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danireads01's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Cursing, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Excrement, and Vomit
readyforit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Me at several points in this book:
😧😧😧😧😧 what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the FUCK???
It’s so rare to find a sequel that is better than the first book but this is it. It picked up when Darrow is almost done with the academy and Augustus decides to
There are even more twists and turns in this book I think I have jaw problems from how much my jaw was dropped the whole book😭. Make sure you have the sequel to read immediately after because this ends on the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers. I hope to get a physical copy to read along with the audiobook next time because there are a lot of names and places introduced, and they’re hard to keep track of just hearing them.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Colonisation
malreadsthebooks's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Kidnapping
gandalf_a's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Cultural appropriation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
linneak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kiwij96's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Falling out of touch with friends, betrayal, plot twists which I didn't see coming but thought worked for the characters. It was all so perfectly chaotic I loved it. That ending was a stroke of genius.
Two gripes:
1. The first 6 chapters could have been a prologue just to catch us up on Darrow's life since book 1 since a couple of years have passed. It also felt a bit clunky at the start.
2. I have literally no idea what any of the things are which confuses me sometimes - like what is a ripWing, or a HC, or an anything?
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Suicide and Pregnancy
lua_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'll say the bad stuff first because I only see people talking about the positives in this book, but keep in mind that I did like it and I'd rate it around 3.9 / 4.0
First, more then in the first book, Golden son makes some very superficial and surface level type of commentary and criticism on the subjects it tries to discuss. Pierce Brown creates some extreme situations and then have his characters fight against its injustices, but he really doesn't recognize or address some of the more subtle violence that structural discrimination creates, which is why I say it's pretty clear Pierce Brown has never actually experienced discrimination. This book gives some strong vibes of white guy talking about what if racism was against white people.
My other criticism is that Pierce doesn't know how to write women to save his life. This DOESN'T mean I dont like some of his female characters, like Mustang and Victra, it just means he writes them pretty badly overall. Most if not all of his female characters are just plot devices to push his male characters further (could Ares backstory be more predictable? Let me guess, a woman you loved died and now you know people deserve rights?). Even though Golds are supposed to be the physica pinnacle of society every female character that isn't a love interest gets the "she's so petite, weak and delicate" treatment and either dies to make a Male character sad, or falls into the role of "traitorous bitch". The main character of this book (and most of his Male characters) is so fun to read about, and clearly meant to have several "badass" moments, it's pretty disappointing to see how disposable and surface level Pierce Brown makes his female characters be. (Also Darrow is weirdly forgiving towards a sex trafficker?? Wich to me just once again proves how distant Pierce B is from actual structural violence)
Now the good stuff, this book is one of those books you read when you want a easy "badass action movie" type of book. It's very fun, has some surprising and satisfying scenes, and honestly a very cool and likable main character. Darrow escapes a little from the traditional format of grey character by having some surprisingly "sweet" depth, showing remorse and sadness towards death that most "cool and calculist" characters tend to ignore. His love for people and speacially his friends is emphasized several times, and in ways you'd typically not see with "badass" action male characters like him, wich makes it a lot more fun to read about him (though he could back off with his internal monologues a little).
Overall it's a fun book with space battles and satisfying twists and fights (Pierce didn't right this book to be realistic, he wrote it to be the fun type of power fantasy). But you do have to keep in mind (and trust me, Pierce does not let you forget) that it is a book about structural (sci-fi) racism, written by a white male author in 2012, so it does a few points you have to ignore to read.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, and War
Moderate: Slavery, Vomit, and Trafficking
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual violence
haley49's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Rape and Cannibalism
luxxltyd's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Child death and Sexual content
theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Excrement, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War