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zaraherbst 's review for:
Renegades
by Marissa Meyer
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
"for jeffery, the first hero i ever had." aw. all their powers are just incredible but honestly i'd have chosen "the puppeteer" or "the dread warden" because i would love to turn people into mindless puppets to do my bidding especially in the renegades universe and i would enjoy turning invisible whenever. "we were all villains in the beginning." fitting start. "ace anarchy changed everything. he united the most powerful prodigies he could find and together they rebelled." mhmm. "maybe ace was really a villain. or maybe he was a visionary. maybe there's not much of a difference." i belive he was a visionary, maybe not a perfect one but he stood up for the prodigies when they were shut out from society and disregarded by everyone until he decided no, he's not going to take that anymore and he took charge for them. he created havoc and a rebellion which the governments honestly deserved but violence is never the answer until that's all that will get others attention so he did what was needed to do even if you would deem it morally incorrect. it's saddening that nova's family have to rely on her uncle alec to supply them with things that they need to survive. so nova gets her powers from her papa? "she couldn't imagine anyone needing that sort of them more than they did." shame man. "a third gunshot" EVIE?! she's literally a baby for God's sake. i can't imagine what's running through nova's mind right now like she just witnessed her parents deaths by gunshots and now she has to hide and wait for her turn, plus she has to listen to the man find her poor little sister. so her uncle alec also has powers? okay so uncle alec is ace and this is probably his and nova's "villain" origin story and understandably so like she literally watched and listened to her whole family die and she probably has survivors guilt but she still wants vengeance. "my little nightmare" aww alec!!! alec and nova's relationship!! "the dread warden's popcorn chicken—get it now before it dissappears." such smart word play, i like. okay so my opinion on the battle of gatlon, the parade is unnecessary like i know you all love the renegades for saving your town from the anarchists but it really is the town's fault because of what they insinuated about the prodigies and the day of triumph is a good thing but ace is gone and so is the age of anarchy. "let them laugh. they won't be laughing for much longer." the anarchists making a comeback on the anniversary of the battle of gallon where they unfortunately lost, i like it but there are children everywhere so i'm not completely sure about this but mocking the anarchists during the parade and labeling them "villains" just because they wanted to be treated as everyone else and not as different to everyone, now that's just your fault. nova met adrian and he fixed her bracelet for her using his power, aww!! nova had been too young to notice if there was any shock or scandal when two fo the original renegades announced that they were in love or if there was even any announcement at all." holdup, they're gay? i would've never thought but u guess opposites do attract but then how was adrian conceived unless he was adopted? i'm glad that there's no negativity about them being together. wait so "magpie" the one who attempted to steal nova's bracelet but was stopped by adrian could be evie? it makes sense because why was she clutching it like it was hers or as if she had an attachment toward it. "they would show the people of this city what anarchy was meant to look like. true freedom. true independence. for everyone." isya. i swear nothing goes right for the anarchists. nova was definitely caught off guard when she saw ace's helmet on a pike by captain chromium, like it suddenly brought back all those memories and grief. the renegades pmo. adrian is literally the nepo baby of the renegades, both his parents are part of the original renegades although he has powers, he still probably gets better treatment than the other renegades plus his power can't even really protect him much, that's why his always covered head to toe in "armor" to protect himself. who tf is the sentinel? it has to be sketch, right? of course the puppeteer had to involve himself in the parade without anyone knowing. the fact that winston only picks children to do his bidding as the puppeteer doesn't sit well with me. the fact that they call eachother by their superhero names is so childish to me. "one cannot be brave who has no fear." i can't be the only person who this doesn't make any sense to? what happened to georgia rawles aka lady indomitable who's apparently adrian's mother? i suspect that she might've died and then hugh and simon adopted him. the renegades have all this training facilities available to them and they couldn't capture or defeat nova? insane. atleast adrian feels guilty about being the cause of danna's burns but he still isn't owning up to any of it. sooner or later, they'll find out who "the sentinel" truly is. hy is adrian pretending as if he isn't "the sentinel" ? "he had to find out who she was. he had to find out what she knew. he had to find her." adrian, you really don't. why is max in quarantine?? "to the world, they were hugh everhart and simon2 westwood. superheroes. councilmen. founding members of the renegades. but to adrian, they were mostly just his dads." aw jinne. "there was a freedom in anonymity. there was power in not having to answer to anybody." so that's why he didn't want anyone to know that he is the sentinel. for some reason, i think ace is still alive somewhere. i love how lovely nova is to honey even if it's just for some honey for her tea, she's still so kind to her. "he was missing three teeth, both eyebrows and always smelled of chemicals but of all the anarchists, he had always been nova's favourite." aww, i would've never guessed it. "have you ever considered trying out? what to be a renegade?" wait because leroy is onto something. "the wounds hadn't healed, But something about completing the paperwork had left him feeling like he was no longer floating away, untethered to any family, detached from any sense of belonging. at the time, it had felt immeasurably important." aw man. if lady indomitable could fly, then how did she fall to her death? unless nova put her to sleep. eish. was nova her murderer? there's a slight chance it could have been her but then again she was too young and the card with the ambiguous phrase, "one cannot be brave without fear." it doesn't make any sense. poor adrian, he just wants justice for his mum's unsolved murder. "all revolutions come with death. some must die so that others might havelife. it is a tragedy, but it is also a truth." facts spoken. "anyone who remembered the age of anarchy at all knew that wastefulness was an unforgivable crime comma no matter which side of the better they fell on." eish, and now the so-called heroes are wasting everything so that they are being worshipped. "i've seen your council's edicts. no one shall be found guilty by mere association, right? so don't threaten us, sweetheart. and good luck finding h something that will connect us to the puppeteers crimes. he was on his own today. we have nothing to do with it." ingrid ate that. frostbite and her team pmo like uce aren't even the kwaai renegades so stand down. i can't even begin to fathom how honey feels, gargoyle destroyed her bees and their hives which is just pure evil and he did that right infront of her as she begged and pleaded him to stop it like just fokof and die. what an ass and don't even get me started on frostbite trying to force a confession out of the anarchists by torturing and threatening them. ugh. "the tracks were on fire." the sentinel is back? "and if that was the only advantage she had, she was going to use it." yess nova!! "her mind settled on that one ephem word. family. she had had a family once. mom. papà. evie. when they were taken from her, she believed she'd lost everything. so much if her childhood was lost in a haze of pain and loss, mourning and anger, betrayal and a sadness so raw there were entire days in which she wouldn't summon the energy to eat, or even cry. entire nights in which shadows terrorized her, becoming murderers and monsters. there had been one source of light in those first months. the only real family she had left. uncle ace." i need to give nova the biggest hug right now. "the roaches were forty-seven members strong. last night, i killed them all." they deserved it after all like ace did what captain chromium couldn't. " so long as anarchy is synonymous with chaos and despair, the anarchists will always be synonymous with villains." leroy is so right, it's so unfair that they don't get a chance at a regular life like the other prodigies do. "was she doing this for them? for ace or evie or herself? or was she doing it for all of humanity? all the people who were too blind to see how they would be better off without the council. without the renegades." this is for the anarchists and herself, to avenge her family's and ace's death. i love nova began to open up and bond with the other anarchists. nova is filipino and italian, i would've never guessed it. nova is now "nova jean mclain", this whole situation is odd but it's their last chance and the only way. "these days, it didn’t really matter what anyone thought of his powers, not since he’d altered his own ability by giving himself the tattoos. he was no longer just sketch, a renegade and an artist. he was the sentinel, with more powers than had ever resided in one being before, at least as far as he knew. he was like no prodigy anyone had ever encountered. he had been transformed." it's honestly so interesting how passionate adrian is about the renegades and justice. "not that he cared much for genissa or any of her teammates. he hadn’t before, and seeing how they behaved toward the anarchists hadn’t sparked any great affection, either. not that he held much sympathy for the anarchists, but for frostbite and the others to act like such power-drunk bullies was unacceptable under the code that renegades were sworn to livevby. plus, seeing those destroyed beehives, even if they did belong to an enemy, had made adrian’s nose curl in disgust." i like how he doesn't hate the anarchists but doesn't hate them either, like if he cares for them to a certain extent and i admire that. even though he doesn't like the anarchists, atleast adrian is humane enough to agree that what frostbite and her crew did was inhumane and beyond out of line. "welcome to the renegades." AHHH, i knew she'd make it. "he’d completed three full issues of a comic that he titled rebel z, one he’d never shown to anyone else. In the story, twenty-six homeless street kids were kidnapped and forced to become science experiments for a madman." i have a feeling that he will be showing nova this as they get closer. "because how can we expect people to change if we don’t give them the chance to?" mhmm, hugh and simon are wise and adrian is acting a bietjie stupid by thinking that they can just search anyone's places whenever if they were a criminal. "it was her mannerisms that threatened to give her away, those little things that one did subconsciously.
the way she walked, or where she put her hands when she was standing still, or even how she fought in hand-to-hand combat. and, perhaps more than anything, the way she despised the renegades and the council, and the way that hatred could overflow from her mouth at any moment.
she would have to take care to smother those instincts. to play the game. to be one of them." i like her attention to detail and how determined she is to get her revenge, she might actually be able to fool them but on the other hand, there's adrian everhart who's obsessed with finding out nightmare's identity so... "their lives, their livelihoods? they can’t expect prodigies to do everything for them all the time." i agree with nova, having a non-prodigy police force can create more jobs and give the council a break at times. i think nova's bracelet that adrian fixed her a clasp for, will reveal her as nightmare, maybe just to adrian but i feel like that is how she'll be exposed. aw, i love how the anarchists came to visit nova at her new place. "i’ve bled rubies ever since. they’ll form on new wounds for a little while, but those tend to heal pretty fast. whereas the places where he stabbed me…they never stop bleeding. they never healed." aw man, she was so brave even though she was so young. "after the plan for nova to take out captain chromium, leroy had joked about throwing her a party afterward, to commemorate her first kill. her first. because they all assumed there would be more to follow. even nova had assumed it. so why did the thought suddenly make her uneasy? because she’d failed the mission? or was it something else." this is so sad, i think nova just wants revenge for her family and nothing else. i know she wants to gain more respect for the anarchists who have basically raised her and hold the renegades accountable for what they not only did to her but to her family and the anarchists. "i fell asleep—the very last time i ever slept. and when i woke up, there was a man with a gun. he killed them both. he killed my sister. he tried to kill me. and the renegades didn’t come... after that, every time i tried to sleep i would hear it happening all over again, until, eventually, i stopped trying. that was her origin story. the whole of it." her entire origin story is so depressing like she deserved so much better. #justicefornova "what did she train for? to destroy the renegades. to avenge her family’s deaths. to someday see ace’s vision realized—a world in which all people could be free. where the people would not be heralded over by villain gangs or the council. where prodigies would not be subjected to constant injustices and cruelty, as they had been before the age of anarchy." she should've have to feel this way like she has to destory them, she just has to come to peace with her family's deaths which obviously isn't easy to do but it's the only proper way for her to move on. "a world in which the anarchists could return to sunlight and not fear persecution for even the slightest misstep." this is what needs to happen, they need to formally come to an agreement so they all can live life fairly and peacefully together, there needs to be a treaty of sorts between the renegades and anarchists. "nova had the most peculiar urge to lift up his glasses and run her thumb across the lashes to clear it away." oh? and they were making each other grin and smile the entire time. “took you long enough, renegades. i was beginning to think i'd have to come find you myself.” what is ingrid doing? . i will show them what it’s like to work so hard for something, only to have it destroyed in minutes.” damn, she's doing her own thing now hey? ingrid did all of this fully knowing that there are kids in the library, not just them. "she was acting the part of the renegade not so she could teach them a lesson today or tomorrow. not so she could undermine a single mission or take out a single team. she would bring about the end of the renegades. she would take down the council. she would avenge the family they had sworn, and failed, to protect. her family." no man, i know that she feels as if she has to do this to make peace with their deaths but there are better ways. "the sickening thought came to her, unbidden. ingrid had achieved her goal. she had killed adrian everhart." no, it can't be. fucking ingrid. "she wasn’t even sure what those feelings were. but she couldn’t deny that she was glad adrian everhart was alive. she was glad that his smile was just as warm and relaxed now, after an extremely trying day, as it had been at the parade. she was glad…well, maybe she was just glad." we all know that there is more than one reason that she's glad. "what really mattered to her? the bracelet her father had made, and the safety of the anarchists. her family." can you even consider ingrid family after this absolute shit she pulled? "you wouldn’t have had the nerve to go through with it! you never follow through. you never pull the trigger when it counts, nova. you might
be ace’s niece, but you are not one of us!” ingrid, just respectfully stfu. “you lost us the librarian. you brought the renegades to our door. if anyone is no longer an anarchist, it’s you.” isya, leroy you tell her. "they never tried to keep it a secret. but despite knowing the facts of their alter egos, there had always been a disconnect in his mind. a gap between the superheroes the world idolized and the adoptive dads who wore sweatpants and stained t-shirts and who had a monthly tradition of eating an entire tray of cinnamon rolls for dinner while watching cheesy sci-fi movies." loving this dynamic. "the question felt more personal than professional. a father disappointed that his son had broken a promise." aw jiinne. "truthfully, she couldn’t imagine a better assignment. entry into their arms database and computer systems? irresistible. anything that could speed up the process of uncovering new, useful information would be gratefully welcomed at this point." she's plotting already... "how does a prodigy who can fly fall off a building?" lady indomitable's death makes no sense. “they were prodigies. villains. members of the roaches. the roaches. the same gang that had ordered the death of her family." oh damn, max's parents were part of the roaches gang and they attempted to throw him off the bridge as a newborn. what a truly evil group of humans, i know max's power could've hurt them but still. "oscar was protecting his own plate from her as she attempted to stab one of his black olives with her fork." the olive theory♡ "we don’t ever want anyone to feel like they’re torn between the renegades and their family." that's so smart but unfortunately nova has no family. "choosing to sacrifice winston to their enemies. he had every reason to despise her now. he had every reason to betray her." but he kept his mouth? why? "nope. no last name. just noreen." winston makes it incredibly obvious that he's lying. "she kept her eyes on him, wishing he would look up at her, wishing she could convey that she was sorry, and that she did remember those times, all those sleepless nights when he had made her laugh, and how much that had meant to her." i feel bad for winston but at the same time i don't. "nova felt like her heart was being torn apart. for the past number of years she’d thought of winston as little more than a nuisance, but he was right. they had been friends when she was young. how had they lost that? how had she become such a…such an anarchist?" eish. "the tranquillity that came with being alone, but also the knowledge that she wasn’t, not really. even if she was surrounded by her enemies, there was a strange sort of comfort in that thought." i understand her fully. "IN CONNECTION WITH MULTI-VICTIM MURDER KINGSBOROUGH APARTMENTS. SEE SUMMARIZED REPORT. kingsborough apartments. she had lived in the Kingsborough apartments." fuck. "it brought up a summary drafted by hugh everhart—captain chromium himself—dated the night of her family’s murders. the night of. mere hours after it happened nova’s heart thundered. he had been there. he had been there that night. but he had been too late." what if he managed to save her family? where would she be now? "the renegades knew her family was being
threatened. captain chromium knew they might be targeted, and yet he had failed to save them. he was too late. could it be that the full report was confidential because he recognized his own ineptness? was he so embarrassed to have failed to save this family that he would hide it from the world?" i think he was ashamed that he couldn't help them and didn't want to be painted in a bad light. the renegades could've looked out for them, maybe they were but they weren't completely focused. "they were not superheroes. they were frauds, and this whole system that was meant to protect and serve was nothing more than a failed social experiment. she could see now that many renegades had good intentions—adrian was proof enough—but it didn’t change the fact that their society was not being run by strong, competent leaders, but by dictators who had put themselves in this position of power without cause, and now had no idea what to do with it." i don't completely agree with this, i think that nova is just currently enraged by all this new, sudden information. "and, did she have a boyfriend?" aw, adrian likes her!! "she was inside the quarantine." girl, i know you want help max but it's called quarantine for a reason. "this fantasy of sneaking into nova’s cubicle while she was gone and laying out the spread of sandwiches and napkins like a picnic. he could even draw
some candles, except that would probably be too much, and he didn’t want her to think this was, like, a romantic thing. except a part of him sort of did." this all makes me smile so much. "he decided in that moment that he wouldn’t regret the decision to go in after her. even if he never drew another picture, even if all the powers of the sentinel were gone forever, he wouldn’t regret it, so long as she was okay." all for nova? "once past the door, his vision attached itself to nova. he could reach her. he had to reach her." just to help her, i know he probably wanted to save her power but he didn't hesitate to help her. wait so if i'm understanding correctly, max's power, "absorption" is quite literally him just sucking up every prodigies power or people's energy until they're dead? thatz honestly insane, that's probably why he's in quarantine and has so much powers. “it’s because he…he steals powers. when he gets close to a prodigy, they start to lose their abilities. their powers just … fade away. the closer they get to max, and the more time they spend in his presence, the more likely it is that...that the effects will be permanent.” i knew it. "he gulped, and realized then that he was still touching her, a hand on her arm, the other on her back. she hadn’t moved away, but now that he could feel every sensation through his hands again, he became intensely aware of it. the soft fabric of the uniform. the warmth of her skin through the cloth. he remembered taking her hand at the parade, drawing on her wrist, and how he’d been so blithe about it at the time. how it had seemed like nothing at all—just something nice to do for a stranger. but now the idea of drawing on the inside of her wrist seemed unforgivably personal." the slow burn is definitely slow-burning. “ace anarchy, he stole that power from ace anarchy.” JAW DROPPED. max got his telekinesis ability from ace? what a twist! danna and nova's developing relationship is so wholesome like it's like danna is looking out for nova and just like a mentor to her. "the things was, when adrian was around, she was finding it more and more difficult to keep her eyes scanning for exits and resources, or her senses attuned to potential threats, when all she really wanted to do was study him. she wanted to know how he managed to strike that balance between self-assured and humble. relaxed, yet focused. when he was drawing, she wanted only to watch the quick, agile movements of his hands. when he was smiling, she found herself holding her breath to see if the smile would brighten enough to show off those elusive dimples. when he was looking at her, she felt compelled to look back. and also, illogically, to look away. all of it combined made her far too annoyed with his presence. it was attraction, pure and simple." AHHHH. i like how nova and adrian both have secret identities, it's even more proof that they're endgame. “have you completely turned your back on us yet, or are you still holding on to the charade that you’re on our side?" ingrid, just stop. "once past the door, his vision attached itself to nova. he could reach her. he had to reach her." adrian caring about nova is so so sweet, aww. "because of the renegades, humanity was becoming weak and pathetic, as she had once been weak and pathetic. waiting in the darkness of that closet, listening as her sister’s cries were silenced. so hopeful, so trustworthy, believing with all her heart that the renegades would come. but they were false idols. liars and cheats." nova is correct, people cannot just rely on the renegades for every problem. “should we open a hero-training course, open to non-prodigies? teach them ethics and martial arts and…i don’t know. bravery. do you think you can teach someone to be brave?" this is such a good idea omg, so people who aren't prodigies can also help the city. "the world was fine before prodigies got involved with it. it would be fine again. as it is, it’s always going to be this way. prodigies will always be at odds with one another, always fighting for power and dominance, and normal people will always suffer for it." true. "she began to wonder why ruby and oscar and danna hadn’t joined them. she began to wonder why adrian had asked her to join him, and not one of his more experienced teammates. she began to wonder whether this whole day wasn’t really about finding nightmare at all." nova finally using her thinking skills. “was this a date?" aw. "no—he was beaming, lit up from the inside. he caught her eye, and nova’s insides clenched. she had been aware that he was handsome from the start, but something about him in that exact moment went far beyond handsome. she told herself it was the lighting in the tent. it was half delirium because she hadn’t eaten any lunch yet. it was…it was just adrian. with that ease that nova couldn’t comprehend. a brightness that seemed at odds with everything she’d ever known. they stared at each other, and nova’s heart started doing acrobatics inside her chest." so sweet. "if adrian liked her—really liked her—it was only because he didn’t really know her. he would never like the girl beneath the lie. he would never like nova artino. and it didn’t matter to her anyway, because she could never fall for a renegade." he would and so would you!! "well. this was the first time a girl’s ever won me an enormous stuffed dread warden doll, so…you tell me." i love how awkward and nervous they get around each other but in such a comfortable way. "he was a renegade. he was her enemy." no. "not every prodigy deserves their powers. it’s because of villains like her that we need agent n." agent n? "an antidote, he’d called it. an antidote that had to do with max. the bandit. the kid who could steal powers…who had stolen ace’s power." makes sense. "she knew what they were developing behind closed doors. the renegades wanted a way to rid prodigies of their powers. a way to punish any prodigy who didn’t join them." this is beyond cruel. "but nothing would change so long as the council was in charge. this, she knew. they would go on getting stronger. the people would go on getting weaker. and no one else would recognize how flawed this system was until it was too late. during her time with the renegades, nova had started to lose herself. but not anymore." okay, nova and adrian need to reveal their alternate identities to each other like now so that they can convince the council to stop their nonsense and shit plans. "i knew you would do well, my little nightmare." ace is alive?!?! the whole fake attack thing between ingrid and nightmare was smart but also stupid like why would she tell adrian that they faked it and then switch the story up again? fable review: my full review cannot fit in here so here we go! this is such a unique but fulfilling story. we were being fed by all the stolen glances and conversations between adrian and nova and we got it as a sub-plot!! the action is here is so well described and uniquely written. all the characters and storyline add up and make absolute sense but that cliffhanger though-
the way she walked, or where she put her hands when she was standing still, or even how she fought in hand-to-hand combat. and, perhaps more than anything, the way she despised the renegades and the council, and the way that hatred could overflow from her mouth at any moment.
she would have to take care to smother those instincts. to play the game. to be one of them." i like her attention to detail and how determined she is to get her revenge, she might actually be able to fool them but on the other hand, there's adrian everhart who's obsessed with finding out nightmare's identity so... "their lives, their livelihoods? they can’t expect prodigies to do everything for them all the time." i agree with nova, having a non-prodigy police force can create more jobs and give the council a break at times. i think nova's bracelet that adrian fixed her a clasp for, will reveal her as nightmare, maybe just to adrian but i feel like that is how she'll be exposed. aw, i love how the anarchists came to visit nova at her new place. "i’ve bled rubies ever since. they’ll form on new wounds for a little while, but those tend to heal pretty fast. whereas the places where he stabbed me…they never stop bleeding. they never healed." aw man, she was so brave even though she was so young. "after the plan for nova to take out captain chromium, leroy had joked about throwing her a party afterward, to commemorate her first kill. her first. because they all assumed there would be more to follow. even nova had assumed it. so why did the thought suddenly make her uneasy? because she’d failed the mission? or was it something else." this is so sad, i think nova just wants revenge for her family and nothing else. i know she wants to gain more respect for the anarchists who have basically raised her and hold the renegades accountable for what they not only did to her but to her family and the anarchists. "i fell asleep—the very last time i ever slept. and when i woke up, there was a man with a gun. he killed them both. he killed my sister. he tried to kill me. and the renegades didn’t come... after that, every time i tried to sleep i would hear it happening all over again, until, eventually, i stopped trying. that was her origin story. the whole of it." her entire origin story is so depressing like she deserved so much better. #justicefornova "what did she train for? to destroy the renegades. to avenge her family’s deaths. to someday see ace’s vision realized—a world in which all people could be free. where the people would not be heralded over by villain gangs or the council. where prodigies would not be subjected to constant injustices and cruelty, as they had been before the age of anarchy." she should've have to feel this way like she has to destory them, she just has to come to peace with her family's deaths which obviously isn't easy to do but it's the only proper way for her to move on. "a world in which the anarchists could return to sunlight and not fear persecution for even the slightest misstep." this is what needs to happen, they need to formally come to an agreement so they all can live life fairly and peacefully together, there needs to be a treaty of sorts between the renegades and anarchists. "nova had the most peculiar urge to lift up his glasses and run her thumb across the lashes to clear it away." oh? and they were making each other grin and smile the entire time. “took you long enough, renegades. i was beginning to think i'd have to come find you myself.” what is ingrid doing? . i will show them what it’s like to work so hard for something, only to have it destroyed in minutes.” damn, she's doing her own thing now hey? ingrid did all of this fully knowing that there are kids in the library, not just them. "she was acting the part of the renegade not so she could teach them a lesson today or tomorrow. not so she could undermine a single mission or take out a single team. she would bring about the end of the renegades. she would take down the council. she would avenge the family they had sworn, and failed, to protect. her family." no man, i know that she feels as if she has to do this to make peace with their deaths but there are better ways. "the sickening thought came to her, unbidden. ingrid had achieved her goal. she had killed adrian everhart." no, it can't be. fucking ingrid. "she wasn’t even sure what those feelings were. but she couldn’t deny that she was glad adrian everhart was alive. she was glad that his smile was just as warm and relaxed now, after an extremely trying day, as it had been at the parade. she was glad…well, maybe she was just glad." we all know that there is more than one reason that she's glad. "what really mattered to her? the bracelet her father had made, and the safety of the anarchists. her family." can you even consider ingrid family after this absolute shit she pulled? "you wouldn’t have had the nerve to go through with it! you never follow through. you never pull the trigger when it counts, nova. you might
be ace’s niece, but you are not one of us!” ingrid, just respectfully stfu. “you lost us the librarian. you brought the renegades to our door. if anyone is no longer an anarchist, it’s you.” isya, leroy you tell her. "they never tried to keep it a secret. but despite knowing the facts of their alter egos, there had always been a disconnect in his mind. a gap between the superheroes the world idolized and the adoptive dads who wore sweatpants and stained t-shirts and who had a monthly tradition of eating an entire tray of cinnamon rolls for dinner while watching cheesy sci-fi movies." loving this dynamic. "the question felt more personal than professional. a father disappointed that his son had broken a promise." aw jiinne. "truthfully, she couldn’t imagine a better assignment. entry into their arms database and computer systems? irresistible. anything that could speed up the process of uncovering new, useful information would be gratefully welcomed at this point." she's plotting already... "how does a prodigy who can fly fall off a building?" lady indomitable's death makes no sense. “they were prodigies. villains. members of the roaches. the roaches. the same gang that had ordered the death of her family." oh damn, max's parents were part of the roaches gang and they attempted to throw him off the bridge as a newborn. what a truly evil group of humans, i know max's power could've hurt them but still. "oscar was protecting his own plate from her as she attempted to stab one of his black olives with her fork." the olive theory♡ "we don’t ever want anyone to feel like they’re torn between the renegades and their family." that's so smart but unfortunately nova has no family. "choosing to sacrifice winston to their enemies. he had every reason to despise her now. he had every reason to betray her." but he kept his mouth? why? "nope. no last name. just noreen." winston makes it incredibly obvious that he's lying. "she kept her eyes on him, wishing he would look up at her, wishing she could convey that she was sorry, and that she did remember those times, all those sleepless nights when he had made her laugh, and how much that had meant to her." i feel bad for winston but at the same time i don't. "nova felt like her heart was being torn apart. for the past number of years she’d thought of winston as little more than a nuisance, but he was right. they had been friends when she was young. how had they lost that? how had she become such a…such an anarchist?" eish. "the tranquillity that came with being alone, but also the knowledge that she wasn’t, not really. even if she was surrounded by her enemies, there was a strange sort of comfort in that thought." i understand her fully. "IN CONNECTION WITH MULTI-VICTIM MURDER KINGSBOROUGH APARTMENTS. SEE SUMMARIZED REPORT. kingsborough apartments. she had lived in the Kingsborough apartments." fuck. "it brought up a summary drafted by hugh everhart—captain chromium himself—dated the night of her family’s murders. the night of. mere hours after it happened nova’s heart thundered. he had been there. he had been there that night. but he had been too late." what if he managed to save her family? where would she be now? "the renegades knew her family was being
threatened. captain chromium knew they might be targeted, and yet he had failed to save them. he was too late. could it be that the full report was confidential because he recognized his own ineptness? was he so embarrassed to have failed to save this family that he would hide it from the world?" i think he was ashamed that he couldn't help them and didn't want to be painted in a bad light. the renegades could've looked out for them, maybe they were but they weren't completely focused. "they were not superheroes. they were frauds, and this whole system that was meant to protect and serve was nothing more than a failed social experiment. she could see now that many renegades had good intentions—adrian was proof enough—but it didn’t change the fact that their society was not being run by strong, competent leaders, but by dictators who had put themselves in this position of power without cause, and now had no idea what to do with it." i don't completely agree with this, i think that nova is just currently enraged by all this new, sudden information. "and, did she have a boyfriend?" aw, adrian likes her!! "she was inside the quarantine." girl, i know you want help max but it's called quarantine for a reason. "this fantasy of sneaking into nova’s cubicle while she was gone and laying out the spread of sandwiches and napkins like a picnic. he could even draw
some candles, except that would probably be too much, and he didn’t want her to think this was, like, a romantic thing. except a part of him sort of did." this all makes me smile so much. "he decided in that moment that he wouldn’t regret the decision to go in after her. even if he never drew another picture, even if all the powers of the sentinel were gone forever, he wouldn’t regret it, so long as she was okay." all for nova? "once past the door, his vision attached itself to nova. he could reach her. he had to reach her." just to help her, i know he probably wanted to save her power but he didn't hesitate to help her. wait so if i'm understanding correctly, max's power, "absorption" is quite literally him just sucking up every prodigies power or people's energy until they're dead? thatz honestly insane, that's probably why he's in quarantine and has so much powers. “it’s because he…he steals powers. when he gets close to a prodigy, they start to lose their abilities. their powers just … fade away. the closer they get to max, and the more time they spend in his presence, the more likely it is that...that the effects will be permanent.” i knew it. "he gulped, and realized then that he was still touching her, a hand on her arm, the other on her back. she hadn’t moved away, but now that he could feel every sensation through his hands again, he became intensely aware of it. the soft fabric of the uniform. the warmth of her skin through the cloth. he remembered taking her hand at the parade, drawing on her wrist, and how he’d been so blithe about it at the time. how it had seemed like nothing at all—just something nice to do for a stranger. but now the idea of drawing on the inside of her wrist seemed unforgivably personal." the slow burn is definitely slow-burning. “ace anarchy, he stole that power from ace anarchy.” JAW DROPPED. max got his telekinesis ability from ace? what a twist! danna and nova's developing relationship is so wholesome like it's like danna is looking out for nova and just like a mentor to her. "the things was, when adrian was around, she was finding it more and more difficult to keep her eyes scanning for exits and resources, or her senses attuned to potential threats, when all she really wanted to do was study him. she wanted to know how he managed to strike that balance between self-assured and humble. relaxed, yet focused. when he was drawing, she wanted only to watch the quick, agile movements of his hands. when he was smiling, she found herself holding her breath to see if the smile would brighten enough to show off those elusive dimples. when he was looking at her, she felt compelled to look back. and also, illogically, to look away. all of it combined made her far too annoyed with his presence. it was attraction, pure and simple." AHHHH. i like how nova and adrian both have secret identities, it's even more proof that they're endgame. “have you completely turned your back on us yet, or are you still holding on to the charade that you’re on our side?" ingrid, just stop. "once past the door, his vision attached itself to nova. he could reach her. he had to reach her." adrian caring about nova is so so sweet, aww. "because of the renegades, humanity was becoming weak and pathetic, as she had once been weak and pathetic. waiting in the darkness of that closet, listening as her sister’s cries were silenced. so hopeful, so trustworthy, believing with all her heart that the renegades would come. but they were false idols. liars and cheats." nova is correct, people cannot just rely on the renegades for every problem. “should we open a hero-training course, open to non-prodigies? teach them ethics and martial arts and…i don’t know. bravery. do you think you can teach someone to be brave?" this is such a good idea omg, so people who aren't prodigies can also help the city. "the world was fine before prodigies got involved with it. it would be fine again. as it is, it’s always going to be this way. prodigies will always be at odds with one another, always fighting for power and dominance, and normal people will always suffer for it." true. "she began to wonder why ruby and oscar and danna hadn’t joined them. she began to wonder why adrian had asked her to join him, and not one of his more experienced teammates. she began to wonder whether this whole day wasn’t really about finding nightmare at all." nova finally using her thinking skills. “was this a date?" aw. "no—he was beaming, lit up from the inside. he caught her eye, and nova’s insides clenched. she had been aware that he was handsome from the start, but something about him in that exact moment went far beyond handsome. she told herself it was the lighting in the tent. it was half delirium because she hadn’t eaten any lunch yet. it was…it was just adrian. with that ease that nova couldn’t comprehend. a brightness that seemed at odds with everything she’d ever known. they stared at each other, and nova’s heart started doing acrobatics inside her chest." so sweet. "if adrian liked her—really liked her—it was only because he didn’t really know her. he would never like the girl beneath the lie. he would never like nova artino. and it didn’t matter to her anyway, because she could never fall for a renegade." he would and so would you!! "well. this was the first time a girl’s ever won me an enormous stuffed dread warden doll, so…you tell me." i love how awkward and nervous they get around each other but in such a comfortable way. "he was a renegade. he was her enemy." no. "not every prodigy deserves their powers. it’s because of villains like her that we need agent n." agent n? "an antidote, he’d called it. an antidote that had to do with max. the bandit. the kid who could steal powers…who had stolen ace’s power." makes sense. "she knew what they were developing behind closed doors. the renegades wanted a way to rid prodigies of their powers. a way to punish any prodigy who didn’t join them." this is beyond cruel. "but nothing would change so long as the council was in charge. this, she knew. they would go on getting stronger. the people would go on getting weaker. and no one else would recognize how flawed this system was until it was too late. during her time with the renegades, nova had started to lose herself. but not anymore." okay, nova and adrian need to reveal their alternate identities to each other like now so that they can convince the council to stop their nonsense and shit plans. "i knew you would do well, my little nightmare." ace is alive?!?! the whole fake attack thing between ingrid and nightmare was smart but also stupid like why would she tell adrian that they faked it and then switch the story up again? fable review: my full review cannot fit in here so here we go! this is such a unique but fulfilling story. we were being fed by all the stolen glances and conversations between adrian and nova and we got it as a sub-plot!! the action is here is so well described and uniquely written. all the characters and storyline add up and make absolute sense but that cliffhanger though-