Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

69 reviews

nicain's review

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Slavery, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Medical content, and Medical trauma

habitualbookoffender's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

4.75

The first quarter (ish) of the book is kind of slow, BUT it’s a lot of world building and pertinent information. But there’s a significant turning point in the book and from there, it’s full speed ahead. This book is SO unbelievably good. It draws you in so well, the characters are so well formed, etc. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Grief, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Rape and Racism

aft888's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Slavery, and Classism

Minor: Blood and Suicide attempt

zanazy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

This was the first male main character lead story and sci-fi fantasy I’ve ever read. The setting is a dystopian society sometime in the future. Earth is dying/has died, and humanity has found a home in other planets. Darrow the main protagonist is a strong and complicated character. The book takes a few early chapters to set the setting of the story and the "caste" like system, and then quickly introduces the conflict and sets Darrow up for his story arc. Very early on, you get a sense of how far humanity is willing to go to survive, at the cost of others, and how the governing leaders silence those who dare to speak up. 

There is a mystery around the death of

Eo. Right away I want to know more about her song and what her last words were. The impact her death has on Darrow influences him and stay with hin throughout the story. I have a feeling we will learn more about Eo as the story continues.

 

The supporting characters in this story are all complicated and complex characters that add to the storyline and make you invest in their fates. Darrow finds himself in a world where everyone should be his enemy, and where despite his new status he is still a lower ranking than his peers, but he rises above and is a natural leader. He is a great example of someone who was born to lead. His leadership growth and the way he adapts and learns from his early mistakes in being a leader humanize him and make him relatable. No character in the story is without flaws. 

There is very little romance in the story, which I thought I would miss, but it fits the setting. There are hints of characters becoming more, and the gradual build-up to this relationship is realistic, due to Darrow's early loss in the book. I look forward to seeing how this relationship evolves. 

My favorite relationship is that of Sevro and Darrow. Brothers, loyalty, pride, and overcoming misconceptions and status. Sevro and the Howlers are the best, and their loyalty to Darrow, the Reaper is a highlight. I can't wait for Darrow to prove everyone wrong and show that loyalty was not just confined to their trial, some bonds truly cannot be broken and are for life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: War, Death, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Blood, Sexual assault, Classism, Cursing, and Medical content

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Self harm, Rape, Grief, Physical abuse, and Slavery

bookfulthoughts's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Magnetic and captivating ✨

“I am the spark that will set the worlds afire. I am the hammer that cracks the chains.”

I really liked this one! The story was extremely well written and interesting. The world building was excellent and extremely detailed. I was able to visualize exactly what was happening and what everyone looked like! I like that the plot was never lost in the storytelling and this book sets up for the rest of the books in the series perfectly. I do believe that I can see this book becoming a classic in the near future. I loved the concept of the color classism and how that was presented. In my opinion, that was a unique aspect of the story. I also loved that Darrow wasn’t perfect! I he has many flaws but that’s what makes this book good. It gives his character room to grow and develop in complexity.

My reasoning for not giving it 5 stars. Personally, in certain parts of the book it was very reminiscent of the Hunger Games. Having inspiration is fine and I have no problem with that. I’m not sure if it's just me but some scenes felt too familiar. Another thing I took points off for was the fact that I felt like I should have been more emotionally attached to certain characters but I didn’t feel much when things happened. I felt like it was a little cold at times with other characters. Besides these issues, I really liked this book and I do plan on reading the rest of the series in the near future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual assault, Murder, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Stalking, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Racism, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Genocide, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Animal death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Self harm

oakdogs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Violence, Classism, Grief, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Rape and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content

eliaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Excrement, Sexual assault, Sexism, Genocide, Gaslighting, Cursing, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Gore, Confinement, Rape, Classism, Animal death, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Blood, War, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Grief, Murder, and Misogyny

Minor: Vomit and Death of parent

leannarapier's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I asked readers for a character driven fantasy or scifi with emotional depth to the characters. Red Rising was the most recommended. Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me. 

It started out interesting with the MC being part of a group (known as Reds) sent to live underground generations ago to mine materials needed to terraform Mars. What they didn’t realize is that their mission was complete long ago and the other Colors were living in luxury on Mars and other planets while they still slaved away thinking they were preparing Mars for their future children. 

The MC, after discovering the truth, is disguised as a Gold (the elite group of people) and goes to a special training school. At this point, I felt like the novel was a redo of the Hunger Games only with more language and violence. Nor did I really get the emotional depth I was looking for. I wanted something heartfelt with action, and more than just the grief and violence this book became. 

3.5 I would have given it 4 stars except for the bait and switch. I loved the beginning idea of an oppressed people rising up and was disappointed in the whole hunger game school survival setting it became.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Gore, and Cursing

stephanie_ap_sweeney's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Blood, Classism, Rape, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Death, Genocide, Slavery, Torture, and Toxic relationship

jjamiee's review

adventurous tense medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Classism, Death, and Slavery

Moderate: Grief, Gore, and Rape

Minor: Cannibalism, Excrement, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury