By: Pierce Browna
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Series: Red Rising Saga (#1)
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.
Review: In the color-coded society of the future, Darrow belongs to the lowest caste, the Red. He and his fellow Reds work all day, believing that they are bringing life to Mars’ surface.
He sacrifices all for future generations, knowing that one day he can give them a better world. Unfortunately, someone has betrayed Darrow’s kind. He soon discovers that humanity has already reached the surface generations ago. The planet is covered with vast cities and sprawling parks. The Reds like Darrow are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Because of a longing for justice and a memory of a lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to penetrate the legendary institute. Using this as a proving ground for power, humanity’s next overlords will test their mettle. As a result, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means becoming one himself.
I went into Red Rising with high expectations, but I left mostly disappointed. I think this story could have been so much better, but its negatives really hinder it.
Although the book is told from Darrow’s perspective, I feel like I barely know him even after following him through the entire story. There is one obvious trait that stands out about him: he is rather full of himself. Throughout the book, he reminds the reader how special and perfect he is and how no one else compares to him.
The first two-thirds of this book comprise nothing. It spends a lot of time world-building with extra words and techs and random history, none of which matter to the plot. As my eyes glazed over, I lost focus. This book introduces us to over 50 characters without indicating who’s important and must be remembered and who’s just passing by. I eventually stopped trying to keep track of who is who.
In terms of the plot itself, a lot of the ideas are familiar, including fighting for your life in a game arena, freeing slaves after they’ve fought for you, and even names like Severus and Minerva. Having a story that pays homage to influential books is fine, but when doing so too much, it becomes a story that borrows from others instead of being original.
While I can see how others might enjoy this book because it combines elements of fantasy, dystopia, and sci-fi into a fast-paced story, the characters, sentence structure, and plot just didn’t work for me.