Review: Renegade (J.A. Souders)

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.

Hardcover, 364 pages
Published November 13th 2012 by Tor Teen

J.A. Souders was born in the heartland with an overactive imagination and an over abundance of curiosity that was always getting her into trouble. Because she never grew up, she decided she’d put her imaginary friends to work and started writing. She now lives in the land of sunshine and palm trees with her husband and their two children and is an active member of the RWA, SFWA, YARWA and SCBWI.
She is represented by Natalie Lakosil of the Bradford Literary Agency and her debut novel, RENEGADE, will be released Fall 2012.

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I went into Renegade not really quite sure of what it was about...I read some others reviews and could tell that it was definitely Dystopian so of course I had to read it.

Let me first say that the cover is COMPLETELY gorgeous and is a perfect portrayal of what I had imagined for Evie. I love the soft blue colors and the fact that she is holding the rose and looks so innocent...PERFECT COVER...

The first couple of chapters were a little hard for me to wrap my head around..and only because Evelyn seemed like a robot. Everything seemed to "goody-goody" to be realistic. Once I continued reading I realized that this was the entire purpose of the story. WOW...I seriously could not put this book down...
From the first few chapters I was hooked. The whole "sunny bright everything is perfect" concept in the first chapter got me. I knew that it meant something badddd was going to happen and I dived into the book to find out what..I found myself turning pages late into the night..

The whole world of Elysium is breathtakingly fascinating...The whole under water-new world concept immediately grabbed me. I couldn't wait to find out how this was possible, how they survived this long, and the story explains it all.

Evelyn, also known as Evie, starts the story out describing her perfect world and life. She is so sweet and innocent and then almost immediately the story is thrown into turmoil and pain. It completely shocked me. I mean wow...

Then comes the other main character, Gavin. Ah, Gavin....He is ruggedly handsome and a Surface Dweller. He has broken in to their secret world and this is unacceptable. As in all good stories it is good vs evil and as far as Evie knows..Gavin is evil..He is the abomination known as Surface Dwellers and must be stopped. Little do they know there is a bigger "Evil" to come...

"Mother", as she is known to the her people, places Evie in charge of Gavin's interrogation. She hopes to discover how he reached their underwater world and how he got in. Of course, she has ulterior motives...

AS soon as Evie and Gavin meet you can immediately tell it is a romance written in the stars. I loved the way they grew to each other and the way they affected each other. The moments they had were mesmerizing.

This book has so many twists and turns that I am afraid I may give away to much...It was just so awesome and I loved it. I loved how creepy "Mother" is and how she ended up......
HA! Nope sorry..Not giving that one away! You will have to read for yourself! I cannot wait to read the sequel... I have no idea where J.A. Sounders might take the story next but I cant wait to find out!!