Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

67 reviews

melchior's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book cannot be put down. It is a wild, emotional, butt-clenching rollercoaster from start to finish. Loved it. Laughed. Cried. Immediately started the next book in the series. To say I'd recommend it would be an understatement.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Gore, Blood, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Rape, Excrement, Body horror, Slavery, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Cannibalism, and Grief

ohyeah_karyn's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Violence, Slavery, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, and Rape

mirrorstorm_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

Slow to start but then it picks up and gets good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Animal death, and Slavery

Minor: Rape and Death of parent

rubyroses's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Red Rising is marketed as a mix between the Hunger Games & Enders Game. Like the Hunger Games the society of this novel is fractioned into  classes all with specific job and varying hierarchies. Meanwhile, like Enders Game it focus more on a battle arena type school then an all out Hunger Games killing fest. Yet, even with all this being said Red Rising is a unique novel. It’s premise is fresh and feels unheard off even in the vast sea of YA dystopian sci-fi that exists. 

Our main character Darrow is an interesting one. The journey he goes on is long and never ending. He’s a smart boy who is always struggling to stay ahead and often is falling one step behind but when he wins he doesn’t it magnificently. It’s the struggle that makes him interesting. Like most characters he is not perfect at the beginning and he is not perfect at the end. He is overwhelmingly human (😉). 

But, don’t read this book just for Darrow. Every character from Cassius to Servo (he’s my favourite) have their own brilliant moments. The writing is genuinely hilariously witty even in the most tense moments. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Torture, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Medical content, Classism, War, Animal death, Colonisation, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

linneak's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Slavery, War, Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Medical content, Murder, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Animal death, Trafficking, Death of parent, Blood, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Bullying, Police brutality, Cursing, Rape, and Sexual content

lemonwrlds's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Child death, Confinement, Blood, Excrement, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Violence, War, Ableism, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Torture, Murder, Self harm, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, and Grief

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content

luxxltyd's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Grief, Blood, Murder, Rape, and War

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Minor: Cannibalism and Sexual content

dmanning18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Violence, Torture, Sexual harassment, Gore, Death of parent, Blood, War, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

fierymoon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

gripping plot, haven't thought of putting it down for a second 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Gore, Death, and War

Moderate: Cannibalism, Forced institutionalization, and Slavery

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Death of parent

c_serpent's review against another edition

So.

The writing in this book isn't bad. it's what got me to 30%. But it's the Hunger Games in space with a boy instead of Katniss and none of the nuance. And the things that happened in the plot were just???

Like.

His wife (yes he's married at 16 years old) gets fridged in the first 15%. And I didn't have high hopes when his wife dies and literally directly after he meets some people and one of them is a woman and he instantly thinks "she is beautiful, even more than my wife" and like? have some respect it's been 48 hours. 

The narrator of this audiobook was great.  He gives Darrow this lovely Irish brogue. But then this guy Mateo tells Darrow that they're going to have to rid him of his brogue and?? The brogue was almost the only thing keeping me on.  Because Darrow, bless his heart, doesn't have a personality. He's sad at night because his wife died, and he's angry, and he wants to hold onto his identity, but not in a meaningful way. He just doesn't have a personality, and that he therefore cannot propel the story forward.

I knew instantly that the minute he falls in love or this book otherwise becomes unbearable I'm out. I am not interested, Thanks But No Thanks! 

Then around 29% he sees this Gold girl naked they both blushed and it's a countdown: how far can i get into this book before he falls in love with an amoral member of the highest caste despite having a dead wife from the lowest caste that was his everything?

Also they eradicated his brogue, and I'm out, just like I said. Because THEN I looked up spoilers and the blonde girl he thinks is hot is the daughter of the man who killed his wife and they fall in love ANYWAY. And I'm just like? How am I supposed to root for you. You're not giving me anything to work with.

From what I read about the series after I gave up, the plot is extremely predictable. It's just very. "of course this is what happens next. of course" tropey but not in a good way. Kind of like Eragon, honestly. And that's not a great comparison.

Life is too short to read books that don't actually say anything. So goodbye, Red Rising. More like Gorge Rising. Regret Rising. And I'm tapping out, bruv.

Three stars have been removed for ripping off the Hunger Games but in a dudebro "I'm a white man who can capitalize on this" way.  One star has been removed for Darrow making me uncomfortable with his descriptions of women. Why do you always notice exactly what they look like first and need to comment on it in a leery kind of way. "She was beautiful." She's a jerk and slandered your wife and that makes her NOT beautiful, beauty is more than her face. What the heck.  One more star has been removed from Darrow for reminding me of Billy from the Dragons in our Midst series, which is REALLY BAD. One star has been given to Eo, for being fridged, and because she deserved better than angst-fodder.

I mean, I assume. I only have Darrow's word to go off of.

And one star is given to the book for being well written, because that is what got me to 30%.

Yes, I took away all 5 stars before giving some back. That's not a good rating.

Total Score: 2/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death of parent, Murder, and Slavery