Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Posted January 1, 2015 by Carole in Book Reviews / 5 Comments

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Series:  Red Rising Trilogy #1
Random House – Del Ray
Publication Date:  January 28, 2014
Date Read:  December 28, 2014

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5 Stars!

This book was amazing!  I am a bit disappointed in myself right now for not reading this book sooner.  This book came onto my radar shortly after it was released.  I spend a lot of time on Goodreads so I saw how much my friends were loving it but I didn’t bother to pick it up.  I actually bought a copy of this book back in April but I didn’t bother to actually read it.  Only after I was approved for the sequel, Golden Son, did I actually take the time to read this book….and I was completely blown away.  When I think of all the mediocre books that I picked up to read instead of this book while it sat on my kindle, I realize how much of an idiot I can sometimes be.  At least now I know the awesomeness that is this book.

Even though I had this book on my radar, I didn’t read too much about it.  I like to go into a book without a lot of prior knowledge.  I did see that a lot of my friends were giving it 5 stars and encouraging other to read it but that it really about all I knew.  I saw that this book was being classified as a dystopian book with a lot of comparisons to The Hunger Games.   I loved The Hunger Games but to be honest the comparisons scared me a little bit because all too often when something becomes wildly popular and makes someone a ton a money everything else starts being compared to it.  I have fallen for this type of comparison before and I have been very disappointed in most cases.  With this book, I completely understand and actually agree with that comparison even though this book is a very different book.

Man cannot be freed by the same injustice that enslaved it.

I loved this book for so many reasons. The world building was phenomenal.  I don’t read a lot of science fiction and can’t remember reading a book that was set in space.  I could feel the world taking shape a little more clearly with every page I turned.  The social structure of this world impacted the life of everyone at every level. 

The characters in the book are wonderful.  The changes that Darrow goes through during the course of this book are astounding.  He is a leader.  Eo saw that in Darrow.  Darrow finds it in himself as the book moves forward but never loses sight of where he came from and the love he hold in his heart for Eo.  Servo is just awesome.  He is the kind of friend that everyone wants to have around and he is fiercely loyal to Darrow.  All of the characters were just so completely vivid. 

Another thing that I loved about this book was that I never seemed to be able to guess where it was going.  I was constantly surprised because just when I thought I knew what was going on, I found out how clueless I really was.  Any book that keeps me guessing is a book that I want to read and this book was filled with jaw dropping moments for me.

I have a feeling that I will become one of the people pushing this book like I saw last year.  I tweeted about this book and look what happened:

The author, Pierce Brown, actually took the time to favorite my tweet.  Such a little thing, but I still squealed like a teenager when it happened.  Pierce Brown is definitely an author to watch.  After writing such an amazing debut, his follow up to this book, Golden Son is actually equally impressive based on the first third of the book which I have already devoured.  I highly recommend this book to others.

5 responses to “Red Rising by Pierce Brown

  1. I bought it recently, and even more recently moved it up my "next" shelf. Just like you, I don't know why (too many reviews ?), I couldn't force myself to read it but I will soon, promise 😉

    • I most likely started reading it only because I have the second book, Golden Son, to review. This really is one of those books that you should make some time to read if you can. I am pretty sure that this is a book that I will come back to many times in the future to read again.

  2. Amazing review! And the author is kind and humble to have taken the effort and time to like/reply to his fans! I, likewise have heard so many great things about Red Rising, hoping to get a copy soon! I am never one to read Sci-Fi but it's definitely genre I'm ready to venture into!

    Thanks for sharing, love the review!

    Natasha @ Dreamland Teenage Fantasy

    • Thanks, Natasha! I was so excited when Pierce Brown favorited my tweet. I thought it was a really nice thing for him to do. This isn't the type of book that I would normally look for but I am so glad that I did finally pick it up. If you have a chance, you should definitely try to read it. The second book in the trilogy, Golden Son, is equally amazing.

    • I have just added both books into my TBR pile, really hope that I would be able to read it though! Will be on a lookout for it! 😀 It has really high ratings and I am even more convinced at how good it is. Thanks for your reply! Looking forward to more of your posts 🙂