Renegade

September 10, 2012
Life in underwater Elysium is “just about perfect” for 16-year-old Evelyn, the adopted Daughter of the People, who is being groomed by Mother, the community’s leader, to take over this genetically managed refuge for humanity. Evelyn, like her fellow citizens, has been raised to despise the savage, corrupt Surface Dwellers, but after Surface Dweller Gavin suddenly appears from what’s left of North America, cracks develop in Elysium’s perfection (readers becomes aware of these cracks well before Evelyn does, especially after one of her suitors is murdered in cold blood, and Evelyn remembers nothing afterward). A fervid Romeo-Juliet relationship sparks between Gavin and Evelyn, who tries to outwit Mother in a protracted, violent chase. Debut author Souders addresses antiwar, socioeconomic, and ecological themes in addition to the main issue of adolescent rebellion against crazed authority, but a profusion of coincidences and inconsistencies (Evelyn’s only “true friend” provides critical help on multiple occasions, yet isn’t mentioned until nearly halfway in; nanotechnology and DNA cameras coexist oddly with references to Colt guns and iced soy chai lattes) are jarring. Ages 13–up. Agent: Natalie Fischer Lakosil, Bradford Literary Agency.

September 15, 2012
In yet another grim, dystopian near-future, another pair of star-crossed lovers resists a megalomaniacal overlord. Mother is Governess of Elysium, a society of blond, blue-eyed citizens who live in a small, technologically advanced underwater enclave. Mother is also the adoptive mother of protagonist Evelyn, who tends her garden and looks forward to Coupling with a genetically approved suitor. "My life," she tells readers repeatedly, "is just about perfect." But it's not. In Chapter 1, Timothy, her favorite suitor, is brutally murdered before her eyes for touching her before their coupling has been approved. In Chapter 2, she has forgotten Timothy entirely. This is good, because along comes Gavin, a Surface Dweller who has improbably stumbled into Elysium and to whom she is instantly attracted. Contrivance piles upon contrivance. Evie interrogates Gavin; Evie decides to help Gavin escape; Evie discovers that Mother has been erasing her memories selectively for years. While this last concept is undoubtedly intriguing, Souders buries it in banal dialogue, ludicrously choreographed action and a thoroughly tedious romance. She offers little worldbuilding to compensate, leaving readers almost entirely unmoored (except for the inevitable diary, discovered right when the plot needs it). As the bodies pile up, readers should join Evie in her dawning horror at what Mother has wrought; instead, those who have stuck with her will just be dying to escape. (Dystopian romance. 12-16)

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January 1, 2013

Gr 7 Up-Evelyn Winters's life is just about perfect-or so she's been brainwashed to believe. As Daughter of the People of Elysium, an underwater utopia, she seemingly lives a life of luxury. The Leader of the People, her Mother, is training her to take over one day and manage the isolated community. When Gavin, a Surface Dweller, infiltrates Elysium, everything Evie's ever been taught begins to unravel. Her memories can't be right. Her life, her Law, her world, isn't perfect. Scores of people who have created "problems" are simply killed-and Mother is behind it all. Evie has to escape. Renegade is a creepier, underwater version of the Society in Ally Condie's Matched (Dutton, 2010). Souders creates an unsettling tone with the repetition of Evie's rote internal dialogue. First in a trilogy, Renegade is another dark and exciting YA novel about how striving for perfection leads to murder and manipulation. The love story between Gavin and Evie is lackluster, but the action mostly makes up for it. A solid recommendation for fans of dystopian fiction.-Emily Chornomaz, Camden County Library System, NJ

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2012
Grades 8-11 In the underwater utopia Elysium, 16-year-old Evelyn Winter's life is nearly perfect. After all, she is the coddled, trained, and admired Daughter of the People, chosen for her ideal genes to lead Elysium's inhabitants. So why does Evie occasionally have strange, disjointed flashbacks and the feeling that she is often forgetting something? When surface dweller Gavin Hunter accidentally stumbles upon Evie's world, everything that Evie thought she knew about herself, her land, and the woman she calls Mother is turned upside down. Will Evie's training help or hinder her quest for the truth? The romance between Evie and Gavin falls a little flat, with an unlikely speed to their relationship and the unnecessary inclusion of a mild love triangle. Still, Souders' exciting, suspenseful, and action-packed debut novel will be a welcome addition to any library's dystopia collection. Hand this to fans of Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, and Scott Westerfeld.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)