[Asis’ Review] ARCHENEMIES by Marissa Meyer

Archenemies
by Marissa Meyer
Series: Renegades #2
Pages: 474
Published by Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: November 6th 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, YA
Source: Retailer
Format Read: Hardcover
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Time is running out. Together, they can save the world. But are they each other's worst nightmare?

Nova's double life is about to get a lot more complicated:

As Insomnia, she is a full-fledged member of the Renegades, a syndicate of powerful and beloved superheroes. She works with Adrian's patrol unit to protect the weak and maintain order in Gatlon City.

As Nightmare, she is an Anarchist—a group of villains who is determined to destroy the Renegades. Nova wants vengeance against the so-called heroes who once failed her when she needed them the most.

But as Nova, her feelings for Adrian are deepening, despite the fact that he is the son of her sworn enemies and, unbeknownst to Nova, he has some dangerous secrets of his own.

In this second installment of the Renegades trilogy, Nova, Adrian, and the rest of their crew—Ruby, Oscar, and Danna—are faced with escalating crime in Gatlon City, while covert weapons and conflicting missions have Nova and Adrian questioning not only their beliefs about justice but also the feelings they have for each other.

The line between good and evil has been blurred, but what's clear to them both is that too much power could mean the end of their City—and the world—as they know it.

The writing of this author apparently gets an A+ from me every time, but I think everyone already knows that.

This story felt a little slower than the first one at times, I felt we had more constant action on Renegades. But on Archenemies, we actually get a lot more of the politics and social climate that Gatlon has under the Renegades’ rule, which was super interesting.

“It’s not all black and white, good and bad. Peoples actions…their motives…there are” – he circled his hands in the air – “gray areas.”

Still, we did get some EXCELLENT action and much-anticipated romance. The last maybe 20% of the book was simply the exact definition of EPIC. I remember my heart was beating out of my chest and I ended up taking a walk because it was just SO GOOD and SOOO intense and nerve-wracking, all that action had me on edge.

I’ve said before that Nova is one of my favorite heroines of all time and I still stand by that. She’s amazing and she has all my love and admiration. Though I have to say, all those lies to Adrian are getting SO stressful and it reached a point where it’s being just heartbreaking for me. Adrian totally has my heart at this point, he is so sweet and just so generally good. His storyline got even better this time around and it made me have mad respect and love for him.

“I guess I figured you deserve to have good dreams once in a while. Even if you never sleep.“

We get to see more of Adrian’s parents and I gotta say, when they’re not fucking up the city they lead, I actually really, really love them.

We get to see some very interesting points and arguments being made, and the ones stated in the first book are expanded. All these ideas about heroes and self-sufficiency and anarchism and power… they really make you think and it’s one of the things I appreciate the most about this trilogy.

“Once we have total power, what’s to keep us from becoming villains ourselves?”

Adrian’s squad of Renegades fascinates me more every time. Marissa’s characters are always incredibly well-developed and dimensional and being on a journey with them is always unique and fantastic.

As I’ve said before, some of these powers are amazing and I loved being able to delve more into them in this book and into how the characters use them.

“That’s human nature, isn’t it? People want to put someone on a pedestal. Maybe it gives them something to dream about.”

Max is —I think —, like, everyone’s favorite character and for a damn good reason. Most of my favorite and some of the most important scenes of this book were his. He made me laugh, love, and cry rivers of tears lol And I can just already feel how his character will be decisive for SO MUCH on the third book and I am MADE of questions, yearning for that finale.

There’s so much conflict set up for the next book and I am dying to see how Marissa will make it all come together. My head is exploding just thinking about it. I cannot even begin to try and imagine how things are gonna wrap up cause it feels impossible to have a good outcome. I know the final book is going to be even more nerve-wracking, epic and satisfying and I really can NOT wait.