Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

55 reviews

gemstonejasper's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book's been on my radar for a while, but I finally bit the bullet and started it for a read-along leading up to the release of the last book. I went in pretty much completely blind. All I knew was that it was a sci-fi dystopian set on Mars. I had also heard that it gives Hunger Games vibes.

Someone also said that this is a YA book, but it isn't. Darrow starts as a 16-year-old, but I have no doubt it was written for adults. Every time I was reminded that he was 16, it pulled me out of the story for a moment. It felt jarring. He didn't at all act 16. The audiobook narrator sounded like he was at least in his 20s. He was way too mature to be 16 and he starts out the story with a wife. I know that it was probably meant to demonstrate that kids are working these dangerous jobs in the mines. And his life experiences could 100% cause him to seem more mature than most 16-year-olds. But there are real developmental limitations on how his mind would work. So that pulled me out a few times.

To be honest, the book starts pretty slow in my opinion. It took me several chapters to really get into it. I liked it, but I would go a couple of days between chapters. But once they got into the school and things ramped up, I was in it. It just kept getting more and more intense. It was a wild ride, but I loved it. There were lots of surprises. 

I would get a little annoyed because Darrow's motivation seemed to only revolve around his wife. It does struggle with the "woman written by a man" syndrome where his wife only existed and died to motivate him. Also, violence against women is used repeatedly to move the story forward. There were woman characters who only existed it be assaulted, and then Darrow could react to the abuse. There are other ways to show that someone is bad. Not every single bad guy needs to assault the women around them. But the rest of the book was really good, so I can overlook that. 

I also got kind of annoyed sometimes that Darrow didn't really make many mistakes. He did, but they came across to me as mistakes he had to make for the plot rather than mistakes he actually would make. He didn't seem to make legit mistakes.

Note: Sevro was the best by far. Protect him at all costs.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Gore, Murder, War, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Animal death, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death, Slavery, Grief, Rape, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse

Minor: Cannibalism

emmalaya's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Violence, Death, Rape, Child death, Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and War

Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual violence

linkwoodpub's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Incredible execution on a very cheesy premise. It took me a long time to dive in, but once I did it was an absolute rollercoaster (in a good way). 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Racism, Rape, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Classism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Xenophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery

porcinitortellini's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I'm not going to lie, I almost put this book down because of how Darrow was in the beginning of the book, but a really good friend insisted I keep going and I'm glad I did. This series has become one of my favorites. This book feels a little YA due to the age of the characters, but halfway through the book you forget how young they are (late teens). There IS character development, which kept me hooked and I felt the character development worked well with the plot. Darrow still sometimes feels like a Gary Stu, but he became rather endearing so I'll overlook it this one time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Child death, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Classism, Death, Rape, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism and Sexism

Minor: Sexual content

There is a trope in here that is usually a MAJOR turn-off for me in sci-fi, but is unfortunately hard to avoid in the genre (I think some of you can see where I'm going with this...). It's a little bit of a spoiler so read at your own risk:

why the good golly GOSH DO WOMEN HAVE TO DIE TO ADVANCE THE PLOT OR GIVE THE MMC PURPOSE????

the_trees_speak_latin_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Slavery, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, and Vomit

_forestofpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexism, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Vomit

blackbird300's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• 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

I’m mad that I enjoyed this so much. My biggest issue with the entire book lies with the fact that nearly every femme-presenting character introduced in the story is assaulted at some point. Yes, many of them are well developed characters, but it does not erase the fact that they were assaulted/nearly assaulted. That fact alone feels out of place in the entire plot. 
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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Medical content, Abandonment, War, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Sexism, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Excrement, Animal death, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Cursing, Colonisation, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

aelytacchan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• 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 can't say I understand why Red Rising is a fan favorite. It wasn't bad, but its tempo is so gruelling that I almost DNFd it - saved only by the fact I already had all the audiobooks from a past sale.

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Classism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death of parent, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Sexism

haley49's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

This was very violent and graphic but so so powerful. This world explores the violence of power hierarchies. The caste system is not perfect nor is the world explored entirely but it does such a good job at what it tries to. It is a slow burn corruption arc where the mmc just barely figures out his errors but the ending still leaves room for doubt. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Classism, Murder, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Slavery, War, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Rape, Xenophobia, and Sexism

dennyiii's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Cannibalism, Classism, Colonisation, Misogyny, Murder, Animal cruelty, Grief, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Body horror, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Child death, and Sexual assault