Marissa Meyer

"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"--Amazon.com.

Renegades

The "heroes" in this are just downright narcissistic.

There was potential for evil everywhere, and the only way to combat it was if more people chose goodness. If more people chose heroism.

Not laziness. Not apathy. Not indifference.

"And all nine of those were thanks to the selfless efforts of people like me, who have made it our lives' work to continue the free distribution and sharing of knowledge and wisdom. To make sure that the people have access to this... to 

If you're struggling with insomnia clap your hands 👏👏

She had always been astonished by people who could fall asleep fast, like there was nothing to it. Like tgeir spirits weren't burdened with suffering and resentment. Like their hearts and minds could so easily be at peace.

Rand

“One cannot be brave who has no fear.”

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. From Marissa Meyer, author of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Heartless, comes Renegades a high-stakes world of adventure, passion, danger, and betrayal.

orianne

Lele

Secret Identities.Extraordinary Powers.She wants vengeance. He wants justice.New from Marissa Meyer, author of the #1 New York Times-bestselling series The Lunar Chronicles, comes a high-stakes world of adventure, passion, danger, and betrayal. 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.

Mylk_siie

arwen

Krys C.

THIS WAS SO FUN. It felt like a movie playing in my head haha but it could honestly be much shorter tho

Christine

chloe rae

2021 re-read:
A solid 4 stars the second time around!


*4.5
WHOA, that took me by surprise!
I LOVED this book. I literally could not put it down. I have been in the weirdest little reading slump the past couple weeks and this was the PERFECT read. The only reason this isn’t a 5 star read is because it was just a little slow. Which is strange because I was completely hooked the entire time but I would also wonder “ok, when’s something going to happen?”. I loved the characters, the action, everything. But it also took a little long for the story to feel like it started. Either way, I LOVED IT. Can’t wait to go buy the next book!

Tatiana

Renegades: 4/5

"One cannot be brave who has no fear."

This book's premise is extremely intriguing, so naturally, it's been on my TBR for about a year, collecting dust. I finally picked it up to see what all the hype is about, and it was fantastic!

Premise:
In this world, there are normal civilians, and then there are prodigies. Prodigies are humans who contain specific supernatural talents that are unique to them. The prodigies are seemingly split into two different factions: the Renegades and the Anarchists (heroes and villains essentially). 

We are met with a dual perspective story, following an anarchist named Nova who has the ability to make people fall asleep, and a Renegade named Adrian, who has the power to bring to life any original drawing. Nova and the other anarchist's plans to destroy all Renegades become more difficult once Nova is assigned to infiltrate the Renegade's legions to act as a spy for the Anarchists. 

Writing & Plot:
I really loved this world. This is the first book I have read with superheroes, and I loved every second of it. The setting is unique, captivating, and exciting. 

The beginning of this book is phenomenal. It pulls the reader in immediately, and I could not put it down. As it progressed, I was a bit confused for the first 1/4th, but it cleared up around page 100. This is expected in a new fantasy series, so I was not mad. The plot also slowly takes shape the further the reader progresses, and I really enjoyed the aspect.

As for the writing, I was not the biggest fan. Some of the dialogue felt very "on the nose," and more tell don't show-esc. I am a huge fan of YA, but at some points, this felt very young, like the author is giving me a full lesson by hitting the nail square on its head. This is not necessarily bad because it yielded a nice reading experience where I didnt have to think very much about what was occurring. I just knew the first time I read it. I think the ease of the language helped get me out of my slump, to be honest.

Characters:
Gosh, I love these characters a lot. I liked their unique powers, and I was glad Meyer introduced so many different characters so the reader can explore all the creative abilities this world has to offer. All the side characters are interesting, and the main characters and all have a certain depth to them that I think is hard to achieve. I also want to praise the amount of secrets the main characters have as well as identities. I enjoyed every second of all the alter-egos the characters' possessed, and it added such a fun extra layer that I have never encountered before. Furthermore, these characters show a wide range of diversity which I appreciated as well.

The only character I didnt love (ironically) is Nova. I understand why she is so back and forth with her beliefs and alliances, but she was so wishy-washy towards the middle that I was getting annoyed. It felt like every other chapter; Nova was changing her mind. Again, I understand the backstory and why she is the way she is, but I wish it could have been a few existential crises rather than 100 small ones.

Conclusion:
I am very optimistic for the next books in this trilogy. I think this book has flaws, but it is well worth the read, especially if you're looking for something easy to escape into. The premise, setting, and unique-ness of this world are incredible, and I cannot recommend it enough.

nina 

Buddy read with Ivy

If I had to summarise my feelings towards this book in one gif....


It wasn't that the book was overly bad (hence the 3 stars), it was just that I was too indifferent. The whole concept of the book intrigued me, but I thought the book was too long to keep me intrigued. I had high hopes for this book because I absolutely adored Marissa Meyer's "Lunar Chronicles", which remains one of my favourite series of all time. Everything I had problems with in this book I didn't have in the Lunar Chronicles. The characters in the Lunar Chronicles I found endearing and compelling whereas in this book, try as I might, I couldn't seem to be overly attached to anyone, coming back to my whole indifference point. 

Here are some points I wanted to address that I thought of whilst reading the book:
-first of all, full props for one of the main characters having 2 dads. It was the first time I've read a book where that happened. Also it was cool that there was a disabled character who was a superhero.

-the whole concept of the "superheroes" and "villains" each not being entirely good and bad respectively: The Renegades and the Council are a flawed system, and Ace's Anarchists were trying to end the oppression and prejudice towards prodigies. (view spoiler)[ Ace was achieving his means through a villainous course and the Renegades are developing a way to remove the Prodigies from their powers if they don't abide by their rules, which in my opinion is pretty messed up, even if they think they are doing it for a good reason  (hide spoiler)]

-some of the dialogue was really cringy, especially at the start: "Your days of villainy are over, Nightmare."  Well, at least the characters were self-aware about it. I mean, this is the author who wrote fairytale retellings (BUT THOSE BOOKS TOTALLY SLAYED AND THE DIALOGUE WAS AWESOME. So, I don't know what the problem was this time). Cinder and Throne were the wittiest, most hilarious characters in Lunar Chronicles and their dialogue was so funny. I expected something like that in here, but I did not get it at all. 

-(view spoiler)[ Ace Anarchy is alive and well. Who didn't see that coming? Well, maybe a few people since it wasn't that obvious. When Dread Warden was telling Nova about how Ace was defeated and jumped off a roof into the fire, a guy that can LEVITATE, and everyone assumed he was dead, I actually wanted to SCREAM. Did anyone actually think that through!?!?

 I know they thought Max had taken his powers, but he could have faked it (and he obviously did), so don't assume the person is dead until you see the body  (hide spoiler)]

-Some things the Renegades should have picked up straight away since they were pretty obvious. For a superhero organisation, they are pretty ignorant and amateur sometimes

-Adrian talks about the colour of Nova's eyes about a MILLION TIMES, he even mentions her eyes when she was Nightmare at the start, so I'm not sure how he didn't work out who she was.

-(view spoiler)[ I was a little confused as to how they were going to get rid of Detonator's body after they were going to fake her and Nightmare's death. She was going to be injured by Nightmare's 'bullets' and Nightmare's body was supposed to be obliterated in the explosion, but how was Detonator's body going to disappear?  (hide spoiler)]

-Nova, you were so stupid. (view spoiler)[ What else did you think they meant by Max's power when it said 'absorption'. And now he probably has her power to put people to sleep. If he probably thinks he doesn't have it (because he doesn't know she had that power) then he probably won't use it, but it will come out eventually and when it does, even though they think Nightmare is dead, it won't take long before they trace it back to Nova.  (hide spoiler)]

-Also, these lovebird kids talking about dates and getting all blushy and awkward right before walking into a risky situation with a dangerous fugitive.....not right now, guys. Priorities please. 


I'm not gonna lie, I do want to see what happens in the later books, and see how certain things turn out, but I'll probably just force Ivy to read it so I don't have to and she can tell me what happens ;)

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. From Marissa Meyer, author of the #1 New York Times–bestselling Heartless, comes Renegades a high-stakes world of adventure, passion, danger, and betrayal.

Megan During

very good look at superheroes and villains.

Daymaris Arca

I got extremely attached to this book and the characters. Wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did.. Can't wait for book 2 :)

After my disappointment in Marissa Meyer having read the Gilded duology, Renegades was soooo much better! I loved the world of it, the dystopian setting with superheroes and the characters :)

The characters all have some sort of power and I really liked how the powers were all different from each other and everyone contributed in their own way.

It does end on a cliffhanger though, which was not something I liked as I was very very confused, it all happened so quickly at the end.

If you liked this book, I recommend: the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan.

Laura

After my disappointment in Marissa Meyer having read the Gilded duology, Renegades was soooo much better! I loved the world of it, the dystopian setting with superheroes and the characters :)

The characters all have some sort of power and I really liked how the powers were all different from each other and everyone contributed in their own way.

It does end on a cliffhanger though, which was not something I liked as I was very very confused, it all happened so quickly at the end.

If you liked this book, I recommend: the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan.

Jazelle H

“One cannot be brave who has no fear.”

In a world where unique individuals are born with extraordinary powers, the rule of good over evil isn’t all that it seems. Nova seeks to avenge the family that was taken from her. Adrian strives to uphold justice the way superheroes are meant to. While they were once drawn on opposing sides of a long-running war--the villainous Anarchists who seek to escape the rule of the honorable Renegades--Nova recognizes that her one chance to take down the Renegades is from within. She infiltrates their organization by going undercover as Insomnia. While working alongside Adrian, who has a secret of his own and a preference for classical heroism that has long been forgotten, Nova strives to dismantle the Renegades’ corrupt rule before they take their power too far.

“There’s no rule that says you have to be a prodigy to be a hero.”

Nova and Adrian are born antithesis; Nova grew up raised by the villainous Anarchists, while Adrian grew up under the protective eye of the city’s most gallant superheroes. Adrian wants to revive the true meaning of being a hero, while Nova wants to save the city’s mindless citizens from losing the freedom they don’t realize is slipping through their fingers. Between Nova’s antihero character and Adrian’s well-intended rebellious nature, readers develop a balanced perspective. We’re able to see that the Renegades have unintentionally created a form of oppression and are beginning to take their power too far, but life under the Anarchists’ chaos was far from an improvement. The two characters aren’t nearly as well-rounded as they could be, though, and it takes a while to build an investment in either character.

Action-packed plot lines should be filled with conflict and suspense to keep the momentum constantly moving forward. However, there are moments throughout the plot that slowdown the pace, such as the long-running library scene. During a stressful situation, everything moves fast. There’s time to think after the fact. In her previous novels, Marissa Meyer demonstrated turning suspense into an art form by providing her characters with constant ups and downs. The conflict gave her character-driven stories speed and excitement. Stretching out so many scenes without need in this story, however, only dragged us on and on until we finally reached the only exciting reveal. 

The prose lacked real flare, as well. During the middle of a fight scene, when action should rush readers forward, the focus should be on our characters. Nova and Adrian both demonstrate the ability to act fast on their feet. Cheesy superhero cliches in the dialogue and narration, however, shatter the momentum, sometimes earning an eye roll instead of a smile.

“Heroism wasn’t about what you could do, it was about what you did.”

While Marissa Meyer is known for the intricate and well developed plot line of The Lunar Chronicles, this story seems to lack that sophistication. Rather, the writing is reminiscent of purposefully gimmicky comic book prose. Perhaps that was meant to reflect the style of comic book stories, which inspired Renegades, but Marissa Meyer has demonstrated the ability to take a familiar style (i.e., spinning the fairytale characters we know and love into an out of this world, emotional sci-fi series) and do it well. Renegades, however, lacks the unique wow-factor that Marissa Meyer usually brings to her plots, prose, and characters. It wasn’t until the last chapter, in fact, that her signature style began to shine through. Here’s hoping the second installment of the trilogy demonstrates some high-flying heroics to make that truly super hero impact.

Nessa Luna

alexandra

GAH THIS BOOK WAS SO WONDERFUL. to sum it up in two words: superheroes and suspense!! i was a little hesitant because i wasn't quiiite sure what it's about (and i was a bit disappointed by Heartless) but this was SO!! GREAT!! 

full review to come~~ if i can figure out how to compile my thoughts properly.

p.s. i'm definitely an anarchist MUAHAHAH

A very easy read, some parts were a little corny. A little awkward at times. I asked a lot of questions out of pure confusion and laughed at some choices. It is very interesting to see just how much her writing has improved.

Courtney

4.5⭐️. “One cannot be brave who has no fear.”
That ending!

tina

“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.”  

Yall know how much I love Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles series and how attached I am to all of the characters, but somehow I knew this one wasn’t going to meet that love that I have for the TLC series. 

Renegades is a story about superheroes and supervillains. The normal people (those who do not have superhuman abilities) rely on the heroes and fear the villains. It’s basically a story of the good and the bad and the in-between because people’s actions and intentions aren’t always what they seem. Although I find it to be a really enjoyable read, there was one factor about the story that kept bothering me: the predictability. It’s a fun and entertaining book but it’s so full of cliches that sometimes I find it hard to take it seriously. The plot twists felt flat and was expected rather than surprising. The romance was cute, but it was also cliche that I internally cringed at times. I started to really like it when I got to the middle parts, but the near end felt underwhelming, confusing, and a bit rushed.

The characters in this book are diverse, however, I do wish that we got the chance to get to know more of the side characters instead of just letting them stay in the sidelines and only using them for particular scenes. I did like this, it just didn’t WOW me. It’s entertaining but it certainly is far from outstanding. Maybe the sequel will be better. Guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

  “Heroism wasn't about what you could do, it was about what you did. It was about who you saved when they needed saving.”

From #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer, comes a high-stakes world of adventure, passion, danger, and betrayal. 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.

A good set up for the next one. Some slow parts. Totally gasped at the end! Honestly I can see the CW making the series into a show but kinda hope not bc they might ruin it lol

Kelsey Joëlle

Re-read before finally reading archenemies. 

I still loved the book. Nova is a queen and I really love her character. 

Adrian is still cute. 

Yeah, I'm all for it. Also loved that this book is a slow burn romance, for as far as I've read in this book.

It's an interesting one. The story reminded me of a mix of Scythe and Vicious, one of those I didn't really like. I was worried, this would happen with this one as well, as I'm not really a fan of plain good superheroes anymore. I don't believe in that. Everything is normally more complex than that. People are not divided into good and bad, the theme of superheroes often tries to divide humanity like that though. Back to the book specifically now, it was actually okay. Yeah it used the typical good and bad way of thinking but it was questioned. The story was surprising though full of people double crossing each other (which find very tiring but makes for good stories). 

I think I would recommend it and read the other parts of the series as well. 

"There was a freedom in anonymity. There was power in not having to answer to anyone." 

Inga Kühn 

It's an interesting one. The story reminded me of a mix of Scythe and Vicious, one of those I didn't really like. I was worried, this would happen with this one as well, as I'm not really a fan of plain good superheroes anymore. I don't believe in that. Everything is normally more complex than that. People are not divided into good and bad, the theme of superheroes often tries to divide humanity like that though. Back to the book specifically now, it was actually okay. Yeah it used the typical good and bad way of thinking but it was questioned. The story was surprising though full of people double crossing each other (which find very tiring but makes for good stories). 
I think I would recommend it and read the other parts of the series as well. 

"There was a freedom in anonymity. There was power in not having to answer to anyone." 

sophia n

coming back in here after i've now finished the trilogy to say: this is the strongest book in the series. the other two take the story in a different direction and never go deeper, and i'm incredibly disappointed with how it ended. this, as a trilogy, is barely a 3-star rating overall, i've adjusted my ratings looking back, and i'd never reread it. i'd only rec it to people who don't want any depth to their books. and it sucks bc this book teases it/feels like it could've been different. i guess in a way this is a really good basic YA for actual teens, but i'd still rec other books to teens over this soooo

-----

orig rating 4 stars, orig review:
this will never be a 5 star book imo simply because the pacing was SO slow and unnecessary, especially in the first 30%, and i legit put the book down and picked it back up again so many times during that part of the read for like ... two weeks. i did keep picking it back up bc i wanted to see where it would go, but. idk. 100+ pages too long and meandering.

so here's the thing. this isn't a unique or groundbreaking story in any capacity. it also doesn't PRETEND to be. i went into it knowing that, and i think because i did, i was entertained. i love nova, i love adrian and oscar and ruby, i love leroy acid hands, and adrian's gay dads, and really like every single character tbh? they're all fun, are deep enough for the first book in a trilogy with the promise of more, and the story is lighthearted but serious enough and well thought out.

i also i went into it with my personal side as a lover of all things x-men and mutant stories and what it means to be a wholly marginalized/widely hated group because of something you were born with that also lends you power/makes you "scary" ... i think it's a fascinating moral dilemma, and i literally will never get tired of reading it. it was too slow, but really ticked the boxes for me with the concept and i can't wait to read the rest.

Ashley Wendt

This has been sitting on my shelf for a few years. TikTok made me finally pick it up. I hadn’t re-read the back cover and forgot what it was even supposed to be about. While it is definitely a Book One full of world, character and relationship building, there wasn’t much to the actual plot arc. However, I did find myself really enjoying the storyline and picked up Book Two, right away while everything is fresh in my mind. I do hope we get some more payoff in this one.

The first half of the book was slower than I expected it to be, but it was still entertaining enough for me to get through without being bored. The second half was a whole ride, I couldn't put the book down! Pushed away all of my college assignments to finish reading the last 100 pages because of how intense it got. The end shocked me a bit but I'll be jumping to Archenemies ASAP.

Also really living for the subtle romance between Nova and Adrian! Hope to see their relationship develop more in the second book.

This is my first book to read from Marissa Meyers and I'm definitely loving her writing. The prologue had me HOOKED.

My first book of 2021... done!

Nicole Dykeman

4.5 leaning toward a 5 star. This was highly entertaining. It was action-packed and perfectly superhero-y, just like I wanted it to be. I will say, though, that this book is chock full of tropes, so if you don’t tend to like that, this might not be for you. But I love trope-y books that are well-written, so that was a positive aspect for me. The action scenes were engaging, the hero/villain dynamic was awesome. The different powers that characters have are so interesting, and the politics of the city are really cool too. The adult characters are well-developed and I want to know more about them. 

Nova and Adrian are really great protagonists. This is a book where the characters genuinely feel like teenagers - a true YA book. They’re dealing with this crazy world, but they’re still awkward teenagers, and I loved that a lot more than I usually do in books like this. Watching the two of them come to terms with their sort-of-crushes on each other was amusing and adorable. 

I’m hesitating with the full 5 star only because I feel like side characters deserved a bit more attention. Specifically, Ruby, Oscar, and Danna. And Max! I really want to see more of them in the next book, which I will be picking up ASAP.

Reread 5/5/22: Yeah Renegades is still absolutely fire and more people should read it thanks

Renegades

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