Red Rising (Red Rising #1) by Pierce Brown

Goodreads

Red Rising
Author: Pierce Brown
Published by: Random House (Del Rey)
Released: January 28, 2014
Genre: Adult Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fantasy
Pages: 382
Read in September/October 2015

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Synopsis: 

The Earth is dying. Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. His mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it. The Reds are humanity’s last hope.

Or so it appears, until the day Darrow discovers it’s all a lie. That Mars has been habitable – and inhabited – for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down on Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

Until the day that Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield – and Darrow isn’t the only student with an agenda.

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Opinion:

I really don’t know what I was expecting when I picked this book up, but it was definitely not what I got! I picked this up because Natasha of tashapolis used to always talk about it and I got curious. As I saw more and more rave reviews, I had to find out for myself what this book was about. I am happy to say I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed myself. It took me a while to get into, but I think the wait paid off. It’s definitely worth the read if you are on the fence of picking it up or not.

What I liked most about the book was the writing. I actually really enjoyed Pierce Brown’s writing style. He has such a strong voice that seems passionate and powerful that makes you think and feel what he wants you to feel. I was completely drawn into his story because of his fantastic way with words. I admit this book has a bunch of unique terms and it really bothered me in the beginning but once I got used to them, it was smooth sailing. However, I do wish that the terms were explained a bit more instead of just thrown at us and we had to basically pretend like we knew what they were (this is why this isn’t a 5-star rating).

The plot was really intriguing and I definitely can see the comparisons to The Hunger Games, but at the same time it was something completely different and unique that I loved. I am so interested in this world now and can’t wait to see where this series goes. Reading this book was like riding a roller coaster. There was so much action! So much intrigue! Thank you, Pierce, for constantly giving me mini heart attacks.

I am not going to get into too much detail about the characters because there was just so many! But I will say that I loved Darrow and Mustang and Sevro. Those are my babies and no harm better not come to them! Darrow was a strong voice and capable leader. He is flawed and learning his strength, while Sevro is just so loyal to Darrow and I want to hug him because he’s a precious cupcake! Also, I have no idea why but Mustang reminded me of Annabeth Chase and I can’t unsee it. Maybe it was the House Minerva (Athena) reference, but now the comparison is made…so, darn.

Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this book. I admit it did get a little slow at times, but definitely just stick with it. It’s worth it in the end. I just had to stick through it because I didn’t want to give up on a third book this month and I am so glad I did.