Author: Pierce Brown
Genre: Dystopia/Science Fiction
Length: 442 Pages (Hardcover)
Release: January 2015
My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Review
While I did enjoy this quite a bit, I'm not sure that the story was as good as the first one. It took me a long time to feel invested in any of the characters during Red Rising, which wasn't an issue here. I already felt connected to all of them after finishing that first installment and was excited to see where they went.
This novel introduces some new characters that I really enjoyed. Victra, the older sister of the horrible Antonia, was such a nice addition to the story. She was hard, but not cruel. Where her sister was always stabbing people in the back, Victra was loyal. Once she was on your side, she was there to stay. Ragnar, an Obsidian, was also a nice addition. He brought yet another color into the mix. There were a variety of minor characters that I really enjoyed as well, but those are the main ones.
In the beginning of this Darrow is feeling lost, feeling that he has failed both the Reds and the Golds he has come to love. I was worried that the story was going to plod along with him feeling lost and broken, but it didn't. A lot more happened. The mission of the Sons of Ares was both hindered and helped. And I really feel like Darrow grew a lot in this installment. Some of the realizations that he made in the first novel were able to sink more deeply into who he is as a person, and I feel that that made him more of an empathetic character. He didn't come off quite as arrogant and annoying as he had to me before.
I appreciate that this novel was not taken over by some "tragic" romance. There are touches of romance, but not an overabundance, which I appreciated. Romance sprinkled throughout a story can be a good thing, but so often it seems to overshadow the rest of the story. Yes, people fall in love while they are in terrible, insane circumstances. But is that they only thing they think about? I think not. And this had just the right amount of romance to keep me invested in the characters and their growing relationship, without overshadowing all of the political intrigue and rebellion building that was going on.
This novel is full of action. And death. There is definitely a lot of death in here. I don't personally think that it is always necessary. At times it just seems to be killing to kill, not to further the plot or evolve the characters affected.
There were some difficult moments in here as Darrow grew closer to certain of his friends while pushing others away. Mustang continued to be one of my favorites. The Jackal continued to be disturbing. Sevro was crude and loyal, as usual. Cassius was broken. Roque was hurt. And the ending was brutal for so many different reasons. I am looking forward to finishing off the trilogy wiht Morning Star.
This novel introduces some new characters that I really enjoyed. Victra, the older sister of the horrible Antonia, was such a nice addition to the story. She was hard, but not cruel. Where her sister was always stabbing people in the back, Victra was loyal. Once she was on your side, she was there to stay. Ragnar, an Obsidian, was also a nice addition. He brought yet another color into the mix. There were a variety of minor characters that I really enjoyed as well, but those are the main ones.
In the beginning of this Darrow is feeling lost, feeling that he has failed both the Reds and the Golds he has come to love. I was worried that the story was going to plod along with him feeling lost and broken, but it didn't. A lot more happened. The mission of the Sons of Ares was both hindered and helped. And I really feel like Darrow grew a lot in this installment. Some of the realizations that he made in the first novel were able to sink more deeply into who he is as a person, and I feel that that made him more of an empathetic character. He didn't come off quite as arrogant and annoying as he had to me before.
I appreciate that this novel was not taken over by some "tragic" romance. There are touches of romance, but not an overabundance, which I appreciated. Romance sprinkled throughout a story can be a good thing, but so often it seems to overshadow the rest of the story. Yes, people fall in love while they are in terrible, insane circumstances. But is that they only thing they think about? I think not. And this had just the right amount of romance to keep me invested in the characters and their growing relationship, without overshadowing all of the political intrigue and rebellion building that was going on.
This novel is full of action. And death. There is definitely a lot of death in here. I don't personally think that it is always necessary. At times it just seems to be killing to kill, not to further the plot or evolve the characters affected.
There were some difficult moments in here as Darrow grew closer to certain of his friends while pushing others away. Mustang continued to be one of my favorites. The Jackal continued to be disturbing. Sevro was crude and loyal, as usual. Cassius was broken. Roque was hurt. And the ending was brutal for so many different reasons. I am looking forward to finishing off the trilogy wiht Morning Star.
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