A review by bold_and_brash
Red Rising by Pierce Brown

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

To be clear: this is one of my favorite books I've read, ever. I've had a lot of trouble reading since high school about a decade ago, and finishing this book meant that I read my second book within a year. From an emotional standpoint, I'd give this a 4-4.5, easy.

That said, on its merits, I have a hard time giving it more than a 3.5. Though I loved reading it, the writing felt like it suffered from being too direct and to the point at times, resulting in imagery which doesn't necessarily conjure the vivid picture which it might otherwise try to. I do recognize, though, that because this was Brown's debut book, he undoubtedly has come leaps and bounds from the level he was at with Red Rising, and I feel optimistic about the next entries in the series and their ability to remedy this.

It's also worth calling a spade a spade- I think a lot of Red Rising relies on tropes grounded in internalized misogyny. Darrow's arc is propelled by the death of an idealized female character, and there are also instances of sexual assault that are mentioned, seemingly only to illustrate the moral depravity of specific Golds. Does this make the entire book irredeemable? Absolutely not! I just think that it's important to acknowledge where tropes built on implicit biases create room for improvement. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, War

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Sexual violence