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jordannahamel's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Red Rising is absolutely without a doubt not for the faint of heart both in content and commitment. If Hunger Games, Battle Royale and Game of Thrones with a dash of the Roman Empire had a fucked up baby, it would be Darrow and Red Rising. Thats not to say that I didnt enjoy it, because I absolutely did. But this was a heavy book to read for me even if it wasnt that long of a book.
To start, I was not expecting for the story to go the way it did. I was anticipating a much more straightforward dystopian burn the system down narrative (which I still believe will be the overarching theme) but it evolved into something much more gritty and less straightforward.
Darrow starts off as someone who sees the system only 2 inches from his face and then quite literally gets a full picture view. It changes him from being someone just trying to keep their head down and do the best they can for their family and turns him into a war lord hell bent on burning the system down from the inside out - in time. His character is overhauled inside and out to the point that throughout reading I had a hard time remembering the boy first introduced to the man that emerges through the blood, war and violence of Red Rising. Character development is in the form of "I'm not just going to be better, I'm going to be worse" and honestly, good for Darrow. Im anticipating lots of world building from the remaining books in the series, but I'm looking forward to it and how it will change Darrow's character even further.
I took points off for the pacing during the "war games" portion of the book and quite frankly the writing of RR's female characters. The former: I absolutely understand the point and lesson's Darrow & Co. receive throughout this part of the book. It forces them to be calculating, cruel and learn on the fly when entering a cut throat academy. However, it was a long and slow process filled with the violence and gore that can only come from tribal war games, which was a bit exhausting at times.
For the latter critique: I wouldn't go so far as to say the female characters were poorly written but the most prominent ones fell into the dreaded categories of "untrustworthy bitch" and "pure, Mother Mary" who only seemed to serve the purpose of pushing Darrow's character arc further at their own expense and make him the "protector" of the story. Namely Mustang, Antonia, and Eo.
TLDR; Would I recommend this book? Absolutely - just not for someone under the age of 16 lol. Do I have my own critiques of it, absolutely. It is not a perfect book but after a good break and maybe a change in content, I'm excited to see where Darrow's story goes.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Rape, Excrement, and Medical trauma
cerebellum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Classism
blingokitty's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Rape, Excrement, and Kidnapping
pxl8dwulf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Moderate: Gore
artmuseam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use
kazli's review against another edition
- 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
people weren't lying when they said this is like game of thrones in space.
Graphic: Gore, Rape, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
blackbird300's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This first book belongs solidly within the YA genre. The plot moves at break neck pace, losing the reader first at the beginning, but once accustomed, it becomes easy. Certain plot points are wrapped up quickly upon being introduced, but all strings are tied at the very end.
I’ve been wrestling with myself as to whether or not I should purchase the sequel…and my answer is a solid yes.
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
sandwiiche's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
sadly, i didn't. the main character was insufferable for the first half of the book (sometimes he still annoyed me in the second half but he got better) and there were things that happened at the beginning that just annoyed the heck out of me. my fave characters were, surprise, not the main dude, and they stole the show for me. at times, the cast felt really large and so some characters were not developed as well as i hoped? plus, it just made things confusing and difficult to remember.
i also don't really like pierce brown's writing. it's quite static, the sentences are relatively short, and he uses certain vocabulary that gives me the ick lol
however, i am still giving this book 3 stars because there were some fun twists that i enjoyed in the second half the book, and the action was pretty decent! sigh, i'm conflicted as to whether i want to finish the series..... maybe if i'm in the mood for it one day
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death and Cannibalism
aelytacchan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I didn't love it, I didn't hate it, but I found a lot of it foul. I think that might be on purpose, but a lot of the violence seemed unnecessary and out of bounds even for the world's laws and customs.
Women were constantly used as symbols, to further plot points, or as convenient caretakers. Despite there being women peppered into the story, they were mostly inconsequential or, when they were of consequence, they just naturally decided they would rather follow Darrow.
I'll take some time to reflect on whether I want to invest more time into the following books, seeing as they're somewhat on the longer side, but as of now, I don't particularly feel like jumping into the next part of the story.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
rebeccasg's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Classism