Book Review: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

You do not follow me because I am the strongest. Pax is. You do not follow me because I am the brightest. Mustang is. You follow me because you do not know where you are going. I do.

Summary:

“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”

“I live for you,” I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”

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.

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My Thoughts:

This is my third time attempting to finish Red Rising. I did it. I finished Red Rising.

Why did it take so long? I really do not like the narrator for the audiobook, and because of that, I was very hesitant to buy a hard copy. I kept thinking, “Maybe you just don’t like this book on top of not enjoying the narrator.” Since Red Rising is super popular it was also nearly impossible to borrow from the library. So, I waited and waited and told Twitter friends I was going to read it. Then, Red Rising was free to listen to with an audible membership, so I told myself “Now is the time.”

I wasn’t sold at first. I have read the first third of the book three times now, and still do not enjoy that section. I struggle with the idea that Darrow was deeply in love with Eo, but this is a me problem and has been for years. Overall, Red Rising is a slow burner for me. At times I felt like I was plowing through rude dialogue and technical terms waiting for action to begin. I had to remind myself to be patient because a rebellion does not gather overnight.

Darrow’s emotional journey in Red Rising is what kept me reading. I didn’t really care about his life underground on Mars, his transformation, “school” or who was winning or losing, even though those were major plot points. I wanted to know how in the hell Darrow was going to spark this “Mocking Jay style” rebellion and how was he going to avenge Eo.

Outside of Darrow’s hunger for revenge, I fell in love with the color system. The worldbuilding is where I feel Brown really shines in Red Rising. I am a sucker for a good dystopian with a class system of some sort, and Red Rising gives you just that. From highest in society to lowest there are Golds, Silvers, Whites, Coppers, Blues, Yellows, Greens, Violets, Oranges, Grays, Browns, Obsidians, Pinks, and finally Reds. Darrow begins as a Red and is transformed into a Gold. The transformation very much reminded me of Katniss leaving District 12 and entering the lifestyle of the Capital. Brown doesn’t give a lot of detail about how the color system came or really anything about the universe as a whole. Right now that doesn’t matter to Darrow, thus doesn’t matter to the reader, which I understand.

The last five chapters of Red Rising made all the time I have invested in this book worth every minute. I was left wondering why did it take the whole book to hook me here? Why did the best parts of this book take place at the end? Needless to say, I started listening to book two almost immediately.

Overall, Red Rising is a decent read. I know, many love this book, but to me, it reads as a mature high-tech version of The Hunger Games. I have noticed with some hyped series, I do not have strong feelings either way about the first book but end up really enjoying the series as a whole. I have a feeling this will likely be the case with this series as well.

Should you read Red Rising?

Yes, putting my feelings aside, Red Rising is a mature young adult novel that could be considered a new adult book. It is perfect for teens looking for something with grit and edge, and older readers who want to spice up what they are reading. I wouldn’t be surprised if the series pops up with a streaming adaptation soon.

**I have read through book three, Morning Star, and Red Rising is definitely my least favorite of the series so far. I googled the full list of colors, but I do not recall if they are all mentioned in Red Rising**