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challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An enjoyable book all around. Although the fast pacing leaves many aspects and plot points to be quite underdeveloped. Also the execution of certain subject matter was not handled quite well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Classism
Minor: Cannibalism
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Slavery, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Cannibalism
"if they're old enough to crew, they're old enough to screw." Old enough to crew is 13. An adult male said this. This blatant display of pedophilia is never pointed out as being wrong. It's accepted.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Suicide attempt
This came across as Hunger Games *for men* - trying to be overly gritty with no real substance to back it up, which made the goofiness of the worldbuilding and juvenility of the characters less forgivable than if it ditched the mature content and leant into being YA.
In the end the misogyny got to me. Every single female character in this book exists solely to advance the male lead's rise to heroism. Competent women become damsels just so he can prove his moral superiority over the men that hurt them. Mass rape is used to reinforce the villainy of the protagonist's 'road not taken' counterpart and allow him to save the day in a way that just came across as distasteful and cheap. As soon as sexual violence enters the picture, supposedly super-humanly strong and intelligent female characters become helpless victims until saved by the male protagonist - naturally the male characters are never presented as potential targets of the same kind of violence. DNF'd at that point.
In the end the misogyny got to me. Every single female character in this book exists solely to advance the male lead's rise to heroism. Competent women become damsels just so he can prove his moral superiority over the men that hurt them. Mass rape is used to reinforce the villainy of the protagonist's 'road not taken' counterpart and allow him to save the day in a way that just came across as distasteful and cheap. As soon as sexual violence enters the picture, supposedly super-humanly strong and intelligent female characters become helpless victims until saved by the male protagonist - naturally the male characters are never presented as potential targets of the same kind of violence. DNF'd at that point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence
Minor: Torture, Cannibalism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Murder
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Right, stay with me for this because I think I’m about to be in the minority. The only reason this book got the rating that it did is because it had Hunger Games vibes and since I finished it a few weeks ago, I’ve been reflecting on it and it did have some good qualities.
Two whole people recommended this to me, well, one person recommended I read it and then Molly from @twoliterateladies saw I was reading it and raved about how good it is. No offence to these two people but they were wrong.
This book dragged and not just because I didn’t actually care about it enough to care what happened next. I made myself push through because it was recommended so I thought it was only right to give it a go. I was bored.
This book tried so hard to send a message and yeah I got it but it was also so convoluted at times. I admit, the second half of the books was much more interesting, as with most sci-fi or fantasy books, there is a lot of world building especially in a series.
My biggest problem with this book was the way women were treated and the unnecessary sexual violence towards women, I also found that some of the things the main character said or thought rubbed me the wrong way.
I know this review is just a jumbled mess of thoughts but that’s what reading the book was like for me. About halfway through, I decided that once I finished Red Rising, I didn’t need to read book 2 and I stand by that, I’m done with that world.
Two whole people recommended this to me, well, one person recommended I read it and then Molly from @twoliterateladies saw I was reading it and raved about how good it is. No offence to these two people but they were wrong.
This book dragged and not just because I didn’t actually care about it enough to care what happened next. I made myself push through because it was recommended so I thought it was only right to give it a go. I was bored.
This book tried so hard to send a message and yeah I got it but it was also so convoluted at times. I admit, the second half of the books was much more interesting, as with most sci-fi or fantasy books, there is a lot of world building especially in a series.
My biggest problem with this book was the way women were treated and the unnecessary sexual violence towards women, I also found that some of the things the main character said or thought rubbed me the wrong way.
I know this review is just a jumbled mess of thoughts but that’s what reading the book was like for me. About halfway through, I decided that once I finished Red Rising, I didn’t need to read book 2 and I stand by that, I’m done with that world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual violence
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 thatMustang 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 whereEo 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 forgivenas 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.
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
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
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
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
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
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief
Minor: Death of parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Excrement
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism