Red Rising
Ratings1,353
Average rating4.1
It is interesting to think about this as a mashup of The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies and the current bestseller Fourth Wing with a little Necromancer weaved in. It also may surprise some who pick this up expecting a full-on rebellion/rebels story, but it still does work as an undercover/spy/infiltrator story with an excellent pace in world-building, adding each layer at the right time with a straightforward and linear narrative. This is definitely the first entry in a long-game saga, but does offer a few surprises leading up to a well-written large-scale finale for part one.
I almost want to rate this 4 stars. I'll see if the sequel takes it. This is a cool read with lots of action and drama.
DIDNT MEAN FOR IT TO HAPPEN BUT 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF MY RED RISING READ = REREAD.
Just as banger as last time this book is straight 10/10 from me it might be my Favorite series...close to wandering inn...very very close
DIDNT MEAN FOR IT TO HAPPEN BUT 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF MY RED RISING READ = REREAD.
Just as banger as last time this book is straight 10/10 from me it might be my Favorite series...close to wandering inn...very very close
??? Lowkey a hunger games rip off.... And the story felt very underdeveloped and I was lowkey confused at points. Wasn't a bad book but underwhelming sorry
8/10
Struggled a bit in the middle part, but it really picked up the pace and expanded the stakes.
Very cool premise. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
I was almost certain I was going to enjoy this series, enough to buy Fairyloot's Iron editions, and I don't regret it!
Red Rising is set in a dystopian future where society is divided into a rigid caste system based on colors (and the stuff of my worst nightmares). I'm really surprised by Pierce Brown writing, which is easy and engaging, and by his brains and imagination. He can easily shift from emotional to gruesome moments and executes flawlessly all action scenes.
Frankly, I'm hardly ever surprised by events on books, and on Red Rising I was by many, particularly on what concerns character development.
Darrow is an easily likeable character, willing to see his flaws and accept suggestions, which is not necessarily common on “the chosen one” trope. He is a complex character, full of rage, love and pain, and we see him grow and adjusting his perception and beliefs. I can't wait to find out how his journey continues!
This could be an insane villain origin story!
Contains spoilers
Początek jest dość przewidywalny. Nic nie wiedziałem o tej książce zanim zacząłem czytać, więc byłem zawiedziony tym "szkolnym" aspektem. Długo zajęło mi przyzwyczajenie się do pierwszo osobowego punktu widzenia, ale pod koniec już się przyzwyczaiłem. Taki typ narracji sprawia, że nie wiemy co się dzieje w głowach innych postaci bo ciągle siedzimy z głównym bohaterem. Nie wiem czy to plus czy minus, ale jest to na pewno unikalny sposób pisania. Podobno ta cześć jest najgorsza że wszystkich więc moje oczekiwania są dosyć wysokie.
Overall: 3.75
It was very good, but not quite great. I have heard the next books are much better and can't wait to get into them.
I enjoyed this book, absolutely burned through it, and I think I would've eaten it up as a teenager. It includes elements of lots of my favorite books of all time. But I had some issues with it.
Maybe it's because I read it while I've been sick, but none of it felt believable. I felt like the main character only had 1 personality trait (grief over his losses) and that everything was just kind of lacking. I thought the idea for the world was really cool, but the author never fully explained things. Plus, it was written in 1st person and that made me wish there was more dialogue. It got really old just hearing the main character's thoughts the whole time.
Age range: 16+
A big chunk of the book had the characters in a completely lawless land. They used that lawlessness for a lot of violence and abuse. Gory, but nothing too graphic.
Contains spoilers
This is essentially Hungers Games fan fiction written in the style of a Hollywood script, devoid of any meaningful story, that concludes in a very unsatisfying way. The first third of the story is there to vaguely set up the world and the other two thirds is just kids trying to enslave each other. The chapters end on cliffhangers like TV shows would be cut for a commercial break. You can feel the author gunning for that movie rights deal. Also, it definitely feels like a part 1 because not much is accomplished (apart from Darrow winning at murder school) and the book ends on a cliffhanger. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Darrow wins everything by the end of the series. He is, by the looks of it, God incarnate.
If you are into kids murdering each other without any logical reason other than the fact that it's a significant trope in this genre then this will sate your hunger.
Had a great time with this book. Is this genre young adult fantasy? It's been years since I read one of these. At 33 somehow I didn't feel too old for this; I still was able to connect enough with the 18 year old protagonist. Unlike Enders Game which as I recall I didn't finish the whole series because it felt increasingly childish as I got older. Planning to continue with this series. Excited to discover what else this genre has maybe I enjoy these.
I finished it in a matter of days which is always a good sign. The middle felt somewhat laboured but the emotional beginning and the frenetic end more than made up for it. Excited to dive into the next book in the series.
7.5
An interesting introduction to this franchise that promises a lot, but goes in directions that might have left me feeling slightly unsatisfied.
I was initially worried about the direction the book goes about 30% in, and was worried i was going to get a teenage fiction story, but i put my faith in the writing and wasnt left dissapointed. Though it, in moments feels quite like a teenage fiction story it consistently redeems its lows with absurdly high highs. Intense action moments and dramatic intimite character-driven moments are what the books does best. The writing in this book is genuinely fantastic, and if many other writers were given the same main plot points to play with, im sure this books could end up being another sloppy YA hunger-games type book, but this book evidently proves to us that its not that.
Our main character has quite a lot of conveniences happen to him, but it doesnt take too much from the story.
Overall the book proves itself quite well despite some worries i had when reading, and i still think about the highs of this book. An ambitious and confident, yet sometimes slipping, beginning to a saga.
I was excited to read Red Rising, and while it was entertaining and well written, it dropped the ball in a few places. Too much telling, not enough showing. Darrow was too “perfect.” I'm on the fence about continuing the series.
I'm already not the biggest YA fan, so it's my own fault for thinking this book would change my opinion.
Dramatized audiobook and some following with ebook is how I read this.
I have mixed feelings on this book. I loved the first 20% or so until he found out the shocking news about the reds, and a little bit into his transformation. I lost most of my interest from 45% to about 90% for the test of the houses we'll call it.
The end payoff was worth it, I may give the second book a shot someday but I'm not sure.
The 3 stars is more like a 2.75 to me. It was okay, some will love some won't hard to say. The plus side is it's faster book. I'll probably continue the series as many say it gets better but I'm not jumping to it right away either.
Hunger Games + Lord of the Flies + too many plot twists. It was entertaining though, so I might pick up the next one.
I came to this book with nothing more than a "you should read it" recommendation, so I didn't really know what I was getting in to, and boy did that make it a whirlwind!
I put it at only 4 stars because I found myself feeling like it was a lot closer to fantasy writing style than sci-fi, and that rubbed me a little wrong. Things happening because the author needed them to happen and it was convenient for the story usually bothers me, but I didn't mind too much here because the setting is interesting and I was very invested in the character development.
It's an excellent first-in-a-series book in that it stands alone well and if I only read this one I'd still be glad I had, but that I also can't wait to start reading the next one! Which I will do starting..... now.
I had high hopes for this book. I have read a lot of reviews that really praised it... I must be missing something because it was just ok for me.
The issues:
1. Character developments. We really don't get to see our protagonist develop in this book. Stuff happens to him, but I wanted his character to struggle more with his choices. Some of these big defining moments were just done and then moved on. Also, we are introduced to a TON of other characters and get zero development from them.
2. Our protagonist seems to be perfect in everything he does. He is missing some character flaws for me.
3. The middle part of the book gets a little repetitive. It is a different conflict of the same flavor.
After getting past some of those issues, I must say, I enjoyed the book. I was hooked at the beginning! I just fell off the “this is incredible” bandwagon shortly there after. I also love the overall plot of the book. I just need a little more. It was good enough that I will continue on with book 2.
This was so promising in the first...20-30% but then it was snooze.
I liked the premise, especially the idea of society being split into colours (tag yourself, I'm a Silver) so I went into it thinking we'd learn more about that. What you actually learn is that it's kind of a retelling of The Hunger Games but a bit shit with SA thrown in for the sake of it?