The Rise of Renegade X
by Chelsea M. Campbell
Book Synopsis (from Goodreads)
Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she’s been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father’s too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he’s not a hero in any way, or else he’s stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first.
To get out of this mess, Damien has to survive his dad’s “flying lessons” that involve throwing him off the tallest building in the city–despite his nearly debilitating fear of heights–thwarting the eccentric teen scientist who insists she’s his sidekick, and keeping his supervillain girlfriend from finding out the truth. But when Damien uncovers a dastardly plot to turn all the superheroes into mindless zombie slaves, a plan hatched by his own mom, he discovers he cares about his new family more than he thought. Now he has to choose: go back to his life of villainy and let his family become zombies, or stand up to his mom and become a real hero.
Review
I was able to get an Advance Copy while attending Austin Teen Book Festival last October. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like the type of book I would read but, as soon as I read the back…I was hooked. After a couple of chapters, I was in love.
Damien is so…amazing. He has this bad kid vibe, but you know he really is good at heart.
While reading this book, I had to get used to all the weird looks I was receiving from my classmates. I got a lot of: Are you okay?, What’s wrong?, etc.
Damien, like his mother, is an evil genius. Okay…maybe not totally evil…but still. This boy did things that made my mouth drop or made me laugh hysterically or both. Things I certainly never would have thought. Things only a half villain could do. I love Damien.
The other characters are still in my mind too!!!
Such as his mom…and his dad…and his ‘sidekick’ and his ‘girl who is a friend but I might love her’.
Chelsea has created a world were villains and heroes exist…!!! And she was able to show you the life of the average superhero and the life of the average villain! It was so cool. It had me wanting to live there.
The story line was well developed too. We got to watch Damien find his true self and all the while, world domination was going on.
This book is packed with heartfelt moments, jaw dropping humor, and marvelous (dare I say kick ass?) superheroes/villains.
Had me rooting for the villains at most points might I add! Loved it. Must read.
The marvelous author of Renegade X, Chelsea Campbell, also allowed me to ask her a few (awesome?) questions and she even answered them so check out my interview with her too!