Disclaimer: I think this will be the third time I have attempted participating in the Cannonball Read. My failures in the past are so frustrating to me because I easily read at least 50 books each year. It’s the reviews that are my stumbling block.
I know it’s because I am intimidated, both by the intelligence of the Pajiba community and by my minimal skills with technology. This year, I’m trying to let that anxiety go. If my reviews sound like they were written by a fourth grader, then so be it.
Happy Cannonball Read everyone!
Format in which I consumed this book: audiobook
Did I like it/love it/hate it? Liked it a lot
What’s it about? In this world, people born with super-human abilities are called prodigies. Non-prodigies were leary of, and often discriminatory against, people with abilities. A group of prodigies joined together to combat rising amounts of crime. The group called themselves Renegades and they were able to successfully change the general public’s opinion to something positive. They now have an entire system where they recruit and train the next generation and are trying to improve many aspects of society.
Nova’s uncle Ace was the leader of the Anarchists. He believed prodigies should be free to live as they want and that the public should not depend so heavily on the Renegades to provide things for them. As I’m writing this, I’m just now realizing that’s very Republican ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ coded and, yuck! I hope the sequel sheds that theme.
Nova’s parents were killed while waiting for the help of the Renegades so she already had beef with them, but then the unofficial leader killed her uncle too. She lives with the Anarchists but goes undercover to join essentially the junior Renegades so she can help the few remaing anarchists bring them down.
Adrian is the son of one of the original Renegades. When his mother was killed, he was adopted by two other original Renegades. While in disguise and testing out the new abilities he has given himself, Adrian accidentally interrupts the Renegades on a mission. To both the public and the Renegades, it’s unclear whose side his alter ego is on.
Adrian is determined to find Nova in her alter ego form because he thinks she might know something about his mother’s death. I forgot to say his mother could fly but was found dead after having fallen from a roof. Very mysterious. Anyway, at the Renegades headquarters, Nova and Adrian are becoming friends but neither knows about the other’s alter ego.
My thoughts: Despite the weird conservative vibe I only picked up on at this writing, I really enjoyed this. There are typical superpowers like invincibility, invisibility, flying, etc. but then there are also some more unusual ablities. One character can turn into butterflies (which does not sound useful whatsoever, but the author sonehow makes it work), another bleeds crystals that can be formed into weapons, and another can draw anything and bring it to reality.
I like the implication that the Renegades system of recruitment is not getting them the best of the best who have a strong desire to actually help society. I’m curious to see if the author does anything interesting with that in the sequel.
Oh, and the audiobook narrators were great! Whoever did the sound on this kept both the man and the woman’s voices at an even level. I never had to turn the volume up or down to hear them better.
Would I recommend this to my sister? Unfortunately, no. She’s not really into superhero stuff and I’m unsure if she’s willing to read YA.
So that’s review #3 in the bag. I’m in a part of the U.S. that’s getting a lot of snow right now, so I’ve had plenty of time today. I hope going back to my regular work schedule doesn’t keep me from writing more reviews.
