Reviews

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

hpruett's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

nikkeht's review

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

mc_nick's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.5

ottr's review

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

YA book hiding inside Sci-Fi genre

emberk's review

3.0

I had REALLY high expectations for this and it was just.. not that good :(

Also the amount of times Darrow was described as dexterous was insane

sandweavers's review

adventurous dark inspiring tense

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

4.5

It honestly makes me mad at how amazing this book it. Everything about it is perfection. The writing is perfect. The pacing is perfect. The scale of this world is perfectly told. You get so wrapped up in it you forget a lot up until the end. Every character is perfectly created, shockingly good. I'm so mad because I did not read it sooner.

anne_choevy's review

4.0

It’s giving hunger games (positive)

zuperfire1's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.0

archimedesfudge's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.5

emilymaedilley's review

3.0

3.5 rounded down. This was about on par with a lot of YA dystopian sci-fi books (The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, etc.). I was excited by the premise with colonies on other planets and a color-coded caste system. But I don't think the full world's potential was realized in this book because the majority of it was spent in the Institute. Even underground with the Reds, we don't get enough of that setting to really identify with Darrow's beginnings. That said, I imagine the world will be more fully realized as the series goes on and Darrow explores life as a Gold.

There were interesting twists throughout the book, some more surprising than others. The plot itself wasn't anything incredibly original, but was thorough. I think less characters with more character building of each individual would have made it a better book for me. Many of the characters did feel a bit one-dimensional.

In all, it was a solid start to a series, but clearly not a book meant to stand on it's own. I'm intrigued enough to keep reading if I find the time, but also am not reaching for Book #2 as my next book.

Having a secondary female character spit "Hurry up and evolve" at the male main characters before walking off was a favorite moment for me.