Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Renegades

I feel like this book (ironically) has a case of mistaken identity. It wants to be a YA superhero story, and it certainly deals with topics that would be seen in YA stories, but for the most part the writing felt more suited to a younger audience. I ended up skimming over several paragraphs after a while and 9/10 times when I continued on, I didn't feel like I missed out on anything important. Plus I get the impression that Meyer has a better understanding of hate crimes themselves rather than the marginalised communities they impact, and how those people live in society.

Also rather ironically for a book based on superheroes, I think the story would have benefitted from being produced as a graphic novel or written as a cartoon over being written as a novel. Her descriptive skills are solid enough that I could easily visualise what was going on.

Also what was up with that ending? What benefit is there to having the previously assumed dead Ace be actually alive if he's just going to show up randomly at the end without any prior warning? I assume this is going to be explained in the next book but this was so boring that a lazy cliffhanger isn't going to keep me wanting to know.

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psliz's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

loved everything. plot, romance, and especially a villain protagonist!

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extrafolklore's review against another edition

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adventurous funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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hannahmcclee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I was hooked from the start with this book. I found the main characters to be people I could root for. The pacing was also good. I never felt like things were too drawn out or too rushed. THE ENDING caught me so off guard! I can’t wait to keep reading.

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averyconfusedhomosapiensbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wanted to read this book because I really enjoyed the Cinder series. So, I thought I would give Marissa’s other work a try. This book was a struggle.

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. This is a young adult dystopia novel.

This book was a classic good v evil sort of like Megamind book. Heroes v Villains. With all of us sort of rooting for the villain as the book goes from her POV – Nova AKA Nightmare AKA Insomnia. She is wanting to get revenge after a gang murdered her parents and the Renegades failed to protect her. Her team decide she could be a useful spy and try to find more information and kill the people who failed to protect her. This book was very slow to get into, with all the background information and the jumps between the past and the present. I understand why the book needed to be big due to all the information and the storyline and the action, but I was hoping it would be fast paced. I loved Nova and hopefully we will see her grow. Adrian who is supposed to be the hero and the heart-throb was stupid as shit. Like dude, Insomnia leaves and nightmare appears – especially after he himself had a double identity and not once did he think hmmm, maybe there is a case of a double identity going around.

I usually struggle with a first book in the series, especially with Marissa Meyers and hopefully the next book will be better now we’ve got the background.

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drtx_bwt's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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anielabooks's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Amazing book. I came into this series with mixed expectations. I’ve loved Marissa’s other series, but I have also heard disappointing things about Renegades. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the small bits of romance that were sprinkled throughout. Absolutely loved everyone on Sketch’s team. However, Max was my absolute favorite. Finding out about the ending of book 1 was a roller coaster. I can’t wait to see how the plot will continue in book 2.

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