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A review by tblakehudson
Golden Son by Pierce Brown
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
My spoiler free review is this: just wait til the end. Don’t make any final judgements until the end of the book.
The spoiler review: I really have to admit I was thrown. The entirety of the book I kept having this feeling that each step was a bit predictable knowing what we know. I now see why: the rug was completely pulled out from under us.
The twists revealed in Golden Son really make me want to go back and read the first book and re-analyze the characters there, and I think that’s an achievement in itself. Fitchner as Ares I think is one of my favorite parts of this series, and Sevro foreshadowing Roque so early on in the book I think is a perfect example of hiding in plain sight.
That being said, I do have some small concerns. Throughout the whole book I can’t help but think everything is too easy for Darrow. Maybe that’s the point given the final twist, but still, I feel like there’s basically nothing he can’t do throughout the whole story. I’m curious to see how much of this is due to the Jackal’s influence in the next book. Hopefully it means Darrow was being played the entire time, to give some limitation to his endless achievements. Otherwise, Darrow feels a little too much like he’s trying to be Katniss but is falling more to the shallow profile of Triss in Divergent. By this I mean, even though the author establishes a few other players that should be better than the MC in certain ways (Lorn, Ares, etc.) they’re all dead by the end, so the MC kinda HAS to play the hero instead of developing into it further. I’m optimistic about the next book though and looking forward to reading it.
The spoiler review: I really have to admit I was thrown. The entirety of the book I kept having this feeling that each step was a bit predictable knowing what we know. I now see why: the rug was completely pulled out from under us.
The twists revealed in Golden Son really make me want to go back and read the first book and re-analyze the characters there, and I think that’s an achievement in itself. Fitchner as Ares I think is one of my favorite parts of this series, and Sevro foreshadowing Roque so early on in the book I think is a perfect example of hiding in plain sight.
That being said, I do have some small concerns. Throughout the whole book I can’t help but think everything is too easy for Darrow. Maybe that’s the point given the final twist, but still, I feel like there’s basically nothing he can’t do throughout the whole story. I’m curious to see how much of this is due to the Jackal’s influence in the next book. Hopefully it means Darrow was being played the entire time, to give some limitation to his endless achievements. Otherwise, Darrow feels a little too much like he’s trying to be Katniss but is falling more to the shallow profile of Triss in Divergent. By this I mean, even though the author establishes a few other players that should be better than the MC in certain ways (Lorn, Ares, etc.) they’re all dead by the end, so the MC kinda HAS to play the hero instead of developing into it further. I’m optimistic about the next book though and looking forward to reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and War
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault