Renegades by Marissa Meyer

"As long as there are superheroes, there will be people who will rely on them far too much. I think humanity would be better off if there were no prodigies at all."

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-in-training, who believes in justice. But Nova's allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

The characters are the driving force of any book, and if they’re not interesting enough, the book fails. Renegades does not disappoint. The main character, Nova, is morally ambiguous and independent — she is flawed but wonderfully so. Each character’s mistakes are their own shortcomings, and it never seems to be a problem with the narrative. There’s a reality to the phrase “never meet your heroes” when it comes to the Renegades.

"How can we expect people to change if we don't give them the chance to?"

Another way to make a book captivating is the surroundings. Gatlon City, where the events of Renegades take place, is well-developed and dynamic. The city is thought out and doesn’t fall flat; the citizens are believable, having contrasting views instead of unrealistic unanimous opinions. Following the period of anarchy, the city was left in shambles, and after establishing a facade of a government and authorities, things don’t magically get back together. Instead, the struggle of trying to bring back some semblance of normal life is seen.

Additionally, the plot twists are foreshadowed but unpredictable at the same time — there are few books that manage to pull this off. Every detail is a piece of the jigsaw that is the final big reveal. The book starts off slow, letting the readers soak in the setting and the characters.

'Heroism wasn't about what you could do, it was about what you did. It was about who you saved when they needed saving.”

There is no established group that is “right”. The Renegades are seen as the justice system and the public figureheads of righteousness, but they have no shortage of internal corruption. They don’t realize there’s no objectively right thing to do, and in their quest for justice, they fail to show mercy. Both sides see themselves as heroes. The Anarchists believe they are fighting for rights and believe in anarchy being the fairest system. They don’t see how their methods are destructive and that some sort of an illusion of order is needed for a functioning society. These points are addressed with different perspectives brilliantly, with underlying themes of ethics and morality. By the last book, you’ll wish the series never ended, and not just because of its cliffhanger.

Are good guys really good? Are bad guys really bad?