Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Renegades by Marissa Meyer
Buy Renegades by Marissa Meyer at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Olivia Tierney
Summary: Fun superhero story with two great narrative characters and an exciting plot. Although a solid start to a series, it is annoyingly spoilt by length and a slow first half (but thankfully it is way more action packed in the second half!).
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 556	Date: November 2017
Publisher: Macmillan's Children's Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1250044662
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So long as there are heroes in this world, there's hope that tomorrow might be better

Once the minority in a world of chaos and disorder, the Renegades fought for freedom and justice. Victorious in driving their opponents, the leaderless Anarchists, underground, those specially gifted with an extraordinary range of abilities are now the lawmakers and leaders of the future, governing a new peaceful and prosperous society. They are the heroes of society; the role models young children look up to, the officers people look to for justice and strength. All except the fraction of surviving Anarchists that hide in the darkness, plotting and planning until they are able to take back what was stolen from them.

There is, for example, no love lost between the Renegades and Nova. She trusted them to protect her family and their failure almost cost her her life. Saved by the Anarchists, she has found a home and a family. All her life, she has vowed to enact vengeance and is finally on a mission to make those responsible pay. Under the disguise of Nightmare, she will work to destroy the Renegades and all they represent. Adrian, on the other hand, has grown up at the centre of the new Renegade order. He believes in justice and is desperate to use everything at his command to take down the villains who seek to destroy the new ordered society. As fate pushes them together, they will each unlock long hidden truths and discover a new future, but who can say whether it will be better or worse…

I am a big fan of superhero stories and books with worlds revolving around superpowers – I just love magic, I can't help it - so when I heard of Renegades being published soon I knew I wanted to read it. In some respect it didn't let me down: the world building was fantastic, I loved learning about the history of the new world. The fall of the villainous anarchists previous rule and the rise of the Renegades new social order is intriguing, and I really enjoyed piecing the history together bit by bit as the book went on. The story really kicked into gear in the second half, so once you get through the first half (which is quite slow paced be warned) you're flying.

The action steps up a gear with each chapter and over the course of the novel the plot weaves together with masterful intelligence. Meyer also really knows how to write action-packed scenes; fast, furious and clever with a little bit of humour, you'll find yourself lingering over these points in the novel and eagerly awaiting the next. Another great aspect also was the side characters, particularly the Renegades team members, they added diversity and depth as they explained the circumstances that led to the discovery of their superpowers. The book superbly ends on a cliffhanger; just when you think the battle for control is over, in one sentence the entire series opens up to a wickedly entertaining future.

In other respects it did let me down though: the first half of the book is slow paced and quite predictable. It felt very long and without any quick plot turns it lagged, especially in comparison to the second half. It's also very long – in excess of 500 pages – for a book that is light and fun, the extra 100/150 pages just take a bit out of the story. Usually I want more pages and more story, but by the end of the book I was ready for it to finish and reach its climax.

It's very difficult for me to write a review for this book. Don't get me wrong, I liked the different premise of the book and I did enjoy most of Renegades. But while I was reading the novel I was forever tainted by the memory of The Lunar Chronicles. Marissa Meyer's first series is, hand on my heart, one of my favourites – the plot is exceptional, full of thrilling twists while the characters and their personalities are beautifully written - and Renegades… just didn't live up to my expectations. Which is incredibly frustrating because I wanted to love it. Every selling point had me hooked: superheroes, villains and secret identities? Check; main character driven by vengeance? Check; getting to see each side's point of view and subsequently having moral dilemmas? Check.

But something about the execution was just slightly off. It was fun and quite a light read but perhaps that's the reason why I was a bit disappointed – I really wanted to connect with and love the characters enough to wonder about them whilst not reading the book. To have them trapped inside my head and not be able to stop thinking about their story – past, present and future. But as soon as I put Renegades down, I left the characters on the page. And for me, that wasn't what I was hoping for.

But, I AM remembering that Meyers debut The Lunar Chronicles: Cinder was my least favourite book in the series and so I don't doubt that she will breathe more life into the story and build its characters up further. I'm hopeful that the next and other future instalments in the series will be better.

Renegades is a powerful start to Marissa Meyer's new series. With exciting action scenes and thrilling premise, Meyer's superhero novel is fun to dip in and out of and great to sit back and relax with. I expected a different type of book but readers who go into it without big expectations (I did try not to…) will really enjoy it of that I have no doubt.

Many thanks to the publishers for providing the BookBag with a copy for review.

In terms of further reading, I would definitely recommend The Lunar Chronicles: The Lunar Chronicles: Cinder and The Lunar Chronicles: Scarlet. We at the BookBag loved the first two instalments and I can promise that the series just keeps getting better – with twists and turns in each chapter and characters which you can't help but fall in love with – honestly if you haven't read them already you are in for an absolute treat! If however, you have already read the series why not try Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard – its fast paced, features loads of different superpowers and is brimming with adventure and betrayal. A brilliant start to another wicked series!

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You can read more book reviews or buy Renegades by Marissa Meyer at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Renegades by Marissa Meyer at Amazon.com.

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