Friday, April 9, 2010

Review: The Rise of Renegade X byChelsea M. Campbell

The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell -
5 out of 5 stars



Damien Locke knows his destiny--attending the university for supervillains and becoming Golden City's next professional evil genius. But when Damien discovers he's the product of his supervillain mother's one-night stand with--of all people--a superhero, his best-laid plans are ruined as he's forced to live with his superhero family.

Going to extreme lengths (and heights), The Rise of Renegade X chronicles one boy's struggles with the villainous and heroic pitfalls of growing up.


I LOVE THIS BOOK! Seriously! It's funny - really, really funny. It's action-packed. It's got angst-filled romance and life changing decisions. In short it's just awesome.

There aren't a lot of books that can make me laugh out loud, but this one had me embarrassing myself in the waiting room of the Toyota service center more than once.

Damien is one of the funniest characters I've come across in a long time. What makes him so great is his skewed way (to most us) of looking at the world. He was raised to be a villain and his take on "good deeds" and heroic actions are as fascinating as they are funny. It was a lot of fun to be inside his head as he tried to reconcile being a villain with being a good person.

While the story sounds deceptively high concept, there is a lot going on here. Damien struggles with the meaning of family, and how to love someone when they let you down, all while trying to figure out who he is and who he's going to be. All the main characters in this story are well-drawn and fleshed out. Damien's relationships with Kat, Sarah, his parents and newfound siblings are all realistic. As is the world of Golden City, a place where tourists visit with the hope of being mugged by a supervillain and saved by a superhero.

I could go on and on about how much I love this book, but that would keep you from going out and getting your own copy. What are you waiting for? Go! Now!

Cover: I think this cover is perfect despite the fact that if you read the book you'll know that that specific image would never happen. Still, I think it gives off that superhero (or supervillain) vibe and the comic book-like look lets you know it's not going to be all serious drama.

Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

4 comments:

Shannon O'Donnell said...

I have heard great, great things about this book, and it's killing me that I have to wait for it! :-)

Unknown said...

You know...by the cover, I always thought this was a graphic novel. I kept seeing it float around and it had me confused. Thanks for the review...I'll have to put it on my list now.

Monster of Books said...

Oooh a funny book,that sounds cool. Awesome review XD

Anonymous said...

I've been "following" this book for awhile from when I saw the trailer she made several months ago. It sounds fun. And lately we haven't had a lot of good funny books. Glad to hear this will the void some.

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