A review by jenikki
Red Rising by Pierce Brown

5.0

I've had my eye on this book for a while, and I finally bought it in the summer. And wow, am I glad I did. It's been billed as Game of Thrones meets the Hunger Games, and I suppose the only nitpick I might have about it is that it felt like many dystopian novels in one: the world Darrow lives in as a Red is very much like the one in Hugh Howey's Wool, including the deception within which the Reds exist. The transformation he undergoes physically and mentally to compete in the Gold's challenge at the Institute is very much like the one Katniss goes through in The Hunger Games (and the Golds are similar to the people in the Capitol in that series). The factions are like ones in Divergent, and the battles that make up a lot of the book are similar to ones in Game of Thrones (I kept picturing Darrow as Jon Snow). ALL THAT SAID, however, Pierce Brown has written a brilliant, heart-pounding book that is written MUCH better than the Divergent series, tackles personal issues that Hunger Games dodged a bit (as in what happens when men and women warriors are treated differently in battle), and creates a stake that is so high you are desperate for Darrow to triumph throughout the book. The many twists were well placed and well written (one near the end made me gasp out loud), and for me, it's the writing itself that stands with so many of those other books (and above a few of them). I loved this book so much that when I was 100 pages from the end, I went online and ordered the next two just so I can start right into book 2 as soon as possible.