Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Red Rising

Who TF is recommending this as YA?
Picturing a white man sitting down and writing this level of graphic violence, gore and sexual assault makes me uncomfortable. And it’s only ever been recommended to me by a man who says it’s their favourite book ever. Like ok. Don’t ever come near me, thanks.

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maziemouse's review against another edition

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4.75

somewhere I’m sure there is a Buzzfeed quiz to determine what Color you are 😭🌈

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abitterknitter's review against another edition

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I just could not care enough about the characters to keep going. It was all just violence.

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abrielleemory's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I DNFed it. I felt like nothing had happened. I had no attachment to the characters. I’m honestly disappointed in it because it sounded like it had so much potential.

*EDIT (I eventually finished it.)
This was really tough for me to enjoy. I adore high fantasy, but figured this sci-fi would be a fun twist away from that.
Instead, it took me a month and a half to finish this. I found it a little jumpy. There were so many main characters that it was hard to connect with any of them. Darrow was arrogant and shy at the same time and it made my head spin.
This has such potential to be really cool, but it fell short for me. I felt it could’ve been longer and more developed.

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lillelow's review against another edition

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DNF 40%.

The book begins the worst possible way with drunk father figures and community leaders laughing about raping the protagonist’s wife - and no one raises an eyebrow. Misogyny, machoism, masochism, prostitution as a means of female survival and male pleasure, a world in which all women are beautiful, marry when they’re 14 and work with silk while all the manly men work in the mines… This is a sci-fi novel, a world of make believe. You can write about ANYTHING. Create ANY future. Yet this is what we get. I’m SO F* TIRED of reading about this bullshit.

I wanted to put the book down then and there, but decided to give it a go because of all the good reviews.

I shouldn’t have bothered. It doesn’t get better.

The premiss is interesting, but the execution and the character portrayal is horrible.

I didn’t like the protagonist at all. Clever, brave, strong, humble, hardworking, loving… All the right things! At least, that’s what I’m told. Honestly, all I see is a self absorbed insular teenager with no weakness who excels at everything he does for no reason other than he’s the chosen one. He doesn’t have to be likeable, but believable is quite important, and this book does none of it.

The supposedly romantic interactions between the protagonist and his wife are probably supposed to be charming and sweet but only feel stiff, cliche and childish and evoke no emotions at all. But hey, at least she is incredibly beautiful and we’re told everyone loves her… I guess that was enough for the author.

I didn’t like any of the other characters either. Even the ones who are described in good light are horrible, not to mention the way they express themselves. I’m not prude. Explicit language and swearing is fine. But most of the writing, dialogue, slurs and expletives in this book are just disturbing and annoying. You cannot make me believe people talk like this for real. Is it supposed to be cool?? I couldn’t stand it, I hated almost everyone and the flat writing did nothing to help.

At 40% through, I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t care about the story or the characters and was mostly annoyed at it all. Ender’s Game’s the perfect chosen one meets the segregation and killing of The Hunger Games or Gladiator (only it’s terrible) in a violent color-coded elite school on Mars with some sprinkles… no, make that a heavy rain…. of machoism and sexism.

No thank you.
★★-

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beth_taggard's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

There is so much hype for this series right now — one that began ten years ago with Red Rising — and I don't get it. Maybe I'm simply over the brutal annihilation of teenagers for the sake of a better society. It's a noble goal; equality always is, but why must the young be sacrificed?

Then there is our too-perfect, enhanced main character. Yawn. Beyond the physical changes he endures to appear gold, not red (societal class is denoted by color in this world), the insinuation is that his intellect, instincts, and athletic prowess have always been this perfect. I prefer more nuance and, frankly, flaws in my main characters.

The pacing is also off. It's a super slow slog in the beginning, though the back half did pick up the pace a little. Was this enough to save the series for me? Will I continue? At the time of this review, I Just don't know.

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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.5

This book is proof that no matter what book I previously thought was the worst I'd ever read, there's always a 10th level of worseness hell out there that I can subject my poor brain to. What an absolute dreck of a book. I despised everything in it.

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naechan's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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