A review by lukeass
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.75
I was initially really excited for this because of the hunger games comparison, but I absolutely didn't expect for greek mythology to play a major role as well. Aside from semi-complicated character and system dynamics, there really isn't that much of a similarity to Game of Thrones aside from a castle or two (and it's not even nearly as lore-or-character-heavy as GoT). There are some really great scenes and surprising moments (though it's slightly disappointing that one of the main twists you can see coming from a mile away and it actually has no real repercussions at all). The characters were unique and likable and I enjoyed seeing the friendships that formed. It was thrilling to see Darrow succeed and grow his army. However, that does lead to my main issues with the book...
The stakes of this book feel much, much lower when Darrow continually succeeds and out-smarting his enemy. Darrow's success also feels completely unrealistic to both his character and the general limitations of the world set up by Brown. Speaking of, I was kind of disappointed that the majority of the book takes place either 1) underground or 2) in a... forest? There are some really great concepts and potential for world-building exploration that is set up in the beginning and then just... abandoned only for the rest of the story to take place in a generic forest :/ I would have loved to see more of the city and the world that Brown establishes.
Overall, it was a pretty enjoyable read, if a bit slow at times. The strengths of this book definitely lie in the character development and war strategy/survival elements, but it wasn't exactly giving hunger games or game of thrones lol
The stakes of this book feel much, much lower when Darrow continually succeeds and out-smarting his enemy. Darrow's success also feels completely unrealistic to both his character and the general limitations of the world set up by Brown. Speaking of, I was kind of disappointed that the majority of the book takes place either 1) underground or 2) in a... forest? There are some really great concepts and potential for world-building exploration that is set up in the beginning and then just... abandoned only for the rest of the story to take place in a generic forest :/ I would have loved to see more of the city and the world that Brown establishes.
Overall, it was a pretty enjoyable read, if a bit slow at times. The strengths of this book definitely lie in the character development and war strategy/survival elements, but it wasn't exactly giving hunger games or game of thrones lol