Review: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Title: Red Rising
Author: Pierce Brown
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published Date: September 25th 2014
My Rating: 5 stars

Blurb on Goodreads:

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 spends his life willingly, knowing 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 sprawling parks 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.
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Before I start gushing about all the positives this book has to offer, let me start by explaining what it's about in as simple a way as I can;

Kick ass guy + shit circumstances + an awesome chance = amazing action + death + deceit + and... you get the picture already.

Darrow is a Red. The Reds live beneath the surface of Mars, where they work the incredibly tough and dangerous job of mining, for the sake of making Mars' surface habitable for the rest of humanity back on the dying planet of Earth. They do so under the rule of the Golds, who oversee their work and maintain the discipline. Under some terrible circumstances, Darrow discovers that his whole life he has been lied to; that the Golds have already inhabited Mars and live above them in an abundance of wealth and comfort whilst he and his people are essentially exploited for slave labour. Given a crazy opportunity,  Darrow goes under cover and disguises himself as a Gold, and he is hell bent on making them pay.

There are so many amazing positives about this book that I'm not sure where to start.  There is also just one piece of constructive criticism that I'd like to share too. Since the writing was so fundamental in making this book as great as it is, let's talk about that first. If you've looked up Red Rising on goodreads, then chances are you'll have seen plenty of people gushing about the writing, and for good reason. The writing in this book is so beyond the standard YA writing. It is clever, beautiful, and purposeful. There is not a single line that is written without thought and purpose. Each sentence seems to have double meaning, and reading between the lines is par for the course in this book. If you like that kind of writing, the kind that is generally only found in fantasy books (high fantasy specifically) then you will most definitely love this book.

The second brilliant thing I want to talk about is the world building. Whilst most dystopians require some level of world building, they usually take place on Earth where the bare bones of the world are essentially the same. In this case however, we've travelled across the solar system and landed on Mars. This world needs so badly to be built well, and Brown does not disappoint. It may feel a little overwhelming at first, what with all the new terminology, but it doesn't take long for the reader to become accustomed to it, and that is when the world building really shines. There is SO much detail crammed into this tiny book, it just blows my mind. I loved the image Brown paints in the readers mind; the actual planet, what it looks like beneath the surface, on the surface and what the surface looks like for those beneath. The different 'coloured' people and their place in society. The Reds in their slave position actually have red hair and red eyes, the Golds with their gold hair and gold eyes sit atop the social pyramid and look down on the rest of society. I love how even within these colours, there are those who think themselves- or are thought to be- better though than others. I love how this echoes our own society and gives the book a sense of humanity, since it's difficult to think of them as humans at all with what is now achievable in this strange new world.

That brings me on to characters. Looking back on it, there were so many characters that we were introduced that's it's a wonder I remember them all. But remember them all I do, because Brown weaves each and every single one of them into the story seamlessly and in such a way that even the most minor of characters is memorable. There are character to love, characters to hate, characters you hate to love and characters you love to hate. There are your main characters, your secondary characters, and your seemingly insignificant characters who really add more depth and feeling to the book than you realise at the time. Every single one of these characters is important to the story and really adds to the book. The main character Darrow is a pretty average guy to begin with and seemingly not all that impressive. Over the course of the book however he grows exponentially, both in age and character. He becomes a hero, and yet he's vulnerable and insecure about the path he has to take as he worries about what he has to become to achieve the dream. We love him all the more for it.

The only less than shinning (but still positively glowing) thing I have to say about this book is this; it felt to me as if I could split this book into two halves. The first 100-150 pages felt like an almost completely different plot to the rest of the book. Of course it makes sense since it sets up the rest of story but I definitely felt like the second half was better. This is probably because whilst the first half was great and the writing was beautiful, it was solemn and sad without any real uplifting parts to balance out the tone, making it a tad heavy. The second half definitely was better and blew my mind with its amazingness. It was sad, solemn and serious but also passionate, action packed, and heart warming, all whilst being blood curdlingly gory. it was so enjoyable and definitely unputdownable, as cliché as that may sound.

I cannot describe just how much I love it any more for fear of spoiling it for you. Seriously, if you haven't already and you consider yourself a dystopian/fantasy/roman history fan, you need to pick this up. If you don't you'll be kicking yourself for years to come when you realise what you missed being a part of. I'm not usually a fan of comparing books by saying it's the next this or the next that, but I will say this; reading Red Rising is like reading a concoction of The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and The Final Empire whilst watching 300, but better.

The wait for Golden Son will be agonising but well worth it. I'm so excited! If you have read this already, then head over to my instagram (@booksareforadasses) and join in our giant, spoilery discussion/ fangirling session!

*this book was kindly offered to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Review: The Annihilation of Foreverland by Tony Bertauski

Title: The Annihilation of Foreverland

Author: Tony Bertauski

Release Date: December 31st 2011

My Rating: 3/5 stars

Blurb on Goodreads:

When kids awake on an island, they’re told there was an accident. Before they can go home, they will visit Foreverland, an alternate reality that will heal their minds.

Reed dreams of a girl that tells him to resist Foreverland. He doesn’t remember her name, but knows he once loved her. He’ll have to endure great suffering and trust his dream. And trust he’s not insane.

Danny Boy, the new arrival, meets Reed’s dream girl inside Foreverland. She’s stuck in the fantasy land that no kid can resist. Where every heart’s desire is satisfied. Why should anyone care how Foreverland works?

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After receiving the box set What Tomorrow May Bring, I was overwhelmed by the number of enticing plots and didn't know where to start. When I read up on this one however, I new I had to find out more. The blurb was enough to intrigue me, as well as the fact that (I assume) it was loosely related to Peter Pan and Neverland.  This book took me longer to read than anticipated, not for lack of plot but rather because it was amazing in some parts but not so much in others.  There were a number of brilliant of factors that made this story gripping, but at the same time I had some issues that made me hesitant and- truth be told- less inclined to finish. 

Let me start with the plot line. Oh my goodness, this book was creepy as hell. It literally made my skin crawl in parts, what with it's insane story line and nutty grandpa characters. I think I may have developed a slight fear of old men thanks to this book! But the plot was truly unique in my opinion. I loved the idea of the remote island with children who appeared to be the luckiest in the world with their free reign to do as they pleased, but all the while had you questioning what was really going on. The setting was admittedly not the best developed and a little generic but i feel like the actual plot made up for that. I enjoyed following the main character as he made his discoveries and slowly uncovered the truth about Foreverland. 

This brings me on to my next point; the characters. Danny Boy was pretty controversial in my mind. I felt like the author couldn't decide on how old he was, even though we're told he's 13. At times he acts his age, and does what can only be expected from a new teenager, what with his love of gaming and what not. At the same time, I found it difficult to wrap my mind around how at 6 years old he was hacking into computer systems and doing things even an adult would find challenging.  At 6 years old that didn't make him a Prodigy, but more an alien or a robot!  It was just a tad unrealistic is what I'm trying to say. I couldn't particularly connect with him because he felt just a little bit flat in my opinion, and would have benefited from a little more character development. 

Zin was such a brilliant secondary character. I absolutely loved his attitude and his funny lines, and couldn't get enough of him. Where Danny was lacking that thing which made us remember he was just a kid and therefore empathize with him, Zin couldn't be viewed as anything but the brilliant kid he was. He was my favourite character I think. 

I really enjoyed the way that the subplots we started with, such as Reed, the black sheep of the herd, the mysterious redhead and Danny all came together in the end to reveal the bigger picture. 

One other thing that did throw me for a loop a little was the writing. I found myself occasionally getting stuck on a sentence because it seemed out of place or ill-phrased, particularly in the news reportings at the start of the rounds. The constant variation in complexity of language made it feel like the author couldn't decide whether this book fitted into the higher end of children's genre or YA.

Overall, this book didn't quite meet my expectations which were admittedly high due to the beautiful cover and promising blurb, but was still intriguing nonetheless. If the plot sounds like something you would enjoy, and you can ignore discrepancies in language and don't mind a little less complexity,  then I would recommend it to you because the plot was honestly brilliant.


*The box set What Tomorrow May Bring was kindly sent to me in exchange for an honest review*