Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Title: Renegades
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: Sci-Fi Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: Renegades # 1

Hardcover, 556 pages
Publication: November 7, 2017 by Feiwel & Friends

Source: Won a review copy on Goodreads.

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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.

Meyer is best known for her Lunar Chronicle series, a mash-up of fairy-tales and sci-fi. I have the entire series just sitting on my shelf. I did read a bit of Cinder a few years back and while I did enjoy what I read…I just never had the urge to pick it up again. Then I heard Meyer was starting a new series with superheroes and villains. I was intrigued, I love all things superheroes/villains…you’d think people would get burnt out on the idea with it flooding mainstream television and movies. Nope. If there’s a market for it, you’d bet it’d sell.

Renegades was like the comic book version of Romeo and Juliet. We have Nova, niece of the Anarchist leader and Adrian, the adopted son of the beloved Renegades Originals. I think you all know how this is going to go (not death, obviously). It's pretty predictable. With the help of her Anarchist family, Nova infiltrates The Renegades by trying out to be part of the team and actually landing in a group with team leader Adrian, the golden child of The Renegades. Nova’s plan is to learn as much as she can to take down the entire organization; enacting retribution because she believes The Renegades are the reason why her family was dead. Adrian on the other-hand is keeping a big secret from The Renegades and investigating his mother’s death and he thinks Nightmare, an Anarchist, has the answers. The two end up liking one another but little do they know they come from rival families.

The plot as I said is pretty generic and predictable. Meyer doesn’t bring anything new to the concept of superheroes or villains. The characters themselves are basic, I don’t recall anything special or anyone standing out for that matter. I have to admit, even the dialogue seemed juvenile. But I still found myself glued to the pages. It’s the way Meyer writes. There’s just something that pulls the readers in and keeps your attention. I know I’m gonna get flacked for this comment but its the only comparison I can give. Everyone remember Twilight? Of course you do. You know it’s not particularly good fiction or writing but yet you keep reading it anyways…because in the moment you’re reading it…it's the best thing ever! Yeah that was what it’s like for me. I mean, the point of any and all books is to be able to immerse yourself into the story and suspend reality for a couple of hours. Well, The Renegades definitely accomplished this. So there’s that going for it.

There wasn’t much romance in this book, more like a potential start of one. It was kind of awkward any way you looked at it. There’s something between Adrian and Nova but they never acted on it. And while they had plenty of interaction with one another, it wasn’t like sparks were flying. And because their interaction was weird; there’s was a disconnect between the characters which caused a disconnect between the readers as well. I didn’t feel it and didn’t really care about their relationship. It was just there. I didn’t think it brought anything to the story/plot sadly.

The Renegades doesn’t have much to be desired, it’s lackluster in terms of plot, world building, and characterization at best. If I don’t think too much about the book, I’d say it was okay borderline good. I mean, I did finish it. I’m pretty picky when it comes to book, so that’s saying a lot. The ending was the only unpredictable thing in the entire book and I am curious to see how things will play out in the sequel. I may or may not pick up the sequel just to see what happens next. But would I recommend this book? Probably not unless you’re looking for a brain candy type of book to pass the time…it may look and feel good at the moment but there’s no real substance.

Frostblood by Elly Blake

Title: Frostblood
Author: Elly Blake
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: Frostblood Saga # 1

Hardcover, 376 pages
Publication: January 10, 2017 by Little Brown BFYR

Source: I won an ARC through a giveaway.

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Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a fireblood who must hide her powers of heat and flame from the cruel frostblood ruling class that wants to destroy all that are left of her kind. So when her mother is killed for protecting her and rebel frostbloods demand her help to kill their rampaging king, she agrees. But Ruby's powers are unpredictable, and she's not sure she's willing to let the rebels and an infuriating (yet irresistible) young man called Arcus use her as their weapon.

All she wants is revenge, but before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to take part in the king's tournaments that pit fireblood prisoners against frostblood champions. Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her and from the icy young man she has come to love.

I’ve read a few great novels so far this year and among them is Frostblood, the first book in a brand new Young Adult series. I first saw this book in the NOVL newsletter as a giveaway and thought it sounded interesting. Lo and behold, I was one of the lucky subscribers that received this book for review. I suspected Frostblood was going to be good, at least better than most of the YA I’ve read in the past but I didn’t expect to be swept away and so engrossed by the story and characters as much as I did. It was so much more than I expected and kept me reading till the early morning…where I totally looked and felt like a zombie the next day. But it was worth it. I finished it in one and half days! That’s how awesome this book was. It’s very rare nowadays for me to read a book quickly, almost straight through; where I can’t tear myself away from the book until I know what happens next. I think the last book that made me feel that way was Daughter of Smoke and Bones back in 2011! Plus I’m extremely picky when it comes to YA novels. It’s getting harder and harder for a book, fantasy at that, to stand out in a sea of fantasy novels/debuts but Blake’s book definitely caught my attention and it looks to be a start to a fabulous series.

Ruby, our main heroine was one feisty and stubborn chick, which makes sense since she’s a Fireblood; a person that wields and controls fire. Except Ruby never really understood or learned how to control her powers. Ever since Ruby was young, she was taught to hide her gift and never to use it because of how dangerous it was. But after the death of her mother and the destruction of her village; Ruby found herself in the company of two Frostbloods, who controlled water/ice and were willing to teach Ruby to master her powers. Under the condition that she’d help them kill The Frost King. Ruby may have a strong snarky attitude but she was just as caring and passionate when it came to people that mattered. I loved seeing Ruby’s growth throughout the book, because she certainly wasn’t the same girl that was captured by the King’s men.

Another main character is Arcus, the mysterious and secretive Frostblood that broke Ruby out of prison. As you all probably figured out by reading the synopsis, Arcus eventually becomes Ruby’s love interest. Man, oh man…the chemistry and tension between these two were off the chart! I loved the slow burning romance, it gave me goosebumps! My favorite scenes were without-a-doubt of Arcus and Ruby training together. However, the way Ruby acted towards the end is what kept this book from being 5 stars. While she may have been corrupted by Minax, I didn’t like how easily she dismissed her feelings for Arcus or how she can kiss one person one minute and jump to another guy the next. It was very off-putting in my opinion. But thankfully she ended up with the right person in the end!

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a great and engaging YA novel. Although Frostblood may have the usual tropes and was a little predictable at time (Arcus’s identity), I still found myself enjoying it immensely. Blake created a fantastic world and characters, enabling me to immerse myself into the story and escape reality for awhile. All the best books do. I highly recommend Frostblood for those that haven't read it yet, it was the perfect blend of romance and action. Fireblood, the second book in the trilogy comes out this year, how cool is that? We don’t have to wait a year! I am so stoked about it and can’t wait to jump back into the world of Frostbloods and Firebloods!