Review: Renegade by J.A. Souders

Renegade
(The Elysium Chronicles #1)

Author: J.A. Souders

Publication Date: November 13th, 2012

Publisher: Tor Teen

Thank you MacMillan/Raincoast Books for the review copy!

Genre: Science Fiction / Dystopia

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Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts: Alright, the cover of Renegade is absolutely gorgeous!! I saw it and read the synopsis and knew it was a book that I couldn't miss out on. First of all, Elysium is a city underwater, isn't that awesome? I don't think I've actually read a book where the setting was underwater that wasn't about mermaids. I was actually very interested in learning more about Elysium, it was just a neat concept. It definitely wasn't disappointing. Souders does a really great job creating a setting and explaining how everything works without going into too much detail. She's a great story teller and I'm very much looking forward to reading more from her. As far as debut novels go, this one is one you might want to check out.

So what makes it so awesome? Well for one there is Evelyn, she is the protagonist and she is basically a spoiled girl. She is loved by everyone, even if they think she's a bit daft. She busies herself in her garden, cross-stitching and playing her violin each day. She is destined to be the future leader of Elysium. Or so she thinks. Her entire world is thrown upside down when Gavin, the Surface Dweller, shows up. Surface Dwellers are savages and not to be trusted, but for some reason, Evelyn feels  connection to Gavin and tries to protect him. She grows quite a bit as a character, throughout the book, she really changes a lot. She can't always remember everything, and her memory seems to get better, yet worse as time goes along. She fights her instincts as hard as she can though, which is pretty hard for her, since she's basically been brainwashed. She's quite a strong character and I really liked her.

As  for Gavin, he's awesome! He doesn't give up on Evelyn and is even willing to die for her. He saves her life more than once (and she his). And he's pretty drool-worthy. He also brings some humour into the story and throws off Evelyn's whole perspective of Surface Dwellers. I loved him!

Overall, Souders has created a wonderful world. Her world building and character building both come together wonderfully and don't take anything away from the story The story itself goes along at a good pace and I never found myself bored while reading. If you're into the dystopia or sci fi genres, you'll want to check this one out!