Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Iron Gold [Dramatized Adaptation Parts 1&2] by Pierce Brown

40 reviews

trapdorr's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Re-read. I want to rate it higher but the audio issues/volume is hella annoying. I like the multi POV as it gives more complexity to the story and world. Seeing the cons of freedom and a new government. I just Darrow to be happy and at peace 😭 I truly love this world that Brown has built. Hail Reaper

Content Warnings

qveenmab's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

multiple POVs done really well. lots of set up (to be expected) but still gripping. some character choices make me soooo upset but they make sense and were very engaging.

Content Warnings

ej853's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

danjack's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Weakest out of the first four books. Definitely didn't have any big moments you are use to in a Red Rising book.

Content Warnings

kthale's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

*this review contains very slight spoilers for previous ones - mostly just in the sense that it means the characters I mention are still alive*

I was hesitant to pick up this book because the original red rising trilogy is the most clever and near perfect trilogy I've ever read and I was afraid the author may have been trying to. milk the success, as the first three books had a satisfying conclusion.

I was wrong. This book was great. It picks up 10 years after the previous book and we can see what has become of the world. We can see that they don't live happily ever after and that defeating one enemy doesn't win the war. Peace isn't imminent. Politics are complex. The problems in this book felt so realistic, but not at all in a way that felt preachy to real life politics, which I deeply appreciate.

This book is different from previous books because Darrow is no longer the sole main character. The book switches between different perspectives:
1. Darrow's perspective as he struggles between his obligations to his family but also his ultimate mission of winning the war.
2. Lysander's perspective as he's living a life of exile with Cassius and stuggling to come to terms with his beliefs and his place in the new world.
3. Ephraim's perspective as he's tasked with committing a nearly impossible crime.
4. A new character, Lyria's perspective. She's a red who dreams of a better future after the uprising let her and her family down - and ultimately she gets caught up in things way bigger than her. Lyria is an important character because she shows us what life in like for the average small person after the revolution.

This story has so many layers - unlikely alliances, devestating betrayals, and generally just a lot going on. This book doesn't end on as much of a cliffhanger as the previous two. It just ends in the middle of so many things happening. I can't wait to read the next one. These books are insane.

Content Warnings

barbarianmissy's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

Alrighty then. The last 100 or so pages bumped this from a 3.5 to a 4.

I’d say that this one was definitely the weakest out of the 4 Red Rising books I’ve read thus far, but it was still amazing. It was cool having multiple perspectives to read from other than Darrow’s. Although, having 2/4 of them being from characters we’ve never met before made it feel a little more disconnected (if that makes sense).

For the two newer characters, I really enjoyed reading Lyria’s perspective as a Gamma Red post-rising and how it wasn’t all peaches and cream. It showed how Mustang and the other heroes failed to rebuild the Republic after so many people were displaced after the Rising. Her perspective was really necessary and tragic and eye opening. She was a new fav character for me. Her first few chapters were heart pounding.

On the other hand, our other newbie, Ephraim’s POV was a PIECE OF WORK. He was a real self loathing, shitty ass, dirt bag. I know Trigg loved him, but I sure didn’t. The characters introduced in his chapters I really felt no connection to as I really didn’t like HIM as a character. Volga was ok, but I wasn’t rooting for her by any means. She reminded me of Lea from book one, just a puppy dog following a guy around. Didn’t like it. Yuck. Overall, Ephraim is honestly irredeemable as a character with what he did. The only reason he tried to help in the end was guilt and that’s it. He’s too lost. But I suppose we’ll see what happens in the next book. I may eat my words.

As for Darrow’s chapters, gotta give a round of applause for the babies - I loved meeting the new family members and seeing how all the characters evolved into parents over the last 10 years. I wish we got more human moments with them all. For the rest of Darrow’s story, I really disagreed with him for a lot of it. He was far too rash, and as someone who built the Republic to create fairness for all the colours, he sure didn’t mind fucking everyone over to do whatever he thought was a means to an end. He killed millions to get the war over with rather than waiting it out. He acted above the law HE created and I didn’t like that. The Vox Populi and Mustang had a point. I understand why he did it, but he needed to articulate that before he acted. He was getting far too comfortable letting others die for him. Hope he turns this ‘tude around.

As for the last POV, Lysander is a punk and I don’t like that lil bitch. He is so pompous and so sexually repressed, it’s irritating. I did enjoy returning to the Rim though, there are very interesting characters there. I feel as though this dumb dork is gonna cause us a lot of problems in the future.

There was a lot of heists in this book to the point of too many (counted AT LEAST 4). I personally wanted a little more of the humanity between the characters especially after 10 years. There were A LOT of new characters introduced and I wish we got to know them a little better. Like Wulfgar, Colloway, Rhonna, Alexandar, Seraphina, and the kiddos. Here’s hoping in the next book.

Overall, this series still slaps. I just wasn’t the biggest fan of this particular book. Hoping it picks back up (I hear from booktok the next two are the bomb.com - here’s hoping!🤞)

Content Warnings