dissent: RENEGADES by R.J. Furness (Spoiler-free) Review

The Great Freeze changed everything… 

“Ellie loved riding the orgo. She had often dreamt about it since being a small child. Now that her father wasn’t around to voice his opinions, she finally could. Twenty years had been a long time to wait.” 

Centuries from now, during a new ice age, only three human colonies are known to exist. Scorr Tanta, the first city, is vast and resourceful, whereas Eklips is more desolate. Ellie, on the other hand, works in Port Harmony; a harbour town. As an apprentice orgo-keeper, the only highlight is getting to ride the animals that she cares for. Then, a chance skirmish at the market draws her closer to Haylee and her friends, and everything begins to change. Desperate to join them, Ellie has heard many tales about Haylee and her group of renowned warriors. What she doesn’t know, is how much danger follows them. Ellie is soon tugged into a much different world than she had first assumed. A world built on dissent, and filled with secrets. 

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When I first went into this book I had no idea what to expect. I asked myself, “What is an orgo? Are they dinosaurs?” Looking at the cover I thought maybe I was dealing with some caveman/dinosaur type of story. Based on the name, I knew there was going to be some kind of disagreement and some group considered the renegades. Those were my assumptions. What I got was an awesome story full of action and friendship!

First off, let me tell you what an orgo is. An orgo is not a dinosaur as I thought. It is an animal with thick fur that helps it keep warm in the freezing temperatures. They have a short tail, a long slender neck, and razor sharp claws. They have strong powerful back legs that allow them to run quickly. (The animal on the cover!) They were domesticated by the people of Port Harmony. Orgos are just totally awesome creatures and I really want one!

I was right about the whole caveman thing..kind of. They aren’t cavemen but there was a deep freeze that made the population resort to living in primitive conditions. They wear furs to keep warm and ride orgos for transportation. We didn’t get much on the backstory as to what caused the deep freeze or how the people survived and managed to form these colonies. I’m wondering if maybe we will get a little more on that in the next book.

My favorite chapter was about the elrupe, a species that was cast aside and left for dead by the ruler of Scorr Tanta. It broke my heart that this species was just thrown away like garbage for no reason at all. They posed no threat to anyone. They are such a kind and gentle people and I just wanted to hug them. My heart grew 3 sizes reading about them. I still don’t understand why the ruler wanted them left for dead. I’m hoping we will find out more about why in the second book.

The entire cast of characters in this book was fantastic! They all had different personalities and we got to know quite a few of them. We were made to really hate the bad guys and love the good guys. I love a book where the characters are well-rounded and have their own personalities. My favorite character definitely has to be Haylee. She’s tough, loyal, and protective! I also really liked her brother, Evan. He is kind and caring. I’m not sure how I feel about the main character Ellie just yet. She struck me the wrong way about 3/4 through the book. We will see in the next book if I start to like her more.

Overall, I think this is a fun story for all ages! I cannot wait to read the next book in the series. Also a plus is that the author, R.J., is a fantastic person! He’s so friendly and I really have enjoyed working with him. P.S. he’s running a giveaway for a signed copy of this book, a signed copy of the companion novella, Morrigan, and an orgo plush! Sign up for that giveaway here. I am giving this book a rating of 4 out of 5 stars!

Thank you to R.J. Furness for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.