No spoilers in this rapid review of Archenemies by Marissa Meyer. I liked it and give it 3 stars. I was wavering between 3 and 3.5 stars and decided to write the review first and then assign a rating. Since my review leaned more toward the negative, I landed on the lower rating.
The average rating of this book is 4.33 stars on Goodreads, while the ratings of a handful of popular book bloggers are much lower than that. I won’t read their reviews until after I finish writing mine, but I can’t help but wonder if they’re on the older side of the average YA reader (just like me). This book felt young to me, and I think that’s part of the reason it didn’t resonate with me as much as other YA. Then again, there are plenty of books on the younger side of YA that I’ve enjoyed very much. So the young-ish feel can’t be the only contributing factor.
Lets be friends on Goodreads:
Part of my issue with Archenemies is that there wasn’t much plot development achieved in this middle installment. Adrian still masquerades as the Sentinel when the Renegades need an extra push battling their foes. And Nova is still a double agent working among the Renegades trying to discover inside information as well as retrieve her uncle’s powerful helmet. The Anarchists and Renegades are still at odds, although the Anarchists have developed a powerful new weapon they hope will swing the tide their way. The weapon is controversial to say the least, and the repercussions of its usage don’t sit well with Nova or Adrian.
In a nutshell, not a lot happened. Renegades wasn’t a favorite of mine to begin with, however, so I wasn’t too disappointed because I wasn’t expecting a lot out of book 2. Yet it’s always fun to check back in with characters with which I’ve spent time. And Meyer added a few interesting developments and created some fun scenes, my favorite of which was Nova’s entire visit at Adrian’s house. I thought the climax of the book was good, and the will they/won’t they discover each other’s alter ego seesaw is a fun element of superhero tales. Plus, I always enjoy reading Meyer’s straightforward, upbeat prose.
So I recommend this book to fans of Meyer’s writing style and readers on the younger side of YA. Since I didn’t get the answers I was hoping for in book 2, I’ll be back for book 3. I won’t pick it up the day it comes out, but I’ll eventually want to find out how Nova and Adrian’s tale ends.
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