J.A. Souders hit the ground running with Renegade. This was the first book I have had the pleasure of reading of hers and let me tell you, it kind of knocked my socks off. The plot is creeptastic and just plain mind blowing. In my opinion anyways. I enjoyed the characters but I think the real superstar here is the world and the masterful writing of J.A. Souders. 
 If I had to describe the leader of Elyisum, who is called Mother, in one word it would be twisted. She is power hungry, and ruthless and super twisted! I was so creeped out by her, but at the same time I was so impressed with the way J.A. Souders had everything planned out. She may have been an evil villain, but Mother was a super villain. Mother was grooming Evie as her daughter, but Evie has a lot of spunk in her when she is not being controlled. That was my favorite part about her. I liked her at the start of the book, but by the end of Renegade I loved her. Rounding out the cast of characters was my favorite of all- Gavin. He is my adorable little southern guy. I couldn't get enough of him. He just seemed so real. His emotions, his reactions, it was all so believable. 
 The most awesome part of Renegade is the plot. Trust me when I tell you that J.A. Souders is a master at plot weaving. She threw twists and turns at us, kept the plot going at a very brisk pace and gave incredible detail to Elusium. And I loved her writing style. The use of repetition with the chapters was so unique and it grabbed me right away. I was sucked into the creepy world of Renegade and I loved every minute of it. This is such a great dystopian story. It seems like there are so many dystopians popping up all over the place and so many of them are just so-so. Renegade is a cut above the rest. It was twisted, and scary, and one heck of a ride. I kept thinking the book couldn't get any better and then it did. It just builds and builds and builds. Renegade is a must read for any fan of dystopian.