they promised they would. She’s been raised in secret by the Anarchists who are still alive after the Renegades destroyed most of them. She is now determined to kill them and give prodigies freedom and the normal people a chance to govern and protect themselves instead of depending on the Renegades. She joins the Renegades as a spy, determined to learn weak points and take them down. What she doesn’t expect is to meet good people who truly want to help people. One is Adrian. He and his team are truly good people, trying to help those who cannot help themselves. Nova is torn, but she can’t forget her own family and how the Renegades lie about their true motives.

I think this book will fly off the shelves because it’s good, especially if you liked Steelheart.

So, I love Marissa Meyer. It’s no secret. I love the Lunar Chronicles. I love her short stories. I even loved Heartless, even though it nearly ripped my heart right out of my chest. (Fitting, I guess.) So it’s really no surprise that I also loved Renegades. To be fair, it’s a pretty big departure from her previous works. This is no fairytale retelling. No, this is a fantasy novel set in a futuristic world of prodigies, normal people with superhuman talents that choose to become heroes or villains.

It takes a while to immerse yourself in this story. Not only is there is a pretty large cast of characters, but they all have multiple names -- their real, everyday name and their superhero (or supervillain) name. In addition to that, you have to remember what side they’re on, what their power is, who their friends are, what their goal is. Honestly, the best advice I could give you is to take notes at the beginning. I wish I’d done that because it’s a whole heck of a lot of information to keep straight.

But even with that fairly steep learning curve, this was an incredible book. Marissa Meyer has such a way with words and characters and intricate plots. I could easily see this becoming a blockbuster movie. In fact, I sincerely hope that it does.

Keeping in mind that this is an ARC, I’m really hesitant to go into detail with my review. The writing is spot-on. The plot is interesting and unique. The pacing is pretty even throughout but ramps up in the last third. And the ending? My poor heart was beating out of my chest. I need the next book. I have so many unanswered questions that I can’t even ask because they would spoil the whole book.

To be honest, I can’t even believe that I somehow got an ARC of this book. This is like the peak of my book blogging career. Thank you so much to Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends and Netgalley for the free copy.