Title: Red Rising
Author: Pierce Brown
Series: Red Rising Saga #1
Publication details: January 28th 2014 by Del Rey (Random House)
Genre: Dystopian, utopian, YA
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. (Goodreads)
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. (Goodreads)
Red Rising is one of the books I decided to read because of the hype. I am not sure of the exact year, but there was a time when YouTubers and Filipino book lovers cannot seem to stop talking about it. So for that reason and the fact that the author is cute (valid reason folks), I put Red Rising in my to-buy and TBR list.
Red Rising is set in a dystopian/utopian world where the society is divided by color. Much like a lot of books in this genre, there is caste system where the Golds occupy the highest rank in the society, while Reds are the lowest. I am not sure how many colors there are, but each color has a specific role in the society to which they do not really diverge from.
Told in the first person perspective, we follow Darrow, the main character, as he introduced us to the conditions of the Reds, as well as glimpses of other colors. The beginning is quite slow, though it is intriguing enough for me to continue. Some technical words are lost to me, but I don't think it took much away from my reading experience.
Since the story is told in Darrow's perspective, I also have a limited view of what is happening and the true condition of the people, the planet and the universe. And so as the story progresses, it felt like I was also learning with Darrow as he explores and navigates his environment.
Majority of the book is set in the Institute, the Gold's command school. It was an interesting plot element, and gave an avenue for the plot and characters to develop. I think Red Rising is compared to Hunger Games because of this.
Towards the end, the pacing becomes faster and there are a lot of actions involved. To be honest, I was not sure if most of those scenes are essential to the plot and/or characters, but I guess for purposes unbeknown to me, they are alright. Lol The ending, however, sets up a lot of possibilities for the next book.
The characters, I think, are just okay. I do not love them nor do I hate them. I am not sure but I was just not able to connect to any of them. I was actually just rooting for Sevro throughout the book. But I did see how Darrow rose up to fulfill what he's supposed to do. I was able to see how he gradually changes, losing his past self bit by bit.
Though I am never for any kind of violence, in this book, I do understand the characters and their plights, how their actions are stemming from different factors innate and man-made. And I think that aspect of the book speaks a lot about humanity.
There are quite a number of YA dystopian tropes in Red Rising. However, one element I find refreshing is the world-building. I have never read a book set in Mars, so it's quite fascinating to see how life is being cultivated in the planet, as well as a lot of technological advances.
Overall, Red Rising is an entertaining dystopian/utopian read that resonates a lot of reality. It has an action-packed bits and is quite unpredictable. I do understand why a lot of readers liked it.
I had a good reading experience but unfortunately, I was not totally amazed by it mainly because I was not able to connect to the characters and because of the dystopian tropes. I also had high expectations because of the hype, so I guess that's also one reason.
Will I continue with the series? I am not 100% sure. Perhaps if I find a cheap/preloved copy, I will buy them and read, eventually. But they are not in my priority list.
