Publisher: Tor Teen
Pages: 352pgs
The Story
Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.
But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie.
Her memories have been altered.
Her mind and body aren’t under her own control.
And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.
Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.
But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie.
Her memories have been altered.
Her mind and body aren’t under her own control.
And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.
Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.
The Review
A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!
A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!
Before even reading the actual book, I thought J.A. Sounders's debut had something pretty special about it and that 'something' it certainly DID have indeed. It may have been strong towards the beginning of the book and may have fell a little flat towards the end of it, but there was still a great element there in the book to keep me reading it and that's all I can really ask for in a book . . . to make me WANT to read more!
RENEGADE was so . . . ODD. Good but mostly odd. Without going into heavy details over it, on a whole I really enjoyed this book but the only problem I had with it was the believability of the story (it was really hard to keep up with at times) and the love that was far too quickly escalating between two of the main characters. Now I know not everything has to be realistic but this book was run by a lot of psychotic villains who had no good reasons for doing so if that makes sense to you all . . . I just didn't understand WHY they were doing the things they were doing and caused a main problem for me in the book. As for the romance section of the book, that too was formed far too quickly for my taste and because of the quick romance it just didn't really allow time for the main characters to grow and make me like them but . . . what's done is done and I sincerely hope the sequel brings more of that development to a new head because I enjoyed this book and the concept it offered.
Overall, I thought RENEGADE may have been a really odd book but it still managed to bring some originality to the young adult genre, which was probably the reason why I gave this book a higher star rating. Sure it may not have been a great favourite book of mine last year, but I'll still be continuing with the series just to see what else happens next. So, if you want to read about a world that is - literally - underwater or something that is definitely unique and stands on its own without being compared to other book titles, then I would highly recommend this book! It's not perfect but it's very enjoyable regardless!
RENEGADE was so . . . ODD. Good but mostly odd. Without going into heavy details over it, on a whole I really enjoyed this book but the only problem I had with it was the believability of the story (it was really hard to keep up with at times) and the love that was far too quickly escalating between two of the main characters. Now I know not everything has to be realistic but this book was run by a lot of psychotic villains who had no good reasons for doing so if that makes sense to you all . . . I just didn't understand WHY they were doing the things they were doing and caused a main problem for me in the book. As for the romance section of the book, that too was formed far too quickly for my taste and because of the quick romance it just didn't really allow time for the main characters to grow and make me like them but . . . what's done is done and I sincerely hope the sequel brings more of that development to a new head because I enjoyed this book and the concept it offered.
Overall, I thought RENEGADE may have been a really odd book but it still managed to bring some originality to the young adult genre, which was probably the reason why I gave this book a higher star rating. Sure it may not have been a great favourite book of mine last year, but I'll still be continuing with the series just to see what else happens next. So, if you want to read about a world that is - literally - underwater or something that is definitely unique and stands on its own without being compared to other book titles, then I would highly recommend this book! It's not perfect but it's very enjoyable regardless!
The Rating
3 1/2 / 5 stars
Sadly this isn't the first time I've heard about "oddness" when it comes to this book! It's a little sad to hear because it sounded like a great, unique read. That combined with the quick romance and everything else... I think I'll give this one a miss unless the sequel receives better reviews. Thanks for the review, Erin :)
ReplyDeleteIt's still a great read just a little . . . different. And I like that but it will probably only work for some readers not all of them. :/
DeleteThanks Lisa!
LOL I like how you describe this book as "Odd". That sorta makes me want to read it even more now :) It's such a pity the romance between the two characters happened too fast...I've been trying to avoid books with that! Lovely review Erin!<3
ReplyDeleteThanks Shirley! Like you as soon as I hear 'odd' I'm already intrigued by a book and this book was definitely intriguing. :)
DeleteHaha, I usually like "odd"! Though I can understand your concerns about the believability of the certain things. Will probably still give this book a try at some point, I am just very curious about it! Thanks for the review :).
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the negatives, I quite enjoyed reading this book. Mostly because it was so different to most YA genres (the setting especially was very different).
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