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A review by dreamingandendless
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
dark
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.0
It's a page turner alright.
However, the book's plot lacks a bit in originality. Representation is down right abhorrent, seeing as there aren't any non-white people. Seeing as this is a fascistic society, I don't really wanna know what the implications are as to what happened to the non-whites.
On first glance you might think that the book does alright with sexism, but you'd be wrong. The women in the book are used as plot devices. Their only purpose is to fuel Darrow on his journey.
And then we come to the politics of it all. The society is clearly a fascist one. I'm not exaggerating, it fulfills almost all the characteristics as described by Umberto Eco. The author seems to want to tell us that this fascism is bad, but Darrow keeps on saying weird stuff about how the society would work "if only the right people were in charge".
Biiiiig no-no. I hope the author's youth when writing the book made him not really think about these aspects much (still not good, speaks to a lack of self reflection). I'm unsure if I'll continue the series
However, it was an enjoyable page turner and the author is pretty good at holding suspense. A few adjustments to the book would make it great! It's biggest problems seem to just be that it's a product of its time as a Hunger Games rip-off. Hopefully it just started there and managed to evolve into better literature as the series evolves.
However, the book's plot lacks a bit in originality. Representation is down right abhorrent, seeing as there aren't any non-white people. Seeing as this is a fascistic society, I don't really wanna know what the implications are as to what happened to the non-whites.
On first glance you might think that the book does alright with sexism, but you'd be wrong. The women in the book are used as plot devices. Their only purpose is to fuel Darrow on his journey.
And then we come to the politics of it all. The society is clearly a fascist one. I'm not exaggerating, it fulfills almost all the characteristics as described by Umberto Eco. The author seems to want to tell us that this fascism is bad, but Darrow keeps on saying weird stuff about how the society would work "if only the right people were in charge".
Biiiiig no-no. I hope the author's youth when writing the book made him not really think about these aspects much (still not good, speaks to a lack of self reflection). I'm unsure if I'll continue the series
However, it was an enjoyable page turner and the author is pretty good at holding suspense. A few adjustments to the book would make it great! It's biggest problems seem to just be that it's a product of its time as a Hunger Games rip-off. Hopefully it just started there and managed to evolve into better literature as the series evolves.