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Book Review: Renegade – J.A. Souders


renegadeRenegade
Author: J.A. Souders
Series: The Elysium Chronicles #1
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Dystopia
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Publisher: Tor Teen

Goodreads | Amazon | TBD

Summary:

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.

 
First Sentence: My life is just about perfect.

My Review:

I bought Renegade back than in November ever since it first came out. I don’t know what made me buy it, maybe it was the beautiful roses on the cover, making me wonder, what role do the roses play in the story? Or maybe it was because of the beautiful, mysterious background. (If I haven’t read the book, I would have had absolutely no clue that the glass was supposed to show the bottom of the ocean.) I never had the chance to read Renegade until now, and I have to say, it was rather disappointing. It could have been better.

My life is just about perfect.
Every morning Mother has the Maids wake me at precisely ten. Then it’s time for a light breakfast followed by a mandatory visit with my Therapist. It’s nice to have someone to talk with. (11)

One problem was that I never really connected with the main character, Evelyn. In fact, it was hard to. It’s hard to connect with a girl who is constantly losing her memories (although it’s not her fault), especially when there were some obvious clues she could have picked up that told her that something very fishy was going on. (But again, it wasn’t her fault. I still can’t help but be annoyed though.) I also didn’t feel sorry for Evelyn at the moments I was supposed to, although again, everything that happened to her wasn’t her fault. (I feel like I’m repeating this mantra to myself a thousand times already.)

Today is better than yesterday. And yesterday was better than the day before. (27)

One reason why I gave Renegade a 3 star rating is because the book didn’t shock me. Sure, there were a lot of plot twists and things happening that I didn’t expect to happen, but they didn’t leave me on the edge of my seat, begging for more and going all omgomgomg. All I thought was well, of course, mentally shrugged, and read on. Also, if you ignore all the plot twists and just look at the overall concept of Renegade, a controlling leader hiding a lot of secrets and will do whatever it takes to maintain total control, it’s been done before many times in other dystopian novels. Nothing about Renegade brought something new to the genre.

We are all Mother’s children. It is a privilege to show her our ultimate obedience to her laws. (62)

However, I have to give major credit to J.A. Souders for her creative idea of creating an underworld city where her characters reside. (There was even a nice map that I didn’t use included in the beginning of the book.) Her idea was unique, different, and I also enjoyed learning about how things worked underwater, even though it still left me with some questions that are still left unanswered.

The War has corrupted the Surface Dwellers. They have been consumed with hate and violence, and should be considered extremely dangerous. Any Surface Dweller who attempts to break into Elysium should be shot on sight. (31)

As for the ending and last chapter of Renegade, it was very cute and actually bought a huge smile on my face. It was definitely the cutest and best part of Renegade. The ending was also a little too happily ever after for my taste, but still, I enjoyed it.

Overall, don’t get me wrong, Renegade is not a bad book, but it just wasn’t the book for me. As for if I’ll read the sequel anytime soon, so far I’m thinking nah, I’ll survive if I don’t get to read the sequel, although the cover is gorgeous.

three

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-Kelly

Posted by Kelly on 4-05-13 · 16 Comments
Categories: 2012 book, book review Tagged: 3 star

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Speak Your Mind

  1. sarah elizabeth says

    4-05-13 at 1:16 PM

    I loved this one. can’t wait til the next one is out. sorry you didn’t enjoy it so much.
    sarah elizabeth recently posted…Open Minds (Mindjack Trilogy, #1) by Susan Kaye QuinnMy Profile

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      4-05-13 at 6:09 PM

      Hopefully you’ll enjoy the next book as well! :D
      Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Renegade – J.A. SoudersMy Profile

      Reply
  2. Mel@thedailyprophecy. says

    4-05-13 at 5:00 PM

    It’s a shame that the story didn’t managed to grab you. I do love the setting and the concept of this book (+ the gorgeous cover) I won a copy from this book a while ago and I still look forward to it. Great review :)
    Mel@thedailyprophecy. recently posted…Review 146. John Green – The fault in our stars.My Profile

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      4-05-13 at 6:08 PM

      Aww, I wish Renegade grabbed at me as well as it grabbed at you Mel! Yes, the cover is gorgeous, which was what made me buy it asap.
      Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Renegade – J.A. SoudersMy Profile

      Reply
  3. Kelly says

    4-06-13 at 9:22 PM

    I really enjoyed this one, but even I found that all of the running around was kind of anti-climatic and worked against the progression of the plot. I did find several things surprising though, I guess since I didn’t truly appreciate the depths of Mother’s reach until it was far too late! Haha
    Kelly recently posted…Introducing: Choose Your Own Adventure!My Profile

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      4-07-13 at 12:12 PM

      Yeah, I agree, all the running around made the reveal of Mother’s true plan just lose steam. It’s amazing how wicked/smart Mother is though, I was just like whoa, I didn’t expect that to happen!
      Kelly recently posted…Book Review: The Best Man – Kristan HigginsMy Profile

      Reply
  4. Jules says

    4-07-13 at 1:02 PM

    I kinda thought it was like that. :( Too bad.
    Jules recently posted…Book Review: The Vincent Boys by Abbi GlinesMy Profile

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      4-07-13 at 1:04 PM

      Yeah. D:
      Kelly recently posted…Book Review: The Best Man – Kristan HigginsMy Profile

      Reply
  5. Anne Consolacion says

    7-04-13 at 8:12 AM

    Like you, I wasn’t really into the story, but I will definitely try to get the sequel. The cover is too beautiful! And I’m hoping to like the series more after reading book 2.

    Thanks for sharing your review. :)

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      10-19-13 at 12:44 PM

      I think I will give the sequel a try too, although I don’t really have high hopes for it.
      And the cover is gorgeous! :D<3
      Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [54]My Profile

      Reply
  6. JZ says

    10-19-13 at 2:25 AM

    I have to agree with the part on Renegade being another dystopian novel when it is considered from a general point of view. The change in setting was refreshing, though :D

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      10-19-13 at 12:47 PM

      All dystopian novels appear to be the same nowadays. :l
      But yeah, the setting of Renegade was unique.
      Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [54]My Profile

      Reply
  7. Susan T. says

    10-21-13 at 4:57 PM

    I love that it is an undersea world! I love anything to do with the ocean so I’ll definitely pick this up. Hopefully I’ll like it more than you did!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      10-31-13 at 8:54 PM

      Undersea world books are fun and interesting to read about. ;D
      Hopefully you will!
      Kelly recently posted…Monthly Wrap Up: September + October 2013My Profile

      Reply
  8. Hillary R. says

    10-29-13 at 5:44 PM

    I’m kind of dying to read Renegade. Not only does the cover catch my attention each time I see it, but the story itself sounds so interesting. And I just saw the cover for the sequel yesterday too! Though this one is so much better. And you’re rating wasn’t that bad. Maybe I’ll read this one sooner than later :)

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      10-31-13 at 8:56 PM

      Ha ha, I actually like the sequel’s cover better. The ponytail of the girl model just drew me in. :P
      I hope you’ll like this one better than I did Hillary! Who knows, maybe it’ll be your kind of book. (;
      Kelly recently posted…Monthly Wrap Up: September + October 2013My Profile

      Reply

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