I received this novel for free from the Goodreads giveaways program. Thank you to the author and publisher.
I was really close to giving Red Rising 5 stars. I guess you could say this is really a 4.5 star book for me. Oh if only Goodreads allowed half stars then that would make things so much easier for me! But I had to go with 4 stars instead of 5 because a few parts were a little confusing for me. It wasn't a perfect book, but it was damn near close.
Red Rising is about Darrow who is a Red and a miner on Mars. Pretty much the Golds control everything and the Reds are their slave laborers. The Golds have lied to them and told them they are preparing the planet to be fit for humanity to live there, but that is a lie. It's already inhabited by the Golds. Darrow ends up with a group of rebels that turn him into a Gold and he enrolls in the Golds Command school and tries to take it down from the inside.
The book was pretty much exactly like it sounds like from the description on Goodreads or my little one here. I got exactly what I expected and it was done really well. From the beginning of the book I knew I was going to love it. It starts off with some really great world building and some heartbreak. That's how you get my attention!!
I found Red Rising to be a little bit Battle Royale/ Hunger Games and Ender's Game-esque, but on Mars. However, I don't want to get too stuck on comparing Red Rising to other books because it really is it's own thing. The writing is fabulous and I'm captivated by Darrow's character and character development. I really want to see what will happen with Darrow.
Like I mentioned before a few parts were a little confusing for me. Those parts were a couple of the political/strategic parts and that's not really my thing. So I think that was more me than the author's writing. Just here and there I probably could have used a little bit more dumbing down.
Overall Red Rising is a top notch dystopian novel that is gripping, emotional, and intriguing from start to finish. I am really looking forward to reading the next books in the series!
I recommend Red Rising for fans of dystopia, sci-fi, Ender's Game, Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, and anyone looking for a great read set on Mars.
