I have a hard time seeing the author of the Lunar Chronicles being the same as the author behind this mess of a superhero novel. Rough. Very rough — by far her least polished published novel. The beginning is super slow, infodumpy, and the story takes a long time to engage.

Renegades is not your classic superheroes vs villains story. In true Marissa Meyer fashion, she delivers a thrilling read that will make you question who the real villains are and what makes a real superhero. She blurs the lines flawlessly between villains and superheroes, making it hard to choose between the two. This is no cookie cutter superheroes vs villains story. It's a fantastic, highly addicting story that will leave you wanting more!

I know I'm in the minority, but I just could not get into this one... I have struggled with Marissa Meyer before, and probably should have taken that to heart, because I seem to have the same issues with her pacing and predictability every single time I pick up a book. I loved the idea, but both overall and in terms of the individual superhero characters - but, as with Cinder, I rather quickly found myself feeling like I had read this book before. It felt a little like Peter Clines' Ex-Heroes, and while I normally love Peter Clines that is my least favorite of his works. I don't know if I'm just burned out on superhero stories or if the Marvel and DC Comics movies are ruining superhero books for me, but I just could not find my way into this story...

It took a while to get into reading this book, but once I got sucked in, I was completely hooked! I loved all the character development and the battle between the Renegade/good side and the Anarchist/bad side. The twist at the end of the book....amazing! I can't wait for the next book to be released!!

I don’t know why I went into this book thinking it was set in space. I don’t know why I completely bypassed the part of the summary that said, “humans with extraordinary abilities’” but somehow I did. All this adds up to the point of me being pleasantly surprised when I started the book and it was about people with superpowers. A book about villains who might not be villains and heroes who might not really be heroes and to be honest, that’s one of my favorite parts about this book. It delves into the fact that people/characters aren’t solely one thing, that they are in fact complex. “Good people” can have faults and “bad people” can have good reasons. The tryouts where an interesting twist in the story, something I’m not used to seeing when it comes to superhero related plots. Nova tried so hard to remain faithful to her villainess but you see her soft spots to the good side start to show through. And Adrian is slowly learning that not everything with the heroes is as pleasant as it should be, also, his power is kind of my favorite. The ending completely threw me off as well, definitely not something I was expecting and I am so excited for the sequel.


I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

I was somewhat disappointed to see how close this was to other stories of the same nature (comics, etc) that is seemed to almost be a fan-fiction at first before it started taking on a life of its own.

However, once I got past that, I really enjoyed the story and seeing how the characters were able to maintain all of their different identities. I would recommend this for fans of Sanderson's Reckoners series and those who love a good action super hero tale.

This book is set in a world where prodigies (aka people with super powers) are running amok. It is set in a time not long after the Age of Anarchy (where a group of “villains” rose up and said eff you to the “normal” people who discriminated against prodigies.) But now the Renegades (aka superheroes) are in charge after overthrowing the villains for the most part. Sounds pretty fun right? Well, thats about where it ends. Most of the characters are boring. Or you just want to shake them. Plus it tries to be political-ish with the whole, we need to overthrow the government! Except the main character, Nova, reasoning for wanting to overthrow the Renegades is so ridiculous it kind of made my head hurt. And then of course there was the cliffhanger ending that made me want to throw the book across the room. Except I was reading on my iPad, so I couldn’t.

When a book makes me cry during the prologue, I know I'm in for a fantastic read! I tend to rate books based on the emotional impact they have on me, and I have given books an extra star rating before just because they've managed to make me cry. The prologue to Renegades connected me instantly with the antihero, Nova, and I can honestly say she is one of the most interesting characters I've encountered in a book before. She is fierce, intelligent, and confident, and even though she's intimidating to her enemies, I would love to be friends with her in real life.

Nova is an Anarchist, a group of exiled rebels who have been living in abandoned subway tunnels ever since the Renegades defeated them ten years before the novel takes place. The Renegades are Gatlon City's beloved superheroes, leaders, politicians...basically they do everything and are loved by everyone, except the Anarchists. Nova hates The Renegades, and would like nothing more than to shatter their perfect image that the city idolizes. Adrian is a Renegade legacy, and he is good (honestly, he's such a pure character, like a perfectly compassionate All-American brainiac with glasses--too many adjectives?). It's no surprise that Nova feels conflicted about her mission the more time she spends with Adrian.

When I finished Renegades, I had SO MANY QUESTIONS. It's one of those books that stays on your mind for a few days afterwards while you unpack and analyze everything. This book ends on a major cliffhanger that seriously had me questioning one character's entire point of view (not really a spoiler, but I felt like one character was revealed to be an unreliable narrator, which of course had me as a reader feeling betrayed!). The sequel (and conclusion) to Renegades had already been announced before I started reading this book, so a cliffhanger wasn't a huge surprise for me, but the actual cliffhanger was shocking and I did not see it coming. I'm definitely excited to read the finale later this year!

Wow, I really liked this book. I like Marissa Meyers and I am glad that she decided to do a book about superheroes (my weakness). I cannot think of anything that I didn't like. If you're looking for a book for a teen or just want a light superhero book that keeps you on your toes you should definitely check this book out!

I love this author and everything she writes!! Keep up the good work!!

The Renegades are a group of powered individuals that had helped bring the city out of chaos from the Age of Anarchy. They're hailed as heroes and are working to rebuild everything that had been destroyed in the riots and loss of administration and government. Nova has as much reason to hate them as the other villains they had conquered, but they have no idea who she is. As a result, an elaborate scheme is hatched to discover the best way to take the Renegades out from the inside, if she can follow through with it.

This book takes place in an alternate world where there are people who can develop superpowers of various types. These prodigies were once hunted down and killed out of fear. That all changed with the Age of Anarchy, and we get a very vivid look into the lives of the villains that the Renegades keep watch over. They're a little bit off of center but also humanized for the reader before we get to see the Renegades themselves. There's a large cast of characters, most with multiple names and identities as a result of most of them being a superhero. At the same time, we see a lot of the behind the scenes work that goes into superhero recruiting, training, outfitting and the rivalries between heroes. It's always fun to peek behind the curtain, so to speak, but here it takes on a bit more of a sinister undertone because of Nova's mission.

I really liked Nova and the different feelings and loyalties that she held throughout the course of the story. Adrian was fun to get to know, as well as the rest of the team that Nova had initially fought. It doubled back in places and ended in such a surprising way, I hope this is the start to a series! I have questions regarding the ending and how it really changes the way you see the rest of the plot. If this is the start of a series, I eagerly await the next ones!

Reasons this isn't a five star:
- Length. This book is incredibly lomg and I'm not sure how many teens will stick through it. I did because I was a big fan of Meyer's Cinder series. I do understand she was trying to world-build but the story dragged in places.

-Characters. There are a LOT of characters and as such, many are very stock like and are forgettable.

Otherwise, this is a good first book for this series

I was really excited to read Renegades. I've previously enjoyed and loved this authors writing style and the synopsis sounded fantastic. Plus, it has a gorgeous cover. Unfortunately, I just couldn't connect to the characters. It was a really long book, and it felt like it. I kept putting it down, and had a hard time picking it back up again. I do think it is for a younger audience, and that may have been my issue. Ultimately, I'll try the sequel, but I can't give this more than 3 stars.

Marissa Meyer can't write something bad is what I have determined with this book. I loved it even though parts of it were very slow and unnecessary.

Very well done and I loved Nova’s view on the society. I’m excited to see where this goes ESPECIALLY because of how it ended. I do really like Nova and Adrian together and can’t wait to see them figure out that they’re both hiding a ton of stuff from each other. Pretty awesome book.

When Nova's father told her to run away with the baby, she hides in her closet alone. Nova is only six years old.Her family that is suppose to be protected by the Renegades don't come in time to save her and her family. They are all killed . Her uncle finds her holding a gun on the man who killed her family. He kills him. The Renegades are people with special powers/abilities also known as prodigies. Most people were afraid of them. So Uncle Ace Anarchy united them and started a rebellion. Normal people became lawless trying to protect themselves as gangs took over. This time was known as the Age of Anarchy. From this the Renegades came into existence to keep people safe with laws. Nova wants revenge against the Renegades. Will she get it?

The story takes place in a different universe that is much like our but also different. There is still violence, conflict even though the law comes back into existence. The characters are very well written so that I could see them in my mind. There are hidden agendas, secrets and twists to the plot of this novel. The ending of the novel made me want the next book because of some things that happen at the end of the book. It didn't end the way I thought it would!

When Prodigies - humans with powers / abilities - first came on the scene they were were feared and hunted. That is, until Ace Anarchy united them and the rebellion began, violence ensued in what became known as the Age of Anarchy. It wasn't just the prodigies, though. Normal people - those without super powers - started living lawlessly. Looking out for themselves and their families in any way they could giving way to crime and gang uprisings. From these uprisings came the Renegades - prodigies who fought crime and protected those who needed protecting. Renegades started putting the world back together.

People, like Nova, began to rely on the Renegades. Began to trust them to be there to help in any situation. When Nova was six, she was the only survivor in a calculated attack that left her father, mother, and baby sister dead. The Renegades never came. Instead it was Ace Anarchy who saved Nova and enacted revenge upon those responsible for her family's deaths.

Fast forward ten years, and Ace is dead, taken out by the Council (founding members of the Renegades) in a bloody battle that left the Anarchists reeling. Nova has figured out the best way for retaliate: she will pose as a Renegade hopeful and infiltrate their HQ. Perfect cover, that is until she meets Adrian, aka Sketch, her team leader. Not only is he pretty easy on the eyes and nice to talk to, but Nova begins to discover that not everything about the Renegades is bad. They are actually doing some good.

Adrian is the son of a founding member of the Renegades, however, after his mother's death some years before, he's been raised by his uncles who are verifiable celebrities amongst the Renegades. While his power of being able to bring his drawings to reality is pretty cool, he longs to have a "real power" something he can use to enact real change in the Renegades. He believes what they stand for, but he can't help but think that a lot of it has fallen to much pomp and circumstance. He wants justice to be served, not only for his mother, but for all those who've lost someone to the Anarchists.

Adrian has created an alternate persona known as The Sentinel. While the Sentinel has a myriad of powers, Adrian finds that his mission is not as easy as he thought it would be. When he meets Nova and welcomes her onto his team as a new recruit, he begins to see the failings of the system. Both Nova and Adrian will have to guard their secrets all while trying to make Gatlon City change for the better.

I was anxious to read this book, Marissa Meyer's first outside of her Lunar Chronicles series. I was initially taken aback by the campiness of the start of the book, especially after the somewhat dark backstory and prologue sequences. But I soon relished the stark contrast between those moments of campiness - that hearkens back to the likes 1960s Batman TV complete with over-the-top phrases where I would mentally insert a "POW" or "WHAM" air bubble and skintight suits with capes and masks - to the darker aspects - making me think of The Dark Knight movie trilogy - where things are gritty, and people are killing other people in order to survive.

There's a lot of rumination on what it means to be a hero. What are the standard to which "heroes" are to be held? What are their true responsibilities to those they've sworn to protect? Nova brings up the idea that heroes are not always necessarily someone with powers. A hero can be anyone who dares to step up to do the right thing prodigy or not, just in Gatlon City those without powers have grown a bit too complacent in letting Renegades take care of their problems. Pretty much to the point where the Renegades are wearing thin, and when they can't deliver on their edicts the people hold it against them.

I really liked the contrast between Nova, who doesn't have what could be called a "strength power", she has to work to rely on her own body, her own self, if she were to get into an altercation. She's learned how to shoot, how to fight whereas Adrian instead of learning these skills just draws them into fruition. With the adoption of his Sentinel persona, he's pretty convinced that strength of power is the only way to be successful, and it almost always fails him.

Marissa Meyer certainly knows how to tell a story. Renegades felt like a lot of build-up. The twists and turns just kept getting more twisty and turny as you go further and further into the story, with very little revealed. There are some big revelations - some big implications - by the end, but for the most part this story is just getting started. I enjoyed where Meyer chose to take us, but I will admit at times it felt a bit repetitive. We're constantly reminded that Nova is on a mission, she's not really on the Renegades' side yet she's continually confronted with pieces of information that cause her to question her goals. Honest;y, though, I kind of liked that Nova, for the most part, stuck by her convictions and wasn't just immediately swayed. I think there's good and bad on both sides of the hero / villain line in this story and Meyer did a great job of exploring both.

I also really appreciated that any romantic element was kept pretty mild. I think it fit the best with the story not to focus solely on Nova and Adrian making moony eyes at each other. Instead I loved how their growing friendship / relationship tip-toes around the secrets that each of them are keeping. More focus is placed on Nova and the secret of her really being an Anarchist. There are a lot of near-misses for the girl. You can't take these occurrences too seriously, otherwise you'll be thinking that the Renegades are really terrible at their jobs if they can't spot the lies. But I think that may just be a commentary on how complacent the Renegades have become in their place. It's been near a decade since they've been challenged and they've had the run of Gatlon City since then. So it shouldn't be a surprise when someone does decide to push back that they're unprepared.

Overall, I enjoyed Renegades. It's a pretty long spiraling story, but I liked the narrative getting both Nova and Adrian's points of view. I look forward to seeing where the story goes next and the decisions both Adrian and Nova have to make down the line.

3.5 Stars? Hmmmm . . . This book is sort of a mixed bag. To me, Marissa Meyer is the queen of the fractured fairy tale. She totally nailed it with not only the Lunar Chronicles but “Heartless” as well. Both of these felt new and fresh and awesome and I couldn’t stop the exclamations of awe. This one, however … Well … this one did not leave me very excited. It has absolutely nothing to do with Meyer’s writing. I think Meyer is probably one of the most gifted YA writers out there and she definitely knows how to tell a story. Same is true of her characters. I really liked all of the characters, none of them felt superfluous and they all added something to the story itself. The problem comes from the fact that this, honestly, didn’t feel like anything new to me. I feel like I’ve read this story so many times before in varying incantations. Everything from Nova’s character development to the burgeoning relationship between her and Adrian to the surprise twist at the end. You kind of see it all coming, which makes me wonder if this series is going to end the way that I think it will . . . which, at this point, I’m guessing there’s a good chance that it will. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not like I didn’t enjoy this, I did. It was fast paced and fun and Superheroes vs. Villains and gray lines being crossed – Hurrah! But when it comes to Meyer I was expecting more innovation, something that took the classic superhero/villain drama to a whole new level. So far – I just don’t really feel like I got that story. I get that this is an origin story – an explanation of the who’s and the why’s, which is why I’m hoping that the subsequent novels in the series will totally pull a “Degrassi” and go there. As of now, especially with this being one of my most anticipated reads of 2017, I’m a little underwhelemed.

Before the review, here's my short summary of Renegades:

Renagades is a bit like X-Men, if the X-Men replaced the government and the bad guys (Magneto's guys) had to live underground after losing THE great battle.

But it also has espionage, secret identities and forbidden romance (but it's not all focused on the romance, don't worry).

Also, the main protagonist is a supervillain called The Nightmare, with the power of putting anyone to sleep by touching them. And the other protagonist is a superhero with not just one, but two secret identities.

Aaand that's basically it.

• • • WHAT I LIKED • • •

• It's fun!

The best part about this book is that I had fun reading it. Independently of how good or bad it was, I just liked the way it was written since it was mostly fast-paced and full of "things to look at". The world building felt natural enough that it wasn't overwhelming, but at the same time it kept showing new bits and concepts through the book, so it kept being entertaining even during slower chapters. I liked reading about the different and funky superpowers and theorizing about what kind of talent some characters could have.

It was also fun having two perspectives of this world. One from Adrian, a hero trying to catch a dangerous villain. And the other from Nova, a villain that infiltrates into Adrian's team to steal information. There was a lot of secret identities and broken alliances too. See? All of the fun stuff!

• But not your typical uplifting Marvel-esque superhero story.

I haven't actually read a lot of comic books, but I've watched all the Marvel movies so at least I know how superheros work. And to be honest I've been getting tired of the same old formula from those movies. This story has a more realistic approach to superheroes though. It shows that not everyone is happy about having heroes on the street because they're too intimidating, and that a hero's job can get get incredibly bureaucratic! Also, and most importantly, that in a world full of different superpowers, there would be a big chance of people using their powers for their own selfish reasons (which is a main theme in the book).

It reminds me a lot of X-Men now that I think about it, since there's a constant battle between the Renegades (X-men), the Anarchists (Magneto's allies) and the general public (people without superpowers). Except in this case the government and police were replaced by the X-Men and they're currently ruling the country. Or at least they're trying.

I especially enjoyed the first few chapters of the book since they were the most intense and felt like a combination of Sci-Fi / Thriller. They tell Nova's origin story and in just a few chapters build a strong character with realistic motivations.

• • • WHAT I DISLIKED • • •

• I felt this book was too long (576 pages according to Goodreads).

When I was about 35% into this book, I thought it had potential to be my favorite book of the year. But then it kind of slowed down. And it's not that it got boring since, like I said, it's overall a fun read. But I felt like the first few chapters had a lot of substance and a lot of character development... and then it felt a little flat. The characters stopped showing their human side and the plot got more predictable. It also stopped having the fast-paced action scenes from the beginning in exchange for longer and clichéd fights.

I think if the book had fewer pages, it could condense the second half were most of the "bland" stuff happens and it would feel more rich. Instead, it felt like the author was spreading a bit of butter in too much bread. (Credit to Bilbo Baggins for the analogy).

• Side characters felt a bit cardboard.

This was the saddest part! I was so in love with the first few chapters that I expected more characters to have a backstory and a strong personality. But apart from the two protagonists and their mentors, it felt like the rest of the world was just there to fill the empty space. There were a lot of sidekicks that could have been blended together to create more complete characters, instead of having so many people whose only trait was their superpower.

Even Adrian, the co-protagonist, didn't have a lot of original thoughts after the first half of the book. He just kinda transformed into Captain America: lawful good, chivalrous, pretty, etc.

• It ends with a cliffhanger!

I hope you don't consider this a spoiler, but I had to warn you! IT ENDS WITH AN ANNOYING CLIFFHANGER AND THERE'S NO RESOLUTION FOR "THE THING". You will know what "the thing" is. By the way, the last chapter of the book is also very similar to X-Men.m

• • • I WOULD RECOMMEND IT IF: • • •

• You like stories that are focused on the villain's side.
• You're an X-Men fan and want to read a book with a similar vibe.
• You like espionage, secret identities and code names.
• You like "forbidden love" stories.
• You find weird superpowers interesting.
• You enjoy 500+ pages long books (even if they don't have a lot of action).

I was lucky to receive an ebook ARC of Renegades from Netgalley, thank you!