Book Review: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

I love this book! 5/5 stars!

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Paraphrased from Goodreads:

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the colour-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Reds are nothing more than slaves. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class.

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When my brother first told me the premise of this book, I was like “……k I’ll read it at some point.” But I promise, it’s much better than it sounds.

The first bit was really good. I like that we got to see a brief but still very comprehensive look into the lives of Low Reds. I like Eo as a character. She’s great. I feel like the first bit also gives us a good understanding of Darrow and how he is as a person. Overall it definitely caught my attention.

I also like the part where Darrow is being carved into a Gold. It was super interesting and I really liked it. I like all the stuff he has to do to prep for being a Gold and for the Institute.

Speaking of the Institute, it was super interesting. I really liked the idea behind it and thought it showed a lot of the mentality of the Golds. It was Hunger Games-esque, but still very different. I liked all the alliances and factions that formed. I loved all the plans that Darrow et al. formed. They were so smart and clever, and I definitely would have fallen for most of them. And can we all just admit that that part where Sevro leaps from the horse carcass was pretty frickin badass??

Also the characters. Guys, the characters!! They are all so complex and detailed. I loved them all. Sevro is a gem. An odd gem, but a gem nonetheless. Pax is so freaking good. Mustang is possibly the greatest character I have read in a long time. Seriously though, I either want to marry her or be her. Cassius is so good.

The one thing I will say is it is a little slow at times. However, it is so well written that I forgive it. I love books where it’s just the characters going about their days with not much happening, as long as it’s well written, which this book definitely was.

Just trust me, please, it’s so good.

Thanks for reading! xx