Living With B

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Published by Del Rey on January 28, 2014
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian
Format: E-Book
Pages: 382
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summary

Red Rising follow Darrow, a low-ranking Red living on Mars, believing he is helping create a better future for humanity. After discovering the truth about the Society’s hierarchy, he joins a rebellion and infiltrates the powerful Gold class in an attempt to destroy the system from within. But surviving among the elite means playing their deadly games and becoming someone he never thought he could be.

the writing: captivatingly unique

The first thing that grabs you by the throat is the prose. Pierce Brown’s writing style is incredibly unique and utterly captivating. It’s written in a first-person, present-tense format that feels urgent, sharp, and intensely poetic all at once. There’s no wasted space, no filler fluff. He paints a world that is deeply horrifying yet beautifully cinematic, throwing you headfirst into the dirt, the blood, and the high-society gold towers without ever breaking stride.

darrow: a boy playing a god’s game

What struck me the hardest about this story is the sheer vulnerability hidden beneath the armor. When Darrow undergoes the brutal Gold transformation to infiltrate the ruling class, it is so easy to forget how young he is. He is quite literally a BOY. He is sixteen, maybe seventeen years old, bearing the weight of an entire revolution on his newly carved shoulders. Every time he falters or lets his true emotions leak through the cracks of his pristine Gold exterior, you’re reminded that underneath the terrifying physical perfection lies a grieving teenager who just wants his old life back.

And that youth carries into the entire setting of the Institute. Once the trial begins, the story turns into a Lord of the Flies nightmare on steroids. It becomes painfully obvious that everyone there is just children playing a dangerous, lethal game of cat and mouse. They are throwing around armies and taking lives, but at the end of the day, they are traumatized kids mimicking the cruelty of the adults who placed them in that valley for entertainment.

the romance: a male-written slow burn that actually hits

I need to put this out there into the universe: I have never read a slow-burn romance written by a man that I’ve actually liked. Until now. Pierce Brown completely broke my streak. The romantic tension is subtle, agonizing, and beautifully woven into the political landscape of the story. It doesn’t distract from the plot; it raises the stakes to an absolute fever pitch.

Which brings me to the women.

Eo, sweet girl. My heart completely breaks for her. Her sacrifice is the ghost that haunts every single page of this book. Mustang, you absolute baddie. The second she steps onto the page, she commands the room. She is brilliant, ruthless, calculating, and easily one of the best characters in the entire novel.

The dynamic between these two women in Darrow’s life is fascinating. On the surface, they couldn’t be more different—one is a lowly Red martyr from the depths of the mines, and the other is a high-born Gold apex predator. Yet, they are incredibly similar in their core values. Both possess a fierce, uncompromising desire for freedom and an innate understanding of the flawed system they live in. They both see through the lies of the society, even if they approach changing it from completely opposite directions.

chaos incarnated: pax & sevro

While Darrow is a fantastic protagonist, the side characters completely steal the show. Naturally, my favorite characters happen to be the two absolute craziest of the bunch: Pax and Sevro.

Pax is just pure, unadulterated hype. Every time he screams his own name in battle, it injects such a brilliant spark of chaotic joy into an otherwise bleak storyline. And Sevro? Sevro is a beautifully unhinged, feral goblin of a human being, and I would protect him with my life. He is unpredictable, dirty, fiercely loyal, and brings the exact flavor of beautiful chaos that makes a book unforgettable.

final verdict