Review: Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Title: Renegades

Series: Renegades #1

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, fantasy, superheroes

Publication date: November 2017

Published by: Feiwel & Friends

Source: Purchased hardcover

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

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.

My rating: ★★★★★

Nova scoffed. Did they really think that extra limbs made you a hero? Or being able to shoot fireworks from your hands? Or even having a layer of chromium beneath your skin?
Heroism wasn't about what you could do, it was about what you did.

This book was great! I really loved the world and the characters with all their cool superpowers! One thing that was interesting about this book was that we followed someone, who in this world, would be considered a villain. But the thing is, I totally get Nova’s motivations for doing what she’s doing.

Before the Age of Anarchy, prodigies (those with superpowers) were treated terribly, so Ace Anarchy decided to do something about it to free themselves from the oppression. I get what Ace was trying to do, but I don’t know that he went about things the right way. Especially not because he left the world in pieces. And thus the Renegades were born. To fight the chaos that Ace created. Now, Nova, Ace’s niece, is going after the Renegades because they didn’t save her family. But also, apparently, not ALL prodigies are free. Especially not those who had aligned themselves with Ace Anarchy way back in the day. But yeah, this was a very interesting POV to follow as Nova is technically the villain here. But like I said, I get her motivations! The Renegades didn’t save her family when they needed them most, and not all Prodigies are treated equally. All she wants is freedom, just like her uncle. But unlike her uncle, she doesn’t want people to die. I totally get it and I was actually rooting for her pretty much throughout this whole thing!

At one point she decides to infiltrate the Renegades and I was all about that! That was very exciting!

Today she was a Renegade, so that someday she would be their downfall.

Basically, trials are held where prodigies can come in and show off their superpowers, and then the Renegade teams can recruit new members. She obviously makes a team because she is awesome like that, lol, but afterward, things aren't easy for her. As she spends more and more time with her team, she realizes that maybe some Renegades aren't all that bad. I did not envy Nova and her growing confusion in this situation. On the one hand, she has the only family she’s ever known, the Anarchists. And on the other, she’s made some new friends in the Renegades! It gets complicated, and that just made this book even more interesting. Seeing Nova struggle through this and just trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to do was very fascinating.

Speaking of Nova, I loved her! I really sympathized with her situation and I totally got where she was coming from. Despite wanting to get revenge on the Renegades, she’s actually a really good person. She is also badass and very resourceful in a fight—I loved that! She actually reminded me of Gin Blanco (from the Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep) in that way, who you know I love. Lol. It just made for some really cool action sequences! That and all the interesting superpowers these characters had. I also really liked Adrian. He was very sweet and he and Nova had some really sweet moments throughout the book. Oscar and Ruby, who are part of Adrian’s Renegade team, were also really cute. I just loved the banter between all the characters... including Nova!

But yeah, I really enjoyed this book! I loved the world—it was so interesting—and I loved seeing all the unique superpowers. There were some I actually have not seen/heard of before, and I consume A LOT of superhero media. Lol. For example, Ruby bleeding, well, rubies? That was SO interesting! It’s such a weird power but it’s more useful than you can imagine! Or Adrian’s ability to bring his drawings to life? That was very cool! And so much more extensive than one would think! I also liked that we got to follow the “villain,” who I am really rooting for! Especially after a little revelation about something the Renegades are working on that is VERY questionable. Between that and Nova being torn between the Anarchists and the Renegades, it just made for a very compelling story. It was very philosophical and it made you think about things. With all the twists and revelations, I’m very interested to see where this all goes. And this isn’t even all of it! There is so much more to this story that was very interesting and had Nova questioning things at every turn. It was just a great read and I can’t wait to find out more!

“There's no rule that says you have to be a prodigy to be a hero,” she insisted. “If people wanted to stand up for themselves or protect their loved ones or do what they believe in their hearts is the right thing to do, then they would do it. If they wanted to be heroic, they would find ways to be heroic, even without supernatural powers.”

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊