Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Golden Son

This is a VERY fun book to read, but you can tell this author has never suffered any kind of structural discrimination in his life.

I'll say the bad stuff first because I only see people talking about the positives in this book, but keep in mind that I did like it and I'd rate it around 3.9 / 4.0

First, more then in the first book, Golden son makes some very superficial and surface level type of commentary and criticism on the subjects it tries to discuss. Pierce Brown creates some extreme situations and then have his characters fight against its injustices, but he really doesn't recognize or address some of the more subtle violence that structural discrimination creates, which is why I say it's pretty clear Pierce Brown has never actually experienced discrimination. This book gives some strong vibes of white guy talking about what if racism was against white people.

My other criticism is that Pierce doesn't know how to write women to save his life. This DOESN'T mean I dont like some of his female characters, like Mustang and Victra, it just means he writes them pretty badly overall. Most if not all of his female characters are just plot devices to push his male characters further (could Ares backstory be more predictable? Let me guess, a woman you loved died and now you know people deserve rights?). Even though Golds are supposed to be the physica pinnacle of society every female character that isn't a love interest gets the "she's so petite, weak and delicate" treatment and either dies to make a Male character sad, or falls into the role of "traitorous bitch". The main character of this book (and most of his Male characters) is so fun to read about, and clearly meant to have several "badass" moments, it's pretty disappointing to see how disposable and surface level Pierce Brown makes his female characters be. (Also Darrow is weirdly forgiving towards a sex trafficker?? Wich to me just once again proves how distant Pierce B is from actual structural violence)

Now the good stuff, this book is one of those books you read when you want a easy "badass action movie" type of book. It's very fun, has some surprising and satisfying scenes, and honestly a very cool and likable main character. Darrow escapes a little from the traditional format of grey character by having some surprisingly "sweet" depth, showing remorse and sadness towards death that most "cool and calculist" characters tend to ignore. His love for people and speacially his friends is emphasized several times, and in ways you'd typically not see with "badass" action male characters like him, wich makes it a lot more fun to read about him (though he could back off with his internal monologues a little).

Overall it's a fun book with space battles and satisfying twists and fights (Pierce didn't right this book to be realistic, he wrote it to be the fun type of power fantasy). But you do have to keep in mind (and trust me, Pierce does not let you forget) that it is a book about structural (sci-fi) racism, written by a white male author in 2012, so it does a few points you have to ignore to read.

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haley49's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

…I’m traumatized with that ending. What

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ohyeah_karyn's review against another edition

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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? Yes

5.0

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praaliine's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

where do i even start? golden son was really something, only one other book (series) has ever put me through an emotional wringer like this. every little detail in this book was worth paying attention to because pierce brown leaves no stone unturned. this was in no way a senseless science fiction, it really explored the tragedy of human nature and the relationships developed in this book were the most profound and complex i’ve ever read. there’s a big cast of characters and not one was irrelevant, pierce brown breathed so much life into the supporting characters that i cried at their pain.

i really love how Darrow, as hot headed as he was (rightfully so), remained self aware through it all, he’s broken, confused, (stupid)ly brave and gets ahead of himself way too much, yet he realizes this and isn’t afraid to say so.

I could go on all day about every single character, but i’ll stop here. it took me longer than i would have liked to finish the book, but that’s on me because i’m pushing through a slump. golden son was epic, i’ll always recommend it.

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zephyrscape's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

2.75

Now, I have no problem with sad books. I have absolutely enjoyed being wrecked by books before. But in order for that to happen for me, there needs to be enough happy or heartwarming or moving material between the sad parts for me to actually build up an attachment to characters. And in Golden Son, the vast majority of those sorts of moments between sad events are instead subbed out for action sequences where Darrow is angsting over his choices and the world he lives in. Maybe this will work for you if you get a thrill from battle sequences. But it didn't work for me. It left me with a sour taste in my mouth as the book hammered me again and again and again with things that I think were meant to shock and upset me, but only ended up annoying me. I kept internally snapping, "I *know* we can't have nice things, you've already said as much several times!"

The stars I'm giving this book are for the quality of the prose, which is admittedly quite good, and also for fleshing out some of the story's female characters in a way that I felt was missing in book one, which I did appreciate. But I finished this book without the enjoyment of a new idea to chew on and in a markedly worse mood than when I started it.

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amberier's review

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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joshoonet's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I had a bit if a hard time getting into this book, mostly because the feeling of having to read another ~1200 pages to finish the series was kind of daunting
But then I ended up finishing the majority of the book in one day, so it was absolutely captivating!
Almost as good as the first one, but of course higher stakes and more complicated politics
Lost focus a bit during the big fighting bits
Love how nothing is ever quite how it seems, everyone is scheming all the time
Starting the third book immediately!

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