Red Rising (Red Rising, #1)

by Pierce Brown

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: Red Rising can be divided into two parts: the first 14 chapters/quarter of the book, and the rest of the book. The first book was absolutely dull, the main character had no personality, Eo was the Juliet to Darrow's Romeo, and I actually wished for them that Chapter 6 had been the obliterating end. The writing style was stuffy and lacked any form of distinction. In short, I was bored to tears.

Anyhow, I pressed on because rarely do I have it in me to DNF a book. Also, friends and reviews insisted things would get better. They were right, the plot took off. The writing style evolved too once the stakes grew — it became cruder. Some readers, I'm sure, enjoy that sort of language. I'm not really one of those but at at least it was less dull as a result. Besides, when primal instincts of characters surface, that's a fair choice of tone.

Plus, Darrow grew less dull as the book progressed. I wouldn't say he became relatable but I did want to know how things would turn out for him. Although, I found Sevro and Mustang far, far more interesting. They're the ones who defied expectations. Darrow's path on the plot arch was way too straight forward in the end.

That being said, I'm kind of done with dystopian games that adults force on youngsters for their personal entertainment. I'll still read The Hunger Games eventually (I know, I know!) but beyond that, they're starting to lack originality. What Red Rising did serve was brutality, which kept pushing the envelope, taunting me to guess the limits. That, more than anything else, is what made it an engrossing read after all.