Reviews with content warning for Death - Morning Star

This book was a rollercoaster!
Pierce Brown holds my heart in his hands with this world he has build!
The character growth, the world building, everything! It's so impossibly hard to put this book down once you start, I've laughed and cried so much while reading this beautiful book and cannot wait to start the sequel trilogy and get my heart broken and rebuild again!

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therensistance's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

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lilylaflair's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.5

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_forestofpages's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

Break the chains.

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miak2's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

If you're watching, Eo, it's time to close your eyes. The reaper has come and he's brought hell with him. Chapter 46.

3.5 stars

And LISTEN it was going to be a 4-star read until a certain plot point, when Pierce Brown pulled one of my biggest book no-no's. I hate it when the protagonist in a first person book hatches a secret plan and, as it unfolds, acts surprised at the turn of events. It 100% just serves to keep the reader in the dark, but when the story is told in first person, there's no way of doing that unless the narrator has a good reason to be an unreliable one. Which, obviously does not apply here, since Darrow was the mastermind behind it. Gah.

That said, apart from that frustration, I did really enjoy this book, probably more so than its predecessors. (Also I listened to it as an audiobook and I think that helped, since Brown's choppy writing style translated better in that format). I think he writes really phenomenal plot twists (even though I have some issues with the execution), and his character work definitely stepped up in this final installment. I mean, all the female characters are still essentially the same. And there's a couple molds for the male characters that you could group them under. But I understood their motivations and their fears better despite them all having been cut from similar cloths. Sevro's consistently fantastic though, absolutely unhinged in a really loveable way.

I can definitely see why this series is so beloved! I enjoyed it a lot - it was fast paced throughout, with a lot of great twists and dire consequences. I didn't love it as much as I'd hoped I would, but I'm glad that I stuck through it. (Excluding the new books in the universe, don't think I'll get to those).

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grets_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Scifi and dystopia isn't really my thing and I didn't think I was that into this series... Until I couldn't stop listening.

It kept me engaged and guessing the whole time - just when I thought I knew where it was going, it would go in a completely different direction (but in a completely plausible way).
I'm fairly certain that a large part of my enjoyment was due to how well the audiobook was narrated. Would definitely recommend.

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heyjaycee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.0

After the end of Golden Son, everything is different. It's one of those 'where can we even go from here?' moments. But there is somewhere to go, and the only way is up.

Kept captive and tortured by the Jackal, Darrow must escape and return to his struggling rebellion. But when he does, he must contend with the clashing personalities of everyone he has brought together.

I appreciated how Morning Star became less about Darrow—though of course he is centre stage—and more about the people around him. Brown really shines at creating memorable characters, and they were all given their moment in the spotlight in this final book of the series.

Of course, the exceptionally grimdark tone continued, and I began to find the endless setbacks and awful surprises hard to bear. There was a moment, three quarters from the end, where yet another terrible thing happened and I immediately put the book down and didn't come back to it for three weeks. Eventually I returned to it, and was glad I did. But still—the neverending tension was wearisome.

Oh, and the ending? Allow me to sigh heavily. The political conclusion made sense, but the interpersonal wrap-up for Darrow felt agonisingly hackneyed. But there will be those who like that kind of thing, I guess.

It's been a rollercoaster of a series. Pierce Brown is a master of emotional intensity, conflict, and sci-fi coolness. I'm glad I experienced it.

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