A review by sonnybonobo
Red Rising by Pierce Brown

adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Plot dragged in areas that made it a struggle to finish. Most characters felt very flat, making it hard to remember who they were throughout the book. Sevro was the only character I truly enjoyed. 

I had a really hard time finding anything like-able about the main character. We’re constantly told about the MCs motivations, but they don’t feel genuine throughout the book. Just constantly saying my wife, my wife, makes his motivations feel very superficial. 

Pretty obvious misogyny bleeding through into the writing. Even outside of the sexual violence, women were often treated as objects of war and martyrs. The only substantial female character is of course the love interest and every interaction with her is overshadowed by MCs feelings toward her. Also constantly comparing her to his wife was weird as hell.

Also some casual homophobia that didn’t provide anything to the plot or characters. Just didn’t need to be there, making it really gross read through.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings