Review: Red Rising

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A double agent taking part in the Hunger Games equivalent to prove his worth

Darrow, the sixteen year old miner and the protagonist is a Red- the lower castes in this world toiling away in Mars for the greater good of humanity. His whole world turns topsy turvy when a resistance movement saves his life and explains how he is living a big lie. Through genetic manipulation, they are able to give him a new identity as a gold - the topmost class so that he can infiltrate their ranks and help with the planned revolution of the Reds.

With that baseline, he gets into the institute where Golds are trained to take up leadership roles in the future and here is where the similarities with Hunger Games begins as folks are sorted into different houses /groups and then have to survive and win in a hostile environment. Nothing new in terms of how such survival games tend to go, but Pierce does a good job of creating engaging content as multiple dimensions of loyalty, wit, pride and other human emotions are layered in through the various interactions making for a fun fast paced read.

View all my reviews