#redrising

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

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Genre: Science Fiction • Dystopian • Space Opera • Action Adventure

Spice: 🌶️ 1/5

Synopsis (Spoiler-Free)

On a future Mars, society is divided into a rigid color-based caste system. Darrow, a Red, spends his days laboring deep beneath the planet's surface, believing he's helping make Mars habitable for future generations.

After a devastating betrayal reveals that everything he's been taught is a lie, Darrow joins a secret rebellion. Transformed to pass as a member of the elite Gold class, he infiltrates their brutal training academy to bring down the oppressive society from within. But surviving among the ruthless future rulers of humanity may be even harder than leading a revolution.

What to Expect

🚀 Epic space opera

⚔️ Revolution and rebellion

🏛️ Deadly academy competition

🧠 Political intrigue

🔥 High-stakes action

🤝 Found family

🎭 Hidden identity

📈 Fast-paced plot with major twists

Tropes

Chosen one (reluctant)

Underdog hero

Infiltration mission

Survival games

Revenge

Military training

Rising against oppression

Spice Level

🌶️ 1/5 — There is a romance subplot, but it is not the focus. Sexual content is minimal, and the emphasis is on action, strategy, and political conflict.

Content Warnings

Graphic violence

Murder and executions

Torture

War

Slavery and oppression

Class discrimination

Child and teen deaths

Suicide references

Strong language

Overall

Red Rising is often recommended for readers who enjoy The Hunger Games, Ender's Game, and The Will of the Many. While it begins with a familiar "academy competition" structure, it quickly expands into a sweeping science fiction saga filled with military strategy, political intrigue, unforgettable characters, and shocking twists.

Well…YES…I worship at the altar of Pierce Brown. LOL!!!

BUUUUT…let me rewind a lot of years…

I had heard of Pierce Brown. Read about him in Entertainment Weekly. It was buzz over his debut novel RED RISING. I am sure that I have firmly established that I love me some dystopian novels…as well as being a dystopian author. I heard the comparisons to LORD OF THE FLIES. I definitely heard the comparisons to THE HUNGER GAMES which was running hot, hot, hot at the time. I could almost say that the buzz for the book got over-hyped for me at one point.

Did it hold up? Well…YES. LOL. I enjoyed reading RED RISING then. The real question became…now that a looooooot of time has passed…and I was being held hostage waiting for the next Pierce Brown book…does RED RISING still hold up under a re-read…something that I’ve never done?

RED RISING was a sci-fi novel. In the future, the world was a technological advanced society. It was also a world divided into a color-coded caste with Reds at the very bottom and Golds at the very top. Darrow was a Red. Working as a Helldiver in the underground mines of Mars, all he cared about was his family, his wife, and his community. And also hoping his work in the mines will lead to a better world on Mars above someday. All of that ends when tragedy strikes. Falling in with rebels, Darrow becomes surprised to find that everything he worked for is a lie constructed by the Golds…who had colonized Mars above long ago…to keep the colors (especially Reds) under slavery.

With that in mind, Darrow’s mission becomes about revenge. And to enact that, he agrees to go under an intense transformation. To become a Gold and infiltrate their society and rise up to a high position so he can start a revolution. In order to do that, he first has to go to the Institute. There he will compete with other Golds in a game of wits and one-upmanship. It’s a game he has to win and put himself on the radar of all the high authority Golds. But not knowing who to trust and potential betrayal at every turn, can Darrow do it?

What I loved the first time around and found that I loved again was the world building. I really loved that this caste system was color coded and had their individual occupation that they did for society. The fact that there is slang/lingo that varies depending on if you were lowborn or high was a nice touch. The process for getting into the Institute was also another highlight. The first 50 pages did a great job of establishing Darrow’s life and what Reds were like in work as well as in play. Even among the Golds, there was a sense of what to expect from them as a race as well as the various feuding families.

I also loved the character development. Darrow is a teenager. And he definitely acted like one. But the reader got to watch him grow from tragedy to learning to be clever to trying to win the game at the Institute. And he does grow, making mistakes along the way, and yet continued to feel just the same. He was a character to root for.

Meanwhile, the supporting characters were also well-developed. A major highlight was watching Darrow grow close to some of his competitors like Cassius and potential friends like the savage Servo. It went without saying there was also a potential relationship with a girl nicknamed Mustang with a nice push-pull to it that was nice to watch. I have said it before and I will say it again, a protagonist is only as good as his antagonist. While there were a few for Darrow, there’s one antagonist in particular who had a chillingly awesome introduction. Let the games begin, indeed!

While RED RISING has a slow burn start, once a reader got past page 50, it turned into a page turner. And once Darrow arrived at the Institute, it turned into a runaway train of action. Plenty of action. Plenty of intrigue. Brown does a great job of keeping us in Darrow’s head as he tried to find ways to build loyalty and teams. All of it while Darrow learned more about himself.

I am always here for a novel that can make me feel or yell or holler aloud in public. RED RISING did that quite a few times. I definitely see the LORD OF THE FLIES comparison in the fact that the people at the Institute are all kids and teenagers. And just the games of one-upmanship at the Institute screamed HUNGER GAMES, but Brown made it so different enough that it was its own thing. And that climax…PERFECTION.

So do I feel the re-read was worth it? VERY. And I would recommend it if you are looking for a different (but fun) kind of dystopian novel.