Thursday 12 January 2017

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Book Title: Red Rising (Red Rising #1)
Author: Pierce Brown
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Source: Amazon, Kindle
Goodreads, Amazon UK 
Goodreads Summary: Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-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.
Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
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.
What did I think? I read the summary with a sort of annoyed eye roll. I immediately pictured Pierce Brown realising that all these dystopian-the-government-is-evil books have already been written and that the market is saturated. Then, one morning, he thought, I KNOW! I'll set mine on Mars. And whilst that might have been what happened, I have to give credit where credit is due.

This book is good.

Not excellent. But good. I hope it'll turn into something much bigger and better (and from what I've heard it will) in the sequels, but for now it's good.

The plot is incredible. It's fast-paced and sets itself apart from everything else on the YA market. It's dark and intense. There's love, friendship, betrayal, intrigues and as a reader you end up really attached to some of these characters. The characters have to make impossible and terrible choices. They have to grow and they have to accept defeat.

The world building is excellent and I think we haven't even seen all of it just yet. The glimpse we got however suggests a complicated and wonderful set up for the rest of the trilogy.

After all this, why didn't I give it a perfect rating?

Because Darrow is too perfect. He feels a bit like a cardboard cutout. He has no flaws, but at the same time he's just your average dude. I did like him, don't get me wrong, but he's not fleshed out. At least not yet. Then there's the second half of the book, and whilst most of the reviews say, that's where it really took off, that's actually where I was somewhat bored. I enjoyed the world building, and the character introduction much more than the actual action scenes later on. But that seems to be just me.

Red Rising is a great book and I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind their YA dark and gritty and set in space.

9 comments:

  1. I have heard so much about this book, and I really need to read it. Glad you enjoyed it, though I'm sorry about Darrow being too perfect :( I just HATE when authors do that! lol
    Great review!

    Amy @ A Magical World Of Words

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    1. It was almost not a problem, but it happened often enough for me to get somewhat annoyed. I do think he's getting better towards the end of the book, so I'm really excited for the sequels.

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  2. We've had this book on our TBR list for a long time - we love the cover. It's annoying that Darrow is perfect though, it's like the author wants Darrow to be relatable to the reader, yet at the same time, he's a hero. We've nominated you for the Mystery Blogger Awards, and it you're interested, you can find out about it here. Great review!  

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  3. Glad that you enjoyed this one - even with the issues with Darrow. I haven't read this one but my husband read and enoyed the whole trilogy. I hope the next book is even better for you!
    Tanya @ Girl Plus Books

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    1. I've heard good things about the next book, hopefully will dive in soon. Thank you :)

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  4. Oh yay! I'm glad you liked Red Rising :) Yes it had a pretty great story but I agree with Darrow not being so relatable. And he just changes so quickly in the book, personality wise. That was extremely hard for me to believe! Great review ^_^

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  5. This was a HEAVY read, it took me YEARS to finish this book. I'd put it aside and try again and again. At the end I LOVE it. It has been by far the best voice I have read so far

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    1. I can't wait to find out how the rest of the trilogy goes!

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