Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Posted Fri Sep 26 2025
"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 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 already 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.
After hearing two friends' high praise, I started reading Pierce Brown's Red Rising, which I tore through in two weeks. Red Rising is an exhilarating, brutal science fiction novel that reminded me of a darker version of The Hunger Games.
The pacing of Red Rising is excellent. Excluding the first few chapters, each one made me want to read ten more. Darrow has to compete in a war game of survival to earn his place in society and seize the opportunity to change the world. The competition involves many electrifying battles, politics, strategies, fights, and twists that kept me glued to the novel.
I was so hyped whenever Darrow succeeded. I loved seeing him manipulate other Golds, who were genetically perfected and trained to be cold-blooded. Watching Darrow win his followers' loyalty by publicly punishing himself for someone else's crime had me jumping out of my seat.
While I liked seeing Darrow outmaneuver the other students, he often felt too flawless. Despite being uneducated and without formal combat training, he effortlessly outshines the other Golds who have trained their whole lives to fight and influence others. Since he never struggles with his disadvantages, his Gold identity feels disconnected from his origins as a Red, and his struggles as a Red lose some of their impact.
In addition, many of the characters felt underdeveloped. Darrow's personality is primarily rage with little nuance beyond that. We also don't learn other characters' personalities and motivations because Darrow never fully connects with them. For instance, we never learn why the Jackal is hell-bent on winning or why Virginia doesn't believe in the suppression of the other Colors. Hopefully, this will be elaborated on in the following books.
Even with these flaws, Red Rising is one of the most gripping stories I've ever read. I adore the school and survival game settings, reminding me of both Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. The characters felt flat, but the nonstop tension had me breezing through the book. I highly recommend Red Rising to anyone who wants a thrilling read with intense action and badass characters.