Archenemies Review! // ahhhhh the romance is destroying me

Hi friends! I’m here to talk about a book that should have been read and reviewed about, oh, eight months ago.

At this rate I’m going to be late to my own funeral.

But I’m also kind of happy I waited, because now I only have to wait 4 months for the last book in the series!

The Renegades Trilogy continues, in this fiercely awaited second installment after the New York Times-bestselling Renegades by Marissa Meyer, author of the Lunar Chronicles.

Time is running out.

Together, they can save the world.

But they each other’s worst nightmare.

In Renegades, Nova and Adrian (aka Insomnia and Sketch) fought the battle of their lives against the Anarchist known as the Detonator. It was a short-lived victory.

The Anarchists still have a secret weapon, one that Nova believes will protect her. The Renegades also have a strategy for overpowering the Anarchists, but both Nova and Adrian understand that it could mean the end of Gatlon City – and the world – as they know it.

The queen has done it again. I was super worried that Archenemies wouldn’t live up to Renegades, because middle-book syndrome is a very real and very terrible thing. But my fears were unfounded! I screamed and squealed and laughed and gasped my whole way through this story.

✨This was so morally gray, my Slytherin half* was having a field day. Adrian and Nova, our two main characters, find their own beliefs and morals questioned over and over again. The Renegades make debatable decisions throughout this novel, and we as readers start seeing that maybe they’re not as incorruptible as everyone might think.

*i have recently realized that i am not fully Gryffindor and do in fact have some Slytherin blood in me. my life has been a lie

✨The diversity is just so incredible in this series! Adrian has dark skin and glasses and two dads, Nova is Filipino-Italian, and Oscar is disabled and uses a cane to get around. And it all feels so natural and unforced. One of my most favorite moments:

“I love Italian food…my dad was Italian, and my mom used to cook pasta for us all the time because he liked it so much. It was never her specialty though. Not as good as her lumpia.

This was such a small scene but it made me smile a lot. Also, I Googled lumpia and I’ve been craving it for the past week so yeah.

✨And our cast of characters is everything.

Nova kicks butt unapologetically , using not only her powers but science. It was actually heartbreaking watching her struggle between her loyalty to her family of Anarchists and what she believes is right, and her realization that the Renegades were not all she thought they were.

Adrian is SO SWEET. Sure, he can be a little hot-headed and a little ignorant at times, but his own struggle between the Sentinel and Sketch, between blindly believing in everything the Renegades do and making his own decisions.

Oscar and Ruby were so cute! Their banter had me rolling on the floor. I WANT MORE OF THEM AND THEIR AWKWARDNESS AND SASS.

Danna played a slightly bigger role in this one, which wasn’t surprising considering that she was bed-ridden basically the entire first book. I was, however, expecting to see more of her.

Max is everything to me and I will protect him from all harm okay. If you threaten his pure soul, I will jump around yelling “AVADA KEDAVRA” while waving a shiny stick. His character arc had me melting into a puddle of feels. SO many feels!

The relationships! I couldn’t deal!

✨Adrian and Nova were slow-burn, angsty, goals. They’re also enemies-to-lovers but don’t know that they’re enemies. Nova knows they’re on technically opposite sides, but she doesn’t know he’s the Sentinel. Adrian knows nothing*. But watching them slowly fall for each other, yet not wanting to, had me feeling some type of way.

*now do you see why i called him ever so slightly ignorant?

✨And the brotherly moments between Adrian and Max were so adorable. And the entire family dynamic moments. I just really love family drama and angst and stolen fluff moments!!!

And the ending was all whoosh whoosh shebang!!! By which I mean it was a non-stop thrill ride of action and twists!

❄️Plot-wise, this was definitely more politically-focused, with less action, than Renegades. That didn’t really bother me because I was swooning over the characters but it will deter some people from reading it. Also, it can sometimes feel filler-y because it’s so character-driven.

And that’s it! This wasn’t as good as the first, in my opinion, but I still LOVED it. Am I the only one who can’t wait until Supernova comes out??? You can order this on Amazon and add it to Goodreads! Tell me if you read this!