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A review by pnwbibliophile
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.0
This book had me on a roller coaster of emotions. First, I was texting my friend that I couldn’t get into it because the beginning was honestly slow and info-dumpy. After Darrow was resurrected, however, I was hooked. I hear this might be the weakest book in the series, so I’m cautiously excited to dig into the rest.
While I genuinely loved this, there were a few glaring drawbacks that diminished it from being a 5 star read. The opening didn’t draw me in. The writing was also laced with a lot of veiled misogyny and homophobia like men calling each other “little girls,” pixies,” or “pricklicker.” The only presumed gay character was written as making the main character uncomfortable by flirting like the gay guy was a villain. Literally that was all you get at first is he is gay and bad. This is extremely common in straight male-written sci-fi/fantasy, but both genres honestly need to grow up and evolve past this. The portrayals of all the women in this were also not my favorite. The majority of them were either a conniving opponent, a helpless victim, or a love interest there for Darrow to claim.
In a series whose central theme is fighting oppression, an author who doesn’t get the full scope of that message can make that message fall flat and make you ponder if they are the right vessel to champion that message. Going to give the author the benefit of the doubt and read on. However, if the more recently published books still have the same problems, I’m going to move on even if the plot is riveting.
***
Adding in after more rumination:
The emotions of this felt very much like “Darrow felt ___” The emotions were told to me instead of making me actually feel them. Darrow’s entire character arc also felt too facile and convenient. Sad, poor, miner? Boom! You’re resurrected as an elite Gold! You get in a pickle fighting? Boom! Someone else saves you! While these did make for some excitement, the plot was a bit shallow when you dig into it. I also knocked my star ranking down because I think I put too much empasis on how the book sucked me and not on the problematic aspects.
While I genuinely loved this, there were a few glaring drawbacks that diminished it from being a 5 star read. The opening didn’t draw me in. The writing was also laced with a lot of veiled misogyny and homophobia like men calling each other “little girls,” pixies,” or “pricklicker.” The only presumed gay character was written as making the main character uncomfortable by flirting like the gay guy was a villain. Literally that was all you get at first is he is gay and bad. This is extremely common in straight male-written sci-fi/fantasy, but both genres honestly need to grow up and evolve past this. The portrayals of all the women in this were also not my favorite. The majority of them were either a conniving opponent, a helpless victim, or a love interest there for Darrow to claim.
In a series whose central theme is fighting oppression, an author who doesn’t get the full scope of that message can make that message fall flat and make you ponder if they are the right vessel to champion that message. Going to give the author the benefit of the doubt and read on. However, if the more recently published books still have the same problems, I’m going to move on even if the plot is riveting.
***
Adding in after more rumination:
The emotions of this felt very much like “Darrow felt ___” The emotions were told to me instead of making me actually feel them. Darrow’s entire character arc also felt too facile and convenient. Sad, poor, miner? Boom! You’re resurrected as an elite Gold! You get in a pickle fighting? Boom! Someone else saves you! While these did make for some excitement, the plot was a bit shallow when you dig into it. I also knocked my star ranking down because I think I put too much empasis on how the book sucked me and not on the problematic aspects.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Rape and War
Minor: Sexism and Homophobia