One stunning book follows another. Ever since I finished the first book, by J. A. Sounders, Renegade, I have developed an interest in fantasy books. In Renegade, a girl named Evelyn esca
pes from her mother’s horrible realm, Elysium, with her friend Gavin. But now that she’s on the ‘Surface’, she has no memories whatsoever of Elysium… or Gavin. Evelyn is determined to get her memories back on track, but that means risking her life to go back to the Elysium. She doesn’t want to risk it, but at the same time, she needs to find her true self- it seems clear that she doesn’t fit in on the Surface. Slowly, she starts to long for a real home, such as Elysium. Because of her lack of memory, she doesn’t remember how her mother has threatened to kill her, nor how she had been nearly killed when she escaped with Gavin.
Like the first book, this was very breath-taking and surprising. But I have to say that it was kind of disappointing. Instead of a strong woman, Evelyn turned all whiny. And, when people usually rely on her, she now relies on others to lead her through the hardship of life. According to the doctor, Evelyn just needs time to rest, and her memories will slowly come back to her. That doesn’t exactly make sense if you have read the first book when Evelyn’s mother told her that she will forget everything forever if she sets her foot on the Surface.
However, it was also very suspenseful, and it does, in fact, have a lot of detail, compared to the first book. J. A. Sounders is a very good author, and I look up to her writing. I hope I will enjoy the next book as much as her first and second!
If I were J. A. Sounders, I would make Evelyn much stronger, and with more determination, because she’s never sure about a decision. It’s either, maybe this or maybe that.
I recommend this book for people between ages 11-15, but if you don’t like fantasy that much, I don’t recommend you read this. It requires a lot of imagination. Especially when Evelyn gets in trouble, and when coincidences surprisingly happen out of nowhere. I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5.
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