Red Rising

It took me a minute to get into this, but then I really loved it. It was definitely a violent book, but I feel the violence made sense with the plot. After I adjusted I really enjoyed the writing style and I loved the characters. The story itself was interesting and I was genuinely engaged when reading it. I think this was a great book and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown 5 Stars!! I'm not going to recap the plot because the book's summary does a great job of explaining what the book is about: The Earth is dying. Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. His mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it. The Reds are humanity's last hope. Or so it appears, until the day Darrow discovers it's all a lie. That Mars has been habitable - and inhabited - for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down on Darrow and his fellows as slave labor, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought. Until the day that Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda. I'm sure by now it's obvious I love romance novels. I wasn't originally going to read this book because it's listed under science fiction. I was going to have a friend read it and do a guest review (he still is going to review), but somehow I found myself intrigued by this book and all the praise that it has received. It is compared to Hunger Games and I really liked Hunger Games so I decided to give it a try...why not? Well...I'm so happy I decided to read this book. I'm not sure it does this book justice to compare it to Hunger Games. While I can see some similarities, Red Rising has added layers of depth. The writing and story is so good. You will be sucked in. First, it is quite obvious the Pierce Brown is well read. He created his own unique story but managed to borrow and weave the concepts of some great works. The first thought I had was that this book reminded me of Golding's Lord of the Flies with a twist on Homer's Iliad. There's a lot of references to Greek mythology in this story. The Golds like to play God and they interfere a great deal. It was interesting how I would forget this novel is actually set into the future. The school is basically set up to imitate ancient times where Darrow and the other students have to learn to conquer but also learn to establish order and civilization. This is where I see many similarities to Lord of the Flies. The books incorporates major themes about the conflict within human nature: civilization versus savagery. It highlights Nietzsche's concept that the driving force behind human nature is the "will to power, " or the long standing question of "does the end justify the means?" This is what I love about the novel...it's not just entertainment; it's entertainment with layers that question morality and the true nature of humanity. It has all the entertainment of Hunger Games, but the depth of the some well know classics. It's interesting to think about how this book is futuristic and technology has advanced far beyond what we can imagine, but no matter how advanced the world becomes, human nature is constant: our drive for power and our inclination for savagery always exists; it is a fine balance to keep civilization and morality in the forefront. This book has a lot of action in it and it is INTENSE. I was so stressed reading it, which is crazy since it's a trilogy and I automatically know Darrow will live through to at least the last book. I'm terrified that Pierce Brown will not give me a happy ending. I'm a happy ending girl and I want it SO bad for Darrow. There is love in this story and love is the major driving force for all of Darrow's actions, but this is not a romance story. It's a story about many things: love, war, survival, redemption, strength, fear, humanity, etc. I LOVED this book. If you are looking for a good book that has it all...love, action, science fiction, philosophical principles, something you can learn from...then READ this book. I hear it's going to be made into a movie. So READ this book before the movie comes out!! Onto book 2...here we go.

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.

Just started this series and I'm already obsessed! The author's writing style is fabulous, and Darrow's story is gripping. From the lowest caste to Primus, his journey is emotional and thought-provoking. He's faced with impossible decisions, questioning what's right for his people and struggling with his own morality. Ready to dive in deeper. ♥️♥️♥️.

Red Rising stands out for its unique setting on Mars and its striking, color-coded social hierarchy. Darrow is a compelling main character whose transformation—sparked by a traumatic loss involving his family—drives him to join the Sons of Ares and challenge an oppressive system. The Institute’s game to win Primus is intense and unpredictable, keeping readers constantly on edge. The novel’s themes of inequality, power, and resistance are easy to connect to current events, making it both engaging and relevant. Overall, Red Rising is an enjoyable, thought-provoking novel that I confidently incorporate into my high school English classroom.

2007. I remember when I first started reading Games of Thrones, the first book of George RR Martin’s epic Song of Fire and Ice series. It took me a few chapters to understand and fully follow the style and language, but as soon as I got to that point, I WAS HOOKED. Since, there hasn’t been a book, or series, that has captivated me as quickly or as intensely...until Red Rising, the first book in the Red Rising trilogy, by Pierce Brown. I. Couldn’t. Put. It. Down. No, seriously. It was bad. Not the book! I'm talking about my total lack of interest in everything else. I wasn’t gaming with my husband or hanging out with my friends...all I wanted to do was read. EVERYTHING about the book was incredible, especially the setting, the characters, and the writing. I think the book is best described as a Sci-Fi/Fantasy hybrid. It takes place in the far future (Sci-Fi), where the planets of the solar system have been colonized and each are governed by powerful families (Fantasy). They are all ruled by Octavia au Lune, who lives on Luna, also known as Earth’s moon. The story’s setting starts in the depths of Mars’s core, where our lead character is mining for helium-3 to support planet colonization. We also travel to the surface of Mars, into its slums, and into the society’s top educations institution, where the young elite are trained to rule. Each location is depicted beautifully. The storyline follows 16-year-old Darrow, a Red, who lives a simple life with his wife and family. In Darrow’s world, people are classified by color (and I'm not talking about the color of their skin). The Golds are the rich and powerful, whereas the Reds are the poorest with the least desirable jobs. Between, there is a whole spectrum of color, with each representing a different skill and station in life. Pierce does an excellent job of introducing the reader to characters of all colors and stations. And all shortcomings. The characters are very realistic, very believable, and very flawed. They are wicked, yet redeeming, sultry, yet vulnerable, beautiful, yet deadly. They are complex, which makes them real and relatable. Finally, Mr. Brown’s writing is absolutely incredible. His use of slang language is so thorough, so fluid, that I was instantly drawn into Darrow’s ruddy world. Sure, it took some getting used to, but that’s what made my brain tickle. I just HAD to make sense of this incredibly intricate language and dialect. He also does an incredible job of describing the complicated settings and characters. My imagination danced along with this text, creating vivid imagery and emotional attachment. I felt like I was a part of the story - the writing knew how to draw me in and keep me there, in the throws of the story. I don’t want to give too much away...the book is just so good and I want everyone to experience every little bit of it… Like I mentioned, the story follows Darrow. He is poor, and lives underneath the surface of Mars along with huge colonies of fellow Reds. One day, Darrow and his wife, Eo, are caught breaking the rules. The punishment? A public whipping. At the display, Eo, in rebellion, decides to sing a forbidden song, a crime punishable by death. On orders from the ArchGoverner of Mars, a Gold, she is hung on the spot, in front of the underground population, including Darrow. Red Rising is a story of his quest for vengeance...a quest that turns into an incredible journey. I CAN’T RECOMMEND THIS BOOK ENOUGH. I didn’t even mention the plot...which is by far the best quality of the entire book. But how do I discuss the plot without giving it away?? My favorite since Game of Thrones, I know I will be reading Red Rising one over and over again. AND THEY’RE MAKING A MOVIE! Details are a bit muddied, but it’s definitely listed on IMDB as “in development.” WEEEEEEE!!!! Pierce Brown is a screenwriter and novelist, currently residing in Los Angeles. He moved around quite a bit while growing up, due to his mother’s successful career. He received his degree from Pepperdine University in 2010 and sold Red Rising in 2012. Red Rising, his debut novel, was #20 on the NY Times Best Seller List. The sequel, Golden Son, rose to #6 on the same list, and the last installment of the trilogy, Morning Star, reached #1. Mr Brown has received the 2014 Goodreads Best New Author award, as well as the 2015 Goodreads Best Science Fiction Novel.

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.

A friend recommended this series to me, and after putting it off for a while, I finally decided to give it a try. I immediately wished I hadn't waited, as I couldn't put the book down and finished it in less than two days. Set in the far future, the story follows Darrow, a Red, a skilled laborer at the bottom rung of the social ladder. He never really desired to rise above his station, but a heartbreaking event and complicated plots force him onto a course he never wanted. Through his eyes, we come to know a rich, immersive world, fascinating yet brutal at the same time. Darrow has to make choices that aren't easy and will leave the reader feeling unsettled at times, but the action never stops and you will reach the end wanting more (which you'll get, since this is the first in a series!) Highly recommend!