Red Rising - Pierce Brown

Red Rising - Pierce Brown

My Rating:

Print Length: 401 pages
Publisher: Del Rey (January 28, 2014)
Publication Date: January 28, 2014
Sold by: Random House LLC
Language: English
Buy Here: Amazon
Book Depository


Synopsis:
"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.

My Review:

   This book honestly took me a bit to get into. It had somewhat of a slow start but once it picked up, oh boy. It was a great read!

   It definitely had a Hunger Games vibe to it, but it was so much more scientifically advanced. The setting was Mars and people can literally change everything about the way they look. There were castes based off the color of your skin. They weren't the normal skin colors we see in todays society. People were Gold, Pink, Red, Blue, so many other random colors. Which I found to be very interesting how he separated them. 

   I do love that it alludes to today's prejudice based on color of their skin. People in this book are still looked down upon. Darrow had to be changed, not just skin, but eyes and hair, just to be recognized as who he was pretending to be. Even names suggested rank, which is highly odd.

   There were so many badass females in this story as well. Mustang was my absolute favorite. Seeing that plot twist that involves her, sent me through a whirlwind. I felt that she was such a strong character for what she dealt with in the game. She was very clever and doesn't let a man walk all over her, which I thought was awesome.

   The whole plot in this book was highly intriguing, and I love Darrow. I'm excited to see where this story takes him.