Review: Red Rising

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Dystopian Sci-Fi Epic
Reading Level: Young Adult
Recommended for: Fans of YA fiction that is violent and hard
Book Available: January 28, 2014 in Hardcover and Kindle format
Trigger Warnings: arbitrary caste systems, slavery, eugenics, killing, executions, rape, mutilation, murder, extreme bullying, sexual assault
Animal Injuries: horses are killed or injured, wolves are killed, dogs are injured and possibly killed, goats and sheep are killed for other than food purposes

My Thoughts: I will note that this book is written in present tense. I know some people for whom this is a deal breaker. Also it is very violent and has lots of triggers to watch for. I say this so sensitive readers can be aware, not to stop anyone from reading the book. The story is really a good one, and the ideas presented are worthwhile, I think.

Pax au Telemanus amused me to no end. His battlecry is to scream his own name. How funny is that? Plus he had a great sense of humor. He was a really wonderful character and I would have loved to have seen more of him, alas.

The story does a great job of showing how power can corrupt, as well as showing that generalizations are never accurate, and that there is good and bad in most people. The Institute training is brutal and a lot of it was quite difficult to read due to the violence and horrible things that the students do, but it was very well-written and highly engaging; I did not want to stop reading, despite everything I had to do taking me away from the book. I think fans of YA science fiction, especially those who are not troubled by the violence in this story, will really enjoy this first book of a trilogy. I know I'll be watching for the next books, as I want to know what happens next.

Series Information: Red Rising Trilogy
Book 1: Red Rising, available January 28, 2014
Book 2: TBA
Book 3: TBA

Disclosure: I received an ARC from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Darrow is a miner and a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he digs all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of the planet livable for future generations. Darrow has never seen the sky.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better future 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 joins a resistance group in order to infiltrate the ruling class and destroy society from within. 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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