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4 stars! This review will be spoiler free as usual!
Synopsis:
Prodigies have super powers.
Renegades = heroes.
Anarchists = villains.
Nova is an anarchist, the niece to Ace Anarchy himself. And she has a history with the Renegades and now wants her vengeance. However, her plans start to get a little muddled and cloudy when she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who really believes in the justice Renegades provide. How will her vengeance unfold?
Initial thoughts:
Marissa Meyer knows how to write science fiction and Renegades was such a fun read for me. I love superhero/supervilliain plots to begin with and this was a nice take on the villain infiltrates the hero compound type of story. The main character is smart and badass and doesn't suffer from special snowflake syndrome. The love interest is cute, too good hearted for his own good, and wears glasses (aka I already have a crush on him). The plot, though pretty predictable, was still enjoyable to me. I really only had issues with pacing. It seems to be a consensus that this book was pretty slow, it did not need to be over 500 pages. Overall a solid start to a series. I imagine her books will only improve from this one similarly to her previous series.
For fans of the anime My Hero Academia or even Meyer's previous series, The Lunar Chronicles, you will likely enjoy this book and I would recommend it! I also recommend the Audiobook for this one if you decide to read it via that route! There a female and male narrator for the dual perspectives.
Plot:
What I liked:
I was both surprised and very appreciative of the role of family in this story. First of all, Adrian's fathers are the sweetest! +for M/M fathers. +for them adopting not just one, but TWO kids. +for them being not only presents, but also caring, and sweet, and having their own traditions. I also liked that Nova and the other Anarchists were their own band of misfits.
I like how Nova and Adrian are parallels. They each kind of have their own secret identities, but one is a villain and the other is a vigilante (which is technically still considered part of the good guys). They also both have entertaining POV's. I found that I liked being in both their heads (Nova's more than Adrian's of course), and neither had boring personalities.
I also really appreciate how the super powers that Meyer's used in this are UNIQUE. She didn't just go for the good 'ol reliables, though a few were thrown in here and there. The main people had interesting powers that I've rarely seen used for "the important people" in books or shows or movies.
Really this book isn't crazy heart wrenching or full or the most ridiculous plot twists, but it's fun. It's an enjoyable read. The fight scenes are great too! I had tons of fun reading those.
And then there's that ending! Which I suspected from the start, but but but... I'm still pretty excited for where that's going to put us at the start of book two.
What I didn't like:
Most of the big main plot points were predictable to me except for the first plot twist. Because of the personalities of the characters, I felt like I could guess where to book was going.
Ingrid... and point in time where Ingrid was there... I was going out of my mind she was SO ANNOYING. Her logic literally made no sense and I do not understand why she was so stupid, but continued to think she was right.
Pacing was rather slow. The second half was better, but only just so. This definitely didn't need to be over 500 pages. I think a lot of the non-major happenings could have been cut out or certain scenes could have been shortened.
Characters:
NOVA I love. I like that this main character isn't super overpowered. I like when the author has the ability to make their MCs powerful without having to give them super crazy abilities. She can put people to sleep, but can also fight one her own, think on the fly, and invent her own weapons. She's also morally grey and has this internal battle that progresses throughout the story. Her character arc is still going and I'm excited to see where it takes her.
ADRIAN is just so awkwardly cute it's adorable. He's such a goody goody, but it's not in a nauseating way. He believes in what he believes in and is willing to become what he must to get the job done.
INGRID... Gods... She just makes me go SMH.
ANARCHISTS: Leroy seems to have a sweet streak under all that acid. Honey is motherly and can't help it. Phobia is almost never present, but he has a broody mysterious vibe and I really want to know more about him.
RUBY & OSCAR are kind of a comedic relief. I like how they aren't flat. We actually get to know them and their back stories.
Overall:
I'm so excited to have finally read a good book! It's been so long it seems. I can't seem to go wrong when I read Marissa Meyer, her writing is just so entertaining to me. Can't wait for the sequel already!