Review: Renegade

Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1)
by J.A. Souders
Published November 13th 2012
by Tor Teen
ARC from Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

Thoughts:

Unlike all the other dystopians out there, Renegade actually takes place underwater where an exclusive community of humans took refuge from the horrors of war that has destroyed earth. Evelyn who was chosen by Mother; the leader of the community to be the future leader always thought that her life underwater is just perfect. And although she knew that Mother is not her real mother she embraced her purpose in the community until she discovered a strange boy in her garden.

With its many twists and turns, Renegade certainly captivated me. The unpredictable plotline keeps me stuck to the pages until the very last. Just as you about to discover some truth about Evie and her relationship with Mother, another curve ball is thrown into the mix. I just wished that Gavin had a more prominent role rather than just being the romantic interest since Evie is the one making all the decisions. I love strong female protagonist but Gavin seemed clueless most of the time. There's a lot to be discovered beneath the multi-layered clues found in the pages and I'm eagerly anticipating the next in the series. Definitely a fantastic new series to watch out for!

Verdict: 4 stars.
In my Debut Author Reading Challenge 
Available on: Amazon