Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Rød revolt

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Rød revolt by Pierce Brown

104 reviews

dailbrae's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I wavered between giving this book 3 stars (still solid on my rating scale), but I tore through it in about 24 hours, so giving it less than 4 felt wrong.

I found a lot of the concepts in this book really interesting, like the eugenics-based dystopian caste system. It really leans into the sci-fi aspect, which is able to take it to quite an extreme

with all of the body modification Darrow undergoes to impersonate a Gold, due to the extreme physical differences between castes

. Also I'm a sucker for Greco-Roman-inspired anything.

The Hunger Games-style battle royale was also interesting, with a lot of shifting alliances and politicking. I also appreciated that Darrow fell to a real nadir due to his mistakes and learned from them. I think that's what had me riveted in the latter part of the book, since I was invested in seeing how he would succeed.

I also found myself really interested in the side characters, namely Servo and Mustang. Though I did predict the twist that

Mustang and the Jackal were related

, the hints to that effect felt reasonably paced, so that it was a satisfying experience to have seen it coming. I also thought it was well-handled that

Mustang didn't betray Darrow

. I felt that was consistent with

her characterisation as shown to the reader, as a person with strong morals. Though she was limited by being complicit in a deeply broken system

. The other route would have generated more shock value perhaps, and I respect choosing to stay true to the character we know.

That said, this book started with one of the most egregious examples of fridging I've read in my life. And the book calls back to it constantly. I nearly stopped reading after it happened because I really just wished I could read an alternative version of the book where

Eo doesn't die and gets to be the badass revolutionary that forges her vision of freedom into reality, instead of intentionally dying so that Darrow will?!

. Still not over it tbh, and thinking about it makes me want to bump my rating back down to 3 stars, even though I enjoyed the latter half of the book a lot.

The treatment of the female characters in this book in general is not great. While many of them are capable in a variety of ways, many also get used as objects on which male characters act, effectively to show how monstrous and awful those male characters are. Then in certain cases, it feels almost forgiven

as with Tactus, where he's acknowledged by Darrow to be (paraphrasing) "a monster, but my monster". I get the spin of "he's awful but we're still making use of him since it's a dystopia and we have to do awful things for good reasons", but it still crosses a line for me

.

Also, everyone is so goddamn young! Maybe I'm just getting "old" (I'm not even old) but I'm tired of teenage or young adult protagonists. It makes sense in the context of the world, but I just decided to age everyone up 4 years in my head.

All in all, I'm planning to continue with the series. From what I've read of other reviews, it seems some of my issues with this book may improve over the course of the series, so I'll give it a chance. And I'd be lying if I said I weren't invested in the story to come.

Content Warnings

t_bird's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark emotional tense 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: Complicated

With all the hype this one gets, I gotta say I was disappointed. I found the writing style awkward, much of the worldbuilding and plot riddled with logistical holes, and the characterization of women in the novel downright disturbing. On the misogyny front, it starts off strong with one of the more egregious uses of fridging I’ve encountered in a modern text. Then as you go on, sexual assault, abuse, rape, and murder of women are constantly used for shock value, to motivate male characters, or to character-build their abusers (also mostly men, who are not even entirely damned for the abuse they perpetrate).

I was also surprised to see that about 50% of reviewers on here marked the book “diverse.” Does it count if the only described differences are hair and eye color? And we spend the vast majority of the book with only the blondes? There are also zero queer characters (and a fair few homophobic jokes to boot).

I have read in other reviews, however, that some of the issues of the first book improve in the rest of the series. It really can be hard to judge systemic issues based on just the first part, as it is always possible that the sexism/homophobia/etc are in there to show progression throughout the series. Maybe it’s so bad in the first book bc Darrow doesn’t know better yet, but he learns, you know? I do think first installments owe us a little more hints towards that end so we don’t commit to series that will ultimately disappoint us, but it is what it is.

I do think I’ll give book 2 the benefit of the doubt, based on what I’ve heard from people who have finished the whole series.

Content Warnings

_lacey_'s review against another edition

2.0

adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I listened to the graphic audio version and it was well performed which is the only reason this is not a 1 star review. It was also the only reason I was able to finish, though, because the writing is not great. I did not feel connected to the characters and by the end I really didn't care what happened to any of them except Eo and her fate is decided pretty early on. I do not get the hype for this book. The worldbuilding was lackluster and the caste system was not believable. It was my first book of the year written by a male author and a stark reminder for why I prefer female authors. I will not he reading any other books in this series.

Content Warnings

pewterwolf's review against another edition

I’ve tried so many times to get into this book because of the love this series has. I’ve really tried to fall in love with it, but I can’t. I can’t warm to the writing style nor the main character. The final straw is when my Audible Plus told me I had the audiobook version for so long, they’ve removed it from their catalogue.

I’m glad people love this series, but not for me, I’m afraid.

Content Warnings

snowseau's review against another edition

1.0

challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Prefacing this with what I liked about the book:
The premise had potential, and I liked Pax

Now everything I didn't like:

Darrow is a Gary Stu, and he knows and is proud of it. He’s constantly bragging about his abilities, looks, smarts, etc.
He’s always going on about how hot and how much he loves his fourteen-year-old wife.
There is so much misogyny in this book:
- The use of rape and sexual assault as motivation/anger fuel for Darrow and the other men
- The way said rape and sexual assault was handled by Darrow
  (i.e. bringing it to the attention of everyone, and pulling Nyla into the spotlight to do it)
- Trying to justify Titus raping everyone because he had to watch someone he loved get raped??????
- Everyone just forgives Tactus for it because he received a punishment?????
- Using “like a girl” as an insult
- Since Mustang is female, and not the ArchGovernor’s son, the Proctors were absolutely ok with kidnapping, poisoning, etc. They only cared about his son, not his daughter
- Gold women are still weak and oppressed by men
He sees himself as some god come from on high to save everyone because he knows hardship, so he’s automatically better than everyone
So many made-up words with no explanation or even context at some times
Does the author have a piss kink?
There’s an entire race of people that are literally just sex slaves, and it’s fine and ok?? Darrow gets mad at the rape and sexual assault of Golds, but if it’s a Pink, it’s ok???
He was chosen to help fight (and represent) a cause he didn’t even agree with and comes out believing he’s humanity’s last hope
He’s never been educated, yet he’s the most intelligent person of the 1200 students chosen for the Institute because he has street smarts
He “learns quickly” how to swim and has zero problem
The Golds in the Institute are all boys/girls/children because they haven’t faced true hardship, even at the end of the book, when, I’m pretty sure they all endured the same thing. All Reds are men and women, even if they’re only fourteen
Everyone idolizes him??? How does no one hate his guts????
The narration said “drunker than Narol on Yuletide” twice in as many pages
Pacing was bad: some things went on forever, and others were two sentences even though it was a decent chunk of time
Eo was a “martyr,” but they kill Reds all the time, and no one of import really noticed.
Mustang only noticed the song, and she could barely remember it or the context (she said she heard it on the HC)
He finally learns what justice is, but as soon as something bad happens, he goes right back into vengeance mode
So many “important” characters died off-screen without explanation
Darrow forgot about his cause and his wife so many times just to talk about how great he is and how much he wants to win and shove it in the Golds’ faces
No emotional depth; I had no emotional stakes, and didn’t care for any of the characters
Was Mustang being the Jackal’s sister supposed to be a twist???
It was all tell and no show
The author is (or was trying to make Darrow) an edgelord. It comes off so strongly in the writing
The book is supposed to be about freeing the oppressed and standing up to the authority, but it’s actually about Darrow being super cool and smart and handsome and strong
There is no hook in this story. The only reason I kept reading it was because I had to. I wanted to put it down after the first few pages, and it did not get better
Short sentences. Only short sentences. No rhythm
The Greek/Latin stuff is really overdone
Darrow thinks Mustang betrayed him just because he found out she was the Jackal’s brother, but when she actually betrays her brother, it’s all good. She’s not even mad at him for doubting her
Darrow doesn’t struggle at all in adapting to life as a Gold (because when he was a Red, he already thought he was all that)
How many times does the word “slave” need to be said? Casually referring to his peers as slaves as if that’s a normal thing to do
They were told ideally they wouldn’t kill each other, but they all took that to mean battle to the death
Titus being a Red was never touched upon again. Darrow just accepts the fact and moves on once he’s dead
All “plot twists”
(i.e. Titus beind Red, Mustang being Jackal’s sister)
weren’t unexpected because we knew next to nothing about either character
- We knew Titus was cruel and angry
- We knew Mustang was weak because she’s a woman, but if she was a man, she’d be a great leader
A lot of chunks like “this happened to this House. This happened to these people.” Telling the reader what happened instead of us reading it for ourselves
Darrow finds out Mustang (the girl he fell in love with after his wife died, and he tried to kill himself over) is the ArchGovernor’s daughter (the man who ordered his wife dead), and he suddenly thought that Mustang is the ArchGovernor, and she wanted Eo to die
I don’t know what anyone looked like other than:
- Darrow is oh-so handsome
- Cassius looks like a god
- Pax is a titan
- Sevro is short
- Mustang is beautiful and also short
- Eo is pretty and has red hair
- Mars Proctor looks like an old war general guy?

Content Warnings

sarzard's review against another edition

4.0

sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

sophia_pearl's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

While the pacing was good and the characters were intriguing, there were misogynistic undertones that I didn’t love. The audiobook was very well done, though.

Content Warnings

katrinarose's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I had such high hopes for this book but it let me down. I almost DNF’ed it several times because I just was not excited to read it. The writing style was extremely cringey and dramatic with aggressively 2014 dystopian YA vibes (I know it’s a product of its time but I still hold it to my normal standards) that made me roll my eyes constantly. I read several parts out loud just to laugh at them. Also, the first person present tense is just not my favorite perspective to read from, and it didn’t do the story any favors.

Plot-wise, I found the first half just plain boring. There were way too many infodumps and I didn’t care that much about the info because I wasn’t invested in any characters yet. The worldbuilding itself was simplistic to the point that it felt like a middle-schooler wrote it. (The classes/job sectors in society are named after colors, and the golds rule at the top, for example.) The characters were also lacking nuance, typically falling into either the good guy group or the bad guy group. The bad guys were just stereotypical bad guys with no gray area, which is something I have less and less patience for in my reading. Darrow, the main character, was bland beyond his rage and anything we saw of his development was told to us rather than really shown. Finally, the “woman in the fridge” trope was used which left a sour taste, especially because it was super obvious to see coming and again corny. I will say the last 25% improved, both in the writing and plot. I hear that this book is the weakest in the series, so I will give the second book a shot before giving up altogether since it is so well-loved.

Content Warnings

ggcd1981's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

leeleereads279's review against another edition

0.25

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This is an extremely poor done allegory for discrimination. The handling of the female characters is downright atrocious and the write is tense and drags in the worst way possible

Content Warnings

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