Reviews with content warning for Violence - Dark Age

Dark Age is the fifth book in the Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown. The first book, Red Rising follows a man named Darrow who is living in a society dictated by color. He is a Red, considered the lowest class and is thought to be terraforming Mars for human occupation. But when Darrow's wife is killed and his world is shattered, he finds that everything is not as it seems.
I love the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown so much. I read the first book around the time the second one came out and I fell in love with the writing and the world. This book wasn't any different.
It had been awhile since I read the last book in this series so it took me a bit to get back into the world and the characters but when I was back in, I was hooked. This book is huge but it's so packed full of action both physically and politically. We follow characters from the original series and some new ones and I love all of them.
The world in this series just keeps expanding and I love learning more about it. We get to know more about the other color classes and their people's beliefs. I love the cast of characters we have and how they are all so different and distinct from each other.
This book had several moments where I gasped out loud and some that even made me cry. There was two particular deaths in this that really got to me.
Overall, I am so excited (and a little scared) to see what Pierce Brown has in store for the next books in the series.

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surbhi_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

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therensistance's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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marareading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow. If you liked the series so far for the unpredictable alliances, the absolutely BRUTAL combat, the sheer humanity of war and compassion laid bare, then you will definitely love this one as well.

We still follow our Howlers, the republic, the rim, the Vox, and every other group queueing for control and power. Learning more secrets, and following multiple perspectives.

This is an insanely dark book, with the true depths of war. Every trigger possible is in this book, so check them of needed.

Once again I found myself tearing up, freezing in shock, standing to cheer, and filled with rage. I am so attached to these characters. The absolutely brilliant writing makes me have empathy and feel depth for even the most henous of characters. I sometimes forget they aren't real...

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