Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Published: January 6th 2015 by Del Ray

Amazon: Golden Son

As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within.

A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love—but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind’s destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution—and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo’s principles of love and justice to free his people.

He must live for more.

I feel like I should really be kicking myself for not picking this series up sooner. I picked up this book as soon as I had finished Red Rising and, like book 1, this book had me hooked from beginning to end. What I liked most about this book was that it focused on other aspects of the world and the rebellion where the fist book didn’t – so I feel that the continuation really did a great job of building the events even more.

I liked the fact that this book focused more on the political side of things, rather than character building etc. like the first book did. Whilst there was character and plot building going on, I felt that focusing on the politics of the rebellion and the society really helped to solidify why Darrow was doing what he was doing, as well as give us a better understanding of the society itself and the Gold race. I loved the hypocrisy shown by the Golds within their politics and the system that they have created.

It was also interesting to watch Darrow struggle to come to terms with what he was doing and what he was becoming. He has friends amongst the Golds, which he never believed he would have, and a relationship with Mustang that he also believed he would never have – so he struggles to internalise that with everything that he has to do for the Rebellion to free his own people. I liked watching him grow as a character and how he faced and dealt with new problems and how he learned from new mistakes that he makes along the way. There were times where I really wanted to shout at him because I felt like he was acting pretty stupid, but that’s just Darrow.

It was interesting to see how the relationships between Darrow and other characters really formed and developed within the book. There was a lot of betrayal going on and it was difficult to really know who you can trust and who was going to stab Darrow in the back – and I often times chose wrong! There were characters who I really believed wouldn’t betray Darrow, despite the fact that he kept pushing them away because of the struggle he was having with himself, and there were other characters who I was expecting to betray Darrow, who really stuck by him throughout everything.

The plot itself was fast paced and had me completely hooked! I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next, and there were a lot of twists and turns that I did not see coming! Can I also just mention the ENDING?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!? What even did I read in that end? I stared at my kindle for about 20 minutes before I even moved, I was that shocked.

All in all, I absolutely LOVED this instalment to the Red Rising series. I am currently reading Morning Star, but I haven’t gotten that far because of the hectic that was Christmas, however, I am hoping to get some more read later today! I really should have picked this series up sooner than I did *Facepalm* I gave this book 5/5 stars.

Find me Here: 

Instagram/Twitter/Goodreads/Litsy @ Lauren’s Page Turners

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Published: January 28th 2014 by Del Rey

Amazon: Red Rising: Red Rising Series 1

“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”

“I live for you,” I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Read Red Rising, they said.  It’ll be fun, they said. Well, I can say that I have read it and I feel like I need therapy. I will be sending Piecre Brown the bill. This book was absolutely FABULOUS! I cannot even believe it took me this long to pick this up because I really should have picked it up sooner and I didn’t… what even is my life?!?

I will start with the one bad thing I have to say about this book, and that is the fact that it was a little slow to start and it takes a few pages to really wrap your head around what is actually going on and where they are etc. As soon as I got my head around that, I was completely hooked! I had already been kicked in the feels by around page 50 (I cried in the corner) and I knew that it was going to be a complete rollercoaster ride.

The world building of this book was out of this world (see what I did there?) I think that might have been whatI needed to get my head around – the fact that it was set on Mars! I loved the idea of colonising Mars and the way that it was written and done. The book definitely did a great job of showing a futuristic setting and world with a very backward way of thinking and colonising etc. The hierarchy itself was extremely interesting and I would have loved to find out more about how the colours came about. I also loved the way that Brown weaves in historical aspects, like Pluto and Cicero and the Romans, into what is a futuristic sci fi world.

As soon as the book really got started and I managed to get my head around the setting etc. the plot was amazing. It was a fast paced, pretty bloody affair and I had no idea what was going to happen next. I loved the lessons that were being taught to the students and the way in which it was being taught – the school is pretty ruthless! Brown did a great job of showing the evolution of mankind in various situations and whether they evolved to be better people or whether they succumbed to their more basic and primal instincts. Nothing was done without a reason in this book and it all came about to teach another lesson to Darrow and the other students – which also helped with the world building and understand the society that is currently in control on Mars and how they came to be there. It was easy to get lost in the plot itself – especially because I had no idea what was going to happen next, or who was going to die etc. The author did a great job of making the reader forget completely why Darrow was there and what he was there to do – until something happened and the reasoning hits the reader in the face!

I loved Darrow as a character! He wasn’t perfect and had a lot of flaws, which makes him all the more relatable to the reader. He was pushed into doing something that he didn’t really want to do and he tries to keep the memory of what happened at the beginning so that he doesn’t lose himself. He makes a lot of mistakes throughout the book, from which he learns as the events of the plot unfold. It was interesting to watch Darrow try and navigate himself through an unfamiliar world, without becoming the people he hates. He struggles to consolidate the fact that not all Golds are evil with everything that happened at the beginning and everything that the Golds have done to the Reds.

I loved the fact that you never knew who you could trust. Some people that Darrow trusts end up betraying him, others that he doesn’t trust, stick by him etc. It made it difficult to really size up the characters as to who to like and who not to like. Sevro was a character who I was expecting to hate throughout the book, but as the book continues, I grew to like and understand him, despite his rough outer edge. On the other hand, Cassius was a character who I expected to like throughout the book and it turned out completely different after certain things happen. I loved his character development and the hypocrisy he shows throughout the book because of his brother and what happened. I’m interested to see what role he plays later in the series! This book was very much a character development based book and was complimented by the amazing plot, which helped to shape the characters into the people they are by the end of the book!

All in all, I absolutely LOVED this book! The plot kept me on my toes and had me crying within the first 50 pages! I loved the character development within this book and I cannot wait to see where Darrow ends up! I gave this book 4.5/5 stars!

Find me here:

Instagram/Twitter/Goodreads/Litsy @ Lauren’s Page Turners