Renegades

So I’m going to be honest, I’ve never read anything else Melissa Meyers has written. I know, I hear you, “But what about the Lunar Chronicles?!” Listen, I’ve heard amazing things, but it’s at the point where there are so many of them that I wonder if I have it in me. Maybe one day. In the meantime, when I found out she was releasing a new series, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to read some of Meyers work. Was I glad I did?

Basically yes.

Renegades packs a punch from beginning to end, but what I found so interesting was that in the beginning, we read snippets about not one, but two big rebellions that bring us to the world as we see it now. This world is messy with prodigies being once feared, then revered, then feared and revered depending which type you are.

Despite the fact that the plots really aren’t that similar, I kept getting Warcross vibes from this book. I don’t know if it’s that Meyers’ writing style is similar to Marie Lu’s or if it’s just that I read them fairly close together (yeah, this review is a long time coming), but there you have it.

The Renegades vs the anarchists

Basically this world has three groups of prodigies (think x-men type humans):

• the Renegades: your resident good guys, make-shift government/police service/saving cats stuck in trees people
• The Anarchists and other villain gangs: The bad guys. Though a number of villain gangs are mentioned, we follow the Anarchists most closely.
• Prodigies who are not cool enough to be Renegades, but not bad/stupid enough to join villain gangs under Renegade rule. The system for becoming a Renegade is pretty messed up tbh, something that both Nova and Adrien thankfully comment on in the story.

The characters

Nova’s character development makes sense from the very beginning and even though she is technically a villain, you feel for her. I’ve always admired an author who can do that. Further, Nova is a kick ass woman who makes no apologies for who she is. This is a heroine I can get behind.

Then you have Adrien who is absolutely adorable. He is so full of hope and wants to see the best in everyone. He’s a Hufflepuff if I ever saw one. That being said, he can also see the problems in their system and wants to stand up for what he thinks is right. And of course everything he thinks is right is put into question when he meets Nova, providing the perfect amount of “man vs. self” conflict for my liking.

The secondary characters are a rag tag group of individuals and again, I found myself liking the villains (The Anarchists) more than the renegades. Particularly Honey who is every bit the diva I wanted her to be when we first meet her. Despite the fact that the anarchists are very much a “fight for yourself and forget everyone else” bunch as their name would suggest, they still seem to operate under some sort of code. It’s a loose code, but they still seem to have their loyalties.

As for the secondary “good guy” characters, I found the members of Adrien’s team to be amusing if a little safe. I suppose that’s the point. I did however thoroughly enjoy his dads. Two dudes who are at once members of the Renegade council, and also completely oblivious fathers trying to raise this kid who somehow turned out absolutely fine despite being in the spotlight his entire life, both because of his adopted fathers’ fame and because of his famous mother who was murdered when Adrien was young. Quite the mantle he inherited from his parents!

Archenemies: November 6th!

I am super excited for the fall to find out how this story ends. I am also crossing my fingers that the audio book voice actors don’t change because the worst thing that can happen when it comes to audio books is having to adjust to a new voice for a character. It happened with Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom and it happened with ACOTAR, and it was the woooorst.

Until next time, keep reading!