Review Renegade by J.A. Souders

Title: Renegade
Author: J.A. Soulders

Published: November 13th, 2012 (Tor Teen)

Pages: 352

Source: for review
Series: The Elysium Chronicles #1

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis 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.

When I first saw the cover of Renegade it immediately had my attention. No one can say a cover isn't important! Combined with a interesting synopsis nothing was stopping me from requesting this on Netgalley! And it didn't disappoint! It isn't outstanding, but definitely nice. 

Renegade tells the story of Evelyn Winters. She's the Daughter of the People and is trained to be the leader of the underwater utopia Elysium. The world setting was good, I enjoyed it. At first I thought it was about mermaids (when I started the story), but it's about "normal" people living in an underwater world. That part of the idea I loved the most in the end. 
So, one day a surface dwellers walks into Evelyn's beloved gardens and she knows he's going to get killed. She's curious about him, so she decides to save them and, of course, falls in love with him. I liked Gavin, he's a smart and sweet boy and I really wanted him to survive! 

I liked the story overall, but I would have liked it if it hadn't only involved escaping Elysium. Evelyn knows from the beginning that Gavin won't survive unless she does something about it. So she tries to save him. And that's what the whole book is about. J.A. Soulders has a nice writing style, so I enjoyed reading the story. But I would have loved learning more about Elysium and the people in it. 

Evelyn discovers that her mind is controlled by Mother, but she has a hard time leaving her people behind. In the end she discovers that her Mother (which isn't her real mother, just adopted, and everybody calls her Mother) has done more to her than thus controlling her mind. Which made the story more interesting! Although I would have loved it if J.A. Soulders told us more about it. 

Overall, a nice story. I liked Evelyn and Gavin. Also the idea behind the world setting is pretty great! At least, I'm curious about book two!