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jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
Late to the game but yes, this reminds me of Hunger Games and Ender's Game with a dash of [b:An Unkindness of Ghosts|34381254|An Unkindness of Ghosts|Rivers Solomon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488470439l/34381254._SY75_.jpg|55469636].
jskelton's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
liminal_dolphin's review against another edition
5.0
I can’t believe this is a debut novel. The story is fantastic with so many twists and turns I did not see coming. This book explores themes of power, class, identity, expectations and sacrifice in a way that mirrors our own world. I did find some phrases to be a little repetitive and overused but I still found it to be a really powerful and engaging read. I also love a flawed main character and Darrow fits that archetype perfectly.
I absolutely loved the way love and grief are explored throughout this book. I don’t want to spoil so all I’ll say is that compared to literally every other book I’ve read, this one is the most realistic in portraying accurate thoughts and emotions. Very, very well done.
This felt both like something I’ve read before and something entirely new. Pierce Brown took some familiar tropes and put his own spin on it which made this a well paced, page-turning experience of a read.
I absolutely loved the way love and grief are explored throughout this book. I don’t want to spoil so all I’ll say is that compared to literally every other book I’ve read, this one is the most realistic in portraying accurate thoughts and emotions. Very, very well done.
This felt both like something I’ve read before and something entirely new. Pierce Brown took some familiar tropes and put his own spin on it which made this a well paced, page-turning experience of a read.
tintengoldseele's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
merelkouwenhoven's review against another edition
Hated the first chapter. Not my thing
soupbrain21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
3.0
0/5🌶️
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. one of the main reasons I didnt was because it is SO clearly ✨written by a man✨ and I am still not over it. maybe its me and the fcct that I like my fiction with a side of romance and I largely read female authors and female protagonists, but good lord darrow had the emotional range of a teaspoon(!!!!!) and I stg we couldnt go more than 5-10 pages without having to read about piss for one reason or another. the way women were talked about in this book didnt sit well with me (besides mustang...usually) at multiple points and for multiple reasons. also, his connection with eo felt so forced in the sense of just telling us (over and over) he cared for her as opposed to showing it or making that connection feel genuine.
okay, that all said, there were aspects of this book that were good and made me want to continue the series. for one, I like mustang and want to see more of her character. also, just generally speaking part IV was much better than the rest of the book for me and Im glad I didnt dnf and pushed through. the pacing was also good along with interesting world-building, a combination I dont often get (in the first book in a series in particular). some of the characters were interesting (s/o to my boy servo) and the plot was new while reminiscent of other dystopian favs (*cough* hunger games *cough*)
finally, I could write a dissertation on the parallels to the hunger games and to modern society from the perspective of gen z and that definitely improved my overall feelings towards the book
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. one of the main reasons I didnt was because it is SO clearly ✨written by a man✨ and I am still not over it. maybe its me and the fcct that I like my fiction with a side of romance and I largely read female authors and female protagonists, but good lord darrow had the emotional range of a teaspoon(!!!!!) and I stg we couldnt go more than 5-10 pages without having to read about piss for one reason or another. the way women were talked about in this book didnt sit well with me (besides mustang...usually) at multiple points and for multiple reasons. also, his connection with eo felt so forced in the sense of just telling us (over and over) he cared for her as opposed to showing it or making that connection feel genuine.
okay, that all said, there were aspects of this book that were good and made me want to continue the series. for one, I like mustang and want to see more of her character. also, just generally speaking part IV was much better than the rest of the book for me and Im glad I didnt dnf and pushed through. the pacing was also good along with interesting world-building, a combination I dont often get (in the first book in a series in particular). some of the characters were interesting (s/o to my boy servo) and the plot was new while reminiscent of other dystopian favs (*cough* hunger games *cough*)
finally, I could write a dissertation on the parallels to the hunger games and to modern society from the perspective of gen z and that definitely improved my overall feelings towards the book
kale323's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The Pros: Interesting world building, a few interesting characters, and a couple engaging sections within the story.
The Cons: Almost everything else. This book is completely overly ambitious. While many claim that it is Game of Thrones and Hunger Games put together, it fails at replicating both.
First: the main character, Darrow, is a flat, overly hyped up character that is a blank wall of “I’m super cool and I have no flaws that can’t be solved within one, maybe two pages.” Even at the beginning, he hypes himself up for being the best of the best, and it’s clear that he is. But it’s constantly TOLD to you, not shown. Dont tell me to think a character is cool if you haven’t SHOWN me that he’s cool. Which leads me to my next point.
Second: SHOW ME THINGS. DONT TELL ME. Oh my god, this book has fight scenes, conversations, and entire plot relevant sections get boiled down to a few descriptive, “and then they did this,” type of sentences. I wanted to pull my hair out, screaming, “WHY IS THIS NOT BEING SHOWN IN DETAIL. THIS NOT HOW YOU KEEP READERS ENGAGED AND IMMERSED. THIS IS MOVING TOO FAST FOR ME TO CARE,” which brings me to my last point.
Third: The pacing. Dear god. The pacing was absolutely terrible. It takes until half, yes, HALF, of the book until we reach the main story hook. HALF OF THE BOOK IS EXPOSITION??? HALF??? And on top of that, it has no real rising climax, and no real climax at all. At the very least, it’s hard to distinguish when the climax is, from the rest of the book. Abysmal.
Look, when it’s good, it’s good. The worldbuilding is fun, and some of the ideas are intriguing. And some of the characters (not the main one) were fun to read about. These were all enough positives for me not to DNF the book, which is saying something!
Nonetheless, an unrelatable, god-complex main character, tell-not-show writing, and bad pacing are far too much for me to find much value in this book.
Also, the way rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault are handled is very, very poor. At one point, a side character attempts to rape an unknown character. The way it was handled up until a certain point was fine. Justice was being done, and it was a titular moment for the main character to figure out how to handle justice. Interesting story beat!
Then after justice is dealt, the attempted rapist begins to be delivered to the reader as a funny, if not zany character. Wow. Personally, I would like comic relief to not be delivered by an attempted rapist.
I would recommend this book to someone that needs to just sit back and digest a simple story with a few, tidbit, interesting things. But not for anything else.
The Cons: Almost everything else. This book is completely overly ambitious. While many claim that it is Game of Thrones and Hunger Games put together, it fails at replicating both.
First: the main character, Darrow, is a flat, overly hyped up character that is a blank wall of “I’m super cool and I have no flaws that can’t be solved within one, maybe two pages.” Even at the beginning, he hypes himself up for being the best of the best, and it’s clear that he is. But it’s constantly TOLD to you, not shown. Dont tell me to think a character is cool if you haven’t SHOWN me that he’s cool. Which leads me to my next point.
Second: SHOW ME THINGS. DONT TELL ME. Oh my god, this book has fight scenes, conversations, and entire plot relevant sections get boiled down to a few descriptive, “and then they did this,” type of sentences. I wanted to pull my hair out, screaming, “WHY IS THIS NOT BEING SHOWN IN DETAIL. THIS NOT HOW YOU KEEP READERS ENGAGED AND IMMERSED. THIS IS MOVING TOO FAST FOR ME TO CARE,” which brings me to my last point.
Third: The pacing. Dear god. The pacing was absolutely terrible. It takes until half, yes, HALF, of the book until we reach the main story hook. HALF OF THE BOOK IS EXPOSITION??? HALF??? And on top of that, it has no real rising climax, and no real climax at all. At the very least, it’s hard to distinguish when the climax is, from the rest of the book. Abysmal.
Look, when it’s good, it’s good. The worldbuilding is fun, and some of the ideas are intriguing. And some of the characters (not the main one) were fun to read about. These were all enough positives for me not to DNF the book, which is saying something!
Nonetheless, an unrelatable, god-complex main character, tell-not-show writing, and bad pacing are far too much for me to find much value in this book.
Also, the way rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault are handled is very, very poor. At one point, a side character attempts to rape an unknown character. The way it was handled up until a certain point was fine. Justice was being done, and it was a titular moment for the main character to figure out how to handle justice. Interesting story beat!
Then after justice is dealt, the attempted rapist begins to be delivered to the reader as a funny, if not zany character. Wow. Personally, I would like comic relief to not be delivered by an attempted rapist.
I would recommend this book to someone that needs to just sit back and digest a simple story with a few, tidbit, interesting things. But not for anything else.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
soccer8s's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
This was a book that took me out of my comfort zone of rom com, romance, fantasy.... so I wasn't sure what to expect. It took me a little while to get into, but I enjoyed it. This was a really good read.
daniobsessivelyreads's review against another edition
5.0
All fantasy readers NEED to read this series. I cannot stress this enough!
This book is a masterwork! I'm not sure why I haven't heard more about this book before now. Without giving anything away, this book is a smashing together of the Hunger Games, Ender's Game, Ready Player One, and Uglies Series.
Darrow is a young man who lives on a futuristic Mars. Where his job is to terraform Mars into an inhabitable plant for the race of humans who can no longer live on Earth. The supplies given to them by the Silver's is not enough to sustain him or his family, but they continue on for the good of humanity. He continues to drill into the red earth to mine H3.
His world is turned on it's head when he finds out not all is as it appears.
I'm so excited to read the next one.
This book is a masterwork! I'm not sure why I haven't heard more about this book before now. Without giving anything away, this book is a smashing together of the Hunger Games, Ender's Game, Ready Player One, and Uglies Series.
Darrow is a young man who lives on a futuristic Mars. Where his job is to terraform Mars into an inhabitable plant for the race of humans who can no longer live on Earth. The supplies given to them by the Silver's is not enough to sustain him or his family, but they continue on for the good of humanity. He continues to drill into the red earth to mine H3.
His world is turned on it's head when he finds out not all is as it appears.
I'm so excited to read the next one.
caesura_19's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0