I loved Red Rising too! The politics, the world building, the CHARACTERS... I didn't like that Eos role basically just was to die so that the male protagonist got motivated though.
I loved this book so much and I'm happy to hear you did too. I don't think Darrow starts as an almost perfect character... I've always seen him as arrogant and impulsive, self-confident also. He killed Julian in cold blood, even if he knows the boy is innocent. Then he lied to Cassius and manipulate basically everybody. This is not a perfect character, this is a character with flaws. He also makes a lot of mistakes (like you said) and he's ready to do anything for his purpose. I can't really see him as perfect (he is not even the best at fighting, he is deafeted by Cassius) and I love his character for this reason, for all his flaws. Just my opinion, of course! ^_^ For the Hunger Games, yea there are similarities, but the roots of the stories are different. Katniss was thrown in the Game and she doesn't want to be there (even knowing she volunteered). She does not want to kill and she has no intention to start a revolution. She just want to save her sister, she didn't really have a choice. Darrow chose to go to the Institute and he went because he wanted to infiltrate the Golds to destroy their society from the inside. He has no problems to kill his enemies and he really become part of the Golds (at least pretending), while Katniss was never able to do that, to lie so well. Even the Games are different. Hunger Games are a punishment for the districts, intended to weaken them and to remind them their place. The Game at the Institute is made for Golds and it's a privilege to be ammitted. It's made to give the new ruling class strength and understanding of power and consequences. Yes, there are lots of similarities with the Hunger Games, but they are two very different things, expecially the ideas behind. And like you I prefer Red rising XD XD
I always want to point this out with the hunger games thing: they weren't supposed to kill anyone, they were just supposed to mark them as the team's hostages. (note key word suppose cause people did die) Also it was a game for a school :) I love this book so much I always need to defend it when people accuse it of just being the hunger games in space.
Okay, but the idea of the violent games in an arena is similar, as well as the fact that they're both from mining districts/colours, both of them have a dead dad that was influential in their lives, an innocent girl changed the trajectory of their lives, they go to the capitol/above ground and see a life of excess before entering the games and then breaking the rules and taking the games into their own hands. There are A LOT of similarities.
Jordan Harvey Yeah can't disagree with that, but just like you I don't mind it cause Red Rising is better :D + I love these gladiator type games so much And just want to mention that this was a great video and I just found your channel and I'm binge watching your videos cause you're awsome
i really love the writing style, plot and worldbuilding of this novel, but i feel like the characters were a bit lacking. Darrow seems like a real Gary Stu (Sevro loves him and it really isn’t clarified why; he’s ‘perfect’, and good at everything; and he really lacks any flaws apart from the typical male protagonist ones of ‘reckless’ and ‘brash’ and ‘temperamental’) and Eo died just to motivate him (ugh). I like Mustang enough but i feel like there should be a few more female characters too? even so, i really like the book and i will pick up the sequel. great review!
Darrow is an interesting character because I believe the entire series wouldn't work if he _wasn't_ a larger-than-life legend. Initially I felt that Darrow was a vehicle for the other characters to shine in this sense, but so many things change. In as non-spoiler a way as I can put it, he improves drastically as a character as the series progresses, but beyond that, his "legend" is explained better. Perhaps because it's told from his perspective that it seems particularly Gary Stu-like, but imo, making your protagonists utter prodigies is not a problem - it's why or how they become that that's more important. I think Darrow's charisma and martial perfection and Mustang's absurd intelligence is explained well enough for me to accept it.
I loved this book too and I cannot wait for Iron Gold to be translated in my language! Red Rising is fenomenal and the only fantasy series that I liked (and in this case loved). Also, this was a great review!!!
Does anyone else (who hasn't read the book but wants to) watch the non-spoiler part, then skip to, and watch, the very end as to increase the watch time because the overlords at UA-cam need to know how great Jordan Harvey is?
I don't skip, just turn off the volume and let the video play :) It's mainly because l'm not sure how watch time works. I thought UA-cam pays attention to how long you stay with a video, so if I skip, I'll only have stayed for half of the video's duration. Does that make sense? English isn't my mother tongue.
Thanks! It rarely works out for me, but I don't have the patience to put a lot of effort in, so it's usually just a "hope for the best" kind of situation.
Ben Kingsley made an apt point about how we should revisit art to re-evaluate where we are in our lives in Elegy (2008) because the work of art isn’t experienced the same in our different stages. You have a different (critical) eye now, but imagine what your perspective will be as you develop your prose to the point where you’re publishing your stories.
"A society divided into rigid social classes, then a main character who is from the lowest class (obviously) joining a rebellion to overthrow the corrupt elites, and doing so in a deadly competition while looking extra fine," Where have I seen this before? Oh yeah, EVERY YA novel coming out these days.
I don’t think the comparisons to the hunger games is a con though. It’s similar but like you said, red rising does it so much better. So much smarter and more complex. If the hunger games comparisons encourage people to read this series, I’d say that’s a win for those readers because they are in for a treat!
I loved this series! Golden Son was my favorite by far. I have yet to buy Iron Gold, but I want to reread the trilogy first because I don't remember shit (I lent Red Rising to a friend like a year ago and she hasn't returned it but I've been wanting to read it again for a long long time)
I might try reading this book again. I borrowed it from the library, so when I got to the point where I was so bored I couldn't be bothered to finish it I returned it so somebody else could read it. I also went into this book with different expectations to what the book was about so I had a hard time getting invested in anything. I didn't make it very far before returning it, I made it just to the point where Darrow first gets recruited to join the rebellion. When he first sees the surface of Mars.
Yeah, I mean it definitely picks up after that, but that being said, I liked the whole thing so I may not be the best person to give you advice on whether or not you should give it another go!
I just started watching your videos, and even though I disagree with you on a lot of your thoughts on other books, I definitely agree with you on this series. Red Rising got me back into reading which is why this series will always be one of my favorites going forward. I guess it helps that I’ve never read The Hunger Games so I wasn’t making constant comparisons to it, but I can see how they’d be very similar after seeing the movies. I also have to say that Golden Son is my favorite in the series. I loved all of them (even Iron Gold which so far is my least favorite). My favorite part in the series is when Darrow makes a scene at that formal function that the Sovereign is presiding over and basically jumps on the tables calling out the Bellona’s and whoops Cassius after revealing that Lorn has been training him all summer. I don’t know why but every time I read that scene I get all pumped up. Even though Cassius is one of my favorite characters.
I loved the sequels! In fact, the second book is my favourite. Darrow, as I mentioned, start fairly close to perfect, so it's not as if he becomes significantly less perfect in any of the other books, but he does continue to grow and change, so I'm not too mad at it.
Nedeli I’ve now read all the books. It might be justifiable to call Darrow perfect in the first book, but certainly not by the second book. It reveals him to not be especially smart. He was unable to work out who Ares was, or that the Jackal would betray him. Two mistakes that cost him dearly. Iron Gold shows more of his complexity and imperfection. Darrow is exiled by his own republic after a mistake. He chose his war over being a father. He spends much of the book wrestling with his guilt. When Darrow realises he’s been outplayed in his fight with the Ash Lord, that again shows how he isn’t so smart. I doubt Mustang would have made a mistake like that. She’s the one who does the serious thinking.
What I'm loving even more than your reviews is the comment section. The majority down here are so constructive and share amazing perspectives :) I'll definitely give this book a try! I think what put me off before was the comparison to THG, and at that point in time I was so tired of the torrent of dystopia books.
Ha Anh Do it’s definitely a bit more of a blend of dystopian and sci-fi, but as I mentioned in the video, Pierce Brown actually has a bit of an understanding of politics which is extremely refreshing.
I remember watching the original review! The fandom is so small and I couldn't find anyone else who liked Cassius, so I was so happy to find someone else that did lol. I finished iron gold a while ago, and... I'm very mixed about about it. What did you think of Iron Gold?
Hiiiiii, love your reviews ❤️❤️❤️ I am scared of filming particularly bad reviews because I am scared of hurting authors. How do you do that? (this comment is related to some other videos of you❤️)
Well, I don't make the reviews for the authors, I make them for the consumers. Authors don't generally read or watch reviews, and if they do, they should kind of know what they're getting into!
Thank you for your answer! I just love watching them because it's hilarious but once I stand in front of the camera my confidence shrivels up and I can't say anything bad about the book 😂 you da real mvp
Great review! The set-up for the plot reminds me a bit of the "Human Cycle" from "Martian Chronicles" (Ray Bradbury) only here they expanded more on society. The book sounds interesting though! And as someone who writes for the drawer, I too struggle a bit with female characters. Still I try my best!
Not in terms of the changed genetics, but the colour system kind of reminds me of the The Wind Singer! I kind of feel, now, that book predated it's time by quite a few years...
@@JordanHarveybooks what?! Well, it's a children's book, and I read it a while ago so I can't vouch for how well it'll have held up, but I loved it! It focuses on the city of Aramanth where people are divided into colours: grey, maroon, orange, scarlet and white depending on the family head's result in the annual city-wide test. Everyone is extremely indoctrinated into believing that this is the only way to live, and the main characters go on a mission to return freedom to the city. I think it was waaaaay ahead of its time for children's fiction/YA.
Great review, as always. To be honest, I've read this and not a huge fan of it. I found it rather dull, reminded me of the Hunger Games too much in a bad way and couldn't connect to the characters, especially the MC, who I thought was too much of a Mary Sue for my liking. I might read it again in the future, but not any time soon. I'm wondering, are you planning to review any anime or cartoons in the future?
I just finished this book and thought it was pretty MEH. I enjoyed his writing but I felt everything plot wise was plagiarized. The whole house picking thing felt very Harry Potter to me and the games were obviously a more boring version of the hunger games. Outside of the caste system idea, total snoozeville.
Huh, see to me it was a more exciting version of the hunger games. It is undeniably similar, but the other books are much more unique and, again, I think it was an improvement. And of course, there is an argument to be made for the comparisons between The Hunger Games and Battle Royale.
@@JordanHarveybooks well I got your point of the game being more planned out since it's teams...but nothing happened... for 3/4 of the game the Mars team was just scouting, scouting, scouting hahaha
Based on this review I think you would really like the testing trilogy by Joelle Charbonneau. It has politic and psygologically stuff in it also some hunger game-ish stuff :)
I really liked the Red Rising series but Red Rising was my least favorite of the bunch. If it was not for the last 1/4 of the book, I probably would not have gone on to read the whole series. I'm so glad I did though. Book two, Golden Son, is fantastic.
I DON'T REALLY LIKE RED RISING! maybe because it takes place in space (which I do not like that at all!!). the story itself was so boring and I could't connect to the characters and feel them or whatever. I'm not sure I'm going to read Golden Son or not. if anyone read the sequel and think it is much better than the first one, please let me know! thank you!
Ariyan ghasemi Golden Son was leagues better than Red Rising in my opinion. And I felt Darrow was easier to relate to and throughout it he's brought down from his pedestal. Mustang and Sevro are both developed beyond being Darrow's sidekicks. And new characters Victra and Ragnar are absolute gems.
Golden son is much more space-heavy than red rising. If you don’t like sci fi, I don’t think you’d like it much. It continues with the politics and strategy and war that were central themes in red rising, but is mostly set on space ships traveling between plants and battling
The series matures really fast after Red Rising, and the characters are better, but as Kristin Put it if you don't like the setting already you'd probably wouldn't like it in the latter books. I'd still give it a shot though. I know a lot of people who didn't like sci-fi that loved this series
I have a few gripes with this book but I've heard the second one is better by almost everyone. My gripes are that "the beginning is slow." I don't think the beginning is slow at all. Everything happens so quickly that I don't get to feel anything for anyone. I didn't care his wife died (I called it so from the beginning), I didn't care that his father was dead (he mentions it but doesn't feel connected to it), and even his transformation into a gold was so fast. He's one of those characters that is always good at everything. "I'm gonna eat the scythe card cause that's totally what this test is about..." He always knows what to do all the time and it's infuriating. I also really have a hatred of how he looks at women. He is supposed to be torn up inside about watching his wife hang and having to pull her feet but the first woman he meets, Harmony, he says that the one half of her face that isn't burned is more beautiful than Eo... Your wife literally just died dude not even 24 hours ago. I don't feel anything for his character because he's always the best at everything. I also don't particularly like the writing style of Pierce. The sentences are really choppy and he writes down a lot of what the reader should be able to pick up on their own. example, Matteo is talking about what Darrow could do if he made it as a Praetor and have his own fleet. Matteo says imagine 4 times in one paragraph that is 8 lines long (11 sentences in 8 lines of text!!!!!) and then Darrow says to himself (or really to us) It makes me imagine... That kind of writing is lazy and annoying. I do agree however that the Cast system and politics is really amazing. It is what kept me interested to finish the book. I have to go pick up the second one now. Does the writing style get better as the books go on, or should I keep my hopes down?
God do I hate Eo. She's too romanticized and I pretty much hate the fact she married Darrow because she is expecting him to fulfill her dream. Especially since Darrow genuinely loves her. I'm glad she died, but at the same time I hate she becomes the motive of Darrow. As for Darrow, I like him. Yeah, he kind of Gary Stu but I feel like it is meant to go that direction because he has to be the best of thd Golds and golds is a race of Garys and Marys. The problem is sometimes it came off as he is good because he is good instead of us seeing his struggle to achieve this perfection. Julian and Cassius
You know, I tried to read this and here is something that annoys me immidiately as representative of former proletarian state. This boy should not exist. With his attitude to labor he is doing he would be dead in the blink of an eye, cause You know -- that's freakin' underground how deep?! You need to be cautious just to be alive on this job. And he was like freakin' Toni Hawk on his skateboard, so what the heck? If the whole book was on this level of psychological realism, it is good for those, who desperetly needs Darvin prize.
Little Red Rising Hood
I loved Red Rising too! The politics, the world building, the CHARACTERS... I didn't like that Eos role basically just was to die so that the male protagonist got motivated though.
Yeah, that was an issue for me too. Or like, if that's the case, then at least have a strong cast of other female characters.
I loved this book so much and I'm happy to hear you did too.
I don't think Darrow starts as an almost perfect character... I've always seen him as arrogant and impulsive, self-confident also. He killed Julian in cold blood, even if he knows the boy is innocent. Then he lied to Cassius and manipulate basically everybody. This is not a perfect character, this is a character with flaws. He also makes a lot of mistakes (like you said) and he's ready to do anything for his purpose. I can't really see him as perfect (he is not even the best at fighting, he is deafeted by Cassius) and I love his character for this reason, for all his flaws. Just my opinion, of course! ^_^
For the Hunger Games, yea there are similarities, but the roots of the stories are different. Katniss was thrown in the Game and she doesn't want to be there (even knowing she volunteered). She does not want to kill and she has no intention to start a revolution. She just want to save her sister, she didn't really have a choice.
Darrow chose to go to the Institute and he went because he wanted to infiltrate the Golds to destroy their society from the inside. He has no problems to kill his enemies and he really become part of the Golds (at least pretending), while Katniss was never able to do that, to lie so well.
Even the Games are different. Hunger Games are a punishment for the districts, intended to weaken them and to remind them their place. The Game at the Institute is made for Golds and it's a privilege to be ammitted. It's made to give the new ruling class strength and understanding of power and consequences. Yes, there are lots of similarities with the Hunger Games, but they are two very different things, expecially the ideas behind. And like you I prefer Red rising XD XD
I always want to point this out with the hunger games thing: they weren't supposed to kill anyone, they were just supposed to mark them as the team's hostages. (note key word suppose cause people did die) Also it was a game for a school :) I love this book so much I always need to defend it when people accuse it of just being the hunger games in space.
Okay, but the idea of the violent games in an arena is similar, as well as the fact that they're both from mining districts/colours, both of them have a dead dad that was influential in their lives, an innocent girl changed the trajectory of their lives, they go to the capitol/above ground and see a life of excess before entering the games and then breaking the rules and taking the games into their own hands. There are A LOT of similarities.
Jordan Harvey Yeah can't disagree with that, but just like you I don't mind it cause Red Rising is better :D + I love these gladiator type games so much
And just want to mention that this was a great video and I just found your channel and I'm binge watching your videos cause you're awsome
I wish i could get my hair and makeup that nice! Your so beautiful!! Also congrats on 11k!!
*Hears description of the book. Mentally pushes book planned to write under bed.* I'll let that stew... Great redo of your video!
Felicity Swan
I hate when that happens.
i really love the writing style, plot and worldbuilding of this novel, but i feel like the characters were a bit lacking. Darrow seems like a real Gary Stu (Sevro loves him and it really isn’t clarified why; he’s ‘perfect’, and good at everything; and he really lacks any flaws apart from the typical male protagonist ones of ‘reckless’ and ‘brash’ and ‘temperamental’) and Eo died just to motivate him (ugh). I like Mustang enough but i feel like there should be a few more female characters too? even so, i really like the book and i will pick up the sequel. great review!
Darrow is an interesting character because I believe the entire series wouldn't work if he _wasn't_ a larger-than-life legend. Initially I felt that Darrow was a vehicle for the other characters to shine in this sense, but so many things change. In as non-spoiler a way as I can put it, he improves drastically as a character as the series progresses, but beyond that, his "legend" is explained better. Perhaps because it's told from his perspective that it seems particularly Gary Stu-like, but imo, making your protagonists utter prodigies is not a problem - it's why or how they become that that's more important. I think Darrow's charisma and martial perfection and Mustang's absurd intelligence is explained well enough for me to accept it.
I loved this book too and I cannot wait for Iron Gold to be translated in my language! Red Rising is fenomenal and the only fantasy series that I liked (and in this case loved). Also, this was a great review!!!
I read the book because you mentioned it in the Red Queen vid. I’m already on the 4th book. Great Thanks
Does anyone else (who hasn't read the book but wants to) watch the non-spoiler part, then skip to, and watch, the very end as to increase the watch time because the overlords at UA-cam need to know how great Jordan Harvey is?
YOU'RE SO SWEET OMG
I don't skip, just turn off the volume and let the video play :) It's mainly because l'm not sure how watch time works. I thought UA-cam pays attention to how long you stay with a video, so if I skip, I'll only have stayed for half of the video's duration. Does that make sense? English isn't my mother tongue.
Ha Anh Do You guys are the sweetest! ❤️❤️
Ah that makes sense, I'll do that from now on
I love your hair I can never get mine into a perfect bun lol.
Thanks! It rarely works out for me, but I don't have the patience to put a lot of effort in, so it's usually just a "hope for the best" kind of situation.
Ben Kingsley made an apt point about how we should revisit art to re-evaluate where we are in our lives in Elegy (2008) because the work of art isn’t experienced the same in our different stages. You have a different (critical) eye now, but imagine what your perspective will be as you develop your prose to the point where you’re publishing your stories.
For sure!
"A society divided into rigid social classes, then a main character who is from the lowest class (obviously) joining a rebellion to overthrow the corrupt elites, and doing so in a deadly competition while looking extra fine,"
Where have I seen this before? Oh yeah, EVERY YA novel coming out these days.
You're not wrong. It's not that original in the plot, especially in the first book, but I think it redeems itself in the execution (obviously)!
I haven't read it, sorry!
I don’t think the comparisons to the hunger games is a con though. It’s similar but like you said, red rising does it so much better. So much smarter and more complex. If the hunger games comparisons encourage people to read this series, I’d say that’s a win for those readers because they are in for a treat!
I LOVED the Red Rising and I genuinely didn't notice the parallels with the Hunger Games until you pointed them out😹😹😹😹
I loved this series! Golden Son was my favorite by far. I have yet to buy Iron Gold, but I want to reread the trilogy first because I don't remember shit (I lent Red Rising to a friend like a year ago and she hasn't returned it but I've been wanting to read it again for a long long time)
EVERY PART OF THIS COMMENT IS ME THOUGH
Golden Son is by far the best, and I'm currently rereading it all so that I can dive into Iron Gold :)
I might try reading this book again. I borrowed it from the library, so when I got to the point where I was so bored I couldn't be bothered to finish it I returned it so somebody else could read it. I also went into this book with different expectations to what the book was about so I had a hard time getting invested in anything. I didn't make it very far before returning it, I made it just to the point where Darrow first gets recruited to join the rebellion. When he first sees the surface of Mars.
Yeah, I mean it definitely picks up after that, but that being said, I liked the whole thing so I may not be the best person to give you advice on whether or not you should give it another go!
I just started watching your videos, and even though I disagree with you on a lot of your thoughts on other books, I definitely agree with you on this series. Red Rising got me back into reading which is why this series will always be one of my favorites going forward. I guess it helps that I’ve never read The Hunger Games so I wasn’t making constant comparisons to it, but I can see how they’d be very similar after seeing the movies.
I also have to say that Golden Son is my favorite in the series. I loved all of them (even Iron Gold which so far is my least favorite). My favorite part in the series is when Darrow makes a scene at that formal function that the Sovereign is presiding over and basically jumps on the tables calling out the Bellona’s and whoops Cassius after revealing that Lorn has been training him all summer. I don’t know why but every time I read that scene I get all pumped up. Even though Cassius is one of my favorite characters.
How are the sequels? Does Darrow improve in them?
I loved the sequels! In fact, the second book is my favourite.
Darrow, as I mentioned, start fairly close to perfect, so it's not as if he becomes significantly less perfect in any of the other books, but he does continue to grow and change, so I'm not too mad at it.
It really bothered me how perfect Darrow is in everything. Whenever it came up I was like 'okaaaay we get it'. :D
Nedeli I’ve now read all the books. It might be justifiable to call Darrow perfect in the first book, but certainly not by the second book. It reveals him to not be especially smart. He was unable to work out who Ares was, or that the Jackal would betray him. Two mistakes that cost him dearly. Iron Gold shows more of his complexity and imperfection. Darrow is exiled by his own republic after a mistake. He chose his war over being a father. He spends much of the book wrestling with his guilt. When Darrow realises he’s been outplayed in his fight with the Ash Lord, that again shows how he isn’t so smart. I doubt Mustang would have made a mistake like that. She’s the one who does the serious thinking.
What I'm loving even more than your reviews is the comment section. The majority down here are so constructive and share amazing perspectives :) I'll definitely give this book a try! I think what put me off before was the comparison to THG, and at that point in time I was so tired of the torrent of dystopia books.
Ha Anh Do it’s definitely a bit more of a blend of dystopian and sci-fi, but as I mentioned in the video, Pierce Brown actually has a bit of an understanding of politics which is extremely refreshing.
I remember watching the original review! The fandom is so small and I couldn't find anyone else who liked Cassius, so I was so happy to find someone else that did lol. I finished iron gold a while ago, and... I'm very mixed about about it. What did you think of Iron Gold?
Ava G BUDDY IM SUCH A SLOW READER. I’m still on the reread of morning star.
Hiiiiii, love your reviews ❤️❤️❤️ I am scared of filming particularly bad reviews because I am scared of hurting authors. How do you do that? (this comment is related to some other videos of you❤️)
Well, I don't make the reviews for the authors, I make them for the consumers. Authors don't generally read or watch reviews, and if they do, they should kind of know what they're getting into!
Thank you for your answer! I just love watching them because it's hilarious but once I stand in front of the camera my confidence shrivels up and I can't say anything bad about the book 😂 you da real mvp
Haha thanks
Can you give me some of that, I need more of it 😂😂
Great review!
The set-up for the plot reminds me a bit of the "Human Cycle" from "Martian Chronicles" (Ray Bradbury) only here they expanded more on society. The book sounds interesting though!
And as someone who writes for the drawer, I too struggle a bit with female characters. Still I try my best!
I absolutely LOVED your video! Keep on putting out good content haha! I hope to see more videos soon. Anyways, keep up the good work!!! ☺
Thanks!
Not in terms of the changed genetics, but the colour system kind of reminds me of the The Wind Singer! I kind of feel, now, that book predated it's time by quite a few years...
I haven't even heard of the Wind Singer. Is it good?
@@JordanHarveybooks what?! Well, it's a children's book, and I read it a while ago so I can't vouch for how well it'll have held up, but I loved it!
It focuses on the city of Aramanth where people are divided into colours: grey, maroon, orange, scarlet and white depending on the family head's result in the annual city-wide test. Everyone is extremely indoctrinated into believing that this is the only way to live, and the main characters go on a mission to return freedom to the city.
I think it was waaaaay ahead of its time for children's fiction/YA.
Great review as usual!! 💜💜
Great review, as always. To be honest, I've read this and not a huge fan of it. I found it rather dull, reminded me of the Hunger Games too much in a bad way and couldn't connect to the characters, especially the MC, who I thought was too much of a Mary Sue for my liking. I might read it again in the future, but not any time soon. I'm wondering, are you planning to review any anime or cartoons in the future?
That's fair, that seems to be a common sentiment from those who didn't like it.
And not right now, but I may in the future!
Sweet! :P Looking forward to your future reviews.
The first start is fascinating and it sets the foundation for the whole book. People that think it's boring have short attention spans.
I just finished this book and thought it was pretty MEH. I enjoyed his writing but I felt everything plot wise was plagiarized. The whole house picking thing felt very Harry Potter to me and the games were obviously a more boring version of the hunger games. Outside of the caste system idea, total snoozeville.
Huh, see to me it was a more exciting version of the hunger games. It is undeniably similar, but the other books are much more unique and, again, I think it was an improvement. And of course, there is an argument to be made for the comparisons between The Hunger Games and Battle Royale.
@@JordanHarveybooks well I got your point of the game being more planned out since it's teams...but nothing happened... for 3/4 of the game the Mars team was just scouting, scouting, scouting hahaha
Based on this review I think you would really like the testing trilogy by Joelle Charbonneau. It has politic and psygologically stuff in it also some hunger game-ish stuff :)
I'll definitely look into them then, thank you!!
Another solid one! Keep it up!
Omfg I love this book. Even tho the second part confused me, but I'll just have to re-read it.
I really liked the Red Rising series but Red Rising was my least favorite of the bunch. If it was not for the last 1/4 of the book, I probably would not have gone on to read the whole series. I'm so glad I did though. Book two, Golden Son, is fantastic.
Book two is definitely my favourite. I honestly enjoyed most of the book, but I can definitely see why people didn't like the first half of it.
Red Rising >> Hunger Games
I DON'T REALLY LIKE RED RISING! maybe because it takes place in space (which I do not like that at all!!). the story itself was so boring and I could't connect to the characters and feel them or whatever. I'm not sure I'm going to read Golden Son or not. if anyone read the sequel and think it is much better than the first one, please let me know! thank you!
Ariyan ghasemi Golden Son was leagues better than Red Rising in my opinion. And I felt Darrow was easier to relate to and throughout it he's brought down from his pedestal. Mustang and Sevro are both developed beyond being Darrow's sidekicks. And new characters Victra and Ragnar are absolute gems.
Golden son is much more space-heavy than red rising. If you don’t like sci fi, I don’t think you’d like it much. It continues with the politics and strategy and war that were central themes in red rising, but is mostly set on space ships traveling between plants and battling
The series matures really fast after Red Rising, and the characters are better, but as Kristin Put it if you don't like the setting already you'd probably wouldn't like it in the latter books. I'd still give it a shot though. I know a lot of people who didn't like sci-fi that loved this series
I have a few gripes with this book but I've heard the second one is better by almost everyone. My gripes are that "the beginning is slow." I don't think the beginning is slow at all. Everything happens so quickly that I don't get to feel anything for anyone. I didn't care his wife died (I called it so from the beginning), I didn't care that his father was dead (he mentions it but doesn't feel connected to it), and even his transformation into a gold was so fast. He's one of those characters that is always good at everything. "I'm gonna eat the scythe card cause that's totally what this test is about..." He always knows what to do all the time and it's infuriating. I also really have a hatred of how he looks at women. He is supposed to be torn up inside about watching his wife hang and having to pull her feet but the first woman he meets, Harmony, he says that the one half of her face that isn't burned is more beautiful than Eo... Your wife literally just died dude not even 24 hours ago. I don't feel anything for his character because he's always the best at everything. I also don't particularly like the writing style of Pierce. The sentences are really choppy and he writes down a lot of what the reader should be able to pick up on their own. example, Matteo is talking about what Darrow could do if he made it as a Praetor and have his own fleet. Matteo says imagine 4 times in one paragraph that is 8 lines long (11 sentences in 8 lines of text!!!!!) and then Darrow says to himself (or really to us) It makes me imagine... That kind of writing is lazy and annoying. I do agree however that the Cast system and politics is really amazing. It is what kept me interested to finish the book. I have to go pick up the second one now. Does the writing style get better as the books go on, or should I keep my hopes down?
book sounds interesting, i might read it one day hahaaha
p.s. i use the same elevator music in my videos hahahah
There's only so much good free music.
God do I hate Eo. She's too romanticized and I pretty much hate the fact she married Darrow because she is expecting him to fulfill her dream. Especially since Darrow genuinely loves her. I'm glad she died, but at the same time I hate she becomes the motive of Darrow.
As for Darrow, I like him. Yeah, he kind of Gary Stu but I feel like it is meant to go that direction because he has to be the best of thd Golds and golds is a race of Garys and Marys. The problem is sometimes it came off as he is good because he is good instead of us seeing his struggle to achieve this perfection.
Julian and Cassius
Hunger games? What's that?
You know, I tried to read this and here is something that annoys me immidiately as representative of former proletarian state. This boy should not exist. With his attitude to labor he is doing he would be dead in the blink of an eye, cause You know -- that's freakin' underground how deep?! You need to be cautious just to be alive on this job. And he was like freakin' Toni Hawk on his skateboard, so what the heck?
If the whole book was on this level of psychological realism, it is good for those, who desperetly needs Darvin prize.