Audible : Red Rising (Audible Audio Edition) Pierce Brown, Tim Gerard Reynolds

5.0 out of 5 stars

Boodydamn amazing!

Holy Helldivers, that was a bloodydamn wild ride, and I can’t wait for the rest of it.I’ve heard a lot of comparisons for this book, including the Hunger Games and the Six Million Dollar Man. But I’ll let you be the judge of what’s what in that regard.Let’s talk synopsis first … (minor spoilers included – I’m really trying hard to not ruin any of the big stuff.)Red Rising is written from the 1st person account of Darrow, who is a “Red” – the lowest caste which is responsible for mining Helium-3 on Mars and (they believe) laying the foundations to make Mars habitable for “softer Colors”. Through a tragic series of events, he comes to realize that his life and place in society is a lie that serves to prop up the other colors in an elaborate caste system, which essentially enslaves his caste. A resistance network seeks to topple this heirarchy by making Darrow into that which has subjugated them, a Gold … but not just ANY Gold. In order to make changes to this system of slavery, he will need to be the best of the best so that he can rise within the cutthroat caste of Golds. After a painful biological transition, Darrow tests into a school in which the leaders of the Golds are forged and taught painful lessons in the ideology of “might makes right”. The question is will Darrow become the monster that he seeks to vanquish?WHAT I LOVED:Darrow is a relatable character from the beginning. He’s a 16 year old kid with all the arrogance and impulsiveness you’d expect from a teenager who has been the best within his community. And though you experience the brashness and cynicism, you also see tenderness, wonder, and vulnerability. His evolution as a character is believable. Because he’s not fighting for his *own* dream, it is understandable when he temporarily gets sidetracked from the bigger picture due to his rage against such an unfair system that has unfeelingly and unknowingly stolen everything from him. He has much to learn if he is going to overcome … “I learn more when I make mistakes, so long as they don’t kill me.”The Supporting Characters. They’re on point, y’all. The writing makes it clear that some of the worst of the characters have depth to them, whether it was in hinting at the reasons they did the terrible things they did or in showing that there was a possibility of redemption. And the journey of how Darrow acquires his allies is truly where you see his growth as a character.Honestly y’all, there’s just so much that I could rave about … but I’m an impatient sort and if you’ve stuck with me this far, you’ve probably already made up your mind about whether you want to read this. (and you really should read this.)OTHER THOUGHTS:There is a lot of worldbuilding going on here, especially in the beginning and the slang/terms used reflect that. Some readers seem to have been turned off by that, but I didn’t feel it was excessive or overly cumbersome.I’ve seen several people question whether this should be categorized as a YA book. The themes (politics, hierarchical systems, racism, power dynamics, etc.) involved are weighty. There are allusions to rape and cannibalism, and the story is rife with violence and brutality. While the ages of the characters in this book are largely in their teens, but most teenagers in our world aren’t confronted with these topics so blatantly in their day to day life. YET … isn’t the job of books and the characters in them to make us think critically about the world around us? To help us form our views about what is right and wrong, what is noble and what is dishonorable? To make us think about what we would do in their shoes? And, hopefully, to help us see the kind of people we want to be and encourage us in that that direction? While I don’t think I would want my 14 year old read this unsupervised, I think stories like this one can powerfully shape the minds of young people and adults alike when we reflect on the lessons it contains, rather than just consuming it purely for our own entertainment.How many of us seriously consider where we might fall in such a hierarchy? Do we truly look for the ways that our comfort might blind us to the suffering of others that might serve to prop up that comfort? Do we care to do so? Do we see the hypocrisy in ourselves that we see rife in some of the characters of this book? And if we feel that twinge of discomfort, do you press into that to see why or do we move on, happy to be entertained by a story?”The measure of a man is what he does when he has power.” -Plato … a common theme in this book, but I might go a step further and say that the measure of a man is what he does with the power he has. We ALL have a measure of power. How are we using that power to elicit change in ourselves and in the world around us?

25 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Mind-boggling scifi book with rich details and unthought-of plot!

So this book was a proof of my sometimes-lameness in reading certain book. I purchased the kindle copy last year, started reading it for the first time around February, and now 3 months later I just finished it after having long battle with side of me that wanted to keep putting it down. I swear this was my first time of needing such a long time to finish a fiction.I personally was in total awe with this book and Pierce Brown. Red Rising was a debut novel and the author outdid himself with all the rich details and the unthought-of plot, ever. And not to forget his imagination to build up a fantasy of the whole Mars and all its complexity, it was dead awesome. Bloodydamn. Just where did he gather the inspiration to write this trilogy?‘I was not raised in palaces. I did not ride horses through meadows and eat meals of hummingbird tongues. I was forged in the bowels of this hard world. Sharpened by hate. Strengthened by love.’(Prologue, Red Rising)Sixteen years old Darrow was a Red. A Red by all means was meant to be a slave to higher colors, specifically Gold. Sad truth Reds sat on the very bottom of society which made them slaves to every color. Darrow never dreamt of living more than what his current life offered now. He was a helldiver, the youngest in history, the best in history. He married a beautiful brave girl named Eo. He had his family all living together even though his father was long gone when he was still a kid. He thought no more than spending all his life in Lykos as Red Lambda where song and dance was the comforts to their rough life.But nothing remained forever in life.“I live for you”“Then you must live for more.”(Chapter IV, Red Rising)The day the nightmare happened, all Darrow wanted was to follow the smell of death. And that was what about to happen except a group of rebels wanted a different path for him.Away from Lykos, family, and all familiar thing back in Red ground, Darrow was shaped to a whole different form. Red Darrow was now a Gold. Well, at least that was what shown on the outside. Darrow was still Red in heart and sure he would never change. Disguised as Gold, Darrow tried a risky step to infiltrate the evil color from the inside. And just like another teenage Gold, he stepped up to join a Gold institution where he could pick a start of revenge. Little did he know that the institution wasn’t at all like its simple name. It was not a school. It was more like a life-and-death battle to be the only one ArchPrimus. Darrow used all his strength to be the said Primus and found along the way how exactly it was to be a real Gold: mean, unforgiving, and unstopped. He began to question himself about all he’d done to get the title, wondered if that would make him no less than an evil Gold. But he did it all for Red, for people back in Lykos, for every Red blood who put their faiths on his shoulder. Surely that would make a different, right? As he questioned himself that, he was faced with another surprising fact that Gold could be a loyal friend if treated right. Struggling with all these complicated dilemmas, Darrow was once again reminded by the fact that in the end, after all the torture, blood, pain, and death, it was only just a beginning.I remembered became all teary inside once I finished it. Not because the story, though, but because the fact that I was finally able to reach the last page.My first impression about Red Rising was hardcore dystopian.But first thing first, let me say something.I NEVER like dystopian book.I hate it. I do. Dystopian infuriates and depresses me at the same time. I always avoid this genre at all cost. I believe that reading is a joy where we could fully escape to the story without having to worry about being lost because we can always close the page any moment to come back. But the ‘misery’ from reading this genre seemed to haunt my soul forever no matter just when I decided to stop reading it.So we could easily conclude that I’d hate this book. What with each violence scene was being described very casually here.But here I was going to say something that would make my whole speech above pointless: I loved Red Rising.I know, I am being confusing here but this was what exactly I felt. This book had me at mental battle between loving and hating this book. I hated this book that I couldn’t stop wincing at all those miserable scenes which practically on EVERY page. Yet my mind was in a superb awestruck condition by all the details that I could not forget this book until this very second. Hell, Red Rising might be the first dystopian book that I ever loved.The author did characterizations to each character very well. Darrow was my top favorite. I loved that Pierce Brown didn’t make him as this flawless hero but simply as human who made mistakes and learned from it to be better. I loved Darrow’s way of thinking despite his young age. He was so much mature, well, being Red it was common though.The other character, Eo, also took special place in my heart. There was this one particular scene where she did something that later became the turning point of Red Rising. I loved Darrow for loving her so deep. Never once he forgot her while doing his risky mission. After all, what he’d done was all started because of Eo’s move first.‘And she may be like me— from a clan of Red earth diggers, a clan of song and dance and soil— but she could be made from air, from the ether that binds the stars in a patchwork.’(Chapter I, Red Rising)I super loved the details about Mars, how separate the life of each colors there. I kept saying about rich details here because that was what the author did. He went all out with details for everything. When devouring all these details, for a second there, I could easily forget my hope to get an HEA from this book. Clearly, the author knew very well what he wrote and what to do to engage readers to stay put until the end of the book.Anyway, there was one thing that bothered me a lot about the title.First time I read the title ‘Red Rising’, all I could think of was this book would be about Red people fighting their rights, like they were having actual war of getting justification somewhere in the middle of the book. Instead it was focusing more on the preparation of rising, like how Darrow went through all those awful phases transforming into Gold, then more about how Gold’s world worked. Gold took like 80% of the book. I kept thinking when the rising would occur only to find out on the last page that everything was just a beginning. The actual rising didn’t even really happened here. It annoyed me when the title of the book misleading what I thought about the story inside.Oh, another complaint: just how many odd terms on this book made it rather difficult sometimes for me to immerse into the story. This might be one of the reasons I kept putting it down. Just put glossary in the end of the book then problem fixed!So, despite my complaints and my speech about hating dystopian book, here I said that I loved this book, or more like awestricken by this book. I wanted so bad to read the continuation of Red’s rising under Darrow’s command but I still don’t know when I’d read the next book because clearly I needed time to recover from the torture caused by Red Rising before firing it up again with second book. Well, hopefully soon.

31 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

I’m Hooked

I’m a gamer with vivid imagination, but reading just never stuck with me from the time I was in high School. My girlfriend recommended this book to me. Mind you at 40 I seriously don’t know the last time I had a desire to read for enjoyment. I just finished this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I really hope that this gets a form of live adaptation as a series to bring this world alive to the non-readers out there so they too can enjoy what I believe is going to be a thoroughly entertaining series.

4.0 out of 5 stars

A Good Start

I think this book was overall quite interesting, a good start to a series, but not without some flaws in my opinion.I thought the introduction into this world started off extremely strong and hooked me from page one. Moving through the chapters however, I did find Darrow to be a rather dull character at times. There would be stilted sentences threaded throughout that I found to be kind of comical. Thanks to the other elements and promises of what was to come, that kept my head in the story and to keep pushing forward.I thought the major loss in the beginning, happened a little too soon for me to even care. And, the age of Darrow was also something I found myself battling. I feel like the fact that Darrow is a minor (as well as the entirety of the main cast of characters) is probably very intentional to solidify the brutality and inhumane way that this society functions….however, it was still an internal battle for me to remember that these are just teenagers in such incredibly mature situations.Anyways, I felt that the movement into the next phase of Darrow having a new mission and going behind enemy lines was well done. I felt very excited on what was to come next….but, I’m not going to lie. Once Darrow entered into The Institute I felt the writing got a little messy and chaotic. I had to pretend that it was sort of set in the past rather than the future; because these were kids being thrown into this OTT, severely unforgiving game that adults were acting as if it was all some sort of video game/soap opera.At times it was a little absurd and things did go over my head. And it was during this time that I actually starting losing focus on Darrow. He continued to appear as a very simplistic, nearly “caveman” mentality manchild…which, is fair being that he is just a teenager. But, I do feel that the writing didn’t quite support who Darrow thought he was as a character. As this is the first book in the series, I didn’t personally see Darrow exhibit anything that stood out to me as character development, but I am very eager to see how he grows in the next installments!Sevro aka Goblin was probably the character that carried this book for me. I loved him from the first scene he appeared in. He was everything I love in a character, a severe underdog that does not back down. He was a beast, period. I loved all of his contributions in scenes and seeing the little bit of his story get revealed was perfect for me. And he is one of the biggest reasons I want to keep reading this series.Victoria aka Mustang was another character that kept me going in this story as well. She was jus awesome. She kept me interested and I loved how she had her own convictions and even though she’s quite petite, she’s full of fight, and bravery. I enjoyed the influence she seemed to have over Darrow. I think she was a strong character for Darrow to learn from and look up to, throughout the story and made me like Darrow a bit when the two shared scenes.Cassius was the second MVP of this book for me. I felt that his character was solidly constructed and I loved how he stuck to his beliefs and also could back up his talk. I think his character arc made sense and I am eager to see how his story unfolds in the next installments.Even though there were certain things that I felt kind of got out of hand and the plot went a little crazy astray from what I thought I was getting into with this series…I am eager to jump into the next book. I want to see what happens now. I have high hopes that the second installment will only strengthen what foundation Brown has laid down for this series.

2 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

immersive world and heartfelt characters

The beginning was a little slow for me but once the action started I was more into the world. I felt like it reminded me of the hunger games and hope as I continue ur to read the series it will stray from that. I am rooting for Darrow and Eo’s dream. That’s what kept me reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Boodydamn amazing!

Holy Helldivers, that was a bloodydamn wild ride, and I can’t wait for the rest of it.I’ve heard a lot of comparisons for this book, including the Hunger Games and the Six Million Dollar Man. But I’ll let you be the judge of what’s what in that regard.Let’s talk synopsis first … (minor spoilers included – I’m really trying hard to not ruin any of the big stuff.)Red Rising is written from the 1st person account of Darrow, who is a “Red” – the lowest caste which is responsible for mining Helium-3 on Mars and (they believe) laying the foundations to make Mars habitable for “softer Colors”. Through a tragic series of events, he comes to realize that his life and place in society is a lie that serves to prop up the other colors in an elaborate caste system, which essentially enslaves his caste. A resistance network seeks to topple this heirarchy by making Darrow into that which has subjugated them, a Gold … but not just ANY Gold. In order to make changes to this system of slavery, he will need to be the best of the best so that he can rise within the cutthroat caste of Golds. After a painful biological transition, Darrow tests into a school in which the leaders of the Golds are forged and taught painful lessons in the ideology of “might makes right”. The question is will Darrow become the monster that he seeks to vanquish?WHAT I LOVED:Darrow is a relatable character from the beginning. He’s a 16 year old kid with all the arrogance and impulsiveness you’d expect from a teenager who has been the best within his community. And though you experience the brashness and cynicism, you also see tenderness, wonder, and vulnerability. His evolution as a character is believable. Because he’s not fighting for his *own* dream, it is understandable when he temporarily gets sidetracked from the bigger picture due to his rage against such an unfair system that has unfeelingly and unknowingly stolen everything from him. He has much to learn if he is going to overcome … “I learn more when I make mistakes, so long as they don’t kill me.”The Supporting Characters. They’re on point, y’all. The writing makes it clear that some of the worst of the characters have depth to them, whether it was in hinting at the reasons they did the terrible things they did or in showing that there was a possibility of redemption. And the journey of how Darrow acquires his allies is truly where you see his growth as a character.Honestly y’all, there’s just so much that I could rave about … but I’m an impatient sort and if you’ve stuck with me this far, you’ve probably already made up your mind about whether you want to read this. (and you really should read this.)OTHER THOUGHTS:There is a lot of worldbuilding going on here, especially in the beginning and the slang/terms used reflect that. Some readers seem to have been turned off by that, but I didn’t feel it was excessive or overly cumbersome.I’ve seen several people question whether this should be categorized as a YA book. The themes (politics, hierarchical systems, racism, power dynamics, etc.) involved are weighty. There are allusions to rape and cannibalism, and the story is rife with violence and brutality. While the ages of the characters in this book are largely in their teens, but most teenagers in our world aren’t confronted with these topics so blatantly in their day to day life. YET … isn’t the job of books and the characters in them to make us think critically about the world around us? To help us form our views about what is right and wrong, what is noble and what is dishonorable? To make us think about what we would do in their shoes? And, hopefully, to help us see the kind of people we want to be and encourage us in that that direction? While I don’t think I would want my 14 year old read this unsupervised, I think stories like this one can powerfully shape the minds of young people and adults alike when we reflect on the lessons it contains, rather than just consuming it purely for our own entertainment.How many of us seriously consider where we might fall in such a hierarchy? Do we truly look for the ways that our comfort might blind us to the suffering of others that might serve to prop up that comfort? Do we care to do so? Do we see the hypocrisy in ourselves that we see rife in some of the characters of this book? And if we feel that twinge of discomfort, do you press into that to see why or do we move on, happy to be entertained by a story?”The measure of a man is what he does when he has power.” -Plato … a common theme in this book, but I might go a step further and say that the measure of a man is what he does with the power he has. We ALL have a measure of power. How are we using that power to elicit change in ourselves and in the world around us?

25 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Mind-boggling scifi book with rich details and unthought-of plot!

So this book was a proof of my sometimes-lameness in reading certain book. I purchased the kindle copy last year, started reading it for the first time around February, and now 3 months later I just finished it after having long battle with side of me that wanted to keep putting it down. I swear this was my first time of needing such a long time to finish a fiction.I personally was in total awe with this book and Pierce Brown. Red Rising was a debut novel and the author outdid himself with all the rich details and the unthought-of plot, ever. And not to forget his imagination to build up a fantasy of the whole Mars and all its complexity, it was dead awesome. Bloodydamn. Just where did he gather the inspiration to write this trilogy?‘I was not raised in palaces. I did not ride horses through meadows and eat meals of hummingbird tongues. I was forged in the bowels of this hard world. Sharpened by hate. Strengthened by love.’(Prologue, Red Rising)Sixteen years old Darrow was a Red. A Red by all means was meant to be a slave to higher colors, specifically Gold. Sad truth Reds sat on the very bottom of society which made them slaves to every color. Darrow never dreamt of living more than what his current life offered now. He was a helldiver, the youngest in history, the best in history. He married a beautiful brave girl named Eo. He had his family all living together even though his father was long gone when he was still a kid. He thought no more than spending all his life in Lykos as Red Lambda where song and dance was the comforts to their rough life.But nothing remained forever in life.“I live for you”“Then you must live for more.”(Chapter IV, Red Rising)The day the nightmare happened, all Darrow wanted was to follow the smell of death. And that was what about to happen except a group of rebels wanted a different path for him.Away from Lykos, family, and all familiar thing back in Red ground, Darrow was shaped to a whole different form. Red Darrow was now a Gold. Well, at least that was what shown on the outside. Darrow was still Red in heart and sure he would never change. Disguised as Gold, Darrow tried a risky step to infiltrate the evil color from the inside. And just like another teenage Gold, he stepped up to join a Gold institution where he could pick a start of revenge. Little did he know that the institution wasn’t at all like its simple name. It was not a school. It was more like a life-and-death battle to be the only one ArchPrimus. Darrow used all his strength to be the said Primus and found along the way how exactly it was to be a real Gold: mean, unforgiving, and unstopped. He began to question himself about all he’d done to get the title, wondered if that would make him no less than an evil Gold. But he did it all for Red, for people back in Lykos, for every Red blood who put their faiths on his shoulder. Surely that would make a different, right? As he questioned himself that, he was faced with another surprising fact that Gold could be a loyal friend if treated right. Struggling with all these complicated dilemmas, Darrow was once again reminded by the fact that in the end, after all the torture, blood, pain, and death, it was only just a beginning.I remembered became all teary inside once I finished it. Not because the story, though, but because the fact that I was finally able to reach the last page.My first impression about Red Rising was hardcore dystopian.But first thing first, let me say something.I NEVER like dystopian book.I hate it. I do. Dystopian infuriates and depresses me at the same time. I always avoid this genre at all cost. I believe that reading is a joy where we could fully escape to the story without having to worry about being lost because we can always close the page any moment to come back. But the ‘misery’ from reading this genre seemed to haunt my soul forever no matter just when I decided to stop reading it.So we could easily conclude that I’d hate this book. What with each violence scene was being described very casually here.But here I was going to say something that would make my whole speech above pointless: I loved Red Rising.I know, I am being confusing here but this was what exactly I felt. This book had me at mental battle between loving and hating this book. I hated this book that I couldn’t stop wincing at all those miserable scenes which practically on EVERY page. Yet my mind was in a superb awestruck condition by all the details that I could not forget this book until this very second. Hell, Red Rising might be the first dystopian book that I ever loved.The author did characterizations to each character very well. Darrow was my top favorite. I loved that Pierce Brown didn’t make him as this flawless hero but simply as human who made mistakes and learned from it to be better. I loved Darrow’s way of thinking despite his young age. He was so much mature, well, being Red it was common though.The other character, Eo, also took special place in my heart. There was this one particular scene where she did something that later became the turning point of Red Rising. I loved Darrow for loving her so deep. Never once he forgot her while doing his risky mission. After all, what he’d done was all started because of Eo’s move first.‘And she may be like me— from a clan of Red earth diggers, a clan of song and dance and soil— but she could be made from air, from the ether that binds the stars in a patchwork.’(Chapter I, Red Rising)I super loved the details about Mars, how separate the life of each colors there. I kept saying about rich details here because that was what the author did. He went all out with details for everything. When devouring all these details, for a second there, I could easily forget my hope to get an HEA from this book. Clearly, the author knew very well what he wrote and what to do to engage readers to stay put until the end of the book.Anyway, there was one thing that bothered me a lot about the title.First time I read the title ‘Red Rising’, all I could think of was this book would be about Red people fighting their rights, like they were having actual war of getting justification somewhere in the middle of the book. Instead it was focusing more on the preparation of rising, like how Darrow went through all those awful phases transforming into Gold, then more about how Gold’s world worked. Gold took like 80% of the book. I kept thinking when the rising would occur only to find out on the last page that everything was just a beginning. The actual rising didn’t even really happened here. It annoyed me when the title of the book misleading what I thought about the story inside.Oh, another complaint: just how many odd terms on this book made it rather difficult sometimes for me to immerse into the story. This might be one of the reasons I kept putting it down. Just put glossary in the end of the book then problem fixed!So, despite my complaints and my speech about hating dystopian book, here I said that I loved this book, or more like awestricken by this book. I wanted so bad to read the continuation of Red’s rising under Darrow’s command but I still don’t know when I’d read the next book because clearly I needed time to recover from the torture caused by Red Rising before firing it up again with second book. Well, hopefully soon.

31 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

I’m Hooked

I’m a gamer with vivid imagination, but reading just never stuck with me from the time I was in high School. My girlfriend recommended this book to me. Mind you at 40 I seriously don’t know the last time I had a desire to read for enjoyment. I just finished this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I really hope that this gets a form of live adaptation as a series to bring this world alive to the non-readers out there so they too can enjoy what I believe is going to be a thoroughly entertaining series.

4.0 out of 5 stars

A Good Start

I think this book was overall quite interesting, a good start to a series, but not without some flaws in my opinion.I thought the introduction into this world started off extremely strong and hooked me from page one. Moving through the chapters however, I did find Darrow to be a rather dull character at times. There would be stilted sentences threaded throughout that I found to be kind of comical. Thanks to the other elements and promises of what was to come, that kept my head in the story and to keep pushing forward.I thought the major loss in the beginning, happened a little too soon for me to even care. And, the age of Darrow was also something I found myself battling. I feel like the fact that Darrow is a minor (as well as the entirety of the main cast of characters) is probably very intentional to solidify the brutality and inhumane way that this society functions….however, it was still an internal battle for me to remember that these are just teenagers in such incredibly mature situations.Anyways, I felt that the movement into the next phase of Darrow having a new mission and going behind enemy lines was well done. I felt very excited on what was to come next….but, I’m not going to lie. Once Darrow entered into The Institute I felt the writing got a little messy and chaotic. I had to pretend that it was sort of set in the past rather than the future; because these were kids being thrown into this OTT, severely unforgiving game that adults were acting as if it was all some sort of video game/soap opera.At times it was a little absurd and things did go over my head. And it was during this time that I actually starting losing focus on Darrow. He continued to appear as a very simplistic, nearly “caveman” mentality manchild…which, is fair being that he is just a teenager. But, I do feel that the writing didn’t quite support who Darrow thought he was as a character. As this is the first book in the series, I didn’t personally see Darrow exhibit anything that stood out to me as character development, but I am very eager to see how he grows in the next installments!Sevro aka Goblin was probably the character that carried this book for me. I loved him from the first scene he appeared in. He was everything I love in a character, a severe underdog that does not back down. He was a beast, period. I loved all of his contributions in scenes and seeing the little bit of his story get revealed was perfect for me. And he is one of the biggest reasons I want to keep reading this series.Victoria aka Mustang was another character that kept me going in this story as well. She was jus awesome. She kept me interested and I loved how she had her own convictions and even though she’s quite petite, she’s full of fight, and bravery. I enjoyed the influence she seemed to have over Darrow. I think she was a strong character for Darrow to learn from and look up to, throughout the story and made me like Darrow a bit when the two shared scenes.Cassius was the second MVP of this book for me. I felt that his character was solidly constructed and I loved how he stuck to his beliefs and also could back up his talk. I think his character arc made sense and I am eager to see how his story unfolds in the next installments.Even though there were certain things that I felt kind of got out of hand and the plot went a little crazy astray from what I thought I was getting into with this series…I am eager to jump into the next book. I want to see what happens now. I have high hopes that the second installment will only strengthen what foundation Brown has laid down for this series.

2 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

immersive world and heartfelt characters

The beginning was a little slow for me but once the action started I was more into the world. I felt like it reminded me of the hunger games and hope as I continue ur to read the series it will stray from that. I am rooting for Darrow and Eo’s dream. That’s what kept me reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Boodydamn amazing!

Holy Helldivers, that was a bloodydamn wild ride, and I can’t wait for the rest of it.I’ve heard a lot of comparisons for this book, including the Hunger Games and the Six Million Dollar Man. But I’ll let you be the judge of what’s what in that regard.Let’s talk synopsis first … (minor spoilers included – I’m really trying hard to not ruin any of the big stuff.)Red Rising is written from the 1st person account of Darrow, who is a “Red” – the lowest caste which is responsible for mining Helium-3 on Mars and (they believe) laying the foundations to make Mars habitable for “softer Colors”. Through a tragic series of events, he comes to realize that his life and place in society is a lie that serves to prop up the other colors in an elaborate caste system, which essentially enslaves his caste. A resistance network seeks to topple this heirarchy by making Darrow into that which has subjugated them, a Gold … but not just ANY Gold. In order to make changes to this system of slavery, he will need to be the best of the best so that he can rise within the cutthroat caste of Golds. After a painful biological transition, Darrow tests into a school in which the leaders of the Golds are forged and taught painful lessons in the ideology of “might makes right”. The question is will Darrow become the monster that he seeks to vanquish?WHAT I LOVED:Darrow is a relatable character from the beginning. He’s a 16 year old kid with all the arrogance and impulsiveness you’d expect from a teenager who has been the best within his community. And though you experience the brashness and cynicism, you also see tenderness, wonder, and vulnerability. His evolution as a character is believable. Because he’s not fighting for his *own* dream, it is understandable when he temporarily gets sidetracked from the bigger picture due to his rage against such an unfair system that has unfeelingly and unknowingly stolen everything from him. He has much to learn if he is going to overcome … “I learn more when I make mistakes, so long as they don’t kill me.”The Supporting Characters. They’re on point, y’all. The writing makes it clear that some of the worst of the characters have depth to them, whether it was in hinting at the reasons they did the terrible things they did or in showing that there was a possibility of redemption. And the journey of how Darrow acquires his allies is truly where you see his growth as a character.Honestly y’all, there’s just so much that I could rave about … but I’m an impatient sort and if you’ve stuck with me this far, you’ve probably already made up your mind about whether you want to read this. (and you really should read this.)OTHER THOUGHTS:There is a lot of worldbuilding going on here, especially in the beginning and the slang/terms used reflect that. Some readers seem to have been turned off by that, but I didn’t feel it was excessive or overly cumbersome.I’ve seen several people question whether this should be categorized as a YA book. The themes (politics, hierarchical systems, racism, power dynamics, etc.) involved are weighty. There are allusions to rape and cannibalism, and the story is rife with violence and brutality. While the ages of the characters in this book are largely in their teens, but most teenagers in our world aren’t confronted with these topics so blatantly in their day to day life. YET … isn’t the job of books and the characters in them to make us think critically about the world around us? To help us form our views about what is right and wrong, what is noble and what is dishonorable? To make us think about what we would do in their shoes? And, hopefully, to help us see the kind of people we want to be and encourage us in that that direction? While I don’t think I would want my 14 year old read this unsupervised, I think stories like this one can powerfully shape the minds of young people and adults alike when we reflect on the lessons it contains, rather than just consuming it purely for our own entertainment.How many of us seriously consider where we might fall in such a hierarchy? Do we truly look for the ways that our comfort might blind us to the suffering of others that might serve to prop up that comfort? Do we care to do so? Do we see the hypocrisy in ourselves that we see rife in some of the characters of this book? And if we feel that twinge of discomfort, do you press into that to see why or do we move on, happy to be entertained by a story?”The measure of a man is what he does when he has power.” -Plato … a common theme in this book, but I might go a step further and say that the measure of a man is what he does with the power he has. We ALL have a measure of power. How are we using that power to elicit change in ourselves and in the world around us?

25 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Mind-boggling scifi book with rich details and unthought-of plot!

So this book was a proof of my sometimes-lameness in reading certain book. I purchased the kindle copy last year, started reading it for the first time around February, and now 3 months later I just finished it after having long battle with side of me that wanted to keep putting it down. I swear this was my first time of needing such a long time to finish a fiction.I personally was in total awe with this book and Pierce Brown. Red Rising was a debut novel and the author outdid himself with all the rich details and the unthought-of plot, ever. And not to forget his imagination to build up a fantasy of the whole Mars and all its complexity, it was dead awesome. Bloodydamn. Just where did he gather the inspiration to write this trilogy?‘I was not raised in palaces. I did not ride horses through meadows and eat meals of hummingbird tongues. I was forged in the bowels of this hard world. Sharpened by hate. Strengthened by love.’(Prologue, Red Rising)Sixteen years old Darrow was a Red. A Red by all means was meant to be a slave to higher colors, specifically Gold. Sad truth Reds sat on the very bottom of society which made them slaves to every color. Darrow never dreamt of living more than what his current life offered now. He was a helldiver, the youngest in history, the best in history. He married a beautiful brave girl named Eo. He had his family all living together even though his father was long gone when he was still a kid. He thought no more than spending all his life in Lykos as Red Lambda where song and dance was the comforts to their rough life.But nothing remained forever in life.“I live for you”“Then you must live for more.”(Chapter IV, Red Rising)The day the nightmare happened, all Darrow wanted was to follow the smell of death. And that was what about to happen except a group of rebels wanted a different path for him.Away from Lykos, family, and all familiar thing back in Red ground, Darrow was shaped to a whole different form. Red Darrow was now a Gold. Well, at least that was what shown on the outside. Darrow was still Red in heart and sure he would never change. Disguised as Gold, Darrow tried a risky step to infiltrate the evil color from the inside. And just like another teenage Gold, he stepped up to join a Gold institution where he could pick a start of revenge. Little did he know that the institution wasn’t at all like its simple name. It was not a school. It was more like a life-and-death battle to be the only one ArchPrimus. Darrow used all his strength to be the said Primus and found along the way how exactly it was to be a real Gold: mean, unforgiving, and unstopped. He began to question himself about all he’d done to get the title, wondered if that would make him no less than an evil Gold. But he did it all for Red, for people back in Lykos, for every Red blood who put their faiths on his shoulder. Surely that would make a different, right? As he questioned himself that, he was faced with another surprising fact that Gold could be a loyal friend if treated right. Struggling with all these complicated dilemmas, Darrow was once again reminded by the fact that in the end, after all the torture, blood, pain, and death, it was only just a beginning.I remembered became all teary inside once I finished it. Not because the story, though, but because the fact that I was finally able to reach the last page.My first impression about Red Rising was hardcore dystopian.But first thing first, let me say something.I NEVER like dystopian book.I hate it. I do. Dystopian infuriates and depresses me at the same time. I always avoid this genre at all cost. I believe that reading is a joy where we could fully escape to the story without having to worry about being lost because we can always close the page any moment to come back. But the ‘misery’ from reading this genre seemed to haunt my soul forever no matter just when I decided to stop reading it.So we could easily conclude that I’d hate this book. What with each violence scene was being described very casually here.But here I was going to say something that would make my whole speech above pointless: I loved Red Rising.I know, I am being confusing here but this was what exactly I felt. This book had me at mental battle between loving and hating this book. I hated this book that I couldn’t stop wincing at all those miserable scenes which practically on EVERY page. Yet my mind was in a superb awestruck condition by all the details that I could not forget this book until this very second. Hell, Red Rising might be the first dystopian book that I ever loved.The author did characterizations to each character very well. Darrow was my top favorite. I loved that Pierce Brown didn’t make him as this flawless hero but simply as human who made mistakes and learned from it to be better. I loved Darrow’s way of thinking despite his young age. He was so much mature, well, being Red it was common though.The other character, Eo, also took special place in my heart. There was this one particular scene where she did something that later became the turning point of Red Rising. I loved Darrow for loving her so deep. Never once he forgot her while doing his risky mission. After all, what he’d done was all started because of Eo’s move first.‘And she may be like me— from a clan of Red earth diggers, a clan of song and dance and soil— but she could be made from air, from the ether that binds the stars in a patchwork.’(Chapter I, Red Rising)I super loved the details about Mars, how separate the life of each colors there. I kept saying about rich details here because that was what the author did. He went all out with details for everything. When devouring all these details, for a second there, I could easily forget my hope to get an HEA from this book. Clearly, the author knew very well what he wrote and what to do to engage readers to stay put until the end of the book.Anyway, there was one thing that bothered me a lot about the title.First time I read the title ‘Red Rising’, all I could think of was this book would be about Red people fighting their rights, like they were having actual war of getting justification somewhere in the middle of the book. Instead it was focusing more on the preparation of rising, like how Darrow went through all those awful phases transforming into Gold, then more about how Gold’s world worked. Gold took like 80% of the book. I kept thinking when the rising would occur only to find out on the last page that everything was just a beginning. The actual rising didn’t even really happened here. It annoyed me when the title of the book misleading what I thought about the story inside.Oh, another complaint: just how many odd terms on this book made it rather difficult sometimes for me to immerse into the story. This might be one of the reasons I kept putting it down. Just put glossary in the end of the book then problem fixed!So, despite my complaints and my speech about hating dystopian book, here I said that I loved this book, or more like awestricken by this book. I wanted so bad to read the continuation of Red’s rising under Darrow’s command but I still don’t know when I’d read the next book because clearly I needed time to recover from the torture caused by Red Rising before firing it up again with second book. Well, hopefully soon.

31 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

I’m Hooked

I’m a gamer with vivid imagination, but reading just never stuck with me from the time I was in high School. My girlfriend recommended this book to me. Mind you at 40 I seriously don’t know the last time I had a desire to read for enjoyment. I just finished this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I really hope that this gets a form of live adaptation as a series to bring this world alive to the non-readers out there so they too can enjoy what I believe is going to be a thoroughly entertaining series.

4.0 out of 5 stars

A Good Start

I think this book was overall quite interesting, a good start to a series, but not without some flaws in my opinion.I thought the introduction into this world started off extremely strong and hooked me from page one. Moving through the chapters however, I did find Darrow to be a rather dull character at times. There would be stilted sentences threaded throughout that I found to be kind of comical. Thanks to the other elements and promises of what was to come, that kept my head in the story and to keep pushing forward.I thought the major loss in the beginning, happened a little too soon for me to even care. And, the age of Darrow was also something I found myself battling. I feel like the fact that Darrow is a minor (as well as the entirety of the main cast of characters) is probably very intentional to solidify the brutality and inhumane way that this society functions….however, it was still an internal battle for me to remember that these are just teenagers in such incredibly mature situations.Anyways, I felt that the movement into the next phase of Darrow having a new mission and going behind enemy lines was well done. I felt very excited on what was to come next….but, I’m not going to lie. Once Darrow entered into The Institute I felt the writing got a little messy and chaotic. I had to pretend that it was sort of set in the past rather than the future; because these were kids being thrown into this OTT, severely unforgiving game that adults were acting as if it was all some sort of video game/soap opera.At times it was a little absurd and things did go over my head. And it was during this time that I actually starting losing focus on Darrow. He continued to appear as a very simplistic, nearly “caveman” mentality manchild…which, is fair being that he is just a teenager. But, I do feel that the writing didn’t quite support who Darrow thought he was as a character. As this is the first book in the series, I didn’t personally see Darrow exhibit anything that stood out to me as character development, but I am very eager to see how he grows in the next installments!Sevro aka Goblin was probably the character that carried this book for me. I loved him from the first scene he appeared in. He was everything I love in a character, a severe underdog that does not back down. He was a beast, period. I loved all of his contributions in scenes and seeing the little bit of his story get revealed was perfect for me. And he is one of the biggest reasons I want to keep reading this series.Victoria aka Mustang was another character that kept me going in this story as well. She was jus awesome. She kept me interested and I loved how she had her own convictions and even though she’s quite petite, she’s full of fight, and bravery. I enjoyed the influence she seemed to have over Darrow. I think she was a strong character for Darrow to learn from and look up to, throughout the story and made me like Darrow a bit when the two shared scenes.Cassius was the second MVP of this book for me. I felt that his character was solidly constructed and I loved how he stuck to his beliefs and also could back up his talk. I think his character arc made sense and I am eager to see how his story unfolds in the next installments.Even though there were certain things that I felt kind of got out of hand and the plot went a little crazy astray from what I thought I was getting into with this series…I am eager to jump into the next book. I want to see what happens now. I have high hopes that the second installment will only strengthen what foundation Brown has laid down for this series.

2 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

immersive world and heartfelt characters

The beginning was a little slow for me but once the action started I was more into the world. I felt like it reminded me of the hunger games and hope as I continue ur to read the series it will stray from that. I am rooting for Darrow and Eo’s dream. That’s what kept me reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Boodydamn amazing!

Holy Helldivers, that was a bloodydamn wild ride, and I can’t wait for the rest of it.I’ve heard a lot of comparisons for this book, including the Hunger Games and the Six Million Dollar Man. But I’ll let you be the judge of what’s what in that regard.Let’s talk synopsis first … (minor spoilers included – I’m really trying hard to not ruin any of the big stuff.)Red Rising is written from the 1st person account of Darrow, who is a “Red” – the lowest caste which is responsible for mining Helium-3 on Mars and (they believe) laying the foundations to make Mars habitable for “softer Colors”. Through a tragic series of events, he comes to realize that his life and place in society is a lie that serves to prop up the other colors in an elaborate caste system, which essentially enslaves his caste. A resistance network seeks to topple this heirarchy by making Darrow into that which has subjugated them, a Gold … but not just ANY Gold. In order to make changes to this system of slavery, he will need to be the best of the best so that he can rise within the cutthroat caste of Golds. After a painful biological transition, Darrow tests into a school in which the leaders of the Golds are forged and taught painful lessons in the ideology of “might makes right”. The question is will Darrow become the monster that he seeks to vanquish?WHAT I LOVED:Darrow is a relatable character from the beginning. He’s a 16 year old kid with all the arrogance and impulsiveness you’d expect from a teenager who has been the best within his community. And though you experience the brashness and cynicism, you also see tenderness, wonder, and vulnerability. His evolution as a character is believable. Because he’s not fighting for his *own* dream, it is understandable when he temporarily gets sidetracked from the bigger picture due to his rage against such an unfair system that has unfeelingly and unknowingly stolen everything from him. He has much to learn if he is going to overcome … “I learn more when I make mistakes, so long as they don’t kill me.”The Supporting Characters. They’re on point, y’all. The writing makes it clear that some of the worst of the characters have depth to them, whether it was in hinting at the reasons they did the terrible things they did or in showing that there was a possibility of redemption. And the journey of how Darrow acquires his allies is truly where you see his growth as a character.Honestly y’all, there’s just so much that I could rave about … but I’m an impatient sort and if you’ve stuck with me this far, you’ve probably already made up your mind about whether you want to read this. (and you really should read this.)OTHER THOUGHTS:There is a lot of worldbuilding going on here, especially in the beginning and the slang/terms used reflect that. Some readers seem to have been turned off by that, but I didn’t feel it was excessive or overly cumbersome.I’ve seen several people question whether this should be categorized as a YA book. The themes (politics, hierarchical systems, racism, power dynamics, etc.) involved are weighty. There are allusions to rape and cannibalism, and the story is rife with violence and brutality. While the ages of the characters in this book are largely in their teens, but most teenagers in our world aren’t confronted with these topics so blatantly in their day to day life. YET … isn’t the job of books and the characters in them to make us think critically about the world around us? To help us form our views about what is right and wrong, what is noble and what is dishonorable? To make us think about what we would do in their shoes? And, hopefully, to help us see the kind of people we want to be and encourage us in that that direction? While I don’t think I would want my 14 year old read this unsupervised, I think stories like this one can powerfully shape the minds of young people and adults alike when we reflect on the lessons it contains, rather than just consuming it purely for our own entertainment.How many of us seriously consider where we might fall in such a hierarchy? Do we truly look for the ways that our comfort might blind us to the suffering of others that might serve to prop up that comfort? Do we care to do so? Do we see the hypocrisy in ourselves that we see rife in some of the characters of this book? And if we feel that twinge of discomfort, do you press into that to see why or do we move on, happy to be entertained by a story?”The measure of a man is what he does when he has power.” -Plato … a common theme in this book, but I might go a step further and say that the measure of a man is what he does with the power he has. We ALL have a measure of power. How are we using that power to elicit change in ourselves and in the world around us?

25 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Mind-boggling scifi book with rich details and unthought-of plot!

So this book was a proof of my sometimes-lameness in reading certain book. I purchased the kindle copy last year, started reading it for the first time around February, and now 3 months later I just finished it after having long battle with side of me that wanted to keep putting it down. I swear this was my first time of needing such a long time to finish a fiction.I personally was in total awe with this book and Pierce Brown. Red Rising was a debut novel and the author outdid himself with all the rich details and the unthought-of plot, ever. And not to forget his imagination to build up a fantasy of the whole Mars and all its complexity, it was dead awesome. Bloodydamn. Just where did he gather the inspiration to write this trilogy?‘I was not raised in palaces. I did not ride horses through meadows and eat meals of hummingbird tongues. I was forged in the bowels of this hard world. Sharpened by hate. Strengthened by love.’(Prologue, Red Rising)Sixteen years old Darrow was a Red. A Red by all means was meant to be a slave to higher colors, specifically Gold. Sad truth Reds sat on the very bottom of society which made them slaves to every color. Darrow never dreamt of living more than what his current life offered now. He was a helldiver, the youngest in history, the best in history. He married a beautiful brave girl named Eo. He had his family all living together even though his father was long gone when he was still a kid. He thought no more than spending all his life in Lykos as Red Lambda where song and dance was the comforts to their rough life.But nothing remained forever in life.“I live for you”“Then you must live for more.”(Chapter IV, Red Rising)The day the nightmare happened, all Darrow wanted was to follow the smell of death. And that was what about to happen except a group of rebels wanted a different path for him.Away from Lykos, family, and all familiar thing back in Red ground, Darrow was shaped to a whole different form. Red Darrow was now a Gold. Well, at least that was what shown on the outside. Darrow was still Red in heart and sure he would never change. Disguised as Gold, Darrow tried a risky step to infiltrate the evil color from the inside. And just like another teenage Gold, he stepped up to join a Gold institution where he could pick a start of revenge. Little did he know that the institution wasn’t at all like its simple name. It was not a school. It was more like a life-and-death battle to be the only one ArchPrimus. Darrow used all his strength to be the said Primus and found along the way how exactly it was to be a real Gold: mean, unforgiving, and unstopped. He began to question himself about all he’d done to get the title, wondered if that would make him no less than an evil Gold. But he did it all for Red, for people back in Lykos, for every Red blood who put their faiths on his shoulder. Surely that would make a different, right? As he questioned himself that, he was faced with another surprising fact that Gold could be a loyal friend if treated right. Struggling with all these complicated dilemmas, Darrow was once again reminded by the fact that in the end, after all the torture, blood, pain, and death, it was only just a beginning.I remembered became all teary inside once I finished it. Not because the story, though, but because the fact that I was finally able to reach the last page.My first impression about Red Rising was hardcore dystopian.But first thing first, let me say something.I NEVER like dystopian book.I hate it. I do. Dystopian infuriates and depresses me at the same time. I always avoid this genre at all cost. I believe that reading is a joy where we could fully escape to the story without having to worry about being lost because we can always close the page any moment to come back. But the ‘misery’ from reading this genre seemed to haunt my soul forever no matter just when I decided to stop reading it.So we could easily conclude that I’d hate this book. What with each violence scene was being described very casually here.But here I was going to say something that would make my whole speech above pointless: I loved Red Rising.I know, I am being confusing here but this was what exactly I felt. This book had me at mental battle between loving and hating this book. I hated this book that I couldn’t stop wincing at all those miserable scenes which practically on EVERY page. Yet my mind was in a superb awestruck condition by all the details that I could not forget this book until this very second. Hell, Red Rising might be the first dystopian book that I ever loved.The author did characterizations to each character very well. Darrow was my top favorite. I loved that Pierce Brown didn’t make him as this flawless hero but simply as human who made mistakes and learned from it to be better. I loved Darrow’s way of thinking despite his young age. He was so much mature, well, being Red it was common though.The other character, Eo, also took special place in my heart. There was this one particular scene where she did something that later became the turning point of Red Rising. I loved Darrow for loving her so deep. Never once he forgot her while doing his risky mission. After all, what he’d done was all started because of Eo’s move first.‘And she may be like me— from a clan of Red earth diggers, a clan of song and dance and soil— but she could be made from air, from the ether that binds the stars in a patchwork.’(Chapter I, Red Rising)I super loved the details about Mars, how separate the life of each colors there. I kept saying about rich details here because that was what the author did. He went all out with details for everything. When devouring all these details, for a second there, I could easily forget my hope to get an HEA from this book. Clearly, the author knew very well what he wrote and what to do to engage readers to stay put until the end of the book.Anyway, there was one thing that bothered me a lot about the title.First time I read the title ‘Red Rising’, all I could think of was this book would be about Red people fighting their rights, like they were having actual war of getting justification somewhere in the middle of the book. Instead it was focusing more on the preparation of rising, like how Darrow went through all those awful phases transforming into Gold, then more about how Gold’s world worked. Gold took like 80% of the book. I kept thinking when the rising would occur only to find out on the last page that everything was just a beginning. The actual rising didn’t even really happened here. It annoyed me when the title of the book misleading what I thought about the story inside.Oh, another complaint: just how many odd terms on this book made it rather difficult sometimes for me to immerse into the story. This might be one of the reasons I kept putting it down. Just put glossary in the end of the book then problem fixed!So, despite my complaints and my speech about hating dystopian book, here I said that I loved this book, or more like awestricken by this book. I wanted so bad to read the continuation of Red’s rising under Darrow’s command but I still don’t know when I’d read the next book because clearly I needed time to recover from the torture caused by Red Rising before firing it up again with second book. Well, hopefully soon.

31 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

I’m Hooked

I’m a gamer with vivid imagination, but reading just never stuck with me from the time I was in high School. My girlfriend recommended this book to me. Mind you at 40 I seriously don’t know the last time I had a desire to read for enjoyment. I just finished this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I really hope that this gets a form of live adaptation as a series to bring this world alive to the non-readers out there so they too can enjoy what I believe is going to be a thoroughly entertaining series.

4.0 out of 5 stars

A Good Start

I think this book was overall quite interesting, a good start to a series, but not without some flaws in my opinion.I thought the introduction into this world started off extremely strong and hooked me from page one. Moving through the chapters however, I did find Darrow to be a rather dull character at times. There would be stilted sentences threaded throughout that I found to be kind of comical. Thanks to the other elements and promises of what was to come, that kept my head in the story and to keep pushing forward.I thought the major loss in the beginning, happened a little too soon for me to even care. And, the age of Darrow was also something I found myself battling. I feel like the fact that Darrow is a minor (as well as the entirety of the main cast of characters) is probably very intentional to solidify the brutality and inhumane way that this society functions….however, it was still an internal battle for me to remember that these are just teenagers in such incredibly mature situations.Anyways, I felt that the movement into the next phase of Darrow having a new mission and going behind enemy lines was well done. I felt very excited on what was to come next….but, I’m not going to lie. Once Darrow entered into The Institute I felt the writing got a little messy and chaotic. I had to pretend that it was sort of set in the past rather than the future; because these were kids being thrown into this OTT, severely unforgiving game that adults were acting as if it was all some sort of video game/soap opera.At times it was a little absurd and things did go over my head. And it was during this time that I actually starting losing focus on Darrow. He continued to appear as a very simplistic, nearly “caveman” mentality manchild…which, is fair being that he is just a teenager. But, I do feel that the writing didn’t quite support who Darrow thought he was as a character. As this is the first book in the series, I didn’t personally see Darrow exhibit anything that stood out to me as character development, but I am very eager to see how he grows in the next installments!Sevro aka Goblin was probably the character that carried this book for me. I loved him from the first scene he appeared in. He was everything I love in a character, a severe underdog that does not back down. He was a beast, period. I loved all of his contributions in scenes and seeing the little bit of his story get revealed was perfect for me. And he is one of the biggest reasons I want to keep reading this series.Victoria aka Mustang was another character that kept me going in this story as well. She was jus awesome. She kept me interested and I loved how she had her own convictions and even though she’s quite petite, she’s full of fight, and bravery. I enjoyed the influence she seemed to have over Darrow. I think she was a strong character for Darrow to learn from and look up to, throughout the story and made me like Darrow a bit when the two shared scenes.Cassius was the second MVP of this book for me. I felt that his character was solidly constructed and I loved how he stuck to his beliefs and also could back up his talk. I think his character arc made sense and I am eager to see how his story unfolds in the next installments.Even though there were certain things that I felt kind of got out of hand and the plot went a little crazy astray from what I thought I was getting into with this series…I am eager to jump into the next book. I want to see what happens now. I have high hopes that the second installment will only strengthen what foundation Brown has laid down for this series.

2 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

immersive world and heartfelt characters

The beginning was a little slow for me but once the action started I was more into the world. I felt like it reminded me of the hunger games and hope as I continue ur to read the series it will stray from that. I am rooting for Darrow and Eo’s dream. That’s what kept me reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Boodydamn amazing!

Holy Helldivers, that was a bloodydamn wild ride, and I can’t wait for the rest of it.I’ve heard a lot of comparisons for this book, including the Hunger Games and the Six Million Dollar Man. But I’ll let you be the judge of what’s what in that regard.Let’s talk synopsis first … (minor spoilers included – I’m really trying hard to not ruin any of the big stuff.)Red Rising is written from the 1st person account of Darrow, who is a “Red” – the lowest caste which is responsible for mining Helium-3 on Mars and (they believe) laying the foundations to make Mars habitable for “softer Colors”. Through a tragic series of events, he comes to realize that his life and place in society is a lie that serves to prop up the other colors in an elaborate caste system, which essentially enslaves his caste. A resistance network seeks to topple this heirarchy by making Darrow into that which has subjugated them, a Gold … but not just ANY Gold. In order to make changes to this system of slavery, he will need to be the best of the best so that he can rise within the cutthroat caste of Golds. After a painful biological transition, Darrow tests into a school in which the leaders of the Golds are forged and taught painful lessons in the ideology of “might makes right”. The question is will Darrow become the monster that he seeks to vanquish?WHAT I LOVED:Darrow is a relatable character from the beginning. He’s a 16 year old kid with all the arrogance and impulsiveness you’d expect from a teenager who has been the best within his community. And though you experience the brashness and cynicism, you also see tenderness, wonder, and vulnerability. His evolution as a character is believable. Because he’s not fighting for his *own* dream, it is understandable when he temporarily gets sidetracked from the bigger picture due to his rage against such an unfair system that has unfeelingly and unknowingly stolen everything from him. He has much to learn if he is going to overcome … “I learn more when I make mistakes, so long as they don’t kill me.”The Supporting Characters. They’re on point, y’all. The writing makes it clear that some of the worst of the characters have depth to them, whether it was in hinting at the reasons they did the terrible things they did or in showing that there was a possibility of redemption. And the journey of how Darrow acquires his allies is truly where you see his growth as a character.Honestly y’all, there’s just so much that I could rave about … but I’m an impatient sort and if you’ve stuck with me this far, you’ve probably already made up your mind about whether you want to read this. (and you really should read this.)OTHER THOUGHTS:There is a lot of worldbuilding going on here, especially in the beginning and the slang/terms used reflect that. Some readers seem to have been turned off by that, but I didn’t feel it was excessive or overly cumbersome.I’ve seen several people question whether this should be categorized as a YA book. The themes (politics, hierarchical systems, racism, power dynamics, etc.) involved are weighty. There are allusions to rape and cannibalism, and the story is rife with violence and brutality. While the ages of the characters in this book are largely in their teens, but most teenagers in our world aren’t confronted with these topics so blatantly in their day to day life. YET … isn’t the job of books and the characters in them to make us think critically about the world around us? To help us form our views about what is right and wrong, what is noble and what is dishonorable? To make us think about what we would do in their shoes? And, hopefully, to help us see the kind of people we want to be and encourage us in that that direction? While I don’t think I would want my 14 year old read this unsupervised, I think stories like this one can powerfully shape the minds of young people and adults alike when we reflect on the lessons it contains, rather than just consuming it purely for our own entertainment.How many of us seriously consider where we might fall in such a hierarchy? Do we truly look for the ways that our comfort might blind us to the suffering of others that might serve to prop up that comfort? Do we care to do so? Do we see the hypocrisy in ourselves that we see rife in some of the characters of this book? And if we feel that twinge of discomfort, do you press into that to see why or do we move on, happy to be entertained by a story?”The measure of a man is what he does when he has power.” -Plato … a common theme in this book, but I might go a step further and say that the measure of a man is what he does with the power he has. We ALL have a measure of power. How are we using that power to elicit change in ourselves and in the world around us?

25 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Mind-boggling scifi book with rich details and unthought-of plot!

So this book was a proof of my sometimes-lameness in reading certain book. I purchased the kindle copy last year, started reading it for the first time around February, and now 3 months later I just finished it after having long battle with side of me that wanted to keep putting it down. I swear this was my first time of needing such a long time to finish a fiction.I personally was in total awe with this book and Pierce Brown. Red Rising was a debut novel and the author outdid himself with all the rich details and the unthought-of plot, ever. And not to forget his imagination to build up a fantasy of the whole Mars and all its complexity, it was dead awesome. Bloodydamn. Just where did he gather the inspiration to write this trilogy?‘I was not raised in palaces. I did not ride horses through meadows and eat meals of hummingbird tongues. I was forged in the bowels of this hard world. Sharpened by hate. Strengthened by love.’(Prologue, Red Rising)Sixteen years old Darrow was a Red. A Red by all means was meant to be a slave to higher colors, specifically Gold. Sad truth Reds sat on the very bottom of society which made them slaves to every color. Darrow never dreamt of living more than what his current life offered now. He was a helldiver, the youngest in history, the best in history. He married a beautiful brave girl named Eo. He had his family all living together even though his father was long gone when he was still a kid. He thought no more than spending all his life in Lykos as Red Lambda where song and dance was the comforts to their rough life.But nothing remained forever in life.“I live for you”“Then you must live for more.”(Chapter IV, Red Rising)The day the nightmare happened, all Darrow wanted was to follow the smell of death. And that was what about to happen except a group of rebels wanted a different path for him.Away from Lykos, family, and all familiar thing back in Red ground, Darrow was shaped to a whole different form. Red Darrow was now a Gold. Well, at least that was what shown on the outside. Darrow was still Red in heart and sure he would never change. Disguised as Gold, Darrow tried a risky step to infiltrate the evil color from the inside. And just like another teenage Gold, he stepped up to join a Gold institution where he could pick a start of revenge. Little did he know that the institution wasn’t at all like its simple name. It was not a school. It was more like a life-and-death battle to be the only one ArchPrimus. Darrow used all his strength to be the said Primus and found along the way how exactly it was to be a real Gold: mean, unforgiving, and unstopped. He began to question himself about all he’d done to get the title, wondered if that would make him no less than an evil Gold. But he did it all for Red, for people back in Lykos, for every Red blood who put their faiths on his shoulder. Surely that would make a different, right? As he questioned himself that, he was faced with another surprising fact that Gold could be a loyal friend if treated right. Struggling with all these complicated dilemmas, Darrow was once again reminded by the fact that in the end, after all the torture, blood, pain, and death, it was only just a beginning.I remembered became all teary inside once I finished it. Not because the story, though, but because the fact that I was finally able to reach the last page.My first impression about Red Rising was hardcore dystopian.But first thing first, let me say something.I NEVER like dystopian book.I hate it. I do. Dystopian infuriates and depresses me at the same time. I always avoid this genre at all cost. I believe that reading is a joy where we could fully escape to the story without having to worry about being lost because we can always close the page any moment to come back. But the ‘misery’ from reading this genre seemed to haunt my soul forever no matter just when I decided to stop reading it.So we could easily conclude that I’d hate this book. What with each violence scene was being described very casually here.But here I was going to say something that would make my whole speech above pointless: I loved Red Rising.I know, I am being confusing here but this was what exactly I felt. This book had me at mental battle between loving and hating this book. I hated this book that I couldn’t stop wincing at all those miserable scenes which practically on EVERY page. Yet my mind was in a superb awestruck condition by all the details that I could not forget this book until this very second. Hell, Red Rising might be the first dystopian book that I ever loved.The author did characterizations to each character very well. Darrow was my top favorite. I loved that Pierce Brown didn’t make him as this flawless hero but simply as human who made mistakes and learned from it to be better. I loved Darrow’s way of thinking despite his young age. He was so much mature, well, being Red it was common though.The other character, Eo, also took special place in my heart. There was this one particular scene where she did something that later became the turning point of Red Rising. I loved Darrow for loving her so deep. Never once he forgot her while doing his risky mission. After all, what he’d done was all started because of Eo’s move first.‘And she may be like me— from a clan of Red earth diggers, a clan of song and dance and soil— but she could be made from air, from the ether that binds the stars in a patchwork.’(Chapter I, Red Rising)I super loved the details about Mars, how separate the life of each colors there. I kept saying about rich details here because that was what the author did. He went all out with details for everything. When devouring all these details, for a second there, I could easily forget my hope to get an HEA from this book. Clearly, the author knew very well what he wrote and what to do to engage readers to stay put until the end of the book.Anyway, there was one thing that bothered me a lot about the title.First time I read the title ‘Red Rising’, all I could think of was this book would be about Red people fighting their rights, like they were having actual war of getting justification somewhere in the middle of the book. Instead it was focusing more on the preparation of rising, like how Darrow went through all those awful phases transforming into Gold, then more about how Gold’s world worked. Gold took like 80% of the book. I kept thinking when the rising would occur only to find out on the last page that everything was just a beginning. The actual rising didn’t even really happened here. It annoyed me when the title of the book misleading what I thought about the story inside.Oh, another complaint: just how many odd terms on this book made it rather difficult sometimes for me to immerse into the story. This might be one of the reasons I kept putting it down. Just put glossary in the end of the book then problem fixed!So, despite my complaints and my speech about hating dystopian book, here I said that I loved this book, or more like awestricken by this book. I wanted so bad to read the continuation of Red’s rising under Darrow’s command but I still don’t know when I’d read the next book because clearly I needed time to recover from the torture caused by Red Rising before firing it up again with second book. Well, hopefully soon.

31 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

I’m Hooked

I’m a gamer with vivid imagination, but reading just never stuck with me from the time I was in high School. My girlfriend recommended this book to me. Mind you at 40 I seriously don’t know the last time I had a desire to read for enjoyment. I just finished this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I really hope that this gets a form of live adaptation as a series to bring this world alive to the non-readers out there so they too can enjoy what I believe is going to be a thoroughly entertaining series.

4.0 out of 5 stars

A Good Start

I think this book was overall quite interesting, a good start to a series, but not without some flaws in my opinion.I thought the introduction into this world started off extremely strong and hooked me from page one. Moving through the chapters however, I did find Darrow to be a rather dull character at times. There would be stilted sentences threaded throughout that I found to be kind of comical. Thanks to the other elements and promises of what was to come, that kept my head in the story and to keep pushing forward.I thought the major loss in the beginning, happened a little too soon for me to even care. And, the age of Darrow was also something I found myself battling. I feel like the fact that Darrow is a minor (as well as the entirety of the main cast of characters) is probably very intentional to solidify the brutality and inhumane way that this society functions….however, it was still an internal battle for me to remember that these are just teenagers in such incredibly mature situations.Anyways, I felt that the movement into the next phase of Darrow having a new mission and going behind enemy lines was well done. I felt very excited on what was to come next….but, I’m not going to lie. Once Darrow entered into The Institute I felt the writing got a little messy and chaotic. I had to pretend that it was sort of set in the past rather than the future; because these were kids being thrown into this OTT, severely unforgiving game that adults were acting as if it was all some sort of video game/soap opera.At times it was a little absurd and things did go over my head. And it was during this time that I actually starting losing focus on Darrow. He continued to appear as a very simplistic, nearly “caveman” mentality manchild…which, is fair being that he is just a teenager. But, I do feel that the writing didn’t quite support who Darrow thought he was as a character. As this is the first book in the series, I didn’t personally see Darrow exhibit anything that stood out to me as character development, but I am very eager to see how he grows in the next installments!Sevro aka Goblin was probably the character that carried this book for me. I loved him from the first scene he appeared in. He was everything I love in a character, a severe underdog that does not back down. He was a beast, period. I loved all of his contributions in scenes and seeing the little bit of his story get revealed was perfect for me. And he is one of the biggest reasons I want to keep reading this series.Victoria aka Mustang was another character that kept me going in this story as well. She was jus awesome. She kept me interested and I loved how she had her own convictions and even though she’s quite petite, she’s full of fight, and bravery. I enjoyed the influence she seemed to have over Darrow. I think she was a strong character for Darrow to learn from and look up to, throughout the story and made me like Darrow a bit when the two shared scenes.Cassius was the second MVP of this book for me. I felt that his character was solidly constructed and I loved how he stuck to his beliefs and also could back up his talk. I think his character arc made sense and I am eager to see how his story unfolds in the next installments.Even though there were certain things that I felt kind of got out of hand and the plot went a little crazy astray from what I thought I was getting into with this series…I am eager to jump into the next book. I want to see what happens now. I have high hopes that the second installment will only strengthen what foundation Brown has laid down for this series.

2 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

immersive world and heartfelt characters

The beginning was a little slow for me but once the action started I was more into the world. I felt like it reminded me of the hunger games and hope as I continue ur to read the series it will stray from that. I am rooting for Darrow and Eo’s dream. That’s what kept me reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Boodydamn amazing!

Holy Helldivers, that was a bloodydamn wild ride, and I can’t wait for the rest of it.I’ve heard a lot of comparisons for this book, including the Hunger Games and the Six Million Dollar Man. But I’ll let you be the judge of what’s what in that regard.Let’s talk synopsis first … (minor spoilers included – I’m really trying hard to not ruin any of the big stuff.)Red Rising is written from the 1st person account of Darrow, who is a “Red” – the lowest caste which is responsible for mining Helium-3 on Mars and (they believe) laying the foundations to make Mars habitable for “softer Colors”. Through a tragic series of events, he comes to realize that his life and place in society is a lie that serves to prop up the other colors in an elaborate caste system, which essentially enslaves his caste. A resistance network seeks to topple this heirarchy by making Darrow into that which has subjugated them, a Gold … but not just ANY Gold. In order to make changes to this system of slavery, he will need to be the best of the best so that he can rise within the cutthroat caste of Golds. After a painful biological transition, Darrow tests into a school in which the leaders of the Golds are forged and taught painful lessons in the ideology of “might makes right”. The question is will Darrow become the monster that he seeks to vanquish?WHAT I LOVED:Darrow is a relatable character from the beginning. He’s a 16 year old kid with all the arrogance and impulsiveness you’d expect from a teenager who has been the best within his community. And though you experience the brashness and cynicism, you also see tenderness, wonder, and vulnerability. His evolution as a character is believable. Because he’s not fighting for his *own* dream, it is understandable when he temporarily gets sidetracked from the bigger picture due to his rage against such an unfair system that has unfeelingly and unknowingly stolen everything from him. He has much to learn if he is going to overcome … “I learn more when I make mistakes, so long as they don’t kill me.”The Supporting Characters. They’re on point, y’all. The writing makes it clear that some of the worst of the characters have depth to them, whether it was in hinting at the reasons they did the terrible things they did or in showing that there was a possibility of redemption. And the journey of how Darrow acquires his allies is truly where you see his growth as a character.Honestly y’all, there’s just so much that I could rave about … but I’m an impatient sort and if you’ve stuck with me this far, you’ve probably already made up your mind about whether you want to read this. (and you really should read this.)OTHER THOUGHTS:There is a lot of worldbuilding going on here, especially in the beginning and the slang/terms used reflect that. Some readers seem to have been turned off by that, but I didn’t feel it was excessive or overly cumbersome.I’ve seen several people question whether this should be categorized as a YA book. The themes (politics, hierarchical systems, racism, power dynamics, etc.) involved are weighty. There are allusions to rape and cannibalism, and the story is rife with violence and brutality. While the ages of the characters in this book are largely in their teens, but most teenagers in our world aren’t confronted with these topics so blatantly in their day to day life. YET … isn’t the job of books and the characters in them to make us think critically about the world around us? To help us form our views about what is right and wrong, what is noble and what is dishonorable? To make us think about what we would do in their shoes? And, hopefully, to help us see the kind of people we want to be and encourage us in that that direction? While I don’t think I would want my 14 year old read this unsupervised, I think stories like this one can powerfully shape the minds of young people and adults alike when we reflect on the lessons it contains, rather than just consuming it purely for our own entertainment.How many of us seriously consider where we might fall in such a hierarchy? Do we truly look for the ways that our comfort might blind us to the suffering of others that might serve to prop up that comfort? Do we care to do so? Do we see the hypocrisy in ourselves that we see rife in some of the characters of this book? And if we feel that twinge of discomfort, do you press into that to see why or do we move on, happy to be entertained by a story?”The measure of a man is what he does when he has power.” -Plato … a common theme in this book, but I might go a step further and say that the measure of a man is what he does with the power he has. We ALL have a measure of power. How are we using that power to elicit change in ourselves and in the world around us?

25 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Mind-boggling scifi book with rich details and unthought-of plot!

So this book was a proof of my sometimes-lameness in reading certain book. I purchased the kindle copy last year, started reading it for the first time around February, and now 3 months later I just finished it after having long battle with side of me that wanted to keep putting it down. I swear this was my first time of needing such a long time to finish a fiction.I personally was in total awe with this book and Pierce Brown. Red Rising was a debut novel and the author outdid himself with all the rich details and the unthought-of plot, ever. And not to forget his imagination to build up a fantasy of the whole Mars and all its complexity, it was dead awesome. Bloodydamn. Just where did he gather the inspiration to write this trilogy?‘I was not raised in palaces. I did not ride horses through meadows and eat meals of hummingbird tongues. I was forged in the bowels of this hard world. Sharpened by hate. Strengthened by love.’(Prologue, Red Rising)Sixteen years old Darrow was a Red. A Red by all means was meant to be a slave to higher colors, specifically Gold. Sad truth Reds sat on the very bottom of society which made them slaves to every color. Darrow never dreamt of living more than what his current life offered now. He was a helldiver, the youngest in history, the best in history. He married a beautiful brave girl named Eo. He had his family all living together even though his father was long gone when he was still a kid. He thought no more than spending all his life in Lykos as Red Lambda where song and dance was the comforts to their rough life.But nothing remained forever in life.“I live for you”“Then you must live for more.”(Chapter IV, Red Rising)The day the nightmare happened, all Darrow wanted was to follow the smell of death. And that was what about to happen except a group of rebels wanted a different path for him.Away from Lykos, family, and all familiar thing back in Red ground, Darrow was shaped to a whole different form. Red Darrow was now a Gold. Well, at least that was what shown on the outside. Darrow was still Red in heart and sure he would never change. Disguised as Gold, Darrow tried a risky step to infiltrate the evil color from the inside. And just like another teenage Gold, he stepped up to join a Gold institution where he could pick a start of revenge. Little did he know that the institution wasn’t at all like its simple name. It was not a school. It was more like a life-and-death battle to be the only one ArchPrimus. Darrow used all his strength to be the said Primus and found along the way how exactly it was to be a real Gold: mean, unforgiving, and unstopped. He began to question himself about all he’d done to get the title, wondered if that would make him no less than an evil Gold. But he did it all for Red, for people back in Lykos, for every Red blood who put their faiths on his shoulder. Surely that would make a different, right? As he questioned himself that, he was faced with another surprising fact that Gold could be a loyal friend if treated right. Struggling with all these complicated dilemmas, Darrow was once again reminded by the fact that in the end, after all the torture, blood, pain, and death, it was only just a beginning.I remembered became all teary inside once I finished it. Not because the story, though, but because the fact that I was finally able to reach the last page.My first impression about Red Rising was hardcore dystopian.But first thing first, let me say something.I NEVER like dystopian book.I hate it. I do. Dystopian infuriates and depresses me at the same time. I always avoid this genre at all cost. I believe that reading is a joy where we could fully escape to the story without having to worry about being lost because we can always close the page any moment to come back. But the ‘misery’ from reading this genre seemed to haunt my soul forever no matter just when I decided to stop reading it.So we could easily conclude that I’d hate this book. What with each violence scene was being described very casually here.But here I was going to say something that would make my whole speech above pointless: I loved Red Rising.I know, I am being confusing here but this was what exactly I felt. This book had me at mental battle between loving and hating this book. I hated this book that I couldn’t stop wincing at all those miserable scenes which practically on EVERY page. Yet my mind was in a superb awestruck condition by all the details that I could not forget this book until this very second. Hell, Red Rising might be the first dystopian book that I ever loved.The author did characterizations to each character very well. Darrow was my top favorite. I loved that Pierce Brown didn’t make him as this flawless hero but simply as human who made mistakes and learned from it to be better. I loved Darrow’s way of thinking despite his young age. He was so much mature, well, being Red it was common though.The other character, Eo, also took special place in my heart. There was this one particular scene where she did something that later became the turning point of Red Rising. I loved Darrow for loving her so deep. Never once he forgot her while doing his risky mission. After all, what he’d done was all started because of Eo’s move first.‘And she may be like me— from a clan of Red earth diggers, a clan of song and dance and soil— but she could be made from air, from the ether that binds the stars in a patchwork.’(Chapter I, Red Rising)I super loved the details about Mars, how separate the life of each colors there. I kept saying about rich details here because that was what the author did. He went all out with details for everything. When devouring all these details, for a second there, I could easily forget my hope to get an HEA from this book. Clearly, the author knew very well what he wrote and what to do to engage readers to stay put until the end of the book.Anyway, there was one thing that bothered me a lot about the title.First time I read the title ‘Red Rising’, all I could think of was this book would be about Red people fighting their rights, like they were having actual war of getting justification somewhere in the middle of the book. Instead it was focusing more on the preparation of rising, like how Darrow went through all those awful phases transforming into Gold, then more about how Gold’s world worked. Gold took like 80% of the book. I kept thinking when the rising would occur only to find out on the last page that everything was just a beginning. The actual rising didn’t even really happened here. It annoyed me when the title of the book misleading what I thought about the story inside.Oh, another complaint: just how many odd terms on this book made it rather difficult sometimes for me to immerse into the story. This might be one of the reasons I kept putting it down. Just put glossary in the end of the book then problem fixed!So, despite my complaints and my speech about hating dystopian book, here I said that I loved this book, or more like awestricken by this book. I wanted so bad to read the continuation of Red’s rising under Darrow’s command but I still don’t know when I’d read the next book because clearly I needed time to recover from the torture caused by Red Rising before firing it up again with second book. Well, hopefully soon.

31 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

I’m Hooked

I’m a gamer with vivid imagination, but reading just never stuck with me from the time I was in high School. My girlfriend recommended this book to me. Mind you at 40 I seriously don’t know the last time I had a desire to read for enjoyment. I just finished this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I really hope that this gets a form of live adaptation as a series to bring this world alive to the non-readers out there so they too can enjoy what I believe is going to be a thoroughly entertaining series.

4.0 out of 5 stars

A Good Start

I think this book was overall quite interesting, a good start to a series, but not without some flaws in my opinion.I thought the introduction into this world started off extremely strong and hooked me from page one. Moving through the chapters however, I did find Darrow to be a rather dull character at times. There would be stilted sentences threaded throughout that I found to be kind of comical. Thanks to the other elements and promises of what was to come, that kept my head in the story and to keep pushing forward.I thought the major loss in the beginning, happened a little too soon for me to even care. And, the age of Darrow was also something I found myself battling. I feel like the fact that Darrow is a minor (as well as the entirety of the main cast of characters) is probably very intentional to solidify the brutality and inhumane way that this society functions….however, it was still an internal battle for me to remember that these are just teenagers in such incredibly mature situations.Anyways, I felt that the movement into the next phase of Darrow having a new mission and going behind enemy lines was well done. I felt very excited on what was to come next….but, I’m not going to lie. Once Darrow entered into The Institute I felt the writing got a little messy and chaotic. I had to pretend that it was sort of set in the past rather than the future; because these were kids being thrown into this OTT, severely unforgiving game that adults were acting as if it was all some sort of video game/soap opera.At times it was a little absurd and things did go over my head. And it was during this time that I actually starting losing focus on Darrow. He continued to appear as a very simplistic, nearly “caveman” mentality manchild…which, is fair being that he is just a teenager. But, I do feel that the writing didn’t quite support who Darrow thought he was as a character. As this is the first book in the series, I didn’t personally see Darrow exhibit anything that stood out to me as character development, but I am very eager to see how he grows in the next installments!Sevro aka Goblin was probably the character that carried this book for me. I loved him from the first scene he appeared in. He was everything I love in a character, a severe underdog that does not back down. He was a beast, period. I loved all of his contributions in scenes and seeing the little bit of his story get revealed was perfect for me. And he is one of the biggest reasons I want to keep reading this series.Victoria aka Mustang was another character that kept me going in this story as well. She was jus awesome. She kept me interested and I loved how she had her own convictions and even though she’s quite petite, she’s full of fight, and bravery. I enjoyed the influence she seemed to have over Darrow. I think she was a strong character for Darrow to learn from and look up to, throughout the story and made me like Darrow a bit when the two shared scenes.Cassius was the second MVP of this book for me. I felt that his character was solidly constructed and I loved how he stuck to his beliefs and also could back up his talk. I think his character arc made sense and I am eager to see how his story unfolds in the next installments.Even though there were certain things that I felt kind of got out of hand and the plot went a little crazy astray from what I thought I was getting into with this series…I am eager to jump into the next book. I want to see what happens now. I have high hopes that the second installment will only strengthen what foundation Brown has laid down for this series.

2 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

immersive world and heartfelt characters

The beginning was a little slow for me but once the action started I was more into the world. I felt like it reminded me of the hunger games and hope as I continue ur to read the series it will stray from that. I am rooting for Darrow and Eo’s dream. That’s what kept me reading.