Scan barcode
lilac_rose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Xenophobia and Torture
yasidiaz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The series was a whole lot more brutal than I expected and is one of the main contributors to this being a 4-star rating over a 5-star rating. We don't witness the most horrifying acts committed by the other characters, but it still happens way too much for my liking. Not enough to trigger me, but enough to dampen the book just a tad for me. I heavily advise reading the trigger warnings for this book before picking it up. It's not a book for everybody.
Another critique is the lack of diversity in this. At this point, most of the books I have read are incredibly diverse and when a book is not, it takes away some of the enjoyment. It also feels odd when this is obviously inspired by leftism, a movement that has, for many years, been led by BIPOC people. A part of me hopes that changes in later books, but from what I have seen so far, I don't think that will be the case.
Aside from that, the story was intriguing and the characters were complicated. It's interesting to read a story where the characters are sometimes hard to love, even our hero, but still able to enjoy. The set-up of the world and the political intrigue that I know will get stronger in the next book is the main selling point of this book. The Golds are ruthless and you want to hate them all, but you also slowly learn war is much more complicated than that.
Despite my early critiques of the book (which I still stand by) I am intrigued to see where this series will take me.
Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Murder, Torture, Slavery, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Rape, and Kidnapping
romina_elizabeth's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
But I actually really loved this. I don't read this genre much, but I'm so glad I decided to give this one a chance.
I am HOOKED.
And, yes, Brown is right, I'm 90% sure that I'm going to bloodydamn love these books.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Classism, Xenophobia, War, Torture, Slavery, Murder, Stalking, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
flowchelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Classism, Violence, Blood, Death, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Physical abuse
jukebox1168's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Violence, and Torture
dawn_marie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
The idea of the novel is interesting: in a future where humans expanded their reach into the solar system, Mars – being rich in a mineral/gas necessary for terraforming – has becoming a mining colony. Society is structed in a color-coded caste system where Reds are the lowest, performing the most dangerous jobs (specifically the mining), and Golds are the pampered ruling class. After a tragic event and witnessing the indifference of the Golds, a Red is recruited to become a spy amongst the Gold ranks to challenge the status quo, and usher in change. While that sounded intriguing, that’s not what we go. Instead, Red Rising is a Hunger Games/Battle Royale clone, with a Gary Stu protagonist, repetitive info dumps, and painfully bad writing.
The story is narrated by Darrow, a thoroughly unlikeable character who manages to easily overcome every hardship/hurdle he faces. Of course Darrow is the youngest and bestest
The rest of the cast were caricatures, serving little purpose other than to demonstrate how “awesome” Darrow is; that he’s “not like other guys”. The few characters that did get significant page time were deplorable, not one of them were likeable, or at a minimum, rootable – I wanted them all to fail, and fail miserably. The author’s portrayal of females was especially problematic, with the two main named female characters (Eo and Mustang) being quickly fridged*, and the others being reduced to prizes, arm candy, victim, or something to toy with.
For a novel that is filled with battle and fight sequences, it moves at a glacially slow pace. I blame that on the author’s choice to use first person narrative, where Darrow constantl makes tangential “philosophical” musing or dumps a ton of information. There was entirely too much tell and not enough show and writing that tried to be clever but came off pretentious (this happened every time Darrow mused about the political structure or people’s motivations). While this can work, it didn’t here mainly due to the author’s writing style, which vacillated between clumsy and clunky, with some cringe-worthy thrown in for good measure.
I don’t know who the intended audience is, but the book is feels extremely YA and should come with a trigger/content warning (regardless of the audience) as it is filled with causal violence, brutality, murder, maiming, torture, physical and sexual assault, rape, cannibalism, homophobia and misogyny slavery, and human trafficking.
I am told that that series gets better, and Pierce Brown’s writing improves with each installment. I did read the first few chapters of Golden Son and did not see any improvement in writing or storytelling. Unless the author magically/spiritually manages to channel Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, and William Faulkner, I don’t see myself reading future works.
*Fridiging – a plot device in which female characters face disproportionate harm (death, maiming, assault, rape, kidnaping) to motivate male characters.
Graphic: Torture and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Slavery
Minor: Cannibalism
stephanie_ap_sweeney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Blood, Classism, Rape, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Death, Genocide, Slavery, Torture, and Toxic relationship
4ny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Torture, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Slavery, Colonisation, and Xenophobia
ecourtis's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Sexual violence, and Torture
Moderate: Rape, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, and Bullying
Minor: Cannibalism
clara_groeni's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, War, Death, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Torture, Rape, and Sexual violence