Renegades (Renegades, 1)

What I Liked: I loved Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series, so I came into this book not knowing what to expect but ready to like it. Turns out I did. I like Meyer’s ability to world-build. There are many superhero books out there, but she managed to make an intriguing story that was a fresh spin on the genre. In this book, prodigies overturned the world governments and ushered in an era of gang wars. Nova Artino begins our story at the age of five during this time of upheaval when a thug kills her family in front of her. With the hope and conviction of a young child, she trusted that the superheroes that had emerged would save her family. However, her uncle, Ace Anarchy, found her instead.
Fast forward to the present time and the Superheroes have conquered the supervillain gangs for dominance. They are now making the laws, rebuilding the city, and acting as the police force, judge, and jailers. Public opinion is favorable and the people idolize these heroes but are quick to criticize when anything goes wrong. Nova has been raised by the remainder of the anarchists after Ace’s downfall and she believes that people are complacent and should govern themselves rather than rely on prodigies for safety.
As Nightmare, she has the power to put people to sleep if she touches them. She faces off against the Sentinel who has multiple powers and a self-righteous attitude that she can’t stand. The anarchists hatch a plan for her to join the Superheroes known as the Renegades as a spy. She hides her true powers and goes in as Insomnia, with the ability to never sleep. With all that free time she has developed her fighting and scientific skills that still make her formidable. She is picked to join a team led by Adrian Everhart, the son of the original Renegades that defeated Ace. He is also secretly the Sentimental.
This creates the best part of the plot - a slow-burn romance where you know that once their secrets are out it is going to explode. This led to typical things happening. She has a chance to hurt her teammates but she now sees how good they can be. She is in a conflict between what she was taught and what she is now a part of. Even if it is predictable, it is fun and kept me turning the pages waiting for the showdown.
The showdown was a bit different than I imagined. We managed to end the story without Adrian realizing she is his nemesis and without his alter ego being discovered either. She is now a hero after actually killing an anarchist. It looks like the shiny Superheroes that she is reluctantly supporting might actually have something cooking in research and development that everyone should be worried about corrupting their shiny reputations. Then in the final scene out of nowhere a character is introduced that will further convolute her loyalties.
Final Verdict: This was a strong first book in a trilogy. Some parts were predictable but still a fun fast-paced read. The ending set up the second book and definitely sparked my interest to launch right into it. The ending of this book had some elements that fizzled out a bit for me, but the fact that I feel invested and care that it did things differently than I hoped, is just a testament that it is a good read. I did listen to an audiobook for parts of the book and thought the alternating readers for Nova and Adrian did a great job.