Review: Red Rising (Red Rising # 1) by Pierce Brown

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Darrow is a compelling character but at times I found his character development to be unbelievable. He went from a pretty common person to this extraordinary man who had so much strength and will. This almost sudden character development felt a little unreal.

The other characters I really liked were Eo, Sevro (His name reminded me of Snape!), Pax and Mustang.

It's freaking brilliant! Although at times it reminded me of hunger Games, Red Rising has it's own way of unraveling. Pierce Brown does impressive world building in Red rising. Here is a really different and unique kind of dystopian Universe where there is a well established hierarchy.

I absolutely loved the beginning of red rising where we are introduced to this world, to Darrow and Eo. The story moved at breakneck speed when it started and I loved that. I was a little disappointed when the story dragged a bit in the middle. But the ending is simply marvelous. The concepts of friendship and family and ruled by power and caste in the world of Red Rising. The characters and their actions made me think, made me question and that's what I loved the most about the book.

The writing is clear and really descriptive. There were a lot of amazing quotes in this book that really made me either thoughtful or emotional.

“I live for the dream that my children will be born free. That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.'
'I live for you,' I say sadly.
She kisses my cheek. 'Then you must live for more.”

“Funny how a single word can change everything in your life."
"It is not funny at all. Steel is power. Money is power. But of all the things in all the worlds, words are power.”

“You think a dream is worth dying for. I say it isn’t. You say it’s better to die on your feet. I say it’s better to live on our knees.”

- The plot

- The supporting characters

- The writing

- The character development of Darrow

- The parts which were slow paced

I know a lot of people out there think Red Rising is just another Hunger Games. I'm here to tell you that it's not. Yes there are certain similarities but Red Rising is unique on it's own right and the plot is not what you think it will be.

4 of 5

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