Book Review: Supernova
Supernova by Marissa Meyer
Supernova is the last book of the Renegades trilogy. The Renegades are a faction created to restore order to Gatlon city by capturing villain anarchists whose goal is to wreak havoc. It is good to note that most Renegades and Anarchists hold different superpowers. The story revolves around Nova Artino who holds two identities. She is a member of the Renegades but secretly works undercover for the Anarchists in spite of revenge for killing her family (well, according to her perspective).
Although Nova clearly seems to side with the Anarchists at this point, her feelings about the situation get even more complicated when she develops an affection for Adrian Everhart, a dedicated Renegade, who also happens to be a sentinel, or one that operates outside of the Renegade’s jurisdiction.
As the story progresses, the Renegades and Anarchists begin fighting over the Ace helmet, a super helmet that amplifies superpowers. It becomes the main point of the story as Nova is tasked to retrieve it for the Anarchists. She does so, but not easily. In the end she successfully returns the helmet to the Anarchists.
These events push the Anarchists and Renegades into a massive battle in which just as the Anarchist leader is about to be executed, the Anarchists come in clutch and pull off a convincing victory against the Renegade forces. Many Renegades also end up losing their powers and dying. Surely a massive blow. How can they get back up?
Adrian is also taken captive in the aftermath of this battle. In order to retrieve him, the Renegades march to the Anarchist base. The anarchists demand that the Renegade captain drink a potion (that ends up not harming him) in exchange for Adrian. The Renegade captain accepts but the Anarchists still don’t return Adrian. Nova, who was working along with the Anarchists at this time, is tasked with killing Adrian. This is also where her double identity is revealed to the Renegades. The Renegades explain to Nova that the Anarchists killed her family and not the Renegades. Learning this truth, Nova sides with the Renegades in a final battle that permanently defeats the Anarchist forces.
This book was entertaining to read due to the sheer amount of action and battle scenes. However, some sections of the book dragged too much on trivial details that did not contribute much to the plot. While the superhero genre is quite typical, the book approaches it in a unique way to create a different experience. It is also nice that the main character holds a double identity since it contributes so much to the complexity and messages of this book. The themes of betrayal and loyalty are presented very nicely at the resolution and the book ends convincingly.
However, this book did have several downsides to it. Superpowers were obtained through traumatic experiences and lost in dumb ways. While the story is not supposed to be realistic, I think this is taking things too far out of the realm of sensible things. My biggest concern reading this book was that Nova could never figure out who truly killed her family and then just believed the Renegades at the end. That was the one big unconvincing scene in the story.
I would recommend this book to young readers who enjoy action-packed stories with intricate character dynamics. While not the pinnacle of the genre, it offers a fun and engaging experience that many will find enjoyable.
-Review by Teen Volunteer, 7/15/24.