Renegades (Renegades Trilogy, #1)

by Marissa Meyer

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.

From Marissa Meyer, author of the #1 New York Times–bestselling Heartless, comes Renegades a high-stakes world of adventure, passion, danger, and betrayal.

• ISBN10: 150987643X
• ISBN13: 9781509876433
• Publish Date: 5 April 2018 (first published 7 November 2017)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 3 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Macmillan Children's Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 576
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

My second reading more than three years later and my review is EXACTLY the same. I didn't remember anything until it was happening, so it was like reading for the first time. I feel the same conflicts and this time I am going to move to the 2nd and 3rd books quickly.
-- original review --
Marissa Meyer is such a reliable author - I pick up one of her books and I ALWAYS seem to love it! I had somehow missed Renegades release, but as soon as I saw a review I grabbed it on audio and was thrilled to immediately hear it was narrated by Rebecca Soler! She narrated all the Lunar Chronicles, so I already knew I loved her. And she did not disappoint. I was surprised (because I didn't read anything before purchasing the book) when I heard a male voice - but it was a pleasant surprise. Dan Bittner is another narrator I've listened to before (can't remember what books) and really enjoyed. So it was three great pieces all in one.

I enjoyed the world building in Renegades - despite being book one it never felt like an information dump and I also never felt confused about the world. It was the perfect balance. I loved the characters and the way so much tension is put on the idea of good versus evil. The "good guys" aren't clean and shiny and the "bad guys" have some seriously redeemable qualities... in fact, I'm not 100% which group I'm really talking about when I say "good guys" or "bad guys"! Are the Renegades - the super heroes - really the good guys? And are the Anarchists - the villains - really the bad guys?

I think because the story is told from the perspective of Nova, someone raised by the Anarchists but now getting to know the Renegades pretty closely, it's harder to see it as black and white. She has her loyalties and she's been taught certain things... and a lot of it I can't really argue with. But the values of SOME of the Renegades aren't so very different from her own. Watching her navigate those internal conflicts was enjoyable and I can only assume will grow more so as the series progresses.

The ending is awesome... but watch out! It's a cliff-hanger. Not so bad that I'm angry to be hanging. I can wait. And while I think it was supposed to be a shocker, I had been suspicious for a while that it was going to go that way to an extent. But I'll be eagerly awaiting book 2, regardless :)

[readingwithbecs]

The ending..... What??

[adamfortuna]

I’ve never read anything by this author before, but after this introduction, I’m sure I’ll be looking for more. This one is young adult through and through, but fun without getting too series. The world has gone downhill and heroes have risen to stabilize cities. They keep the renegades (evil people with powers) in check and maintain order - or at least that’s the hope. The first book in this series follows a renegades journey into infiltrating the hero’s in order to bring them down. With a tone similar to Sandersons Reckoners series, it’s hard not to have fun with this one.

This book was very difficult to go through. I simply hated it in the beginning. I did not care for any of the characters, I did not care for their powers, and I did not care for the very obvious romance that was about to happen. The beginning was slow, boring, and it was full of superhero clichés. Half of the lines seemed as if they came right out of the most generic comic books Marissa Meyer could find.
However, the story got so much better halfway through the book. Suddenly it was action-packed, the characters got more interesting, there were more plotlines and mysteries. Things finally started happening. I still did not care a lot about Adrian, however, I did start to love Nova and understand her a lot better than any other character in this story. The superhero clichés were gone, or at least less frequent, and the story took off.
I do believe this book could have been a lot better if either the beginning was completely rewritten once Marissa Meyer was more into the story, such that the clichés were not as frequent, or if the beginning was shortened. I wanted to DNF this book a couple of times, and in the end, I am glad I did not. However, if I would ever reread it, I would just look for the most important information in the beginning and not go through that boring journey again.

I will be continuing this series, one day. The ending was great, but the whole theme of the book seemed to be foreign territory for Marissa Meyer. Once she was used to it, the book became a lot better. I definitely think the Lunar Chronicles was a lot better than this series.

[Joséphine]

The audiobook was so much fun to listen to for my reread. I had forgotten some details but now I’m all caught up to continue with Archenemies. Excited!

[anastasia]

Full Review on my blog!

Wow!!! This book was SOOOO good. I can't even explain it. Renegades is actually the first book I've read about superheroes and villains. As soon as I read the introduction and then the prologue of Renegades, I was hooked.

“There's no rule that says you have to be a prodigy to be a hero," she insisted. "If people wanted to stand up for themselves or protect their loved ones or do what they believe in their hearts is the right thing to do, then they would do it. If they wanted to be heroic, they would find ways to be heroic, even without supernatural powers.”

Renegades is a novel about superheroes, villains, secret identities and humanity. It gives you both points of view: the one of those who should be good and the one of those who should be bad.

“There are many dangerous people in this world. but there are also many good people. Brave people. No matter how bad things get, we have to remember that. So long as there are heroes in this world, there's hope that tomorrow night might be better.”

The main character of the book, Nova (Nightmare), an Anarchist, which is considered a bad group of guys to the public. She sees the Renegades as the bad guys though, and is determined to take them down for the controlling-superheroes they are. She poses as a Renegade to gain inside information so that she can get her revenge against them. I loved how not only Nova leads a double life, but Adrian, who is a Renegade, has a secret of his own. Renegades is incredibly complex, and I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved it. There is spying, suspense, and plenty of action in this book, making it a unique take on the good vs. evil trope.

I found the plot for Renegades to be incredibly complex. Not in the way that it was difficult to understand, more so that I found it so mind-blowingly intricate and I felt as if there were so many clues in the text for what is to come if you’re keeping an eye out for them. Truly, this plot is incredible. It’s been a while since I’ve been invested in a plot as much as this one. I cannot wait to see what the author is going to do with the rest of the series!

Renegades is an original book about a villain posing as a hero. The characters were so rich and diverse, and Meyers did an amazing job of adding just enough description to really bring each of them to life in their own way! The powers were so different and so much fun! I loved the writing, as always with Marissa Meyer, and I would definitely recommend this book to everyone—superhero fan or not. 

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[alisoninbookland]

Wowzers, that was a long book. I enjoyed it but it felt like it drug on in places. I wasn't sure about superheroes but I trust Marissa Meyers. I always enjoy the politics in my fantasy stories so I was really intrigued by the world of the Renegades. I would have thought in a world where many people have powers some of the ~magic~ of superpowers would be lost but it ended up being fascinating for most people even though it was an everyday occurrence. I never thought I would be cheering on the bad guys but the Anarchists brought up an interesting point of people should be able to police themselves. There shouldn't be such a reliance on the Renegades to take care of every little thing in the world. The powers of everyone in the story were so cool! I loved the uniqueness. The end brings such a twist. I can't wait to read Archenemies!

For more reviews and bookish adventures, stop by Alison In Bookland.

[emruth13]

I loved this book! I actually didn't really expect to love it as much as I did since it was so different from her other books, but IT WAS SO GOOD! I can't decide between the Renegades and the Anarchists, but ultimately I am for Nova. Nova gets what's up and how it should be instead. That twist at the end threw me so much and I need the next one!

[tweetybugshouse]

I went into this book with a bit of a narrowed mind as i had some reviews on it that painted in an ugly light.  Instead i got a wild amazing story about superheros and villians that made me realize those reviews were very narrow minded and they really did not read the book. 

We have get secret identities, superpowers galore and vengeance with a tiny tiny bit of possible romance brewing.  We have a crumbling society that is filled with people who are not superheros with powers but yearn to maybe be heroes like the old days.  You got those who are on the good side which are Renegades and those painted as being on the bad side the Anarchists. 

Then you have characters like Nova who want to be on the good side but have been wronged by those who are suppose to be on the side of the law.  Her family was wiped out when she was very young and those who should of come to save her did not come in time.  So she been brewing an appetite for revenge her whole life.  

This story is so much more then i expected it to be and i can not wait for book two.  It was a great lesson in not always believing what others say about books. 

[writehollydavis]

I was drawn into the world and story the whole time. Marissa's writing is what I want to emulate, perfect amount of description, prose, and dialogue, all with an awesome plot and characters. Glad there will be more books to come because I don't want this story to end!