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A review by machiavellico
Renegades by Marissa Meyer
4.0
Rating: 4.5/5
I’ll be honest—if I started reading “Renegades” it was because I was in search of a good enemies-to-lovers trilogy, because, well, I’m a sucker for the trope. I did not expect the story to be that good and it’s not because I doubted Marissa Meyer’s writing skills—I’d never read anything of hers—but rather because I did not look much into the plot when I picked up the first book.
I thought, “Well, here goes another superheroes story.”
Some people may say it’s cliché and lacks originality, and while it’s true the story features some clichés, though I find them to be well executed, I would argue the lack of originality is just a matter of perspective depending on how much superheroes stories you’ve read over the past years. If you’re an hardcore fan of superheroes stories, this book will probably not change your life—but I think the same thing can be true about anything really. Among thousands and thousands of books, comics, movies, tv shows and such, is a 100% original story still a thing?
If you can go past the prejudice of “good guys vs bad guys” stories being boring, you may find yourself enjoying the plot. The world-building is good and so far believable, though what really caught me on going was the characters. I always say a good story with bad characters is tedious, while good characters can carry on a story even if the story itself is not perfect.
The female lead is called Nova while the male lead is Adrian and I fell in love with them. I can understand Nova’s pain and her desire of revenge resonates with me, just as I can understand Adrian’s different point of view. Their approach to the society they live in is different and I think both of them are neither completely right or wrong. Because yes, the Renegades should be the good guys and the Anarchists should be the bad guys, but Marissa Meyer does a good job in framing a more grey-ish way of seeing things.
As for the side characters, though I would have loved to read more of them, I’m almost done with “Archenemies”, the second book of the trilogy (no spoilers ahead, don’t worry!), and I must say I’m not disappointed. They’re pretty good.
Would I recommend this book to anyone? If they’re a fan of superheroes stories with a subplot of romance, absolutely yes!
I’ll be honest—if I started reading “Renegades” it was because I was in search of a good enemies-to-lovers trilogy, because, well, I’m a sucker for the trope. I did not expect the story to be that good and it’s not because I doubted Marissa Meyer’s writing skills—I’d never read anything of hers—but rather because I did not look much into the plot when I picked up the first book.
I thought, “Well, here goes another superheroes story.”
Some people may say it’s cliché and lacks originality, and while it’s true the story features some clichés, though I find them to be well executed, I would argue the lack of originality is just a matter of perspective depending on how much superheroes stories you’ve read over the past years. If you’re an hardcore fan of superheroes stories, this book will probably not change your life—but I think the same thing can be true about anything really. Among thousands and thousands of books, comics, movies, tv shows and such, is a 100% original story still a thing?
If you can go past the prejudice of “good guys vs bad guys” stories being boring, you may find yourself enjoying the plot. The world-building is good and so far believable, though what really caught me on going was the characters. I always say a good story with bad characters is tedious, while good characters can carry on a story even if the story itself is not perfect.
The female lead is called Nova while the male lead is Adrian and I fell in love with them. I can understand Nova’s pain and her desire of revenge resonates with me, just as I can understand Adrian’s different point of view. Their approach to the society they live in is different and I think both of them are neither completely right or wrong. Because yes, the Renegades should be the good guys and the Anarchists should be the bad guys, but Marissa Meyer does a good job in framing a more grey-ish way of seeing things.
As for the side characters, though I would have loved to read more of them, I’m almost done with “Archenemies”, the second book of the trilogy (no spoilers ahead, don’t worry!), and I must say I’m not disappointed. They’re pretty good.
Would I recommend this book to anyone? If they’re a fan of superheroes stories with a subplot of romance, absolutely yes!