Review: Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on July 24, 2020 | 0 Comments


Review: Renegades by Marissa MeyerRenegades by Marissa Meyer
Series: Renegades #1
Published by Feiwel and Friends (11.7.2017)
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover, 556 pages
Source: I own it


3 Stars

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.

My thoughts

For me this is one of those books that you enjoy for the most part while reading, but don’t ever think about again after you finish. It was good, not great (just like her Lunar Chronicles were for me personally). Honestly, it kind of felt like a rip off of both The Boys and Steelheart. It didn’t particularly have anything super unique as far as superheroes & villains go to bring to the table.

I also didn’t care much for any of the characters. They felt rather flat and uninspiring, and I couldn’t connect to any of them. The side characters (and kind of the main characters too, sorry) were forgettable for me.

I felt like the pacing was a bit slow and lacking in action for being a superhero novel. There were a few major fight scenes, but it was never a page turner for me. For this kind of story, I would expect heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat, can’t-turn-the-page-fast-enough kind of action. I could have walked away at any time. It also didn’t help that this book is SUPER long – nearly 600 pages long. And I felt like not a lot really happened?? There was a big “twist” at the end that I saw coming miles away and left me unimpressed (after seeing everyone RAVE about the ending and how it broadsided them?! *shrugs*). I do feel like this book was one big setup for the sequel, so hopefully the second one will be better! I do hope to read it eventually, just to see where the story goes, but I don’t feel any rush to do so.

This book is beloved by many, and I definitely think it’s something that most people would enjoy. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I didn’t feel like I’d already experienced the same story through Steelheart and The Boys. Baa baa black sheep…again….

Overall Assessment

Plot: 3/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 3/5
Originality: 2.5/5
Characters: 2.5/5
World-building: 3/5
Pace: 3/5
Feels: 1/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 3/5

Jessi (Geo)

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