Reviews

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

berenikeasteria's review against another edition

3.0

I see mixed feelings about this book from my GoodReads friends, and the strange thing is I agree with all of them. Red Rising has clear negatives… but it also has positives, and I can’t deny that at certain points in the book I genuinely liked it.

Let’s cover negatives first. Something that hacked me off early on was

Spoiler

Eo’s death. I’m going to call that out as a Fridging, straight up: a character death simply to motivate another character into action, usually consider a cheap move on the part of a writer. I can’t help wondering how much more interesting the book would have been if Eo had been leading the way into joining the Sons of Ares.

I also found the whole smoshed together made up words thing kind of annoying, although this was more of a niggle than a real irritation. I did not like that Darrow was so young, either. It’s just a bit difficult to get behind a very young protagonist as a leader in a major storyline like this when it’s implausible that they’d have the experience, confidence, and charisma to do so. I also thought that the dividing up of society into colours was such an arbitrary thing. It niggled at me until I realised what it reminded me of. Red Rising is akin to Jupiter Ascending, The Hunger Games, any other Young Adult dystopias in the past ten years that involves some sort of arbitrary division of society with a young protagonist and a makeover early on. Something I’ve noticed about such books is that they tend to steer well clear of actual historical reasons for division along the lines of race, nationhood, gender, sexuality, and instead make up some sort of juvenile division which is then supported by certain groups being richer than others. I would prefer that books like this had a bit more bite to them – i.e. they’re clearly trying to send a serious message in their subject matter, but they steer clear of historical divisions and their societies come across as weirdly equal despite the lines drawn – for example, in the society of Red Rising, both males and females are considered equally capable, and race is not an issue.

Yet despite those negatives, Red Rising had something going for it, in my opinion. It’s better than The Hunger Games. Yes, you heard me – I just said Red Rising is better than The Hunger Games. Why? Two reasons, mainly. First, the prose is so much better. THG had functional, spartan prose that served a purpose but was so pedestrian and unexciting. Now, Red Rising’s prose isn’t the most scintillating stuff in literature, but it’s considerably better. Descriptions, imagery, scene-setting – all much better. Second, and more importantly: Red Rising had the bite to THG’s toothless barking. In THG we’re told how serious and dramatic it’s all supposed to be, and yet

Spoiler

Katniss never has to kill anyone, except the free pass she gets for killing a child-murderer.

In Red Rising there are consequences. Brutal consequences that make you sit up and treat it as more than just a game. There are nuances too that just don’t appear in THG, and I liked Darrow because he grasped those nuances. There are regrets and I much preferred Darrow’s regrets to the squeaky clean protagonists we see so often in YA dystopia.

5 out of 10

lisa00's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

george_ge's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

underthejunipertree's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was written with pure passion and heart, which was what kept me going, but I think the finer points of the craft were lost in technicalities such as the worldbuilding and the narration. So much action happens, but it's all too easy to get lost in the fray. The plot tightens up in the last quarter of the book, but by the time the ending comes around, Darrow's heroism doesn't feel quite as earned as the narration would lead you on to believe. 

kristiej2001's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

5.0

gardenofejw's review against another edition

1.0

DNF—I didn’t like the writing style, the tone, the voice or attitude of the main character. Not to mention I’ve seen plots like this so many times it makes my eyes roll.

lindsaymscott's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

jrobi's review against another edition

Kind of reminds me of The Ugglies series mashed with The Hunger Games. I just could not get into this book personally. Didn't really think any of the characters were likeable. 

jongseobxenvy's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

huupuu's review against another edition

5.0

CUỒNG NỘ!!!!