Book Review- Renegades

Book- Renegades

Author- Marissa Meyer

Publisher- Feiwel and Friends

Publication Date- 7th November, 2017

WELL DAMN. I’ve never really been very big on superheroes- I find them really overrated. Till date, the only superhero movies I’ve seen are SpiderMan and half of The Avengers. So consider me surprised when I fell in LOVE with this book. And let me say it right in the beginning- not everyone is going to like this book. Even though it has a LOT going on, it’s kinda a filler for the next book, where I think the real shit is gonna go down. However, I REALLY enjoyed it, so let’s get into this review!!

A league of superheroes. A team of villains. A girl looking for vengeance. Nova has hated the Renegades ever since her parents died years ago- and even years later, she blames the Renegades for the destruction of her family. In league with the Anarchists, Nova has her plans ready to infiltrate and drag down the reign of the Renegades. Their rule has gone on for long enough, and the Anarchists are sick of being suppressed. So when Nova joins rank in the Renegades as an undercover spy, why does everything start feeling so right? Right or not, Nova is convinced that the Renegades have to be taken off their throne, but how is she going to do that when Adrian, superhero supreme- trusts her more than anyone else? And maybe, just maybe, Nova trusts Adrian too.

What I Liked:

As usual, Meyer’s world building was spot on. I could visualise the entire world so clearly- the filthy, rat infested tunnels, the abandoned theme parks, the enormous, looming glass bases, the crowded parades- it was all so visual and amazing. It seemed believable and absolutely fantastically mind blowing. I LOVED ALL THE SUPER POWERS. THEY WERE THE COOLEST, MOST MIND BOGGLING THINGS, AND I REALLY WANT THOSE POWERS. We had our typical invisibility, and fire powers and stuff, but we also had realllll cool stuff, like bringing drawings to life, putting people to sleep by touching them, stealing other people’s superpowers, IT WAS ALL SO COOL OMG.

The plot was kinda not always paced perfectly. Where some scenes were action packed and crazy and OH DAMN! kinda scenes, some parts were a bit dragged and slow. The book could have been atleast 50-100 pages shorter if those dragged scenes had been cut down on a bit. But that definitely doesn’t mean there weren’t ANY good scenes, because there were actually LOTS. Some parts were so fast paced and power showing off and cool, it was GREAT. I’ve heard from people that the plot is very similar to X-Men, and kinda seemed like a rip off at parts. Idk, cuz as I said, I’m not into this superhero stuff so I haven’t seen a single X-Men movie, which is why the plot seemed quite fresh and exciting to me, and I reallyyyy enjoyed it.

THIS GIF IS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT BUT I LIKED IT SO HERE YA GO.

Coming to the characters. I really liked Nova. She was really badass, intelligent, and curious. Her super power of putting people to sleep just by touching them was literally the coolest thing ever. What I really liked was that she wasn’t completely black or white. Infact, none of the characters in this book were. Even the Renegades had some bad, and even the Anarchists had some good. Nova was angry, bitter, resentful, but she was also sensible, reasonable, and open minded. She’s also really sarcastic which is great.

I also really loved Adrian. He was sweet, a bit dorky, a little annoying in the typical guy way, but mainly, he was so NICE. That’s the only way I can put it. He was such a NICE guy. I liked all the other renegades- Ruby and Oscar as well, and even liked most of the Anarchists, (except Ingrid, I dislike her intensely). I do think the side characters could have done with a bit more development though, I think some of them were left as a complete mystery. But maybe that was intentional and they’ll be developed more in the next book, idk.

I LOVEEEDDD Max. He reminds me SO MUCHHH of Max from The Mortal Instruments, and I loved him soooo muchhh. The sub plot around him is really interesting, and kept me really hooked. He was so sweet and cute and omigosh I love him so much I want a lot more of him in the next book.

The romance was possibly one of my favourite parts of the book, precisely because it WASN’T overpowering, and was a sub plot. It was slow, well paced, realistic, believable- basically the kind of romance I want in a book. It was really cute as well. I also REALLY REALLY SHIP OSCAR AND RUBY. Like IMMENSE shipping. VV MUCH SHIPPING. Even more than Nova and Adrian shipping. I WANT MOREEEEE.

I also like that the plot is slowly getting slightly political? In some parts, I can start so see some manipulation and mind games which are gonna happen in the next book, and the Renegades are going to be very political about their new crappy idea which their going to push onto the public. So I like where that is heading.

I kinda predicted the ending? Like I wasn’t sure, but I’d kept it in mind as a possible ending. Even then, it still managed to surprise me a bit, because I didn’t ACTUALLY think Meyer would do it. Bur its left me vvvv eager for the next book and I’m vvvv excited to see where Meyer takes this.

What I Didn’t Like:

As I said, there were some issues with the pacing of the plot. It was a bit slow at some parts, which made this mammoth of a book slightly boring once in a while. Also, I wanted a bit more development for the side characters- it was a bit lacking for me, and I think POV’s from them would have given us a bit more insight into their head.

Rating:

A solid four stars. This isn’t Meyer’s BEST work, but it is still really really good, and if you don’t like superheroes like me, give it a try! Who knows, you might actually end up liking this book a lot. And if you’re already into comics and superheroes, do read it, but keep in mind that it might not be completely mind blowing to you.

Have you read this? What did you think? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s chat!

Thanks for reading!

-Rhea