Red Rising
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pierce Brown’s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.
“Red Rising ascends above a crowded dystopian field.”—USA Today
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Shelf Awareness
“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”
“I live for you,” I say sadly.
Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”
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 toils willingly, trusting 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 reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds 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.
Praise for Red Rising
“[A] spectacular adventure . . . one heart-pounding ride . . . Pierce Brown’s dizzyingly good debut novel evokes The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and Ender’s Game. . . . [Red Rising] has everything it needs to become meteoric.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow.”—Scott Sigler
“Red Rising is a sophisticated vision. . . . Brown will find a devoted audience.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
Don’t miss any of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga:
RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE • LIGHT BRINGER
- Pages
- 382
- First published
- January 28, 2014
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Shelved by 26 Litcadians
1 is currently reading
Reviews
Finished November 6, 2023
Finished January 20, 2025
This was different from what I normally read especially with a male as the soul narrator not in a romance setting. I ended up really liking it tho and I’m excited to see where the series goes from here. Darrow and Severo carried this book as they are the only two characters that I really care about. It’s hard to like the characters when you know they are a part of team evil even tho Darrow himself definitely liked a lot of them. The beginning of the book had me crying at the loss of Eo and I thought it was really powerful how they sprinkled mentions of it throughout the book. Especially looking back and seeing how little time they actually had together.
Finished January 20, 2025
⭐⭐⭐ Favorite line: “Break the chains, my love.” 💭 My thoughts I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did but unfortunately I didn't. While it's certainly not a bad book, I personally felt that it wasn't for me. The characters were dry and indistinguishable from one another and the plot didn't intrigue me. Darrow's inner-monologue about his late wife Eo moved me the most, but even then, it felt like surface-level emotion. Yes, I can acknowledge when something is sad as I think most of us can, but I wasn't as emotionally moved by it as I would have liked. The impact of Darrow's loss could have hit me more had we had more relationship development with him and Eo. The characters never stood out for me, so much so that I lost track of who Darrow was talking to from scene to scene. The unique language in this was funny at times but became tired after awhile. Honestly, this book read like a dystopian version of Lord of the Flies. ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence Minor: Cannibalism Follow my Instagram
Started January 9, 2025 · Finished January 15, 2025
I don’t read a lot of male authors, but this was really well done. I can tell its a setup book of sorts, and I struggled to really get attached to most of the characters other an Darrow and Eo until near the end, most of them are fairly unlikeable throughout this, but that makes sense because it’s mostly his POV and his rise from the bottom of the food chain. Honestly Darrow starts off pretty unremarkable as a character, but slowly over the course of this he earns my respect and loyalty like so many others that he encounters. I am excited to see where this series goes, especially after that end choice, I hope he lights the whole world on fire. 🌶️ 1/5 Theres some really vague mentions of spicy stuff here and there - but romance is not a major focus of the book at all. It’s nice to have hints of it throughout though, it humanizes these characters and gives just a little bit of tension and wondering of “what it” in these growingly complicated relationships of these MCs.
Started January 5, 2026 · Finished January 9, 2026
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