I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer
Series: Renegades #1
Published by Feiwel & Friends on November 7, 2017
Pages: 556
Format: ARC
Source: the publisher
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From #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer, comes a high-stakes world of adventure, passion, danger, and betrayal.

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.

HOLY WOW WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO READ THIS WONDERFUL EPIC AMAZING BOOK?!?!?!?!?! This book absolutely just blew my mind!! Like, I’m a HUGE fan of the Lunar Chronicles series, but I’m 98% sure I enjoyed Renegades more than any other Marissa Meyer book I’ve ever read. It was just complete and utter perfection. I loved the writing, the characters, the plot, everything about this book. I have few – if any – complaints, to be honest. So get ready for a gushing review because I’m gonna gush and ramble and I’ll attempt to keep it spoiler free, but no promises.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED Nova. Like, one of my favorite “villains” ever. She was spunky and fierce, and I loved everything about her Anarchist persona, Nightmare. Her powers, her background – even just the name Nightmare and the feelings it evokes. When I pictured her in my head, I pictured Mal from the Descendants movie, purple hair and all. I 1000% loved the idea of the amusement park being Nightmare’s stomping ground/hide-out, even if it actually wasn’t. It just felt very fitting for the character.

I also really loved Adrian. I loved the way he created The Sentinel as a way to prove himself. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved him as Sketch. Sketch’s powers are very cool and VERY useful. But I loved that the superhero had a secret identity, haha.

Right off the bat, I loved the idea of Nova and Adrian being potential love interests – very Romeo & Juliet. How much more star-crossed can you get than superhero versus supervillain? I seriously can’t wait to see what happens when their secrets are revealed to each other – it’s gonna be CRAZY!!!

Another fun Disney comparison? The Detonator reminded me of a weird combination of Shego from Kim Possible and Harley Quinn from the Suicide Squad movie. Also, I KNOW we weren’t supposed to like her, but I kind of did. Like, I hated her for some of the crap she pulled, but I was also intrigued by her and wanted to know more about her, her background, etc.

I absolutely loved Hugh (Captain Chromium) and Simon (The Dread Warden). I loved them individually as people AND I loved their superhero personas. I also LOVED them as a couple – they were so cute together! TBH, this book had a LOT of ships and I want ALL of them to sail or I’ll be SUPER upset!!!

I could talk about each character in this book individually because I have something to say about all of them, but I honestly just loved them all. I loved Adrian’s team the most, of course. I was intrigued by the fact that some of the Renegades weren’t actually the good guys – they SHOULD have been villains, but they somehow became “heroes.” It’s going to be very interesting, especially going forward – if there REALLY is a huge “Renegade versus Anarchist” battle brewing, which side will these wayward Renegades be on…?

The ending was effing INSANE for SO many reasons. I may have discussed minor spoilers throughout my review, but I’ll steer clear of major spoilers and just say OMFG WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!??! But also I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I SERIOUSLY CANNOT wait for book two! I NEED it in my hands NOW!!! I can’t wait to see what happens next. I know I said (above) that I can’t wait to see what happens when Nova’s and Adrian’s secrets are revealed to each other, but I especially can’t wait to see Adrian’s reaction when Nova’s secret is revealed…!!!!!

So… I mean, yeah. This review didn’t do this book justice. I just loved it so much, it’s hard to put it into words. This review was probably a ramble-filled mess and completely unprofessional and maybe didn’t make a lot of sense. But, like, just read the book. That’s the bottom line. It’s SOOOO GOOD!! Seriously.